Smackdown: Jack Swagger booked better, but progress still impeded
Thanks to a clean victory over John Morrison, Jack Swagger came off looking more like a credible world heavyweight champion on Friday night’s episode of Smackdown than he has on Raw, but WWE still could be doing a better job with the character’s traits.
I don’t know why WWE thought that Swagger’s persona needed to be tinkered with, but his newfound stoic demeanor just isn’t a good fit for him. The robotic promos that he’s been cutting – including the one on this show – are creating “go-away heat.”
Before winning the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXVI two weeks ago, Swagger was very believable as an obnoxious, arrogant jerk, and there’s nothing more unlikable than an obnoxious, arrogant jerk who has a big gold championship belt around his waist. Swagger reminded me of the kid in school who was the best athlete but was also the type who would beat you up for your lunch money.
But here’s the thing I really don’t get about the way WWE is portraying Swagger. If the company is toning down his personality in an effort to get fans to take him more seriously, then why is it over-emphasizing his lisp? Quite frankly, it doesn’t really make me want to cheer for a babyface who ridicules someone for having a speech impediment, but beyond that, how can you buy Swagger as a no-nonsense champion when he’s running around going, “I do not have a speech impediment!”
At least Swagger was given a convincing win over Morrison in a good match that began after Morrison interrupted Swagger’s promo and made fun of his lisp. Judging by how Morrison has been booked as of late, however, I’m not sure a victory over him means as much as it used to.
Other thoughts on Friday’s show:
This was a solid episode with a couple marquee match-ups and good angles. A rematch from WrestleMania XXVI between Chris Jericho and Edge was the best match on the show, while CM Punk once again shined on the microphone. …
The Jericho-Edge match – which was to determine the challenger for Swagger’s title at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view on April 25 – ended in a double count-out in a contest that went nearly 20 minutes. No announcement was made as to who will face Swagger, but my prediction of a triple threat match last week is looking good. …
I pretty much knew from the start of the Punk segment that Punk’s NXT rookie, Darren Young, wasn’t going to get his head shaved and that Rey Mysterio was going to do a run-in, but it was still an entertaining segment. Young hasn’t really impressed me on NXT, but he did well here with his facial expressions and brief speaking part. Punk would have been doing the kid a favor by shaving off that bad hairdo, though. …
Mysterio accepted the match at Extreme Rules in which Punk will have his head shaved if he loses, but there was no mention about Mysterio’s mask also being on the line. Rumors of a hair vs. mask match between the two have been out there for a while, with the match originally thought to have been scheduled for WrestleMania XXVI. There are two weeks before the pay-per-view, so time will tell if the mask will be part of the equation. Personally, I don’t think it should be. No one is going to believe that Mysterio will lose his mask. …
The Swagger-Morrison match was held up briefly while a medic attended to what looked like a paper cut on Swagger’s face. The worst part of this was that Swagger was on offense when the referee stepped in, so Morrison remained on the mat selling the whole time that Swagger was being attended to, which made Morrison look weak. They should have called an audible there and had Morrison get the advantage, at least momentarily. …
During Swagger’s promo, he said “there isn’t a WWE superstar who can stop my momentum.” Well, except for Randy Orton. Oh, and John Cena, too. …
Jericho grabbing at Swagger’s belt and childishly saying, “Give me that back,” while the champ had it on his shoulder was pretty funny. …
Drew McIntyre looked good in gaining a victory over Matt Hardy, who put up a valiant fight before losing. Now that McIntyre has gotten his win back over Hardy, I’d like to see him do the same with Kane. …
McIntyre telling the fans that he wasn’t going to waste his breath on them probably got him more heat than anything he could have said in a promo. …
I liked seeing Dolph Ziggler with more of a mean streak, as he slapped the sleeperhold on Josh Matthews during an interview. …
Shad Gaspard’s first heel promo was adequate. I’m interested to see what WWE does with him because I have long thought that he had the look and size to be a successful singles competitor. ...
I had to laugh when JTG came out all fired up to confront Gaspard, and the big man just gave him one boot to the face and that was that. Does the “J” in JTG stand for Jannetty? …
The Hart Dynasty versus The Dudebusters (Trent Barreta and Caylen Croft) match was short but fine. It served its purpose as far as getting THD a solid win as they presumably head into a title program with WWE unified tag team champions The Miz and The Big Show.
Comments
It hurts to say it but Sheamus is better on the mic than Swagger. Ouch.
RESPONSE FROM KE: Honestly, I agree with you -- at least as far as this new version of Swagger is concerned.
Posted by: James V. | April 10, 2010 3:40 PM
Why does punk's rookie look just like cena with a dark tan, shave his head, put on jorts and we have two cenas.
Posted by: Jon | April 10, 2010 4:36 PM
hey ,
where is the HEEL Kev ?? I guess your at the tweener stage as indicated in your blog , where you crib about swagger but still not dismissing as of now.....cant wait for your turn to complete !! I am Sold
P.S - Smackdown this week was good thie week , I see swagger retaining in the triple threat
Posted by: Razzaq | April 10, 2010 5:25 PM
That's something that really bothered me Friday Night, WHY would WWE have 'faces' making fun of a speech impediment? Made no sense and is very low class.
Posted by: Dave | April 10, 2010 5:27 PM
Do you think maybe CM Punk will take Darren Young hostage/prisoner and basically brain wash him with beat downs, etc., and still turn him into one of his minions? Kind of like Raven used to do with some members of the flock such as Scottie Riggs, etc.
Posted by: Paul in Hawaii | April 10, 2010 6:16 PM
Morrison the wrestler = good
Morrison the promo guy = sucks
My prediction that Miz needed Morrison = wrong
Posted by: Cliff | April 10, 2010 6:46 PM
I too am baffled by The WWE toning down Jack Swagger's quirky antics.
Usually when The WWE takes away somebody's bells and whistles (Examples being Jericho's Christ pose and Randy Orton's Christ Pose that he has since brought back), it's because those bells and whistles were performed more prominently when one was a babyface, or the fans have become so familiar with them that the antics are starting to get babyface heat despite a given wrestler's standing as a heel.
The thing with Jack Swagger, however, is A. He has always been a heel and B. None of those 'bells and whistles' really got over in the first place.
I would understand turning Jack Swagger into Chris Jericho (like they're doing right now) if Swagger's pushups, chest-pounding, and smile were over, but they're not.
The WWE isn't doing Jack Swagger any favors by scrapping what made him special before it even got any traction. That's what's bothering me about this Jack Swagger character.
Posted by: Bignasty247 | April 10, 2010 7:02 PM
I liked the old Swagger better too. Plus, if a guy's name is "Swagger" he ought to act full of himself instead of all serious and monotonous. Just like how if a guy's name is "Ziggler" he should...uh...Ziggle. Which is the proper term for what Dolph has been doing of late. He has been Ziggling.
Bring back the grin, bring back the pushups, bring back the chest-thumping on the way to the ring.
Posted by: Rob Brown | April 10, 2010 7:34 PM
no one saw the seriously botched spot during the swagger/morrison match when they were outside the ring???
Posted by: rob the barber | April 10, 2010 9:12 PM
I had to laugh when JTG came out all fired up to confront Gaspard, and the big man just gave him one boot to the face and that was that. Does the “J” in JTG stand for Jannetty?
Wow, I kind of wish you could give yourself comment of the week for that one.
Posted by: Steve G. | April 10, 2010 9:58 PM
this was just my 3rd time to see tyson kidd wrestle but im already impressed. he had a fantastic match w/finlay on ecw or superstars like 6 months ago, and a great match with rey a couple weeks ago. i think im still in shawn michaels withdrawal, so im looking everywhere for the next showstopper, but kidd is on my watch list.
Posted by: nash | April 10, 2010 10:28 PM
If the whole "stop the match for blood" thing is going to be the rule, then the referees should prep like boxing referees and have the latex gloves on to start every match.
Posted by: EazieCheeze | April 10, 2010 11:21 PM
Good comments on the Smackdown Ep
Especially with regards to Jack Swagger. It really looks like Jack Swagger is trying to put on a Chris Jericho type of arrogance and thus Jericho-style heat. I am afraid that only Chris Jericho can pull off Chris Jericho.
I have to agree with a recent comment that you made that Swagger get back to what he did before. You know, the pushups and such. His thing. Not somebody else's thing.
I can only imagine that some folks from WWE actually read your blog Kevin, and get some pointers from you and the fans on how to tailor and develop the characters and story lines.
Maybe, they could get you to guest host Monday Night RAW. Now, if they did, what pairings would you book and who would you want to have some face to face interactions with?
RESPONSE FROM KE: Wow. I'll have to think about that one.
Posted by: George in Vancouver Canada | April 11, 2010 12:23 AM
Edge-Jericho match was great to watch. I think WWE is making a mistake by bringing in Swagger in their fued. Edge-Jericho should be in a grudge match at Extreme rules. That would have made people buy that ppv.
Posted by: Kunal | April 11, 2010 12:41 AM
What has become of poor Matt Hardy? He is this generation's Tito Santana.
Posted by: Chris | April 11, 2010 1:04 AM
Kevin, after you host Raw, why not give Dancing with the Stars a call? You are a bigger celebrity than three quarters of the people who appear on that show. You could dance to HBK's entrance music: "I think I'm cute...."
Just kidding! (except for the "bigger celebrity" part)
Posted by: Christopher | April 11, 2010 3:01 AM
Kevin, on the note of good promos, just wondering if you have a favourite ever promo?
RESPONSE FROM KE: Hard to pick just one. Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes cut some great ones, as did Roddy Piper, Mick Foley and of course The Rock. Rock was the most entertaining overall, but the one promo that I am still impressed with to this day is the one Bret Hart cut in 1997 right after he turned heel.
Posted by: Orton.1 | April 11, 2010 8:12 AM
Regarding Swagger, I agree that there's something off about him. Do you think that the wwe may be trying to book Swagger, at first, as a champion who doesn't deserve to be one and then over time he slowly earns respect by getting some big wins like say over Jericho and Edge at Extreme Rules?
Posted by: Dimitri | April 11, 2010 11:01 AM
Was it just me or didn't I just see this Smackdown a week or two along..Dude,it's STALE.It's bury or "no-push" the up and comer's..same old same old with the top guys..Oh we got a new champ who loses clean to the number 3 or 4 guy on Raw..does this mean that Smackdown is like a Triple A program?Kinda like Swagger's new 'tude but in the big picture,what difference does it make?The only thing good about the show is Punk's mic time.Thanks Kevin and as always God Bless.
Posted by: David Baugus | April 11, 2010 11:01 AM
I'm having a hard time investing in Shad as a breakout heel. That could be because they didn't do much with Cryme Tyme to begin with.
That segment with Dolph Ziggler was stupid and pointless. Anyone can take that guy down.
There was only 4 matches in 2 hours. NXT had 4 matches in 30 min. That was also wrong, but in a different way.
Posted by: alex | April 11, 2010 12:32 PM
Swagger's reign reminds me of CM Punk's first reign over on raw. Punk faced the likes of regal and snitsky but didn't beat any top guys (Batista, Y2J). Which is similar to Swagger beating Morrison and losing to Orton.
Posted by: Bruck | April 11, 2010 2:50 PM
Its either coincidence or the fact that its much more blatent when they halt a match, but I'm sure there has been far more hardway bleeding, and from regular moves (ie Kofi's kick to Batista's head, Undertaker getting a bloody nose against Mysterio etc)
Not to mention, when these situations occur, more often than not the wrestler in question refuses the towel or tries to resist treatment.
In the end, wrestling is a contact sport and injuries happen. Surely its better to just let the hardway/accidental situations stand? I can understand no blading, but it becomes a bit of a joke when a TV match is halted and time is always a factor...
Posted by: Andy | April 11, 2010 5:28 PM
"Smackdown: Jack Swagger booked better, but progress still impeded"
a jab at Swagger's speech impediment?
RESPONSE FROM KE: No, it's a jab at WWE for hurting his chances of getting over by focusing on his speech impediment. They are impeding his progress, get it?
Posted by: mikemike | April 11, 2010 5:47 PM
Darren Young's real last name is Sampson... as in a strongest man ever... that's such a great wrestler name... Not sure why they changed it. Maybe they thought it'd imply a strongman gimmick
Posted by: Jordan | April 11, 2010 7:01 PM
I keep thinking about what the WWE wants to do with Swagger and finally, I thought that perhaps the WWE do not wants him to make a real impact after MITB Ladder Match win.
Here's my hypothesis: Swagger had to cash in quickly and defends it once then loses it AS there is the new PPV, Money In the Bank PPV where there might be an important turn of events. Something new or eventually a new Mr. Money in the Bank.
It will saddens me though that it becomes true because Swagger doesn't deserve it.
Posted by: KnightKIJ | April 12, 2010 8:43 AM
Thanks Kev
Posted by: Orton.1 | April 12, 2010 10:42 AM
The stopage in the Swagger/Morrison match is not the first time that a match has been stopped on WWE lately due to blood..
It happened to Sheldon Benjiman on ECW, after his head hit the ringsteps and he suffered cut along the top of his forehead several weeks ago...
And refs have worn surgical type gloves in matches..it happened at Wrestlemania a few weeks ago, I think during MITB..
I just wonder why they let the cameras roll..why not just go to a commercial break and then pick up where the match left off?
Posted by: adz | April 12, 2010 3:36 PM
Is Matt Hardy pregnant?
I've been a fan of his work for some time now but he's in terrible wrestling shape.
The commentators made a point of saying that Hardy is committed to working the hardest he's ever worked this year but it's hard to take that seriously when his gut hangs over his belt.
Posted by: John | April 13, 2010 4:21 AM
so let me get this straight - we're going into an "Extreme Rules" payperview where matches are stopped so "paper cuts2 can be attended to by medics? - Paul Heymen has to be having a fit somewhere !
Posted by: antomurf | April 14, 2010 8:17 AM