WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins confirmed back in May that Curb Stomp, the finishing move that won him the title at WrestleMania, was officially gone.
Rollins apologized but didn’t say why, leaving us to assume that Triple H’s recent concern with kids googling WWE terms would lead them to a harrowing experience with that one scene from American History X. There were also rumors of head injury scares, and the constant influx of unrelated employee-injury lawsuits contributing to the move being 86’d.
On the most recent episode of The Buzz with Jimmy Traina, Rollins cleared up some of the rumors and finally explained exactly why the Curb Stomp was banned. It’s not an unusual reason, but it’s good to finally know why:
“It was a decision that was collectively made from a PR standpoint. Curb stomp just seemed like it was too perceptually violent, I guess you would say. I never hurt anyone with it. It was just something we didn’t want kids trying on each other.”
Followup question, are the finishes that haven’t been banned moves WWE does want kids trying on each other?
The other important note from the interview was Rollins explaining the origins of “Johnny Idiot-Face,” his ice burn on Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel. Sadly, “Johnny Idiot-Face” was not the brainchild of WWE Creative.
“He definitely did not know it was coming, and it was certainly off the top of my head. Johnny was born with one of those faces that you just want to punch. You just wanna put your fist in his face. Maybe it’s the way he comes off. I don’t know. It just came to me when I saw him sitting there. It just seemed right.”
Nailed it.
Here’s the full episode if you’d like to give it a listen. Lots of talk about John Cena and Brock Lesnar, but not enough about how much he enjoys The Wonder Years’ album The Greatest Generation.
