In April of 2015, WWE banned the Curb Stomp, the finishing move of then-WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins. Despite the horrible-if-you-google-it name, the move was just a jumping stomp to a bent-over opponent. Still, it was deemed “too perpetually violent,” and Rollins quietly transitioned to a DDT finisher, and eventually the Pedigree. The move has been removed from WrestleMania 31 video packages despite Rollins using it to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the main event, and now WWE’s going back even farther to remove it from history.
According to Wrestling DVD Network, the Curb Stomp has been edited out of WWE’s NXT Greatest Matches Vol. 1 DVD/Blu-ray release. That means one of the most important moments in NXT history is erased — Rollins defeating Jinder Mahal at the end of a tournament to crown the first-ever NXT Champion.
Here’s the rundown:
In the first match featured on the compilation, Seth Rollins vs. Jinder Mahal from 2012, Rollins’ Curb Stomp (Blackout) finishing move has been edited out. That part of the match has not been completely omitted, but as the move is being delivered a crowd shot is shown instead.
The replay of the match ending then shows Rollins covering Mahal without the Curb Stomp before hand, and therefore the music playing in the background doesn’t quite match up correctly.
It’s also strange because everyone assumed the fact that it was called a “Curb Stomp” was the problem, but as noted, it wasn’t even the Curb Stomp back then. It was the “Blackout.” Is this specific style of jumping stomp worse than the millions of other stomps on WWE TV ever year? What’s the problem? It feels like there’s some hook or reasoning we’ve never known that makes the move so threatening it has to be removed from the entirety of Rollins’ history. Is there an epidemic of kids setting up too early and getting shoved into the ground by their shoulder? Are we worried about Blackouts in our elementary schools and not, like, punching?
Bizarre. Let the record books show that Seth Rollins became the first NXT Champion with his deadly finisher, the lateral press.
