Is anyone else kinda suprised?

[RedRegan1005]

Am I the only one who is kinda surprised Jack Swagger hasn't been fired yet? He is starting to put together a record of injuring other wrestlers. I'm not here to bash swagger and I'm not saying he's caused any injuries on purpose, but think about it. Wade Barrett was getting a good push, the gets injured during a beat down by swagger, and now is gonna be out for a few months and has to drop the Intercontinental Title. Before that he gave Ziggler a concussion. After that Ziggler dropped the World title and has been free falling down the card ever sense. Those two instances are recent and I think there may be others on that list. I'm pretty sure WWE has let guys go in the past for being unsafe. So is it just me or is any one else surprised Jack Swagger hasn't been labeled a hazard and given the axe?

 

[Mudlup50]

Well why would he be given the axe? Swagger regardless of his push, well lack thereof is a good ring wrestler. For example, Angle never got fired for it, Goldberg didn't and he ended someone's career.
Plus if you're just mad that the push was ended, imagine how many pushes Orton has stopped. Not being a dick because I like Orton but for real xD

 

[TheICChampion]

You know why Swagger was not punished (and for all we know he still might be, they could feed him to Rusev) is because he fits into one of two categories for Vinnie Mac. We already know he doesn't fit into the first category: Main-eventer/huge moneymaker. Which leaves us with the second: He's tall, he's big, and fairly muscular. Why else would Vince keep him around after he's risked the health of other workers and been caught with drugs? Look, I'm not necessarily a Swagger hater, and I know some of you might think he's also a great wrestler, which I grant you. But after all he's done, why else is Vince still keeping him around?

 

[TheHitMark-SirJoseOle]

My only misgiving about Swagger right now, and I am going to probably get flamed for this, is the fact of how they are using him at this very moment.

Yes it sucks he has injured Barrett, what bothers me the most about that is that Barrett was someone that was really starting to get my curiosities piqued and I really thought a heel title reign would have been in his future. They were so close years ago when he was doing The Nexus, that I thought it was going to happen then. But alas it has yet to and with this recent injury, it won't likely ever.

However, my most major issue is how they've turned him face now to go up against the evil Rusev. I get it, he's the All-American American. He's from Oklahoma so he has that heartland, middle America look. To me though it just frustrates me because we need this blonde hair, blue eyed stereotype of Americana to be the good that conquers the foreign evil.

An American doesn't just come in one shape or size, and it'd have been nice to see things get changed up a bit in this dynamic. This character has been notorious in the storylines for speaking out against Latins/Hispanics for not being here legally. Granted, we aren't talking Nation vs Los Boriquas vs Disciples Of Apocalypse type of overtones with the racial nature of things, but just the same you had a character in Big E, who despite my indifference to him, I think is still a decent performer. And instead of being an example of an American hero to stand up to the foreign antagonist we get someone like Swagger whose schtick the past year is teaming up with Zeb Coulter to speak out against the evils of those who don't look "American" by their standards.

I know this is wrestling, and maybe I am taking this too personally but as someone of Latin descent (from my mother's side) who has often had to deal with racial discrimination but yet I'm American born and raised and have proudly served my country as a Marine, it sort of irks me that WWE hasn't embraced that aspect of diversity with this angle.

I'm not saying that you force diversity because tokenism is just as aggravating but I think instead of Swagger, Big E would have been a better fit to give some momentum to in this rivalry.

 

[Mustang Sally]

It's hard to know what management has planned for Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter. I was sure they were going to add a member to the Real Americans, the theory being that the reason the faction was formed in the first place is that Jack isn't a charismatic enough character to function on his own; after all, isn't that why they allied Zeb with him in the first place?

Instead, they've kept Jack doing the ring work by himself. With his technical proficiency, he could handle the wrestling, yet still needed something to make the team interesting.

Enter Rusev, with pro wrestling's latest anti-American gimmick. He needed an opponent to take his program to the next level, but Big E suddenly becoming a super patriot rang hollow; we had never seen this from him before. Just waving a flag doesn't get it done.

Okay, so a team that already calls it itself The Real Americans is a likely counterpart to Rusev, right? Yes, there was a tiny problem in that the Real Americans were a heel team.....but in pro wrestling, that's a difficulty that's overcome, right?

Here's hoping this can be the vehicle that finally puts Jack Swagger over in a big way. I'm not predicting such because Jack has had some high-profile programs already that didn't make us care about him, but perhaps a good clash of nationalistic interests will do it.

In all, I wouldn't be surprised if Swagger turns good only long enough to rid us of the Rusev-Lana menace.....then turns bad again. It's happened before.

Meanwhile, maybe we get to see Lana wipe up the floor with Zeb Colter. Could be fun.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

I'm not sure Barrett isn't just made with glass. Was Swagger really at fault for Barrett's injury? Did the injury not happen in the segment we saw last night? I ask because I have no idea what Swagger did that caused Barrett's injury.

Anyway, talking about the Swagger face turn is more interesting. I have no idea what is going on with him and Zeb. They seem to be faces all of the sudden. Truth be told I think the things Lana says about America and Americans are the same thing Zen says. Maybe Lana takes it further by lumping all Americans together and Zeb only is critical of non TEA Party Americans but the message is pretty much the same.

I don't know but unless I'm missing something this face turn just feels like lazy writing. I've seen no redemption from Zeb or Swagger. The closest thing to redemption I've seen is that they took on a Swiss guy and otherwise have become a punchline. Lazy writing with two guys I don't see going very far for very long in this business equals a lack of interest from me.

 

[chicagokmc]

Its a re-used storyline that seems to work because surprisingly it isn't overused. This is Lex Lugar/Yokozuna from the 90's. Heel Lugar all of sudden shows up at the Yokozuna bodyslam challenge in a helicopter, slams Yokozuna and its face turn Lex the hero from there. I believe heel Kurt Angle had a similar type face turn defending the country.

I think the surprise comes from the fact that it looked like they were about to turn Barrett face and have him feud with heel Swagger. Barrett's injury required a quick replan and now you have Swagger face against Rusev. Looks a little choppy but the patriot angle will smooth things out.

 

[Mudlup50]

I don't see a problem here, you needed someone to feud with Rusev who else could he feud with? Cesaro is "heel", Bray is heel, Reigns is feuding with HHH, Jericho maybe but now he's feuding with the Wyatts...so I don't see this as a problem, Swagger is a glorified jobber at the moment and he'll be doing that well here!

Also to the guy who questions Swagger's influence, he's been wrestling in the company for what 8 years now? This is someone who can actually wrestle, has committed to the company and brings us a manager who fixes his one hole in character. I just wish WWE would push him xD maybe this angle will help build him up, if not I'm gonna give up hope on him ever main eventing again.