Grounded: The Evan Bourne Story

[TheOneBigWill]

Evan Bourne has become everyone's favorite new high flier, yet at the same time this was all during his stint on E.C.W. where as a smaller athlete he could do amazing things and get by with it.

Since moving to Raw, he's had two mediocre runs at nothing. The first was an honestly out-standing match against Kofi Kingston, that in turn went no where and didn't even warrant Evan a spot in the Six Pack Challenge that saw both Carlito and Primo involved in for a chance at the United States Championship.

The second would've been most recently, as apart of the Summerslam Beat the Clock matches, in which he went up against Swagger and pulled out a purely meaningless victory as it didn't gain him anything other than possible bragging rights that'll set up a Swagger/Bourne feud, that will in turn most likely put the bigger, likely better athlete in Jack Swagger - over.

Everyone knows its no secret that Raw hasn't exactly been kind to Cruiserweight style Wrestlers. Rey Mysterio had a horrible run, despite being a former Heavyweight Champion. Multiple Cruiserweight sized/styled Superstars have been turned into one-time former Champions, then turned jobbers to fill holes for the show. And most notably, while he isn't exactly a Cruiserweight (per-say) he does hold the same similar size and speeds, of course I'm referring to.. C.M Punk and his less than stellar run on Raw. (excluding meaningless title reigns)

So, the overall question I'm getting at is.. does Evan Bourne stand a chance on Raw? Or is Bourne just another overlooked talent thats under-sized and as such, out-matched on the Flagship show?

What are your feelings with Bourne on Raw, and where/what do you believe is next for him? Will he make it, get moved yet again, or possibly even begin to job regularly and become forgotten about? Please make sure to explain yourself fully. Thank you.

 

[SSJPhenom]

I think that Bourne does have a chance on Raw because of his pure talent, but it is a slim chance at best. Bourne is on the flagship show of the WWE and he is on there with some big time ppl(I.E. Cena, HHH, HBK, Orton, possibly Swagger and Miz in the future). For him to even exist on Raw, I think that he would need a rub from one of these guys(Best would be HBK just because of their size).

It would be better for Bourne to be on SD first. He would be able to go up against people that are more his size and pace. We could have Bourne vs. Mysterio for the IC title, Bourne vs C.M. Punk, Bourne vs Jericho, Bourne vs Hardy, Bourne vs Morrison, Bourne vs Ziggler and so on. I think all of these matches would be great to watch and they would be great for Bourne's young career.

 

[rko_for_king]

He wouldn't get pushed in TNA either they have enoguh high flyers that can't get on the card e.g sunjay dutt MCMG

Answering the question now I honestly do think Bourne has a high chance of sucess in the mid-card but not much higher due to his size, but he has the crowd reaction which i guess is 50% of your sucess in the WWE.

 

[jmt225]

You know, I was SHOCKED when he went over Swagger this week on Raw. I honestly couldn't believe it.

I'm not Bourne's biggest fan. In fact, I never liked the guy. But to be truthful, I always root for well-known indy wrestlers to do well in WWE so it can shut the mouths of all the detractors out there. Hell, I HATED the Dudley Boyz during their run in ECW, but as soon as they went to WWE, I became a fan. These kinds of wrestlers just have this underdog feel to them that make you want to see them succeed in a place like WWE.

Anyway, to answer the question... if you asked me this when the move of Bourne going to Raw first happened, then I definitely would have said he was going to get lost in the shuffle. But with the endorsement of HHH of all people, and wins over Jack Swagger and Kofi Kingston, Evan Bourne really could be going places. Personally, I'm not sure if he's good enough on the mic or has enough charisma to ever become a full fledged main eventer, but can he establish himself like Rey Mysterio in the next couple of years? Absolutely. He's good enough in the ring, and the fans seem to like him. Plus, he'll work tremendously in matches like the Elimination Chamber, Money in the Bank, Royal Rumble, etc., and WWE needs new fresh faces in those matches now more than ever, so that's REALLY going to help him too, I think.

As long as Evan Bourne stays injury free and keeps his head on straight, he could very well turn into one of WWE's best, most consistent workers who the fans will always be behind. It should end up being a fun career to follow.

 

[The Legendary 23]

There is more than enough midcarders on RAW to form a great midcard division, I don't think I need to list them. The vast majority of them have never feuded with one another, and the division is screaming possibility. Whether Bourne "makes it" or not on RAW is all dependent on how the midcard is handled in the future. Instead of having an awkward series of unannounced matches that build into nothing, feuds could be starting. Right now, Evan is being used in the awkward, unannounced matches. His most recent feud was with Big Show, but I am not sure if I should label it a "feud" because in reality it was just a series of matches that came out of nowhere. No promos. No smacktalk. No announcements. Hell, there wasn't even a follow up on the next RAW about it.

I would love to see Evan Bourne go places, he is a great wrestler and an entertainer in the ring. It all depends on whether or not creative actually builds a sensible midcard with all the talent they have. It could only take one lengthy feud to solidify his place on the RAW roster, and assert the ability he holds. A feud with Swagger, for example, could do great for his character. While in the end I would like Swagger to go over, it would still be better than Bourne showing off his wrestling ability against opponent after opponent.

 

[powerade]

why does everyone feel that good young wrestlers need to be pushed to title/main event status so fast?
we get it....you like him, I like him....lots of people like him....
but getting to title status and main event status takes time....but in the IWC people can't seem to grasp this (not everyone but a lot of people on the forum)

They are doing good with Bourne right now.....continue to build him in the ring and as a contender....eventually should/could lead into a US Title run

I would like to see him pair up with someone and make a Tag-Team run myself

 

[Spillz3000]

I think Bourne will do fine. My only complaint is the fact that he wasn't in that 6-Pack challenge match for the U.S. title despite having legit and what look to be fued building matches with The Big Show and Kofi Kingston. Everybody thought the U.S. title match for Night of Champions was going to be Kofi Vs. Show Vs. Bourne but it ended up being a 6-way match with him not being in it. The worst part is even though I'm fans of the Colon's they didn't belong anywhere near that match. Those spots should have definitely gone to Bourne and Henry instead.

Now to the Beat The Clock challenge. I think Bourne's win will signal a Swagger fued(hopefully). But WWE needs to stop treating their fans like idiots when they do this beat the clock challenge bullshit. It purely states that the wrestler to get the best time gets the shot. Okay fine and dandy but if people like Bourne and Super Crazy(when he got a quick ass win over Kennedy a couple years back) get quick wins in these matches how are they not contenders. Before you guys get all up on me I don't think Evan Bourne or definitely Super Crazy deserved World Title matches but come on logically every wrestler on any brand would love to be in a match like this to get a shot at the richest prize, but to only have one person in the match be eligible that's kind of garbage especially when the eligible person gets beat. Bourne def had a quicker win than Cena. If Cena is the intended contender they want then why didn't they just have him beat Miz quicker than Bourne beat Swagger. I mean Cena has buried the Miz in their last couple of matches so it's not like Miz was intended to look like gold for their match anyway. I don't know maybe little kids don't care about that kind of logic but older fans like myself think if your going to do this Beat The Clock bullshit than make it a little more realistic.

As long as Bourne is injury free then he'll be fine.

 

[Nate DaMac]

Can anybody tell me why he wasn't The Big Show's replacement in the 6 Pack Challenge? I know Primo and Carlito are feuding at the moment, but Primo hadn't even won a singles match. Evan had a fucking pinfall victory over the current champion but got snubbed. I really don't know man, the dude is popular. He has the potential to be a Jeff Hardy or Rey Rey in the business, but they seem pretty intent on halting his popularity. I'm not huge on spotty main eventers, but if they are over, then they fucking deserve it. Hey, at least he got new theme music.

 

[RVDgurl]

I love Evan Bourne. He is another ROH boy who the WWE has snagged up and I always support the success of former indy talent. Right now, Bourne is very over with the crowd and receives an enormous pop in each city that he performs in. He has had several stellar matches since arriving in the WWE, including the recent match with Kofi Kingston. He has been able to keep most of his core moveset- including some moves that are otherwise banned by the WWE-which has helped him stay unique and quickly earn a slew of fans.

However, his recent move to RAW does not give me much hope for a successful future. As many have previously mentioned, historically RAW has not been kind to smaller guys. Even Rey Mysterio did not have a successful run on RAW. Bourne has no hope of ever moving into the main event scene in his current placement. The best he can hope for is a solid run as a mid card champion.

 

[smalltownfan]

I think Evan Bourne is the 2nd coming of Rey Mysterio without the mask and more athletic. Yes, I said it...Evan Bourne is more athletic than Rey Mysterio. He seems to me to be a smaller Jeff Hardy because of his willingness to take risks. He has to because he only weighs 175. It is no secret that WWE over the years have looked at size first instead of athleticism and maybe they need to change that concept because if you look at WWE's rosters, they are filled with young athletic guys like Evan Bourne who are thirsty for a chance. However, Bourne will NOT get his chance on RAW. He needs to go to ECW or Smackdown to get his shot or he'll end up like Brian Kendrick who has received his pink slip.

 

[Southwind]

Should Evan Bourne get a push and get over on Raw yes he should he has great in ring talent and charisma and lots of people (me included) can relate and root for the little guy.

Will Evan Bourne get a push hahah no lets just draw a conclusion based off history shall we. Rey Mysterio goes from world heavyweight champion to a glorified jobber. TBK goes from getting a steady push on Smackdown to being future endeavored. CM Punk has won ECW's world title and Smackdown's world title but somehow Raw's writers only saw him fit to cash in MITB to win a title on Raw and then get whipped in just about every match outside of his JBL confrontation although he did job away a meaningless IC title reign to him. I'm sure there's many that I missed but the evidence is overwhelming.

The WWE sees little guys as Smackdown and ECW workers and not Raw workers.

 

[klunderbunker]

Bourne is the modern day Rey Mysterio, but without the skill behind it. Bourne is someone that is destined for the midcard. He simply does not have the physical abilities to be a legitimate heavyweight contender. Rey Mysterio, the greatest and by far most successful cruiserweight wrestler of all time, was a complete failure as world champion and for one reason: no one believed he could stand up to guys as big as he was fighting (ok granted, the booking against Khali was the absolute dumbest thing I've ever seen in a wrestling ring, so it wasn't all Rey's fault). Either way, guys like Bourne and Rey simply aren't credible against guys they fight. While I've been reviewing Summerslam, I've come across a lot of X-Pac matches and I've noticed something. When he's against guys his own size, he's not only decent, but he's actually enjoyable. However, when he's facing guys like the Undertaker and Kane, the idea of him having a big heart is just stupid as he just isn't a legitimate challenger. All of this is true of Bourne. He would be great for the cruiserweight belt, but against other heavyweights he just isn't someone that is a viable option, at least not consistently.