NEW BLOOD OF THE FINAL DAYS #2 - Crowbar

Welcome to the second installment of the NEW BLOOD OF THE FINAL DAYS here on TheBigBangMay6.com.

In this edition, I’ve decided to cover someone who had one of the more unique runs in WCW history. Starting his run during The Powers That Be era in late 1999 to the end of the Fusient Era in March 2001, this performer won a plethora of championships, had made several different alliances, and truly caught on as a fan favorite during World Championship Wrestling’s final days. He was off-kilter, rambunctious, and fearless.

This week’s performer is the one and only CROWBAR.

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Before arriving in WCW, Devon Storm was the personification of a journeyman.

Storm, born in New Jersey, cut his teeth on the Northeast independent circuit, wrestling future stars like Mike Quackenbush, Billy Kidman, Simon Diamond, and the vastly underrated Ace Darling. Storm and Darling were also a tag team in multiple promotions, known as The Extreme.

Throughout the late 1990s, Storm made his own breaks, attempting to break through into one of the top three promotions in the United States. 

He was heavily featured in ECW throughout 1996, wrestling men like Taz, Shane Douglas, the Dudley Boyz, the Gangstas, and Mikey Whipwreck. His only singles win at the ECW Arena was against El Puertoricano on June 1, 1996. His last televised match was a loser-leaves-town battle against 2 Cold Scorpio at the 1996 November To Remember on November 16, 1996.

Storm made a plethora of appearances on both WWF and WCW programming. On two editions of Monday Nitro in 1997, Storm and Ace Darling faced Kevin Nash and Scott Hall in two WCW World Tag Team Title matches on January 27 and February 10 respectively. 

Also, he was a part of the tournament to crown the inaugural WWF Light Heavyweight Champion, losing his first round match to eventual champion Taka Michinoku on the November 10, 1997 edition of Raw. Ironically, this was the day AFTER the infamous Montreal Screwjob at Survivor Series 1997.

By the Fall of 1999, Storm’s steady diet of independent wrestling shows, including events with Jim Kettner’s ECWA and ISPW out of New Jersey and television tapings with both WWF and WCW, were continuing to build his reputation as a future star.

On the December 23 edition of Thunder, Storm’s time to shine finally arrived. And it began at a gas station.

Yes, a gas station.

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David Flair and Daffney Unger became a couple at Starrcade 1999, shortly after losing a “crowbar on a pole” match to Diamond Dallas Page. The following night on Nitro, Daffney was hit on backstage by the Misfits, a legendary punk rock band based out of Lodi, New Jersey. The group, who were close friends with Mexican wrestling sensation Vampiro, found themselves in a sticky situation with the demented son of “the Nature Boy”, who lost his mind and attacked both Vampiro and lead singer Jerry Only with his patented crowbar.

Three nights later on Thunder, Flair and Daffney were on the road. After stopping for food, in which David attacked the fast food employee for getting his Salisbury steak order wrong, the duo took off and headed off to a gas station.

At the pumps, they encountered an oft-kilter individual, who was confused yet undeterred, wondering why he was being barked at for gas. A moment later, an innocent bystander came over, asking if he could get his oil changed. The dark-haired, ill-tempered individual stated that it was a gas station, not a mechanic shop, scurrying him off. Flair and Daffney, cackling, asked what his name was.

He replied, “Some people call me Crowbar.”

Flair and Daffney lost it.

Moments later, Vampiro and the Misfits spotted Flair and Daffney at the gas station, underneath the hood of their car. The group pulled over and began attacking. Moments later, Crowbar, with a steel pipe, began laying waste to the Misfits, scurrying them off as well.

A friendship was born.

Four days later, at Nitro from the Houston Astrodome, the WCW World Tag Team Championships were vacated due to an injury for Scott Hall. The Powers That Be decided to put on a Lethal Lottery Tag Team Tournament for the vacant belts.

In the first round, it was originally scheduled to be Evan Karagias and Vampiro against David Flair and the Maestro.. However, as Maestro made his way down the ramp, he was attacked by Crowbar! Flair and Crowbar became a tandem instead and upended the boy band singer and the punk rock vampire to advance to the next round.

The week after, on the first Nitro in the new millennium, Flair and Crowbar took on Lash LeRoux and Midnight in the quarterfinals. In a match that had interference from Harlem Heat, the Mamalukes and Disco Inferno, Crowbar picked up the win after an implant DDT from Big Vito to “the Ragin’ Cajun”.

In the semi-finals, Flair and Crowbar had to deal with Buff Bagwell & Vampiro. Originally, Bagwell and Chris “Champagne” Kanyon advanced to the semi-finals over “Screamin’” Norman Smiley and Asya, but Kanyon was dealing with his former Jersey Triad partner Bam Bam Bigelow. Vampiro requested to take Kanyon’s place and did. Midway through the match, the new WCW Commissioner Terry Funk and Arn Anderson made their way down to the ring to inform David that the New World Order had kidnapped Daffney. 

While this was going on, Vampiro yelled at the new Commissioner for being at ringside. “The Enforcer” Anderson punched out Vampiro. Bagwell, seemingly having enough of his new partner, delivered a Buff Blockbuster. Crowbar then pinned Vampiro, putting him and Flair in the finals against Kevin Nash and “Big Poppa Pump” Scott Steiner of the nWo.

In the finals, Flair and Crowbar ran down to the ring with weapons in hand, but were thoroughly thrashed by the monstrous Nash and Steiner. Suddenly, security surrounded ringside, along with Funk and Anderson, who was wearing a referee shirt. While calamity ensued around the arena, including Daffney coming free, “Double A” clobbered Nash with a golden crowbar, and put David on top of “Big Sexy”.

Three slaps on the mat later, DAVID FLAIR AND CROWBAR WON THE LETHAL LOTTERY TOURNAMENT AND THE WCW WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS!

Whew.

Even though Flair and Crowbar held onto the gold for fifteen days, they were fighting champions. They successfully defended the belts against the Filthy Animals, the Revolution, Lord Steven Regal & Squire Dave Taylor, and 3-Count.

After losing the belts to the Mamalukes on the Thunder before WCW Souled Out 2000 on January 18, the two teams feuded through SuperBrawl in February, where Big Vito and Johnny the Bull vanquished the insane pair of Crowbar and Flair in a Sicilian Stretcher match.

Crowbar’s death-defying style was on display at WCW Uncensored on March 19, 2000, when he and the Wall got into a fight following the big man’s match with Bigelow. Crowbar and Wall fought up to the top of the Uncensored stage setup, and, in one fell swoop, found himself victim to a high-impact chokeslam.

Crowbar fell fifteen feet through the wooden stage, knocking him out cold. He would be out for the next several weeks, recuperating from his injuries suffered. He healed up just in time, though, as change was upcoming again for WCW.

A few days before Souled Out 2000, Vince Russo from The Powers That Be quit WCW due to behind-the-scenes strife. A new creative committee, headed by Kevin Sullivan, took over. Time Warner management, not happy with the creative direction, relieved Sullivan and his team of their duties, bringing back Mr. Russo to team with Eric Bischoff and to turn around the promotion.

After the announcement on the April 10, 2000 Nitro that all the championships were vacated, Crowbar was put into the Six Man Mayhem for Spring Stampede on April 16, 2000 for the Cruiserweight Championship.

In a match that also included Juventeud Guerrera, Lash LeRoux, Shannon Moore, and The Artist Formerly Known As Prince Iaukea, Chris Candido, with help from the debuting Tammy Lynn Sytch, pinned the Artist to become the brand new Cruiserweight Champion.

Crowbar, however, was not deterred. While helping David Flair in his own rivalry against his father Ric, Crowbar and Daffney continued on their own side quest. 

On May 15, during a mixed tag team match with Candido and Sytch where the Cruiserweight Title was on the line, Daffney pinned Sytch in the ring, while Crowbar delivered a vicious Mind Bender, a sitout front suplex, to “Hard Knox” on the ramp, while Ms. Hancock danced to everyone’s delight.

By decree of WCW management, Crowbar and Daffney were co-Cruiserweight Champions. 

A week later on Nitro, Daffney and Crowbar were put together in a match where the winner would become undisputed Cruiserweight Champion. After an attack from Candido on Crowbar, Daffney went over to check on her fallen friend. The referee mistook it for a pinfall and Daffney won the match.

At this point, the fragile friendship between David and Crowbar started down a dark slope. As it turned out, David and Ms. Hancock, the leggy representative of Standards and Practices, were having an affair, which crushed Daffney severly. Crowbar, who had truly become a true friend to Daffney, even after her short reign as Cruiserweight Champion, took umbrage, and a new rivalry was born.

Once the cheaters became engaged, Daffney and Ms. Hancock faced off with one another in a “Wedding Gown” match at the infamous Bash At The Beach pay-per-view on July 9, where Ms. Unger picked up the win.

Sadly, as Crowbar began developing feelings for Daffney, he began to realize that she would only see him as a friend. In fact, she started dating someone that looked just like Crowbar. The friend zone had started to set in.

Heartbroken, Crowbar joined forces with “That 70’s Guy” Mike Awesome. Having a tough partner like Awesome helped channel his frustrations to the squared circle. They won a few matches as a team in October 2000 over the Harris Brothers and the Perfect Event, culminating in a World Tag Team Title match against Mark Jindrak and Sean O’Haire on the October 3 Thunder.

The union with “That 70’s Guy” helped reestablish Crowbar in the eyes of the WCW fans. His hard work paid off, as on the November 8 Thunder, Crowbar upended Hardcore Champion Reno to win the title, thanks to help from Big Vito, who was in the middle of a heated rivalry with his brother.

Crowbar was a fighting champion, similar to his reign as World Tag Team Champions with Flair, defending his title against all comers. He upended Vito and Reno at Mayhem in November, defeated his old partner Flair on the Thunder after Mayhem, and even put a beating on “Prime Time” Elix Skipper on the December 4 Nitro.

However, Crowbar started to let his success go to his head. When “Hardcore Legend” and former WCW Hardcore Champion Terry Funk challenged him for the Hardcore Title, he uncharacteristically didn’t take it seriously. Daffney, now single and worried about Crowbar’s mindset, tried to get him to focus, but to no avail.

Funk owned Crowbar from the first moment of their fight at Starrcade 2000. After nine minutes, Crowbar fell victim to his middle-aged and crazy challenger and lost his belt.

Finally, Crowbar and Daffney reconnected after Awesome joined Team Canada a few days after Starrcade. He showcased his toughness and grit in a three-way fight with Meng and Funk at Sin on January 14, 2001. Although he did not come out on top, Crowbar regained his toughness, preparing to fight for another day.

A few weeks after losing a great contest to “the Chosen One” Jeff Jarrett on the February 21, 2001 Thunder, it was announced online on March 6 that Crowbar was released from his WCW contract. At the time, with Fusient Media Ventures all but rumored to be purchasing the company, cost-cutting began, and Crowbar was one of the names selected to be released.

Sadly, a few weeks later, the bottom fell out, Fusient did not buy WCW, and the promotion ceased operations on March 26, 2001 after the final Nitro from Panama City Beach, FL.

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Although Crowbar was gone from WCW, his career had only begun.

He had found his way into every major American promotion. As Tempest in the Disciples of the New Church, he wrestled in TNA in 2002 and 2003. As Salem, he performed in several impressive contests for XPW. In the overseas World Wrestling All-Stars promotion from 2001-2003, he cut his teeth in some great battles with Sabu, Norman Smiley, and Konnan. 

He even had a match in WWE on September 28, 2003 against Scott Steiner on Sunday Night Heat. On a personal note, kudos to commentators Jonathan Coachman and Al Snow, who referenced Crowbar’s time in WCW. It was nice to see Crowbar gain a sense of closure with the mainstream wrestling audience.