Christian - The Answer To Smackdown's Problems?

[NotoriousWWE]

Recently we all know Randy Orton has suffered a back injury which is reported to keep him out of action for at least six months. So with this meaning that he's likely to miss WrestleMania who fills the role of being the number one face on SmackDown? Yes, Daniel Bryan may be the current World Champion but is he really the face of SmackDown? And yes Sheamus may be getting a big push but is he ready to be the main man on SmackDown? And finally Big Show, although he's over with many fans is he a guy you see leading at the top of Friday Night SmackDown? Me neither. So is it time WWE finally give Christian the go ahead as the face of SmackDown and drop this desperate heel persona he had before his injury? Of course Christian still needs to return but surely it can't be much longer until we see Captain Charisma back. He brings a lot to the table.


His mic skills are absolutely second to none. He can literally draw your attention over any topic whether its him demanding another Title shot or him talking about his injury, you are always listening and despite being a heel, WWE have been unable to block out the cries of fans for Christian to have one more shot.

In the ring he is capable of putting on amazing matches with any superstar. The miserable debut of Sin Cara was perhaps given its best moment by yours truly Christian when he went one on one with the ever-botching masked superstar. He's slick and sells moves brilliantly.

With this comes experiance too. Christian as we all know comes from the Attitude Era and so he's been through a lot of what us fans loved to see. Christian has a great bussiness mind too and so I think its fair to say he'd have the intelligence to carry SmackDown as its top guy.

And finally he deserves it. Christian has had a rollercoaster of a WWE career leaving and going to TNA with the name Christian Cage and then returning to WWE on its dying brand ECW reviving it for a year or two, what else must he do to deserve to be in the spotlight as the face of SmackDown?

Hopefully Vince doesn't screw it up and have Christian return heel and as a mid-carder because he has all the qualities of being a main eventer.

 

[Dr. IaN]

I really don't know what they have in mind for Christian's heel persona. It pisses me off because you have a fan favorite like Christian turn heel and become essentially a bitchy whiny lawyered up moron. I would love to see him return at some point as a face. He's under an injury at the moment. He can come in and make the save for someone and cut a promo telling everyone he has looked over what he has done. He fired his lawyers, he's talked to Edge to help realize what he has done as a bad guy and he's ready to start over. He apologizes to his fans, blah blah blah. You can have Otunga come out and bad mouth him and they have a match with Christian going over. Boom, you got a face Christian.

 

[Peep]

Haha, I wish!

First of all: as far as Christian's injury is concerned, he's already being advertised for SmackDown shows in early February, so it won't be long before he returns.

In fact (and maybe because I'm bias), I think Christian could definitely be a dark-horse to win the Rumble as a surprise entrant. Either way, I predict that's the next time we'll see him.

I don't see him being the "face" of anything though simply because I don't think there's a lot of faith in him as a babyface (whether or not it's the right opinion). My guess is he's staying as a heel for quite some time. Christian may get another push in 2012, but it won't be in a babyface capacity.

 

[The Death Rattle]

I'm not going to argue about whether or not Christian could pull off being a high level face for Smackdown. Simply put, I believe he could. That isn't the issue. The problem here is that a face turn for Christian makes absolutely zero sense.

Christian turned heel approximately a year ago after losing the title to Randy Orton. If you recall, Teddy Long polled the audience on who should face Christian. Orton went on to defeat Christian for the title 5 days after he won it for the first time. Ultimately Christian came to blame the fans for his loss. He was quite vocal in expressing his disdain for them costing him what he worked 17 years to get. Christian's heel turn was well done and made complete sense from a character standpoint. Now, given that, how does it work to magically change him back? What realistic, organic way is there to gloss over the past year of events to make it believable that he would welcome and court the cheers of those he blamed? Easy answer is there isn't such a way.

Christian is similar to R Truth at the moment, as the whole basis of his heel turn was aimed at the fans. Most heel turns are based on who the wrestler is feuding with or the actions he starts doing. These two are different because they directed their angst directly at the crowd. Truth will be totally neutered by turning face, which is a fear I have for him. Christian would be in better shape due to how established he is but his credibility will certainly be hurt in the short term. How he would be booked would determine how successful a face he would end up on Smackdown.

I enjoy Christian's work in the ring and on the microphone. That being said, I've always felt he works much better as a heel. He has a certain sarcastic arrogance that works much better when heel then his weak "peeps" routine as a face. Most people clamored for Christian to have a high profile on Smackdown last year. Fact is he has it. It is pointless to continually move guys from face to heel every year. It derails momentum and makes it difficult to invest in a character who has no constant motivation.

Additionally, the draft will be taking place in the coming months (April?). The road to Wrestlemania is under way and there are plenty of worthy guys in their current roles to push in Orton's place. Maybe some midcarder can get that opportunity to step up into a bigger role in the company. Failing that, the draft will be a fall back to "shake things up again".

 

[Richard Blonoff]

I'll always love Christian best for his tag team with Edge. I hate his current heel character, he is a whiney little bitch. Its so unreal in a 30 something year old man. He plays a good heel and he had some good matches with Randy in their most recent feud, especially their cage match a couple months back. That said I don't think he can be Smackdown's face. He could be their top heel but I don't think he could carry the brand

 

[Walker456]

yes! Now with Ortan out with a injury it is Christians time to step back up the ladder! When he has feuding with Ortan over the World title I felt that there matches where some of the best in 2011! Christian has proven that he is a dominating mid-carder but can also hang out in the main event ! I would use Ortans injury to bounce Christian back in the mainevent. I would even go as far and say turn him face , why not ? Let him feud with the likes of Barrett. Plus I've also heard rumours of Bryan turning heel , so we could lead up to a Christian vs Bryan feud over the World Title.

 

[Captain Morgan Freeman]

I consider Christian to be my favorite wreslter in the WWE right now but i don't think he should come back as the face of Smackdown in Ortons absence mainly because they already have someone ready to be the number one face and that's Sheamus.

It makes perfect sense to elevate Sheamus, the guy was second only to Orton in popularity on the blue brand and has been in limbo since Christian got injured with nothing to do except have forgettable squash matches with jobbers every week. Now he has the chance to fill the void left by Orton and feud with some of the great heels currently on Smackdown like Barret/Rhodes/Henry.

While i don't doubt Christians ability to be a successful face it would take time and even then he's not guaranteed to get more over then Sheamus is now. There's only two PPV's left until mania and Christian may only be back for one so why take the risk?
Christians heel gimmick hasn't gotten stale just yet so have him come back and feud with Sheamus and Daniel Bryan. The latter could have brilliant matches with captain charisma if given the chance.

 

[¡Roján!]

Fuck you, Christian is the answer to everything. Who's the best wrestler in the WWE? What is your religion? What name can you rearrange to make Christina? I could go on, but the point has already been made. Facts. Don't. Lie.

Christian, whether he be face or heel, stands out as an elite performer both on an in-ring and mic skill basis. Could he be the face of Smackdown? No. He doesn't have the look. He wears trouser. He doesn't have any tattoos. He has... chest hair. However, a face of Smackdown isn't needed. Did Smackdown's ratings improve when Orton came after the draft? Nope. Reason? Smackdown has developed a niche fanbase which watches mainly for the wrasslin'. Is Orton a plus for house shows and merchandise? Yes. But, I think it's silly to automatically presume that the WWE can't survive 5 months or 5 weeks (depending on who you ask) especially without Randy. Afterall, there's still The Big Show and Sheamus. No need to start making rash decisions.

 

[SpoodBeest]

Of course any use of Christian would make SmackDown more entertaining. The man is gold on the mic and in the ring. He's probably SmackDown's best talent in terms of both mic skills and work rate in the ring. In fact other than Daniel Bryan not many top Christian's ring work. I'm afraid he would just be fed back to Sheamus upon his return since he was basically being The Great White's personal jobber before the "high level" ankle sprain. He would make very interesting villain fodder for Daniel Bryan and his title reign and the matches they would produce together would probably be incredible. Either him or Barrett would be the best feuds for Bryan in his title reign but thats for another discussion.

So yea Christian is entertaining whenever he's on screen. I hope he returns with the neck brace still on. Thats just gold. But I see him reviving his feud with Sheamus when he comes back and will go right back to lying down left and right for the Irishman. By the way, whatever happened to him endorsing Team Barrett and standing in their corner at that event? Why did him using his crutches against other never come to fruition?

 

[#1Dobz92]

Short term sure but not when Orton gets back. As a face he was never as popular as people seem to think. I'm a huge Christian fan but he almost always got lukewarm reactions. His best reaction was obviously winning the title at Extreme Rules. But even after losing the title Orton didn't really get booed out of the arena did he? Over the short term definitely but I don't think the guy should be main eventing. He deserved a run but now is the time for the future and while he'll do well in putting them over (like Orton has been doing in 2011), main eventing shouldn't be in Christian's future (unless it's on the odd occasion).

 

[Cats Pajamas]

Orton is the face of Smackdown, with him gone they automatically have to fall back on their World Champion. Without knocking the guy, we all know how that'll work...

Orton was able to carry (at least enough) interest in a non-title feud but Christian would be a poor replacement for RKO on paper. He had that influx of support when he lost his championship in 5 days, but they turned him heel?

With the Sheamus Train rolling like it is now, I see him as a far better choice for the rhetorical role as "Orton's Understudy". I'm not anti-Christian by any means, I was pulling for him last year too, but even his World Title win was said to be more of an Edge and Christian photo op remember?

Best of luck to him anyway though, the miserable piece of shit.