Patrick B. Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 Barrett was doing the Rainmaker setup for the Bullhammer at first, then it became just a running forearm with the elbowpad reversed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyJ Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 Another really enjoyable episode. I know some people think nxt gets too much praise but I care about Alex Riley and women's wrestling. That's all you really need to know. Loved having Owens come out, be a dick, then leave. No 20 minutes promo. No match thrown together for the main event. I also loved Zayns promo. The fact that he was home really added to it. It felt real. I don't even understand what was going on with Crowe. The generic theme music. The whacky hair. The ring attire. The tan job. Nothing was working. Then he topped it off with one of the weaker finishers I can remember. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nofuture Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 Basically, he stands with his back to the ropes, jumps a little bit to bounce off of the ropes, and falls forward. It'd look marginally better as a splash, but anyway it's terrible. I'd be fine as a signature move, but definitely not as a finisher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomAct Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 Basically, he stands with his back to the ropes, jumps a little bit to bounce off of the ropes, and falls forward. It'd look marginally better as a splash, but anyway it's terrible. I'd be fine as a signature move, but definitely not as a finisher. Yeah, total buttcheeks as a finish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technico Support Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 I've seen him wrestle a lot so I don't mind the gear or hair. That fucked up splash/headbutt was just lame. The stretch muffler ("Crowe Bar") would have been awesome, especially the one where he grounds it and kicks the everloving fuck out of the dude. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Playa Shunna Ver 3.0 Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 Crowe was awesome on the indys when I saw him. I was really hoping his act would translate to NXT well. Maybe it will catch on. I certainly hope so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick B. Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 Debut should have been against an opponent closer to his size. Unfortunately, what's done is done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRGoldman Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 Crowe is a dude who I loved on the Indies, and have seen work since he was the obese guy that they referenced on commentary, so I may be biased, but I thought he was really set up to fail in that match with Bull Dempsey. First off, he has this hacker gimmick that they debut with, but now he comes out and everything he is doing screams "happy go lucky babyface". He does that backwards slide in to the ring with the weird camera angle, this is all clearly choreographed. The announcers are talking about how he marches to the beat of his own drum, and loves to be fit and have fun. It was crazy. It was completely jarring. It's like he's working two different gimmicks before the match even starts. As for the actual match, it was fine. Like, it was an acceptable WCW Saturday Night match. I thought it was weird to debut him against someone that makes him look so small. Really, he's no smaller than Balor or Itami, but he looked tiny next to Bull. They worked the whole match around the body slam spot, which is fine, and does get over that he's stronger than he looks, but aside from that he worked the whole match from underneath. He sells well and can get sympathy, so in a vacuum I think it's an okay idea, but it didn't allow Crowe to start to show off any signature spots. If the match had been the same but he had thrown in that seated forearm he does, I think it's received much better. Lastly, the finish, as RandomAct said, is buttcheeks. The more I think about it, this seems to be an NXT problem, especially for some of the recent debuts. Itami, Balor and now Crowe have all struggled to build to a believable finish in matches. Why not just give him the Stretch Muffler? It's not like a bunch of other guys are tapping people out. I think Crowe will probably grow on people, and I think this debut did him no favors. I don't think a lot of it was his fault. He was legit the best dude on the Indies before he signed. He didn't magically unlearn how to wrestle in a year and a half. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Fresh Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 Goldman nailed it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Go2Sleep Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 Now that's a quality finisher. If the Zayn/Owens match can get ref stoppage on the map as a believable finish in NXT, Crowe should definitely start doing this. Also, someone should bring back Bryan's UFC 8 elbows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 Stretch Muffler is the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w. josh Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 The biggest problem with that finisher is that it emphasizes his height. When you're a super short dude who isn't a high flyer or striker, maybe don't line up against the ropes for your finish, and especially don't use a move that shows you have to take a little stutter hop just to lean over the top rope backwards. Stretch muffler is great for him by that same logic - it de-emphasizes his height by putting both guys on the ground and just making him look like a badass who can twist his opponent into a balloon animal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godfrey Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 That is actually exactly how I thought Crowe's debut would go. I've never really been a fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goodear Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 I think for someone 6'4" and 380 lbs, the slingshot splash would be fine. Crowe pretty much did a move not suited to his character (which is impressive because what the fuck is his character) and messed it up besides by headbutting Bull in the... hip ... maybe? The other thing is that Bull basically out worked him and looked far better. Crowe came off as a jobber level guy except he got to win. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRGoldman Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 That is actually exactly how I thought Crowe's debut would go. I've never really been a fan. Would you care to elaborate? What did he do on the indies that made you think "this guy will never succeed in the WWE?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godfrey Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 That is actually exactly how I thought Crowe's debut would go. I've never really been a fan. Would you care to elaborate? What did he do on the indies that made you think "this guy will never succeed in the WWE?" I just didn't get it. I checked out a bunch of his matches when people were hyping him up and I didn't see anything in him. It doesn't help that I think he has a terrible look and that's 90% of getting over in WWE. (At least in their minds) But in the spirit of March Madness, I'm more than willing to watch some recommendations. And trust me, I'd love to be proven wrong. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kennedy Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 I'm a huge fan of Crowe but he looks ridiculous with a tan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRGoldman Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 That is actually exactly how I thought Crowe's debut would go. I've never really been a fan. Would you care to elaborate? What did he do on the indies that made you think "this guy will never succeed in the WWE?" I just didn't get it. I checked out a bunch of his matches when people were hyping him up and I didn't see anything in him. It doesn't help that I think he has a terrible look and that's 90% of getting over in WWE. (At least in their minds) But in the spirit of March Madness, I'm more than willing to watch some recommendations. And trust me, I'd love to be proven wrong. Did you watch the series he did with Fit Finlay? i would start there, I think that's when the conversation started to shift from "Good deathmatch worker who can hold his own" to "This guy can have matches that other people can't". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odessasteps Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 Rippa will ban everyone if Emma turns heel on Bayley. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godfrey Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 That is actually exactly how I thought Crowe's debut would go. I've never really been a fan.Would you care to elaborate? What did he do on the indies that made you think "this guy will never succeed in the WWE?"I just didn't get it. I checked out a bunch of his matches when people were hyping him up and I didn't see anything in him. It doesn't help that I think he has a terrible look and that's 90% of getting over in WWE. (At least in their minds)But in the spirit of March Madness, I'm more than willing to watch some recommendations. And trust me, I'd love to be proven wrong. Did you watch the series he did with Fit Finlay? i would start there, I think that's when the conversation started to shift from "Good deathmatch worker who can hold his own" to "This guy can have matches that other people can't". I'll definitely track those down. I saw the mini-documentary about one of their matches on YouTube and it certainly looked harrowing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomAct Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 I guess I'll have Godfrey's back here, and admit that I've never been a Callihan/Crowe fan. Always came off to me as one of those "I'm over because I beat the shit out of everyone" type guys. I mean that in the literal since, in that he's just stiff as hell. Nothing he ever did hooked me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRGoldman Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 I think he reads this board (or probably any number of others) because he just tweeted out "#stretchmuffler". 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scraylo187 Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Can I go back a step and just highlight the finish to the Blake and Murphy tag? The deadlift suplex (always great) into the BIGGEST ****ING FROG SPLASH IVE EVER SEEN! I mean, holy shit... He jumped 3/4 of the way across the ring and still hit it clean. He wasn't stretching, he didnt just clip him... The target was in a clean spot to hit a splash from the bottom left buckle (on TV) and he lauched from the top right and made it look perfect! These guys just need a hook on their gimmick and they could be huge. They are faster than they look. Stronger than they look. They fly well and have some nice double team spots. Maybe have the lights go out and hit us with some lasers on the entrance and throw some glow sticks to the fans to pump up the "raver" theme song? Lose the sticks if they are staying heel obviously. I just feel like they are one step away from being a legit top show team but man, that finish was awesome. Seconded. I still don't know which one them is which but one of them has a fantastic frog splash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSC Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Posted in the GIF thread but its too great not to put here, too. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirSmUgly Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Re: Blake and Murphy, whichever one does that running vertical suplex out of the deadlift is just fantastic. They really need a manager to do their talking for them, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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