Ever since his debut on the main roster, no matter what storyline hes been in or how successful his push, Barretts always had one major issue as a WWE superstar - as a pro wrestling character. His finishing move sucks worse than a broken hoover. Wasteland has always has been a craptastic finishing move: a firemans carry slam, which starts with the opponent draped across his shoulders and ends with him making a shouty face and gently rolling them forward onto the canvas. Ive said it before, and Ill say it again: children have been put to bed at night with more violence and conviction. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sI4boXyzKI Added to that though, over the last few years the GTS, the AA and the F5 have all been staples of the WWE main event, and all of them begin with a fireman's carry. Another finish from the same position was totally unnecessary. Someone else clearly thought the same way, because in 2012 Wasteland became relegated to a signature move, and Barrett took on a new finish: an elbow smash. First nicknamed the Souvenir, it was eventually rebranded the Bull Hammer. Its not just any elbow smash, though. There are often plenty of theatrics involved; he turns his elbow pad inside out; he shouts boom when he hits it; you know the kind of thing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyUP_0dTNeY The problem with swift knockout strikes as finishing moves is that the question is always asked... why dont they just pull the move out right at the beginning of the match and save themselves the grief? The Bull Hammer should be treated as a knockout blow that can come only in the right place in the match: either Barrett or his opponent or both need to come off the ropes, as with JBLs Clothesline From Hell. It can be set up with an Irish whip and some theatrics to add drama, or come outta nowhere in the middle of an otherwise unremarkable sequence, but the elbow should never just be an elbow. Right now, the Bull Hammer does whats its supposed to - its a striking finish built on being a one-shot-kill. Easy enough to book when the majority of the people taking it are from the undercard and hes facing them in four minute television matches: but at the upper card level, protection is vitally important. Kicking out of a top guys finish is always a big deal if its not, he needs a new finish. The double underhook suplex is a nice, underutilised bit of kit - if he can give it the same snap as Jinder Mahal used to, itll be a winner with the crowd.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
