How Hard is it to Go Through a Table?

Hey Scott,

Sooooooooooooo, ever since WWE started using tables on a regular basis, I've always wondered how much it actually hurts to go through them. Yeah, everyone knows chairshots suck and ladders are basically real.

But tables, especially pre-cut ones, seem to actually break the fall of the guy going through them. This seems especially true when you see guys going through multiple tables in spots where, if there were no tables, those guys would never be taking the bump. For example, I can't remember which match it was, but I remember Bubba Ray going through two tables on the outside off a ladder, where, had the tables not been there, he would've gone straight to the floor. It seemed like the tables were used more to protect BR than anything else.

Yeah, tables hurt, but pre-cut ones absolutely break the fall and absorb most of the impact.  However, there's been tons of injuries due to the impact of wood on body parts, so it's not like it's any less dangerous than anything else.  There was a gnarly injury to Bob Holly on one of the few ECW episodes I watched, where the metal support ring on the table broke off and cut the shit out of his back.  Plus you can break your neck if you hit at the wrong angle.  When the Dudleyz used to put people through tables as their gimmick, generally what would happen was Bubba would hold the victim in powerbomb position but not actually drive them through the table, instead keeping them in the air and taking the impact on his ass instead.  Visually impressive and totally safe.  Overall though, I've never been a huge fan of tables because the real ones are unsafe and once you know the trick behind the safe ones it loses all the mystery and coolness.