On a recent episode of the podcast, “No Contest Wrestling”, Swerve Strickland, the ex-AEW World Champion, disclosed details about his House Call finisher in WWE NXT. In the initial stages, both Triple H and Shawn Michaels were not fully convinced about his finisher move.
Here are some noteworthy parts from the podcast:
Discussing the initial reception of his House Call finisher, he says, “Initially when I launched the House Call in NXT, it wasn’t landing perfectly and some wrestlers were managing to evade it. Triple H suggested that I continue the move, but not as a finale. Shawn agreed with him adding, ‘Yeah, it’s not a suitable finish. It’s too unpredictable.’ Interestingly, he didn’t appreciate the fact that people could duck from his move, despite Shawn himself incorporating a superkick into his moves.”
On the topic of discovering a novel finish in NXT, Strickland comments, “I had a lot of difficulty coming up with a fresh finish in NXT. When Finn returned, I couldn’t do the Swerve Stomp anymore. I admire Naruki Doi and his infamous Naruki Driver. I saw it and tried it on Leon Ruff which worked. But when Bronson Reed appeared, I had to rethink.”
Finally, Michaels gave in and permitted Strickland to proceed as he wished. Narrating his experience of winning the North American Title, he shares, “About a year later, when vying for the North American Championship, Bronson being the current champion, Shawn finally agreed, ‘Let’s plan the finish creatively. Could it be the kick?’ I was totally shocked. After journeying a full circle with Shawn resisting and finally accepting, I was told, ‘You can now do what you want.’”
You can listen to the interview here. (A link to an embedded video of the podcast is here).