Raw - Monday 11th February 2013

[METAL ON METAL]

If he was to wear a mask, or have a big beard, or something, and sort out his hair then he might be a go-er.

 

He already tried that didn't he? And it looked pretty shit because it was really light coloured.

[Mr Butternut Squash]

A remix of the Rougeau's All American Boys is the answer.

[Carbomb]

How about a dubstep remix of Angle's/The Patriot's theme? That's basically what his gimmick is now, anyway.

[ColinBollocks]

Nah, before Swagger wanders out, they should have Zeb Colter tell the audience they're all knobs, then follow it by singing America The Beautiful, while Swagger makes his way down to the ring.

[Statto]

A remix of the Rougeau's All American Boys is the answer.

 

That's Antonio Cesaro's gimmick, surely?

[Mr Butternut Squash]

A remix of the Rougeau's All American Boys is the answer.

 

That's Antonio Cesaro's gimmick, surely?

 

Actually, yeah, fuck Swagger that'd be GOLD.

[TheBigBoot]

That is a critism of the current roster I do agree with, but I feel it has been worse with the case of Jack Swagger. Plus unlike Kofi and Ziggler, they gave Swagger a run with the title which was bloody awful (Don't menton Zigglers small reign after Rumble 2011 that was hardly a reign but added to one of the best matches of 2011 against Edge).

 

Looking at length of title runs is the wrong metric, especially for a heel.

 

Ziggler has had at least two main event level storylines since: against Punk and Cena. He's also been given more matches/angles with guys like Orton than Swagger has since 2010. The biggest push Swagger has gotten since then is probably being Michael Cole's sidekick which was an okay idea on paper but didn't lead to anything. Even when he split with Cole, he never actually turned babyface and basically carried on doing the same thing which just made it seem like they couldn't be bothered giving him much to do.

 

Would Swagger have done better with those pushes? Probably not. I could have seen him instead of Ziggler as Big Johnny's 'Chosen One' in the Punk feud with Ace comparing him to himself (tall, blond guy) and the way Johnny liked to mention teaming with Steve Williams - another two sport athlete from University of Oklahoma. That might have worked out okay and at the very least wouldn't have damaged him to the extent it seemed to with Ziggler who was given nothing. In the case of Cena, I don't think he could have pulled off the AJ angle.

 

Kingston has been pretty well protected. Nothing wrong with a consistent midcard spot. Not having a title run hasn't hurt him. The fact he's never been shoved up the card is actually a good thing for him in my opinion.

 

Guys like Swagger, Miz, Barrett, Christian, Ziggler, and Del Rio already have already had a top push, been demoted back down, been promoted again, etc. which I think makes it harder to take them seriously when they do the "this time he's gotten serious" schtick. Punk was in a similar position until they got behind him properly, as was Sheamus. With the exception of Barrett they've all won the title for however short periods so they can't even do the old "can they win the Big One" gimmick that worked with guys like Benoit.

 

Admittedly, Del Rio has been able to reinvent himself as a babface and Sheamus and Punk have shown it can be overcome but at least with Kofi if he gets a PPV main event this year against Cena/Orton/whoever it will feel like a fresh match.

 

To add to this Ziggler and Kofi have been consistantly having good matches. Unlike Swagger who has had very few above average matches.

 

Fair enough, that bit's entirely subjective, not every wrestler is going to be for everyone and no doubt there are plenty of guys/girls that others rave about whose matches I find mediocre at best. At this stage, Ziggler I could go either way on. Swagger peaked early but I think Ziggler has been more consistent overall career vs career. On the other hand, I'd much rather watch Swagger's best matches than anything Kofi has done.