Jack Swagger

[Providence Peep]

Is anyone else disappointed about Jack Swagger not defeating Alberto Del Rio at WrestleMania and winning the championship? Just wondering.

[whiteyford]

Couldn't see it happening, not just because of the DUI, but because he was the heel due his come-uppance. Before Raw I could have seen him picking it up at Extreme Rules though.

[ddpBANG]

No

[Shisen Kopf]

Yeah I wanted him to beat that Mexican

[whiteyford]

For the title right Shisen, not as a hate crime?

[Shisen Kopf]

Of course!

[The Condor]

I wanted to see it as a change up because the character is different, fresh and Zeb kills it on the mic. I just liked DelRio more as a heel because the character works better that way than turning as a common-man, and magnanimous towards the fans. With how much prestige the belt has lost through the years, Swagger would not damage it one bit but might actually help in bringing it back.

[DrCrawford]

he did it to himself, mulitple times. I used to like him years ago, but now its time to just let him go

[Innovator]

Not at all, they backed away completely from that storyline a couple weeks before the show.

[Keith]

I'm glad WWE let Alberto Del Rio have his WrestleMania moment by going in and successfully defending the WHC, he's a hard worker.

Jack Swagger, IDK. His new gimmick had a lot of steam but it seems like WWE made a mistake of coming out and saying "our Superstars portray fictional characters" and all that. In my opinion they took a lot of steam off Swagger and Zeb by coming out and basically saying "We're just acting, it's all make-believe" (in other words, "It's all fake"). I mean, we know that's what it is, but coming out and saying it wasn't a good idea. It seems like the Swagger and Zeb "We the People" schtick hit a wall after that, and people stopped connecting with the angle, people stopped getting offended (which, in essence, is what made this whole thing so hot in the first place).

I think WWE dropped the ball with this, and I don't know if it's possible for Swagger and Zeb to recover, quite frankly.

[XL]

But they never did that in the middle of a show, did they? How does it effect your take on the angle/character more than anything else?

[ron the dial]

not sure who that would matter to anyway. kids could give a shit about this character, and adults already know it's fake.

[Keith]

Yeah, but still. It takes away some of the "magic". If a gimmick starts up some fire, you don't put it out by reminding everyone wrestling's fake. You ignore the heat until it reaches its peak.

News outlets picked up on this Swagger/Zeb "We the People" gimmick. Had WWE just ignored what they were saying, who knows? Maybe we could've seen Zeb and Jack getting interviews, feeding off the heat they were getting.

But by WWE coming out and blowing it, those news outlets went back to ignoring what was going on in WWE.

Imagine if the media had picked up on Bret Hart's "Anti USA/Pro Canada" gimmick back in '97, and WWE had come out with a statement saying "It's just a fictional character playing a part in our fictional storyline"? It would've definitely had an effect on how fans perceived Bret's promos and "anger" towards the USA.

That's what happened here with Jack and Zeb, IMO. The negative attention they were getting from mansitream media greatly helped everything they were doing starting off, but WWE put a stop to that rise.

[Team Sheep]

The storyline started off great and Swagger genuinely did look refreshed and a different person upon his return. As soon as the DUI happened though they just went through the motions until Wrestlemania and I lost all interest. The way Swagger got a jobber entrance at Mania just said it all really. Could have been so much better.

[Keith]

That's right, he did get a DUI, I totally forgot that one.

So, that too. It's probable that had more to do with it than what I said, actually. It's probable WWE didn't want to kill his morale by dropping him from the WHC angle (or he has someone within WWE who really likes him).