Mark Jindrak wants his name cleared when it comes to Paul Orndorff’s final WCW match, insisting he was not responsible for the injury that brought the bout to a sudden end at Fall Brawl 2000.
Jindrak went deep into the infamous piledriver spot while discussing Orndorff, explaining that “Mr. Wonderful” was already physically struggling before things went wrong. According to Jindrak, Orndorff was exhausted, dealing with serious limitations from nerve damage in one arm and had already started having trouble getting through the planned comeback. Jindrak said Orndorff was completely gassed by the time they reached the springboard clothesline that came right before the piledriver.
“But here’s the big spot. Now again, I told you Paul right now is gassed. He’s tired. The punches were horrible. He barely ducked out of the way with the springboard clothesline of mine. And now it’s time to give me the piledriver.”
Jindrak explained that a piledriver requires both wrestlers to move together during the lift. He said there is normally a natural dip and timing between both people, but that wasn’t what he felt when Orndorff grabbed him for the move.
“When you take a move from somebody, it’s like a timing thing. When the guy locks you and goes, you kind of dip, he dips, and you go. It’s a timing thing. It’s something you learn, and it’s always — whether it’s a hip toss, whether it’s a body slam, whether it’s a suplex — it’s always kind of at the same time. You kind of feel it. You hook, you both dip at the same time, and you go.”
After missing the springboard clothesline, Jindrak said he immediately went into position for Orndorff’s piledriver. That’s when he realized something was wrong because he felt virtually no lift coming from Orndorff.
“So when I fed into, after I missed and crashed and burned on the springboard clothesline, I turned right into his piledriver. He kicked me, he put me in the piledriver, he hooked me, and as soon as we were about to dip, I felt nothing out of him. I felt nothing pulling, like nothing. It’s not like I can give myself the piledriver.”
Jindrak said he tried to compensate by helping Orndorff with the lift, but the timing was already gone. With the match happening live on pay-per-view, Jindrak believes Orndorff tried to muscle him into the piledriver rather than abandon the move. He said that became especially difficult because Orndorff was essentially working with one good arm due to his nerve damage.
“So after I felt nothing, I thought maybe he needs me to go with him a little bit. So I kind of kicked my leg up, and it just didn’t work out. The timing was off then.”
“And Paul, obviously being on the spot there, it’s live TV, live pay-per-view. He has no choice but to get me up, muscle me up. So I think while he muscled me up, he probably hurt himself in that instance because he couldn’t control my weight. And again, he’s only really using one arm.”
Jindrak said that damaged arm wasn’t giving Orndorff much power, especially with Jindrak weighing around 245 to 250 pounds at the time.
“That one arm really didn’t give him anything or any kind of power. So now he’s got me. This guy was 6’6”. I think I was 245, 250 pounds at the time. He hooks me and he goes for it. And again, like nothing.”
Orndorff eventually managed to get Jindrak up, but the move fell apart and Orndorff crashed awkwardly to the mat. Jindrak made sure to point out that Orndorff still protected him during the fall.
“So when he finally got me up, it just was a crash and burn. He fell really awkwardly. He did protect me, but that was pretty much it. The match had to stop.”
Jindrak believes Orndorff suffered a stinger during the botched move, but he strongly rejected the idea that he deserves the blame for what happened.
“He got, I think it was a stinger, which is kind of like a temporary paralysis. And, you know, again, it was not my fault. I promise you. You know, I fed into that.”
More than two decades later, Jindrak clearly doesn’t want the Fall Brawl 2000 incident attached to his legacy as the moment he ended Orndorff’s career.
“And I don’t want going on my record that I pretty much ended Paul Orndorff’s career, even though his career was ended probably 10 years before that.”
Jindrak also made it clear that he doesn’t want people walking away believing Orndorff’s injury happened because he failed to do his part in the match.
“But I didn’t want to go out thinking it was my blame of why he got hurt and we had to stop the match. So honestly, I hope you guys see it kind of like how I see it.”
The Fall Brawl injury has followed both men for years, but Jindrak’s version paints a much different picture of what happened. He says Orndorff was already exhausted and physically compromised before the piledriver, while Jindrak did everything he was supposed to do when he fed into the move.
Do you think Mark Jindrak’s explanation clears him of blame for Paul Orndorff’s injury, or do you see the Fall Brawl 2000 incident differently? Let us know what you think and leave your feedback in the comments.
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