Midcarders of Yesteryear: Crash Holly

[spinningtorturerack]

Hey my fellow midcardigans!

Today's specimin is weighing in at alledgedly well over 400lbs and is known as the "Houdini of Hardcore." Yes we are talking about:

Crash Holly

Crash debuted in 1999, showing a tentative relationship with his cousin Hardcore Holly. Eventually these guys won the tag belts from Rock 'n' Sock Connection but Crash only held the belts with his on and off again partner for two weeks.

Crash has also won the european championship and the light heavyweight championship, once each.

But he is most remembered for his hardcore title runs, all 22 of them. Yes Crash became an innovator of the hardcore division, known for creating the 24/7 defence rule, aslong as a referee is there causing all sorts of defences like in a hotel room, backstage and, of course in a childrens' playground:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cuYEsFbJW8

What really suprises me about crash though, is that being a hardcore wrestler, you expect him to be a brawler and so on, but he worked very well as a chain wrestler and so on, as seen in this match against dean malenko:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC7DeQwgWYQ

All in all, crash was a great light weight wrestler with such a high amount of energy whenever he was involved in something.

But what are YOUR opinions on him? Did you feel he was the peson that destroyed the hardcore title and made it a complete joke with his 24/7 rule?

What about his matches? Did you watch or switch over? Did he deserve his place in the midcard?

Please, pull up a post and tell all...

 

[NSL]

Crash was a midcarder? That's news to me. I figured he was always a comedy jobber

I don't blame him for killing the Hardcore Title though. It was dead on arrival, and his reigns were just another step in the title getting buried by Vince. I don't hate him either.

His tag matches with Bob were semi-entertaining at least, and once they brought Molly in, they were a team I could almost take seriously. I don't miss him as a wrestler though...Shame he died so young.

 

[spinningtorturerack]

I would consider him a mid-carder, he had some fairly high profile matches in the holly cousins & won the european (classic midcard belt).

Just look at the spike & molly romance in 01, basically the hollies and dudleyz feud, not huge but definitely was prominent.

I think once we had the brand split he did kinda fall into a comedy jobber status, but certainly a midcarder before hand!

 

[NSL]

I would consider him a mid-carder, he had some fairly high profile matches in the holly cousins & won the european (classic midcard belt).

Face the facts here though...The European belt was not a "classic" belt by the time he had it. It lost all credibility long before then, and never regained it.

Had he won the IC title, or a number of tag titles, I'd buy him as a mid-carder. It could have been the era as well, keeping him from being at that level. He was OK, but not as good as the guys above him, and too good to be with the guys below him.

 

[spinningtorturerack]

I suppose you could partly put that down to his huge involvement in the hardcore divison which put him into the comedy jobber position, I think had he avoided that area he could have progressed better and been taken more seriously. Im not saying he'd reach top flight but certainly intercontinental status, even as a transitional champ.

 

[Toroc102]

I was about to agree with Nightshift here until I remembered the whole 24/7 thing. I always forget about that whole part of the WWF, but I would say it made him a prominent midcarder for for time he was the dominant guy in the storyline. However besides that I'd never considered him anything other than a comedy jobber. I always thought he was boring when he didn't have hardcore gold on him and usually wacthed Nitro if he didn't. That being said I did highly enjoy him in the 24/7 era.

 

[INDYjon22]

I was never a super fan of Crash holly during his tenure in the WWE, in fact my favorite angle he was in was when he was a Mooron during the days of Matt Hardy Version 1. That being said he was a very talented little guy. He put guys over in the hardcore and light heavyweight divsion and did so in a good manner. His hardcore matches and title reign were very entertaining as well. He truly was the Houdini of Hardcore and lived up to that monicre. I was sad when I heard the news that he died because even though I may not have been a big fan of his I did enjoy him here and there. Very talented wrestler that was taken much tro early.

On a side note, I am really starting to dig these posts you are doing. Keep it up.

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

Crash did provide us with some hilarious TV segments back in the day, and considering he was an ex-ECW guy who got lumped with a 'Hardcore Holly's cousin' gimmick, i think he did very well to get himself as over as he did. I enjoyed the 24/7 rule (although it did get tedious towards the end), and he also provides a great counter argument for when people bitch about Michelle McCool using the Styles Clash.

Does anyone know where i can find some of Crash's matches from ECW online, i wouldn't mind checking those out.