I think this is great news and really a shot in the arm for the Money In The Bank PPV as, let's face it, based on how he was being booked before Mania no-one gave Swagger a chance of winning the title shot, yet he won. Hopefully he can have a fair reign as champion but, personally, I know I'm now going to watch the MITB PPV and not have a clue who will win the title shot there, which is probably one of WWE's main aims with this title switch. So kudos to the bookers (for once) you've made one of the B level PPV's much more open
It's finally [OFFICIAL]: Jack Swagger is the NEW World Heavyweight Champion
- Thread starter D-Man
- Start date
It doesn't make sense from a booking standpoint. If they were going to give him the World title on Tuesday, why bother teasing a feud with John Cena on monday? He wins the MITB on sunday, attempts to cash it in on monday, changes his mind, then cashes it in tuesday, against the OTHER champion and wins? I am at a loss to explain it. If Y2J was hurt and had to take time off, and they needed to get the belt off of him, they could have given it to Edge, which would have made sense. If they were simply using the MITB stipulation to get rid of it, because they didn't want to deal with it for very long, they didn't have to have Swagger win, he could have cashed it in, but lost the match. Having Swagger win the World title two days after winning the MITB is hard enough to explain, but to have him do it against Jericho instead of Cena, after what happened on Raw makes it almost impossible.
Alex
King Of The Wasteland
I have a suspicion that this was done because they have the MITB PPV soon so they got rid of one briefcase to make room for the other one.
I do feel they should have built Swagger up a bit before cashing in, like others were saying he was jobbing to Santino and doing nothing for a few months and is now World Heavyweight Champion. Hopefully WWE make his reign interesting
I do feel they should have built Swagger up a bit before cashing in, like others were saying he was jobbing to Santino and doing nothing for a few months and is now World Heavyweight Champion. Hopefully WWE make his reign interesting
wadskillen
Dark Match Jobber
couldnt agree more with the folk that have said it is a strange move after months of being buried on raw but also couldnt be happier. was a huge swagger mark last summer when he first came to raw, even in throwing his first match against orton. In Uk we get smackdown on friday night and i usualy avoid all spoilers, dnt even look at wz during the weekdays but cuz i was heading out last night i took a peak yesterday afternoon, wish i hadnt of bothered planning a night out now, seeing swagger get the win like that would have had me jumping from my seat. awesome! Something about how relaxed he was straight after the three count was cool, cant quite put my finger on it. My 2 older brothers who dnt really watch wrestling nemore said his state of championship address was great, that odds on fav from 2nd grade said with great conviction and matter of factly. My Bros r in their 30s now so i believe they know a great heel when they see 1, usually when they make us laugh,ha, like punk singing happy bday to reys kid, how awesomely heel was that?
Mustang Sally
Sells seashells by the seashore
Yes, and the whole effect made me think that someone had said to him (for storyline purposes):
"Stop acting like a jackass and start taking things seriously. If you do that, you have the ability to win a championship."
I wouldn't be surprised if they advance that notion by having a mentor show up at Swagger's side, someone who counseled him to adopt his new "serious" attitude. (If they do that, I nominate Tony Atlas).
I would have thought that the program would be longer in the making, yet we see that the after-Wrestlemania period is always used to point the storylines in new directions.....and here's one that took almost everyone by surprise.
Before, Jack Swagger acted like a 6-year-old suffering a severe sugar reaction. Last night, he looked like a champion.
Jack-Hammer
YOU WILL RESPECT MY AUTHORITAH!!!!
I'm pretty pleased about this. It was one of the few, if not the only, good things that happened on Smackdown last night. I have to admit that I'd pretty much given up on Swagger a while back, but it's nice to see him get an unexpected push. I expected that he would hold onto the briefcase for a while before cashing it in, but the unexpected nature of the MITB case can be fun. You can never really tell when someone's going to cash it in.
Whether Swagger will have a long title run or not is too early to tell. I'm hoping that he does hold onto it for a while as this has the potentialy of being a really good three way feud for the title with Jericho and Edge still in the picture. A rub from one of them would do wonders for Swagger, but a rub from both of them could send his career into orbit.
Whether Swagger will have a long title run or not is too early to tell. I'm hoping that he does hold onto it for a while as this has the potentialy of being a really good three way feud for the title with Jericho and Edge still in the picture. A rub from one of them would do wonders for Swagger, but a rub from both of them could send his career into orbit.
My main issue is to do it the very next day after teasing it with Cena, against the other champion just makes no sense. I have no problems with the idea of Swagger winning it this quickly after Wrestlemania, its just the manner it which it was booked. If the plan was all along to have him beat Jericho on tuesday, then attacking Cena was completely pointless, and if the plan wasn't to do it on tuesday yet during Raw, and they really were going to have him go after Cena, then what changed between monday and tuesday to change the WWE's mind?
It isn't that it happened, its how it happened, the timing of it between monday and tuesday, that just doesn't make sense to me.
It isn't that it happened, its how it happened, the timing of it between monday and tuesday, that just doesn't make sense to me.
DirtyJosé
Best angle of all: retirement
Explain.
Well, I'd say the point was to make him look like an opportunist. Also, it was to get the MitB winner on Raw, so that everyone who missed WM knew who it was.
It's not very hard to explain. He tried to cash it in on Cena, but changed his mind when Cena was ready for it. He then cashed it in on a laid-the-fuck-out Jericho. Not hard to explain at all. Not impossible at all.
It's surprising and exciting; another unexpected title swerve from the guys who brought you Sheamus!: The Musical. And it's another new face to the title. I've been waiting all week to enjoy this on these forums!
Where to go from here, though. He had some mixed face/heel heat leaving the stage. The "State of the Championship Address" brings back a bit of the JBL reign and got him the heel heat he was looking for. His backstage moment with Shelton Benjamin was pure pwnage, and I look forward to seeing if the Gold Standard does something about it soon (and can hang with a good angle at the top of the card), or just fades away into nothingness (and eventually, TNA).
FunKay the Inevitable
People Like Me, We Don't Play
That is actually one of the funniest things I've heard all day. Could you actually imagine if there was such a thing?That's exactly what I was thinking when I saw it. Swagger appears to have that similar 'I'm a true american hero, deal with it' attitude that Layfield had and to a lesser extent Angle had in 99/00.
It's about time that Swagger gets some heavyweight major gold around his waist. I for once, I'm freaking excited about his championship reing. I could understand why he cashed in his MITB case early, But what I don't understand is why they made him cash it in on Jericho. Jericho was starting to get some major momentum, but I guess that we will have to find out as time passes by.
Swagger Is amazing and I just hope he has a title reing until the MITB ppv. If he some how loses his championship on the Extreme Rules PPV, I will be really pissed and disappointed at the WWE creative team.
Swagger Is amazing and I just hope he has a title reing until the MITB ppv. If he some how loses his championship on the Extreme Rules PPV, I will be really pissed and disappointed at the WWE creative team.
The People's Peep
Mr. Manager
First of all, Swagger is on raw. so common belief would be that he would cash in on the wwe champion on raw. they have him nearly cash in on monday to solidify that belief in your head. after monday, you're thinking "i gotta watch next monday to see if anything happens between swagger and cena. then you're watching smackdown on friday and this happens! its a total swerve and i think it happened like this because no one expected it.
I never saw this coming, not one bit. Hell, im still surprised he won MITB. This is the same guy that was jobbing to Santino prior to the RR. Swagger is a good wrestler, but he's boring as shit on the mic. They seem to be doing a Kurt Angle type gimmick, but he just doesn't have the skills on the mic. Angle was entertaining and he was great at generating heat, not to mention Swagger can't hold a candle to Angle's in ring skills.
I would have liked Swagger/Cena a lot better, but I guess they didn't want to re-do a Sheamus/Cena type program. I can't see Edge or Jericho getting the shaft and getting booted out of the WHC match at Extreme Rules, because they then wouldn't have anything to do at the PPV. I see the Jericho/Edge match ending in a no contest or something next week, thus leading to a triple threat ladder match. I know people bitch about triple threats, but this is actually a reasonable circumstance to do so. Plus, Edge and Jericho are damn good and can make it a really fun match. Also if they want Swagger to retain, they can just have Jericho and Edge basically destroy each other.
I would have liked Swagger/Cena a lot better, but I guess they didn't want to re-do a Sheamus/Cena type program. I can't see Edge or Jericho getting the shaft and getting booted out of the WHC match at Extreme Rules, because they then wouldn't have anything to do at the PPV. I see the Jericho/Edge match ending in a no contest or something next week, thus leading to a triple threat ladder match. I know people bitch about triple threats, but this is actually a reasonable circumstance to do so. Plus, Edge and Jericho are damn good and can make it a really fun match. Also if they want Swagger to retain, they can just have Jericho and Edge basically destroy each other.
What I am saying is that if the intent was to tease him cashing it on Cena, you draw it out a little more, before having him do a switcheroo. The way it played out was a little too "WCW making it up as they go along". Like there really wasn't any kind of plan for him after winning the MITB, and that they rushed to put this together. By doing it both on monday and tuesday, it looks indecisive. If the plan was to have him beat Jericho, then on Raw, he comes out with the briefcase, still letting those that missed WM know who won (as if the WM highlights didn't already do that), without starting and aborting a feud with Cena in one night. Now you have Cena who got attacked from behind, sucker-punched, as it were, who, normally would be looking to get his revenge, not have anything to do this monday, because the guy who he wants revenge on, is now the World champ, on Smackdown, and unaccessible. If the WWE wanted Swagger to win over Jericho on tuesday's Smackdown taping all along, have him run down the crowd on Raw, give a good heel promo, and leave it at that. Don't have him attack Cena, because it was completely pointless, because that storyline can't go anywhere. (unless they want to unify the titles, but that is a different thread all together). There is a natural 3-way storyline with Swagger/Edge/Y2J anyway if they planned on Swagger beating Y2J all along, they didn't need to start and then suddenly stop another storyline with Cena. Pointless.
The only thing that comes to my mind is that the WWE had no idea where they wanted to go with it, and that at some point monday night, after Raw, they changed their minds about Swagger, and made a quick decision to have him be on Smackdown instead.
The only thing that comes to my mind is that the WWE had no idea where they wanted to go with it, and that at some point monday night, after Raw, they changed their minds about Swagger, and made a quick decision to have him be on Smackdown instead.
DirtyJosé
Best angle of all: retirement
I see where you might be going with this, and I'll say this: you can't have everyone cashing in the week after the event or this will get stale and predictable.
On that coin, though, so is taking time to build it up each and every time. Swagger is a heel, and his actions were a good reflection of such; get the gold as easy as possible. As a heel, why would he care about being honorable about it? The idea is that he didn't want anyone to see it coming, and Cena recovered quickly enough to spook him.
And really, man, the whole point and plan of MITB is go for the title. Calling it a WCW swerve is unfair, and it's inaccurate. In WCW, someone would have run in and knocked out Swagger, and pinned Jericho himself for the win (even if he had no place in the damn match). Or blah blah blah nWo 6.0 blah blah blah.
It's not indecisive, dude. He wanted gold, he got it. He didn't care which piece of gold it was, just one of the two big ones. And he didn't start or abort a feud with Cena on Raw; they've had their rubs in the past and I suspect this will be picked up down the line.
Except that it's another brick in the potential of a Cena/Swagger feud. They've dropped small amounts of tease about that since draft night last year. Not pointless; patient (something WWE almost never shows). You are mad because it wasn't cookie cutter booking.
I disagree, I feel their objective was to portray Swagger as hungry for gold, and willing to pick his spot at the expense of anyone in the way. And I feel they succeeded in that.
Fire Marshall Bill
Let me show ya somethin!!!
Ok, first time poster so gimme a break guys...
But as it reads, does he have even the slightest chance to have a good run? I don't mean that in the way you guys might think (that the winner next week on Smackdown will destroy Swagger). Let's start from the beginning. Swagger came in on ECW and started off pretty good. He was running through people well, gaining heat for being a cocky heel saying he's the "All-American-American." He showed great upside with his big size and amazing wrestling ability. He eventually got the ECW belt and had a decent run, albeit it was still only the ECW belt which was on it's way down by then. Like all champions he lost the belt but then was drafted to Raw. From this point on he went straight downhill. His first night he wanted to "make an impression" when really he just showed people he wasn't willing to wrestle Randy Orton. What's wrong with bringing a former champion in and giving him a decent, but short (being it was a gauntlet match), match with Orton to put Swagger over a little bit? Nope, they made him look like a total punk. We all know where he went from there. Jobber. This leads me up to the final part of his path before the WHC... He was in the last 4 months jobbing to Santino Marella. Nearly the ultimate low in wrestling recently except anyone who jobbed to Hornswaggle. Anyways, here's my point...
After all this horrible jobbing there's no question he was a lock to LOSE MITB. But he won, which wasn't a bad thing because it was unpredictable and set up a nice possible run for him. But having him win the WHC so quickly, how can we expect him to win more than even 1 title defense, even if he tries to cheat? It doesn't make sense. If he wins, he makes Jericho or Edge look like crap and the IWC would have a legitimate gripe about what the hell the WWE is trying to do. If he loses, why the hell did they give him the belt in the first place?
Wouldn't it have been a better idea to give him that briefcase and let him rebuild his credibility? He could start out destroying jobbers. Then move up to beating mid-carders until he finally steals the belt in the way he just did. Along the way though they'd also have to up his moveset so when he faces the main eventers there's an excuse for him to win now like he couldn't before. This is just too fast for any title defense to seem AT ALL realistic. I don't think he has a chance. Either he loses it very quickly, or he and the WWE look stupid for making this unbelievable turnaround.
Thoughts?
But as it reads, does he have even the slightest chance to have a good run? I don't mean that in the way you guys might think (that the winner next week on Smackdown will destroy Swagger). Let's start from the beginning. Swagger came in on ECW and started off pretty good. He was running through people well, gaining heat for being a cocky heel saying he's the "All-American-American." He showed great upside with his big size and amazing wrestling ability. He eventually got the ECW belt and had a decent run, albeit it was still only the ECW belt which was on it's way down by then. Like all champions he lost the belt but then was drafted to Raw. From this point on he went straight downhill. His first night he wanted to "make an impression" when really he just showed people he wasn't willing to wrestle Randy Orton. What's wrong with bringing a former champion in and giving him a decent, but short (being it was a gauntlet match), match with Orton to put Swagger over a little bit? Nope, they made him look like a total punk. We all know where he went from there. Jobber. This leads me up to the final part of his path before the WHC... He was in the last 4 months jobbing to Santino Marella. Nearly the ultimate low in wrestling recently except anyone who jobbed to Hornswaggle. Anyways, here's my point...
After all this horrible jobbing there's no question he was a lock to LOSE MITB. But he won, which wasn't a bad thing because it was unpredictable and set up a nice possible run for him. But having him win the WHC so quickly, how can we expect him to win more than even 1 title defense, even if he tries to cheat? It doesn't make sense. If he wins, he makes Jericho or Edge look like crap and the IWC would have a legitimate gripe about what the hell the WWE is trying to do. If he loses, why the hell did they give him the belt in the first place?
Wouldn't it have been a better idea to give him that briefcase and let him rebuild his credibility? He could start out destroying jobbers. Then move up to beating mid-carders until he finally steals the belt in the way he just did. Along the way though they'd also have to up his moveset so when he faces the main eventers there's an excuse for him to win now like he couldn't before. This is just too fast for any title defense to seem AT ALL realistic. I don't think he has a chance. Either he loses it very quickly, or he and the WWE look stupid for making this unbelievable turnaround.
Thoughts?
Ok I say that Swagger will have a good run as the World Heavyweight champion. I'm sure that who ever wins from the match between Jericho and Edge this Friday will go and wrestle him at Extreme Rules. Now the Challenger will give Swagger a hell of a match, But I think that swagger will come out victories.
Swagger will most likely be the next Kurt Angle in the WWE. The WWE will shoot swagger up to the sky. They will re-built him But at the same time Swagger will be proving us and the E why he's the champion. If the WWE has plans for him, I'm pretty sure that that title will be around his waist for a few months.
Jack Swagger does stand a chance as the champion, If Sheamus did it what makes you think that Swagger won't make it. Swagger works magic in that ring, His mic skills are crappy, But just like sheamus, Sheamus was awful in the mic and he has improve quit a bit. I'm sure that Swagger will Improve a lot.
Yeah Swagger was Jobbing on RAW for quit long time. And I can't say that I wasn't shocked when he won the MITB, But shit it's about time that Swagger gets a shot to be in the mainevent level. Swagger clearly deserves this push right now. And I will say that the WWE didn't made a stupid mistake at all.
Damn Jack Swagger has been a champion for about a week already and everybody is already whining. Give him a fucking chance for god's sake.
Swagger will most likely be the next Kurt Angle in the WWE. The WWE will shoot swagger up to the sky. They will re-built him But at the same time Swagger will be proving us and the E why he's the champion. If the WWE has plans for him, I'm pretty sure that that title will be around his waist for a few months.
Jack Swagger does stand a chance as the champion, If Sheamus did it what makes you think that Swagger won't make it. Swagger works magic in that ring, His mic skills are crappy, But just like sheamus, Sheamus was awful in the mic and he has improve quit a bit. I'm sure that Swagger will Improve a lot.
Yeah Swagger was Jobbing on RAW for quit long time. And I can't say that I wasn't shocked when he won the MITB, But shit it's about time that Swagger gets a shot to be in the mainevent level. Swagger clearly deserves this push right now. And I will say that the WWE didn't made a stupid mistake at all.
Damn Jack Swagger has been a champion for about a week already and everybody is already whining. Give him a fucking chance for god's sake.
My only issue with what they did with him was they gave no build up for him. I would have had him at least go through and beat the other MitB contenders and make them all challenge him for the briefcase. Maybe have a main eventer like Edge challenge him to get another shot at Jericho. Have him win clean or steal wins, either way he gets some build up. Hell you could have had him just say he was going to challenge Jericho/Cena at the next PPV and have Edge/Batista interfere and cost them the belt. Then both are out of the title picture and you could have some younger guys actually challenge for the belt. Orton/Swagger would be good as would Taker/Swagger. Hell Swagger/Punk or Swagger/Mysterio would be awesome too. Same with HHH/Swagger. I like Swagger as champ, just not necessarily how they did it.
Fire Marshall Bill
Let me show ya somethin!!!
Gen Me, I'm not whining that he's WHC. I'm glad he got his push, but that's a complete 180. I'm just saying that he went from competing for Jobber of the Year Award to WHC, with absolutely no build up. How can he legitimately beat any main eventer and not have it look just horrible? At least Sheamus was destroying everyone in his path when he got the belt. He didn't lose to damn Hornswaggle, that's for damn sure. I'm just saying, without a rebuilding of his credibility it's almost as if the WWE has painted themselves into a corner.
I guess my point was misunderstood. I think he doesn't have a chance because I think the WWE might have screwed him either way they go.
I guess my point was misunderstood. I think he doesn't have a chance because I think the WWE might have screwed him either way they go.
The Viper Orton
Pre-Show Stalwart
It looks like Edge will face Swagger, if Jericho really want some time off. I see swagger doing what they did to CM punk, have 2-4 successful defenses and then loose (would like him to survive till he faces Undertaker). He is a good wrtestler, better than Sheamus, MVp, or Kofi in my opinion. He just need some mic skills and he can be the nexty All-American-American WHC!!
That's how the E always do their bussiness, After Wrestlemania was over WWE knew that Both RAW and SD were not going to have any good major storyline, By giving Swagger the Win in the MITB match that will brough up a lot of attention and create new feuds. Yeah I totally agree with you about the 180 turn from Jobbing to maineventing matches. But like I said that's how WWE work they just surprise us with tons of stuff that we might not ever see coming. Now everybody will tune in to Smackdown or RAW just to see what might happen with the new Champion.
Come on who did Sheamus destroy, IMO sheamus didn't do nothing, You think that by destroying 1 wrestler(Jaime Noble "Jobber") and one legend(Jerry Lawler "Retired") made me get his attention hell no. He got my attention when he was feuding with Cena and he still has my attention now that he's feuding with HHH.
They got him heat but showing his refusal to make an enemy out of the top heel on the brand. Heck, another heel was involved in that match. Mark Henry. Him going after Orton caused him to get major face heat. They didn't want that for Swagger, so they went another route. There was nothing wrong with that decision. But I digress.
I don't think anyone should doubt him. People said he wouldn't win MITB, and then that he'd be the first man to lose when cashing in. In a week, he went from doing nothing to being the top midcarder in the company to winning the top title. Don't make too much of his past losses. As far as the WWE's concerned, his mega-push this week has made up for it.
No. They wouldn't. The IWC often makes too much of wins and losses. Not to mention that Jericho is a glorified JTTS and lost clean to JTG a few months about. These men can lose without it causing their heat to falter. Using that to get Swagger over is exactly what should be happening.
Besides, the IWC is hardly a majority as it is. The gripes of the IWC generally mean nothing in the big picture.
Want me to name some other wrestlers with first title reigns that are considered awful bby many?
Bret Hart. Triple H. The Rock. Chris Jericho. Edge. CM Punk.
How much do you hear about those short-comings these days?
If Swagger has "it," he'll rise to the top no matter how this first reign goes down. Don't sweat somebody not having a great run with a glorified prop.
Probably. But that's not what happened, so such arm-chair quarter-backing isn't of much use. We are where we are. And it's not quite as bad of a situation as you make it out to be.
In an ideal world, sure. However, the slow-build has been a dead art form for a long time. I don't know why you're choosing now to be upset. Most rational people are over this.
Because his shoulder tackles, press slams, Vader Bomb, and finisher isn't a decent enough moveset to build a match around? It's no weaker than the moveset of some other guys floating around the top of the card and he had no problem putting on proper looking lengthy (by today's standards) bouts with Christain and Matt Hardy last year.
You're wrong. WWE has been in full-on swerve-the-internet mode for at least the last two years. This is right down their alley. Given the rules they've established surrounding major pushes in recent years, there's nothing un believable about this.
NXTrookie2013
Pre-Show Stalwart
You know when I saw him win mitb I was ticked off and hope he would be the first to fail cashing it in but I've grown on him, I think it was too early for him to cash in but this most likeley happened because of the up coming money in the bank paperview. Do I think he will be successful? I actually think he should have it til atleast Over The Limit. The only problem is that he's not really over with the crowd, WWE should work on that.
NthDegree23
Fidgets over vanilla midgets
I think he does stand a chance. Did you notice how his demeanor instantly changed when he won the belt? He suddenly looked very serious. I think they're retooling his personality. The way his state of the championship address played out makes me think he's going to have an almost Presidential gimmick. It would be hard to imagine that he's going to lose the belt prematurely when they're in the process of repackaging him.
On the flip side, he has lost a ton of credibility in recent months, not the least of which being his terrible vow not to lose story-line. He also lost to Randy Orton the night before they taped him winning the title. Maybe we shouldn't disagree with WWE scripting on a creative standpoint as much as an intellectual standpoint.
On the flip side, he has lost a ton of credibility in recent months, not the least of which being his terrible vow not to lose story-line. He also lost to Randy Orton the night before they taped him winning the title. Maybe we shouldn't disagree with WWE scripting on a creative standpoint as much as an intellectual standpoint.
Poop Master Flex
Mid-Card Championship Winner
I actually think Swagger will be alright. While I agree that they put the title on the guy way too soon, but at this point you might as well give him a chance to shine as champion. In all fairness to Swagger, he'll have a lot better chance than Sheamus did when he became champ, from what I read there is a good chunk of the IWC who is really behind this guy (where no one was behind Sheamus) and although I would of liked to see Jericho get a long title run they don't really need the title on him since he's feuding with Edge (you don't really need the title in the Edge/Jericho storyline as it was set in place long before Jericho was even champ) and truth be told, Swagger could use it a lot more than Jericho or Edge does.
Like I said, too early to put the title on the guy, but he has the potential to make it work and I'm gonna be a little optimistic this time around and hope for the best. At least the WWE is trying to get new people over (even though the way they are doing it is questionable) and at least they are pushing someone that has great potential (unlike Sheamus, who still hasn't done anything to win me over yet) and could possibly become a big star down the road.
Like I said, too early to put the title on the guy, but he has the potential to make it work and I'm gonna be a little optimistic this time around and hope for the best. At least the WWE is trying to get new people over (even though the way they are doing it is questionable) and at least they are pushing someone that has great potential (unlike Sheamus, who still hasn't done anything to win me over yet) and could possibly become a big star down the road.