How long before you respect Kozlov?

[Mavericks fan]

I am filled with anger.I get racistic messages on you tube saying that Kozlov sucks just because he is Russian and that he should go back to Russia.Personally,I can take almost any type of c*** but judging someone by their country or color.Unlike most monsters who were overrated(Umaga,Snitsky...) the guy actually has wrestling talent.When is Kozlov get a WWE championship push.It could also be a break form Cena,Orton and Trips.

 

[Reddannihilation]

Personally I'm not a fan of Koslov, mainly because he's got no gimmick beyond being a big russian guy and because I don't really enjoy his in ring work. As for a world title shot? At this point in time? No way. Maybe in 6 months or so we might see him get a shot at the ECW title but even that might be a stretch. As for the youtube comments, you can't really expect much youtube is one of the least moderated websites in the world and for a lot of people being a racist is "cool" so if they can get away with it in an anonymous setting they're going to act that way. Just try and ignore it. But on the subject of Koslov, I am not particularly interested in him.

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

I personally loved him when he first started. No music, no video, spoke in Russian with maybe one sentence of English thrown in at the end, had a nice Sambo style with some decent suplexes and not an awful finisher compared to some.

The undefeated streak worked well because he didn't JUST beat jobbers over and over, he actually beat 3 or 4 ME players in HHH, Jeff Hardy and even the Undertaker. He got his first title match, didn't win, continued winning, got in the EC, was pinned by Taker, tried to get a match with Taker at WM, got pinned by HBK and then it just went staright to hell and now he's been relegated to the bottom of the pile again.

I don't think they'll ever push him. If he's not going to get a manager to help the fact that he only speaks Russian, he'll be future endeavoured probably mid-next year i think, which is sad because i saw loads of potential in him when he first started, but then again i saw great potential in Mr Kennedy...... not that i was wrong, it's just in the end his potential didn't mean squat.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

I became a huge fan of Kozlov throughout his initial run. He was a big powerful Russian, who I actually felt was pretty solid overall in the ring. He had some really awesome power offense, and I really liked his music as well. It suits him, and I really like the beat of it. He reminded me a lot of Ivan Drago, and Rocky IV is one of my favorites... probably my favorite one in the series. I thought the WWE did a good job building him up too. Kozlov is one of the few to pick up a clean pinfall victory over The Undertaker.

But then he had his match with Triple H, which was pretty much the worst match of last year. For whatever reason, he and HHH didn't mesh well, and that is what was ultimately Kozlov's downfall. Working with HHH in a title match, especially on one of the "Big 4" is a huge honor, and a huge vote of confidence, and he failed. Especially when it's really hard for HHH to have a bad match with someone. Then the WWE started the stupid "he hasn't been pinned yet!" to "He's still undefeated on television!" which killed him. I think his poor performance against HHH really killed a lot of his momentum too, as he hasn't been nearly as good as he was last year.

Maybe with Christian finally knocking off Regal, they'll give Kozlov another chance to make a title run against Christian, which is a good way to see how good he really can be. Working with Christian, people really get their maximum potential utilized. He hasn't had one bad match since returning and really seems to be rejuvenated from TNA when he seemed to be going through the motions. If Christian can't drag a good match out of Kozlov, then we know how he stands as a whole.

 

[Rich]

The thing about Koslov, is that there's nothing "special" about him, he's just another hoss IMO, who went undefeated for a while, and even that was mostly down to squashing jobbers.

Now he's teamed up with William Regal and Big Zeke Jackson, which has zero point as long as Regal is jobbing to Christian every week.

 

[ABMorales787]

He has something most guys his size don't have. That being talent. This guy could wrestle circles around guys like Orton and Jericho, and then finish them off with pure brute force. He is something really. WWE noticed he was too dull for the main event and turned off his push. Now he has Regal as a manager and Ezekiel as a buddy (They're still together right?). Its only a matter of him getting some character development. If they could find him a full time manager, he can go farther than what he went on his last push.

And if that doesn't work, they can have him parade around saying:
"I love Double Double E" again.

 

[Pestilence]

When he had the story of going undefeated until HBK beat him, I was getting more and more into him. Vince must believe in him enough to have him face legends like 'Taker and HBK, so why don't we give him a chance?

It wouldn't be the first time someones gotten a bad gimmick and succeeded later...

 

["Cool Guy" Jensen]

Personally, I'm a fan of Vladimir Kozlov. However, I would not like him to get a title shot at this point in time. In my opinion, he was great on Smackdown, until he was given a WWE Championship shot. He clearly was not ready at the time.

I was a bit excited to see him get drafted to ECW, as I assume he'd be the top contender for the ECW Championship from the start. It's been 7 months and the closest he's gotten to the title was getting defeated in numerous #1 contender matches, and witnessing William Regal lose 3 ECW Championship matches. That's a shame right?

Right now, Vladimir Kozlov has close to no momentum whatsoever. The Ruthless Roundtable could easily be the most dominant stable ever, and when you first joined forces, it seemed that way. Lately, however... the ECW writers has been slipping in putting Kozlov, Regal, and Jackson into dominant storylines.

So, yeah... realistically, Vladimir Kozlov would make the perfect #1 contender for the ECW Championship. But as of right now, it'd be a very bad choice, since the man has absolutely no momentum (or storyline) going for him, at the moment.

 

[spinningtorturerack]

I think he makes a great classic monster heel but I don't really see him going beyond that, ecw champ at best, but that is pushing it, he should just be a monster destroying people but never quite getting the belt, pushing his rage further, destroying more people etc. A good cycle!

Alternatively I'd like to see him and jackson form a proper monster tag team and have a good go at the tag titles, they could really have some good matches. Especially against cryme tyme, I think that could be a good "underdog" match up

 

[Super Crazy]

I respected Kozlov when he first came on the scene. When he had his undefeated streak and was beating some credible guys was his best work so far. When he lost to Michaels and went down to ECW, I wouldn't say I lost respect for him, it's more like I just stopped following him. He's hasn't really done anything noteworthy since moving to ECW. They could have turned him and Zeke into a decent feud, but instead of feuding them, they put them together to be Regal's pets. So basically, I have respect for Kozlov, but I don't follow him anymore because they moved him to the bottle of the pile.

 

[Lethalfan]

I already respect Koslov in fact I'm a big fan of the guy. Sure he can botch at times and is really bad on the mic. But he still is a really good monster heel. He play his character really well and when he finally splits from Regal and and Jackson. He can be a great contender for the Intercontinental united states title. Or if they management wanted to they could give the tag straps to him and Jackson that would be a decent tag team.

 

[STFU]

Kozlov is an absolute beast. I remember seeing him just annihilate the jobbers that were put up against him on Smackdown, and just having my jaw drop. The guy has all he needs wrestling wise to be a champion, but what is holding him back in my opinion is his trouble on the mic. And in my opinion, this my friends, is why he's playing a role of "enforcer" for William Regal. It's a role Vlad can fit well, but as long he is there, he's not going to get noticed much and like some posters above have said, will not have any momentum on his side.

This is when you start to think though, what now is either one of Ezekiel or Vladimir getting out of this stable? Nothing, other than getting to assault Regal's opponents on command. That's why I've got a feeling a Ruthless Roundtable breakup may be upon us. You wouldn't need to have either 'Zeke or Vlad speak much, as even the two men turning around and just laying it on William would do it for me.

So overall, I already respect the guy (Kozlov), but I think it's gonna take some work on the mic to get others to do the same.

 

[Lethalfan]

Kozlov is an absolute beast. I remember seeing him just annihilate the jobbers that were put up against him on Smackdown, and just having my jaw drop. The guy has all he needs wrestling wise to be a champion, but what is holding him back in my opinion is his trouble on the mic. And in my opinion, this my friends, is why he's playing a role of "enforcer" for William Regal. It's a role Vlad can fit well, but as long he is there, he's not going to get noticed much and like some posters above have said, will not have any momentum on his side.

This is when you start to think though, what now is either one of Ezekiel or Vladimir getting out of this stable? Nothing, other than getting to assault Regal's opponents on command. That's why I've got a feeling a Ruthless Roundtable breakup may be upon us. You wouldn't need to have either 'Zeke or Vlad speak much, as even the two men turning around and just laying it on William would do it for me.

So overall, I already respect the guy (Kozlov), but I think it's gonna take some work on the mic to get others to do the same.

I don't really think his mic skills are holding him back. I mean, if you remember the storyline on Smackdown were he had that unbeaten streak. Where he beat the likes of Undertaker Triple h Jeff hardy etc. It was a good role for him and he barely use his mic skills.

Also he is was the heel monster role at the time. Monster type of heels usually don't talk other then a selective few like Kane.

 

[SavageTaker]

I am currently not a fan of Kozlov nor have I ever been one. He is as boring as boring can be and he does nothing to me excited over his matches. So I don’t see why I should respect nor do I know if I’ll ever respect him. Now, that doesn’t mean I will never respect him. It means that once he has done something that deserves me respect (which I doubt he cares much about) then he will start gaining it slowly.

What I think he has to do in order to gain my respect is start being entertaining. Like I said, I find him boring. I also find him stale. So I’m not sure what he is going to do in order to be entertaining. It most definitely is not what he is doing in ECW right now nor is it what he was doing over on the blue brand. I don’t care if he has to be carried in matches, he’ll start gaining my respect, even if slowly, as soon as he does something that entertains me.

 

[Freddy4190]

I liked him when he first came in. He was that totally badass Russian dude who was owning everyone but not overdoing the whole Russian gimmick. The WWE has a habit of doing that. [See Muhammad Hassan] I already respect him because he's still in the company, he's fighting for his job. He's a solid wrestler, he managed to somehow stay somewhat relevant even though his character doesn't really put out a lot of charisma or whatever else people want to see. He's just a flat-out old school type, suplexing, hard hitting, ass whooping machine. I definitely respect him.. but um, not for fear that he'll come and like.. sambo suplex my ass.. no, nothing like that.

 

[stygimoloch]

Kozlov is living proof that being a legit tough guy does not translate to being a good wrestler. I think the real problem with Kozlov right now is Zeke Jackson, and vice versa. Regal is fantastic on the mic and a great technician, and either Zeke or Kozlov would be a great enforcer for him, but with both together, it's pretty much overkill. The group would be better served with a fast, agile wrestler to cover all bases in concert with one tough guy. Evan Bourne would be perfect; as Matt Sydal, he was one of the best heels on the indie circuit. With Zeke AND Kozlov you get the problem whereby if you're tough enough to overcome one - Cf Christian - you're surely tough enough to overcome both of them.