Crowbar reflects on his journey in the wrestling world.
A thirty-year veteran of the industry, Crowbar (also known as Devon Storm) has worked for a number of companies over the years, including WWE, WCW, ECW, and TNA. He remains active on the independent scene, and he also works as a physical therapist. Among other accolades, he is a former WCW Cruiserweight Champion and WCW World Tag Team Champion.
Speaking with Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp, Crowbar looked back on hs career. First, he reflected on his days in WCW, which began with his run as Devon Storm. He stated that a "bad mullet" and a bad outfit, and he noted that Kevin Sullivan reached out to him through promoter Tony Rumble.
"When I first went in, it was as Devon Storm. Bad mullet, bad outfit. Bad everything. Bad outfit. Everything. Kevin Sullivan reached out through a northeast promoter, Tony Rumble, and they brought me out there for the cruiserweight stuff," Crowbar said.
Crowbar then described how, after he spent roughly a year with ECW, he returned to WCW. He credited Diamond Dallas Page for giving him some meaningful advice and telling him he'd help him. Crowbar expressed his gratitude and stated that DDP helped open a door for him.
"From there I went from that to ECW, spent about a year there or so, maybe a little less, then I went back to doing enhancement matches and doing tag matches with Ace Darling and we were both in school full time. I had met Dallas Page while I was there, and I tell everybody, ‘You can work as hard as you want, you ultimately need somebody to help open a door for you.’ Dallas was there at that time. He goes, ‘Bro, you got a lot of talent,’ this that and the other thing — but back then it was also different — ‘If you keep doing these matches, you’re going to get typecast as a job guy.’ So he goes, ‘Leave for now, finish school, get your degree and get better and if I can help you down the line, I will.’ He essentially got me in. Very grateful," he said.
Turning his attention to ECW, Crowbar emohasized that he loved the product, and he sill enjoys the hardcore style, but he doesn't like garbage wrestling. He described how he prefers to use objects that are naturally positioned at ringside during matches, and he pointed out that the convenient presence of tables under the ring has become an accepted part of wrestling now.
"I loved the product. I still like mixing in the chairs and the more hardcore type. It’s a style that I like. I don’t like garbage wrestling where you just smack guys, but I like where you have a wrestling match and it just gets so heated [that] it degrades. I’m also a big fan of using objects that naturally occur at ringside. A guard rail, a chair, a bell. The tables have been grandfathered in. For whatever reason, we don’t know why, but there are folding tables under a wrestling ring. They serve some function. I’m not sure what they are. That’s an accepted part of wrestling now," Crowbar said.
After he continued to discuss the way tables were used in ECW, he made it clear that he liked that approach, which focused on objects that were already available, rather than grabbing a trash can that happens to be under the ring. He stated that he was excited about going to ECW, but it didn't work out well for him. Crowbar noted that he was probably the most unpopular member of the locker room.
"Way back, you can’t bring the announcers tables in the ring—they’re gigantic now—but old ECW, they used to have the folding tables. We used to piledrive guys on the table, bring the tables in the ring. So what I’m getting at is, I like that a lot more than a big garbage can full of junk, you know what I mean? I loved the product. I was excited about going. It didn’t work out too good for me there me. I was probably the most unpopular guy in the locker room," he said.
Crowbar also commented on his talks with WWE and stated that they discussed potentially bringing him in as an opneing-match performer. As [art of this position, he also would have worked as the physical therapist for the talent while the company was on the road. However, Crowbar stated that these talks fizzled out.
"I did the light heavyweight stuff as Devon Storm. There was talk at that time, believe it or not, that when I graduated I would have been an opening match guy and also be the on the road physical therapist for the guys. That just never happened," Crowbar said.
In the same interview, Crowbar discussed his career resurgence. Check out his comments here.
Crowbar previously discussed his AEW appearance. Click here to see what he had to say.
Catch up on results from around the wrestling world here.
