The Way I C It 11.12.07: Smooth Moves Vol. 4 - Spear! Gore! Pounce! Friendly Running Chest Bump!
Posted by Chris Lansdell on 11.12.2007
Exploring Goldberg's only meaningful and lasting contribution to wrestling. Apart from the crowd at Mania 20.
Sometimes I think the wrestling world is on a mission to ensure I never have any free time. In a week where I found very little of note to write about on the 4 shows, CNN go an destroy what little journalistic integrity they had left by doing a hack job on Cena's interview. Derby Country got their rears handed to them again, by West Ham of all teams. And the Raptors are playing like Jekyll and Hyde.
So, Mr Domingo thinks I have stolen someone's gimmick. I'd plead guilty if I'd ever heard of the column or the author before. And "The Finish Line" might be cooler than "The Way I C It", but it's not cooler than "Smooth Moves". Especially since my nickname is CL Smooth. And no, I have never been in Run DMC. You wanna go, Bayani? Huh? You wanna go? You think that just because you beat me silly in FoF a few weeks back, that I'm afraid of you? I challenge you....to a BROCOLLI FIGHT!
CL Smooth wins. Flawless victory. Vegetality.
The Way I C the CNN-Cena fiasco
Nice move on WWE's part to post the full, unedited Cena interview to show what CNN did to him. No matter what they have done wrong, ultimately WWE has not forced anyone to take steroids. They are doing as much as they can to publicise the violators, they are doing testing, and from now on they have to be seen to punish anyone found guilty.
For the past few years, CNN has become to news what MTV has become to music: only loosely involved. Unable to find a real story of cover-ups and blackmail, CNN had to attack WWE in some way. After all, they shut down CNN's sister company WCW. How dare they!
Give me a break.
The Way U C Me
Lots of correct guesses this week, so not as much other feedback. I want to start by correcting a glaring oversight: I forgot, in my discussion of the moonsault last week, the tremendous execution thereof by Hugh Morrus / Bill deMott. For a legit 3-notes guy, he not only made it look pretty, but went over halfway across the ring doing it. Beautiful.
JBBTHWK is back to gush about Morrison. An opinion shared by many on the forums:
Have you seen Morrison's Mastery of the Corkscrew Moonsault, is there anywhere he CAN'T pull it off from, We've seen him hit it off of the Security Barricade and off the 2nd Rope. Or one spot in a Ladder match against Jeff Hardy who many can say is responsible for guys like the Briscoe Brothers and LonDrick even getting jobs due to what insane stuff he did in his prime with his brother. anyway back to the spot, Morrison lept into the air, off of the Ladder and nailed Jeff Hardy with a Dropkick, not really special but considering Jeff was on the OTHERSIDE of the Ladder that Morrison was standing on, fighting with him before the drop kick that really says how much control Morrison has over his body.
I am very impressed with the elevation Morrison has shown since Benoitgate. I'd probably be an even bigger fan if I didn't think it was inevitable that he wins at Survivor Series, thereby reducing Punk to chasing again. Because CM Punk is my boy. But Morrison's entrance is the best since...probably Gangrel's.
Chris Jacobs further enlightens us on a couple of points:
I think Mosh did use the Burning Hammer. I remember in the No Mercy, or MW 2000 game for 64 that is both Headbanger's back special. I know that doesn't always mean anything, but they did have it as a move. Essa Rios didn't bring the moonsault either. Vader used the Vadersault, Shawn used it while the opponent was standing, and Blue Meanie I believe was there before Rios, and he aslo used it.
No Mercy was all kinds of awesome. And the news that Nintendo are considering bringing it back as Wii Ware with updated rosters is enough to make me want a Wii. Wow, when they named that console, they really didn't think of all the jokes, did they? Anyway, we're talking about a game which had Kane dropping top-rope elbows, so...
Meanie and Rios came in around the same time. Vader didn't use the Vadersault for a while after debuting, preferring the Vader Bomb instead. I couldn't swear to when he first 'saulted in a WWE ring though. With HBK, though, you are quite right about HBK. I sit corrected.
Alex Levine is convinced he has it right. Funny thing is, he doesn't.
Come on...I may not have been right with the 450 or Pedigree a couple weeks ago-- but this has got to be the Forward Sit-Down Neckbreaker-- Stone Cold Stunner/RKO/Diamond Cutter, call it whatever the hell you want. My personal favorite name is what I call it in the Wrestling Fed in My Head-- Esophagore (see what I did there?)
Oh yes, very droll. Ironically "gore" would have been a much better choice of answer. On, then, to the winners. First up, Andrew Crow, who swears he's not related to Raven.
I can think of two moves here, and both were made famous by bald men with goatees from the south that wore all black. But, seeing as how the wording says "spearheaded," I'm guessing the Spear, initially popularized by Goldberg. Considering how many people use it as a move these days (Edge, Bobby Lashley, occasionally Cena, Batista, and the best version of it being done by Rhino), I think my guess is pretty correct. Unless it's not...then it's the Stunner/Cutter...no, SPEAR!!! IT'S THE SPEAR!
It is, it is. Also guessing right was Brad Garden.
My guess for the move is the Spear. I know you will get 1670652125317 guessses like mine because of the clues "thrust" (HAHA! Oh how immature) and "spearheading".
Also the last 10 years - 1997... Around the time of Goldberg. Guys liek Rhy/ino, Edge, REFUSE to mention Lashley and Batista's pathetic attempts.
My guess is the SPEAR! GORE! Batista's accidental front-on collision...
But but but...you said you weren't going to mention Batista! ERROR! ERROR! Al Stavola, get our logic circuits back on track!
I'd like to hazard a guess at the next move to be highlighted: The Spear. This statement - "Next week, we're looking at a move that has really been thrust into the limelight in the last 10 years, with one particular man spearheading the popularity of it." - makes me think you offered a not-so-subtle hint to the actual name of the move, not to mention that the spear is pretty much synonymous with the name Goldberg (although Edge and more recently Lashley have made it their own). Obviously, you could also look at Rhyno's "Gore" and Marcus Cor Von/Monty Brown's "Pounce" variation.
Maybe I'm dead wrong.
As far as moves that involve people getting dropped on their head, I'd love to know more about the "Ganso Bomb". Aside from the original "accidental" invention of the move, is it commonly used by anybody on the indie/Japanese scene and if so, how does the person receiving the move protect against it?
A feature on Muscle Busters/Muscle Bombs would also be awesome. I actually became aware of that move due to its usage by King of the Tekken video game series. Seeing Samoa Joe do his variation makes me happy, but I think the best real life usage I've seen has been by Damien 666. It just seems like it would be a totally devastating move in that it just crunches your whole body.
Sorry to ramble on. I'm a first time writer and appreciate 411's thorough and regular updates :)
Always good to get first-time mail. And feel free to ramble at will, sir. Your suggestions have been noted, though I don't know if there are enough muscle buster variations to warrant a full column. Maybe I can shoehorn it in with something else. Same goes for the Ganso Bomb. Interesting point you make about Tekken though...King sure had some nice chain wrestling combos. I smell a gimmick!
Bryan had this to say:
I'm thinking one of two things, although the first would be a bit too obvious what with you saying that one man "spearheading" its popularity. Either the Spear, used by Goldberg, Rhino and Edge among others, or what I think your actually referring to, the Superkick used by many from the "Gentleman" Chris Adams to the most well known, the "Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels.
I now return to my own personal Jericho watch. Save Us Y2J!
Superkick eh? Interesting. I'll add that one to the pile. James got it right too, even chastising me for making it too easy. Well, next time won't be, OK? Good.
I'm throwing my hat in the ring once again.
Oh, and spearheading? Come on Chris, that was almost too easy.
Something to do with Goldberg, Edge and lately Bobby Lashley perhaps
I was trying to be sneaky. It didn't work. Final correct guess came from Michael Holman...
My guesses: the 3/4 Bulldog (AKA: Stunner/RKO/Diamond Cutter) as popularized by Stone Cold OR "The SPEAR!" by the giant scary Goldburg (who was almost named Mossad...that would have sucked).
Another bet-hedger. And yes, Mossad would have sucked, but it would have given him a built-in fad with Faarooq!
Is that the feedback done with then? It is? Fabulous. Without further ado, I give you:
Smooth Moves Volume 4 – Spear
It would be nigh-on impossible to determine who actually invented the Spear, as it's really a running shoulder tackle to the midsection. The bread basket, as the late, great Gorilla Monsoon would say. What is sure is that, although Rhyno was doing it before, and some would say better, it became a legit finisher when Goldberg was using it to set up the Jackhammer. Being a former American football player (real football is played by, you know, actually KICKING the ball...), he was able to get great thrust and impact from the move, and his expressions and histrionics after hitting it made it all the more impressive. That is, right up until this happened:
Bret Hart was a genius. Here's what our winners had to say about the spear...
Michael Holman: As I mentioned to Meehan, sometimes the Spear looks like a million bucks and a legitimate fight-ender. Other times, it looks like a running hug (I'm looking at you, Rated R Superstar). I've got to say that Batista and Lashley make the spear look really credible, though I'll give the nod to Lashley simply because the intensity he shows while prepping himself to charge is just frightening. A good cameraman catches a look of "You're in my crosshairs, and you're dead now". Batista busts it out as a great counter/momentum interupt, but it just doesn't have the buildup. Surprised I didn't say Goldberg? Well, I always felt like he spent too much time dancing around as if to say "Look what I did, Momma, I got one!" after the Spear. Sure, he brought it into the limelight, but he just didn't make it look quite as deadly.
Lashley huh? I always thought Lashley was guilty of the running hug attack (you stole my phrase!) more than Edge.
James: Who does the spear best is a good question, but for me it comes down to two guys, Goldberg or Edge, but for different reasons.
Goldberg's spear just looked awesome; a 280 pound man sprinting across the ring and driving his shoulder into some poor guy was pretty cool to see; but of course you knew the match was building up to it. And in its own way, that was cool.
Edge on the other hand, isn't as big, but his spear can come out of nowhere, anywhere, anytime, and it can easily win a match…or a world title. And that's pretty cool too.
As far as favourite spears go…Goldberg's spear that led to him winning the WCW Championship from Hogan was a pretty good one. And Edge's WrestleMania 22 flaming table spear. But there's one epic spear that stands out from all the others...
I'm not even going to argue with that Edge spear being epic. The flaming table one was awesome too. I like your point about Edge not being big, but still making the Spear look like a million bucks. My own personal favourite Spear was when Jimmy Jacobs speared Daizee Haze so hard that her shoes flew off. Literally. This was at All Star Extravaganza III. I looked high and low for a clip of this, but I couldn't find one. Jimmy Rave, another RoH alum now in TNA, also has a great spear. Both these guys are under 210.
Bryan:
Edge has by far, the best spear in the business. From the facial expressions setting it up, to the execution to the aftermath, no one does it better!
I should note that Bryan also picked out the spear off the ladder at Mania as a prime example. I'd totally forgotten the way Rey sold that shot from Edge, damn it was nasty.
I'm shocked that not one single GORE! GORE! GORE! made the cut of favourites. Rhyno, in my opinion, has the consistently strongest spear, especially when doing it through things like tables, sets, walls...
Ouch.
The only real "variation" of the Spear would be Monty CorBrown's Pounce.
When sold properly, this cross-up shoulder tackle looks AWESOME. I actually prefer the WWECW versions with both the victim and Marcus bouncing off the ropes, just makes the car wreck look that much nastier. The key to selling a Spear is to fall back quickly, not allowing the attacker to carry you for any distance, while still maintaining contact with his shoulder. The best way to do this is to almost drop on to your ass ass contact is made, letting the momentum carry your head to the mat as well. Yes, it is going to take the wind out of you. And hurt.
To rank the past and present Spear-ers:
8. Batista's running hug-attack
7. Lashley's incidental collision
6. Jimmy Jacob's shoe-removing spear
5. Edge's helmet-assisted spear
4. Marcus/Monty CorBrown's POUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNCE-UH. Period.
3. Jimmy Rave's lightning-quick crunch spear of doom
2. Goldberg's all-time classic
1. Rhyno's Gore! Gore! Gore! (with Heyman selling it like crazy on commentary)
The only thing that annoys me about Rhyno, Goldberg and Edge's executions of the move is the way they dance around BEFORE hitting it, begging their opponents to get up while appearing constipated. Lashley has occasionally been guilty of this, but he normally just looks like death on legs.
Next Sunday promises a whole lot of spearing action, with Batista in action, Edge returning, and a possible Lashley return. And will we finally see Jericho?
For next week's column, I'm not focusing on any one move, but on an issue that a lot of you have sent me feedback about: Banned moves and injuries. I'll also have my Survivor Series thoughts, and anything else that pops into my head. Be sure to check out the fine, fine columns written by Ari,Bayani,The Boss and Steve Cook.
