#5 Darren Young - The Crossface Chickenwing & The Gut Check
Trending
It’s funny, but of the original eight members of the Nexus, Darren Young is the only one still actively wrestling in WWE. From the beginning, it didn’t look like he was ever going to be pegged as a top guy, and part of that was that he never had a finisher that really stood out.
His most recent finishers were: a fireman’s carry double knee Gutbuster, which is as basic and generic as they come; and the Crossface Chickenwing, which he adopted from Bob Backlund.
Meet John Cena's dad HERE
In both cases, Young had the potential to get over with his finishers, but again, nothing was done to elevate those moves. For a wrestler to progress and convince the fans to invest in them, there must be a reason for those fans to do so.
Without the commentators filling in the holes of the stories told in the matches, which is done by selling the moves they use as important, the wrestlers stay in the same place.
Darren Young’s Gutbuster was never treated like a big deal when he used it to win a few matches. Then, when he started using the Crossface Chickenwing (which is a legitimately painful hold used by many true submission experts), the same thing happened.
The reaction from the commentators (and by extension, the fans) was lukewarm at best, which prevented Young from climbing any further up the WWE ladder.
