---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Michael Fitzgerald"
Hi Scott
Hope you're well
Possible discussion for the blog
I wonder if WWE have considered maybe turning Jack Swagger babyface? It's either that or fire him really at this point. He's lost so many matches to so many people that he's pretty much a joke. Turning him and giving him some fresh matches might give WWE a chance to change that perception. They could try the "Pro-USA" gimmick with him. Hacksaw Duggan could be getting beaten up by two lower card heels (Hunico and the other one, What's he called? Carpacio?) and Swagger could run in for the save and lead the fans in a "USA" chant. Just a thought
Keep it real!
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Only the realest. I had thought they were trying to turn Swagger with the whole breakup angle but God knows that ended up forgotten like everything else. A standard USA gimmick would work as well as anything else for him at this point.
I don't think they should fire him. It was their decision for him to lose all those matches. To be told to lose that much and then get fired for it? That's business, I guess. But that's not good business.
ReplyDeleteim a huge fan (wwe universe?!?) of swagger's.
ReplyDeletefire him.
he could join aces n eights!!!
Well the problem is, if Swagger turns face, they are already short on faces with a little star power that can do clean jobs to heels and have it mean something, so he'd still just end up jobbing a lot.
ReplyDeleteI think he needs a full overhaul: ditch the All American American stuff altogether and find something else to get him over. Otherwise he's just going to keep on being redolent of Kurt Angle, and since he can't wrestle to that level he's always going to seem like a cheap copy.
Really the problem is just that he got to a certain level and started to coast, and I don't think he has enough drive or passion to really make himself stand out. I know I'm the biggest Swagger-basher on here (sorry Fuj) but I honestly think we are seeing the full extent of what he's capable of, in the ring or as a character. Look at his body language when he's out there, even when it's a match where he has an angle behind it he just seems to want to coast and go through the motions. I guarantee if he ever did get fired, there'd be no TNA in his future, I think he'd just retire or take a shot at MMA. I really don't think the guy is cut out for wrestling.
Lol @ Carpacio. He's one of the most delicious tasting in-ring performers!
ReplyDeleteIf they created a new stable, I think that he would be perfect in an enforcer type role if he got a new angry streak.
ReplyDeleteAlso, he would be perfect in a tag team with Alex Riley as a douchebag jock tag team.
Don't turn him. The guy has a "Biff"* face that makes you want to boo him.
ReplyDelete*(the Back to the Future character)
I remember reading last week that Swagger is being punished for failing multiple tests for marijuana. Guess he doesn't care enough to stop smoking.
ReplyDeleteFor me nothing desecrates the World title more than the knowledge that he has held it. Not his fault of course but I'm sure he's being punished for the fact that it was an awful booking decision
ReplyDeleteKhali is the only one worse, and just by a hair.
ReplyDeleteJust let him go. Swagger in TNA would help everyone involved. TNA gets a good worker and an instant feud with Angle, WWE frees up a spot, and Swagger gets a reboot. He can always come back with some credibility.
ReplyDeleteAre seriously that hung up about guys smoking marijuana?
ReplyDeleteYou know, these smokers should take a play out of the Triple H playbook and just keep giving Cena and Sheamus poppy seed bagels.
Is it better to be on TV n lose all the time like Swagger n now Cody Rhodes or is it better to be on TV once every 3 months n lose like Alex Riley n JTG??
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy to think but that world title run ruined his career
ReplyDeleteSwagger somehow has created the illusion that he's a good worker in spite of all evidence to the contrary. He's awkward, his work lacks any sizzle, he can't sell and he can't even cut a promo. I couldn't name a single good match he's been involved in. If he didn't have a singlet and do an ankle lock people wouldn't compare him to Kurt Angle in any way.
ReplyDeleteIt would be funny if Swagger got future endeavored, yet his Eagle mascot stuck around, popping up now and then or getting adopted by someone else.
ReplyDeleteI've likened it to Billy Gunn getting a run with the world title in 1999.
ReplyDeleteI fully endorse a Swagger & Riley pairing.
ReplyDeleteI still don't get putting the World title on him. He hadn't been doing much prior to winning MITB, so winning that came out of nowhere. I thought they'd build him up but he just won the title right away...and then didn't even really push him. I was expecting some of that "you're going to take this guy seriously and we're going to push him until you do" but if I recall he lost the belt in his first pay per view defense.
ReplyDeleteBecause if Gunn had won the world title in 99 his glorious career ever since then might have not happened?
ReplyDeleteYeah, what happened with Rhodes? The guy lucked into an awesome character and was on a roll there. Then they just took everything about the character that worked away and he's just another guy again.
ReplyDeleteActually he BEAT RANDY ORTON in his first PPV defense. Yeah he used weapons to do so, but it was a No DQ match.
ReplyDeleteAfter that was when things fell apart. A DQ loss to Big Show on PPV, and then lost the title to Rey in a four-way, and then lost his rematch to Rey on the next PPV. Hasn't been relevant since, really.
Despite what someone said earlier though, he has had good matches, that rematch with Rey being his best.
Swagger would go nowhere as an over the top USA face. He would cut a couple wacky promos that would fall significantly short of actually being funny, then go back to jobbing--only to heals instead of faces. This guy on the other hand:
ReplyDeletehttp://youtu.be/z1RXeHvZbHk
Not really the aftermath but that they took a guy who was nowhere close to being over and gave him the title in a lazy way.
ReplyDeleteYour wording has confused me, I think what you mean is that you are a member of the Jack Swagger Universe. I'm unfamiliar with the term fan.
ReplyDeleteIf he ever gets fired, it won't be for having lost matches, it will be for being a bland worker that was never over even when he did get a little push.
ReplyDeleteI can't stand Jack Swagger. I see nothing in the guy and he is the type of boring, personality lacking character that makes me change the channel just about every time he's on. The fact that he has a world title run speaks volumes to how meaningless that title has become. Face/Heel, whatever, I don't see him ever getting over.
ReplyDeletethis guy gets it
ReplyDeleteHe had a near miss as far as Wellness was concerned. In fact he actually tweeted something about him being suspended and getting time off but got a last minute reprieve.
ReplyDeleteSince then he hasn't done anything of value at all. I wonder if he's being punished for that.
Wow. Swagger could do no wrong during his first year or so but a couple years of jobbing have pretty much killed his career. He might as well wrestle in a J.O.B. squad t-shirt until the his contract expires.
ReplyDeleteThat is phenomenal. I so hope that they actually go forward with something like this for someone - would be hysterical.
ReplyDeleteThis makes so much sense to me that it feel they'll never actually do it. Maybe they don't think they'll make any more money this way so they don't care, and they know he could be crazy over but he doesn't kiss ass enough to warrant that kind of push.
ReplyDeleteOpinions obviously vary widely on Swagger. To me, he is at his best when he is doing the parts of his moveset that look the most like real wrestling. I've seen him ragdoll people with waistlock takedowns and he looks awesome. He can be funny when they ask him to be, he still looks before a match like he might kill somebody, which preserves the drama inherent in him losing.Still, if they feel they need to reboot the guy, they might try one of the following:1. Have him realize he has African roots and come back with a white African gimmick.2. Have him realize his Mexican roots and come back as a bullfighter.3. Have him realize he really wants to work repossessing loaned property, delinquent on payment. He could wear a mask.4. Have him realize he has Oklahoma roots, and come back as JR.Any of these might work.
ReplyDeleteI'm a huge Swagger fan and I think he's one of those guys that WWE is missing the boat on. He's competent enough in the ring and is fairly entertaining when given a chance on the mic.
ReplyDeleteThe problem was that they changed his character the exact second he won the world title. He should have still had that cocky arrogant heel gimmick. The serious schtick didn't work that much. Also, feuding with Big Show didn't help much because it is Big Show.
ReplyDeleteMiz, Swagger, and Ziggler = Hitler Youth gimmick (managed by Col DeBeers)
ReplyDeleteVarsity Club 2k12 for the win.
ReplyDeleteGetting that PPV program with the Rock in 1999 probably meant more than getting a "World" title win in 2010.
ReplyDeleteFuckin' Big Show. He ruins everyone! Cody Rhodes hasn't been the same since WM!
ReplyDeleteToo much too soon. I hate the MITB gimmick as guys get the world title without any real build-up.
ReplyDeleteThreadjack: looks like Zeus is going to prison...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.tmz.com/2012/08/31/tommy-lister-guilty-federal-court-mortgage-scam/
I can imagine how devastating it must be to be told that your next feud is with Big Show.
ReplyDeleteNot sure we're watching the same match
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Putalg2M65A
It's a decent Raw match at best. They build the whole thing up on Rey's ankle. Swagger gets him in a vulnerable position, grabs Rey's leg while he's weak and unable to counter and applies...A kneebar? Then he screws up what I think was meant to be a powerslam before having a cliff notes version of Kurt Vs. Rey for the last 5 minutes.
Cameron is smokin' hot, AW is not.
ReplyDeleteAm I the only one that gets Tiny Lister and Michael Clarke Duncan confused?
In her defense, it was most likely sabotage by Steve Austin, as supposedly she had the balls to mouth off to him about making it in the WWE despite being the first person eliminated by HIM on Tough Enough.
ReplyDeleteHe must have giving her a bunch of liquor as congratulations.
Oh man, that was hilarious. He comes out the way he normally would during a match or run in, but the moment he pinned Jericho, ROBO-SWAGGER WAS BORN!
ReplyDeleteMy understanding is that Derrick Bateman is making these himself as a pitch for the character. I know he hasn't been great in the ring, but when he was with Bryan on NXT he seemed like a pretty funny guy and I think he would kill it with this gimmick. I know we're in the PG era, but if the let him do this character and gave him a knock off of "America, F*** Yeah" (from Team America: World Police) as theme music, I would probably go into mark-iac arrest.
ReplyDeleteSwagger was doomed when they gave him the Ankle-lock, confirming that he's just there to be an Angle clone, but wouldn't put him over Big Show or even Rey Mysterio (both of whom Kurt Angle was able to beat on multiple occasions). They bacially told the fans, "Here's your new world champion, and he's a jobber Angle surrogate. Don't all express your disinterest at once." Not that Swagger deserved the title to begin with, but if they're going to pull the trigger on a guy, they might as well bother to load the gun.
ReplyDeleteIt was Jericho's plan all along. He sucked all the personality out of Swagger while pinned and instead molded him in his own image. IT WAS ME ALL ALONG, SWAGGER!
ReplyDeleteHe had a pretty nice run as ECW champ though.I remember him having good matches against Matt Hardy, and the best match I've ever saw of him was against Christian at Backlash 2009 for that belt.
ReplyDeletePersonal tastes aside, he set collegiate records at OU as an amateur wrestler, and made a very easy transition to WWE. Anytime they give him more than 10 minutes, he puts on a show (which he did a LOT in his first year/year and a half). You may dislike his personality (while others see the Biff-esque character shine through), but you should at least cop to the fact that he's pretty damn crisp in the ring.
ReplyDeletemight as well bring back wgtt while youre at it
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Lister going to jail will totally fuck up the Last Friday movie Ice Cube was planning?
ReplyDeleteBetter than Curry Man?
ReplyDeleteNow Zeus can toss a bomb detonator out the window when the Warden doesn't have the guts to do it himself
ReplyDeleteAny of you knockin Swagger and promoting Ziggler are bordering hypocrisy. Athletic guys, pretty boys, set records at their respective colleges, know and love the business/sport. Swagger is just better at offense and Ziggler is better at selling.
ReplyDeleteNow, just because they're a little afraid of speaking up for themselves (and they are), doesn't mean we should look down on them. WWE has guys like these and have no idea what to do with them, and it's inexcusable. Swagger, Ziggler, Kingston, R Truth, Kidd, Rhodes, Dibiase, Primo, Ryder, Hunico, Ambrose, Seth Rollins, the Usos... all of these guys have loads of talent, have shown flashes of personality that is relatable to one segment of the audience, and have a passion for what they do. And then there's about another 5-10 guys who look they could have something special but really haven't had the chance to shine. I feel like I could start a promotion right now with those guys and create something special.
But WWE is too busy with its status quo obsession. It used to reward guys who tried to do different things. Now the company punishes them. Anomalies like Bryan and Punk exist, but that's it.
One of those things happened on television...
ReplyDeleteNot tryin to be a dick but AW didn't only get fired for the Kobe joke. The unsolicited Linda plug on Twitter was the bigger deal, because that could've got them fined hardcore.
ReplyDeleteI know this sounds trite, but at this stage I'm sure that the guys you mentioned are just glad to have a steady paycheck. And WWE knows it.
ReplyDelete15 days? Should have been 30 minimum, if their Wellness Policy is to be believed.
ReplyDeletewell, Ziggler is hilarious on his youtube show, too, but overall, fair point.
ReplyDeleteJack Swagger can't cut a promo to thave his life!
ReplyDeleteThere are at least a dozen guys on the roster who deserve a crack at the main event scene before gets another one.
Agreed!
ReplyDeleteWhat's Dolf Zitler doing in the Impact Zone?
ReplyDeleteYou got a better Swagger match? lol I'm trying my best here!
ReplyDeleteI don't know about better but I seem to recall Swagger and Cena having a decent match on one of the draft shows.
ReplyDeleteIt must be so deflating when you're on a roll. You're going to have shitty matches with a guy who has to look superior at every turn.
ReplyDeleteI think he had a match against Cena on Raw that was pretty good, for a Raw match at least. I hadn't seen a lot of Swagger and was surprised at how decent he was in that match.
ReplyDeleteWas that a typo or a reference to a lisp?
ReplyDeleteJax Wagner!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure whenever Vince sees Back to the Future he'll turn Swagger into a stupid, obnoxious asshole character.
ReplyDeleteProbably, though he may just get probation, who knows...
ReplyDeleteTrue, I forgot about that.
ReplyDeleteSee, I actually think the "serious" thing worked incredibly well for him, specifically because the character's idea of being taken seriously was to be the same goofy idiot he always was. It wasn't a Jericho-esque "serious" where he spoke slowly and with absolute contempt, it was still about displaying his trophy collection and wearing a cape, except that he was now wearing a suit, because that's what champions are supposed to do.
ReplyDeleteAs Mar Solo said, the way Swagger literally tried to morph before our eyes was (IMO) hysterical and totally consistent with the character - he wanted to be taken seriously, so he tried to unsuccessfully mold himself in that image.
As for actually getting over, that was 100% the writers' fault; he was given one of those "win the title and then lose to everybody" reigns. Can't get over with one of those.
America, Oh Yeah!
ReplyDeleteYup, really good match with Cena during one of the "Draft" editions.
ReplyDeleteAlso, really good match with Taker that aired on another "Raw".
And they could bring in the actor Jack Wagner to feud with him to give TNA even more celebrity "buzz".
ReplyDeleteZiggler is hilarious; very true. I've heard good things about Swagger, too, but he hasn't been able to show some of his stuff on air.
ReplyDeleteWhat lithp are you referring to?
ReplyDeleteJack Thwagger hasn't improved one iota in the ring since his debut. He is completely useless, even in jobbing. The Vader Bomb with 3 jumps (over his opponent, up to the turnbuckle, off the turnbuckle) makes him look awkward and uncomfortable in his own body. Perhaps his alleged athleticism doesn't translate well into being a convincing Thuperthtar that tells stories.
ReplyDeleteThe brevity of the run is what killed him more than anything, as he actually FELT like a world champion in cleverly-wrestled matches against Jack Swagger and Rey Mysterio. But then they did what they do with every young champion they want to establish and put him in a heat-killing feud with The Big Show. And he went from that to losing the title out of nowhere, with hardly any build, at the Fatal Four Way PPV. His loss was such a non-factor, yet if they'd at least kept the belt on him until Summerslam and had him lose it to Mysterio one-on-one, it might have actually felt like the culmination of a journey. Yet I'm almost certain they had him lose the belt to establish the "champion is at a disadvantage, titles will change!" concept of the new Fatal Four Way PPV, which was thankfully never seen again.
ReplyDeleteFor self-professed "storytellers," WWE couldn't write my nephew a cogent bedtime story.
Knowing Vince, he's probably only just getting around to Back to the Future now.
ReplyDeleteThat was Scream09's point.
ReplyDeleteI've got it! Big Johnny dressed as Uncle Sam as his manager!
ReplyDeleteMichael Clarke Duncan is bigger in stature and doesn't have the lazy eye.
ReplyDeleteI remember that Undertaker match on that Raw where all the Raw guys were stuck in England thanks to the Volcano and the SD guys/part-timers had to fill the show. That was a very good match and Taker managed to make Swagger look legit even while defeating him.
ReplyDeleteAh, thank you, I couldn't remember which episode it was.
ReplyDeleteAre you talking about Big Show or Randy Orton?
ReplyDeleteSwagger has zero micwork and a dumb looking face... but he is big and can wrestle! Reminds me of Brock Lesnar in 2002. What about building him up against Brock Lesnar and then turning Lesnar face and Heyman as Swaggers Manager? He could be the next next big thing. :)
ReplyDeleteweird that I mention him and he dies....
ReplyDelete