many people use identical bookshelfs up front, versus a horizontal center channel. There is no "special" to it, it is a speaker designed to be placed horizontal below a screen or on a tv/shelf. There is a difference in how a horizontal vs vertical speaker disperses the sound, but it is not going to be 10 times different.
Why would you say a speaker would blow up as center, any speaker can be used as a center, if it blew up, that would be something wrong with your amp, or someone placed an explosive near it, and in that case you better run.