Jack Swagger: Babyface turn doing wonders?

[Hard Hit Prince]

First of all I've to say that I've always been a fan of Jack Swagger, the guy does indeed have a good look and his in-ring style ends up being very much different from his co-workers, which ends up delivering some good matches with their own different story. Not saying the best matches, but good enough matches to make him different in the roster. From the start of his career that he was always connected to patriotism, and it doesn't matter if he was a cocky heel or an anti-foreigners character, he always put his pride for being "american" first, which is probably one of the reasons for how well this angle and this babyface turn has been working.

His promos are bad, no doubt about that, but Zeb Colter has been giving him a personality that he lacked for so many years. His personal and irresponsible problems may be one of the reasons why the upper management do not want him anywhere near the main event again, and that, is understandable. But as a fan, I'll always look at Jack Swagger has a guy that could legitimately be booked as a tough wrestler more so than the low to midcard role they end up using him. He could very well be marketed as an "rampant ox" or whatever, some sort of babyface that doesn't care to get hit twice in the mouth just to land one punch (a kind of Sheamus in that regard). I think it would make a lot of sense for his character to turn into it, specially since he'll be a favorite and well, cheap act.

Rusev was the perfect foil for him and of course, the co-main reason for why this angle is working so well, so not taking away anything from the bulgarian/russian brute. But what have you guys thought so far about Swagger's babyface performance, and after last night's defeat against Rusev, where do you see the former All American American end up on the food chain? Will he ever get another opportunity? Discuss, hell, give me some retrospective on his career.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Will he ever get another opportunity?

After last night, that's the big question, isn't it? I was sure Swagger was going to win, only slightly stalling Rusev's momentum by making him tap out (after Rusev's injury, I was positive that what's they were heading for) and giving the crowd a chance to celebrate American patriotism with Jack waving Old Glory after beating.....but not destroying.....the evil Putin forces. In fact, I thought Jack's mini-push in the weeks leading up to this event were all designed to give him the victory last night.

Now? I don't know.

Sure, Swagger can stay a good guy.....but to what end? Due to last night's loss, I don't see any "wonders" emerging from his babyface push. Is management going to continue his program with Rusev? If so, how far can they go with it? Personally, I've had enough of it.

Yes, Jack Swagger will still be around. Either with or without Zeb Colter, Jack's had more WWE lives than a cat; they give him time off, re-package him and change his persona.....yet he still can't make it big as the WWE braintrust always believed he would. I truly thought he might be onto something this time around with the Flag match.......yet he lost cleanly to a guy who was depicted as barely able to navigate his way around the ring.

Maybe Jack will just sit dormant for a while.....again. But he'll be back; he always is.

 

[MCMG]

It has worked tremendously. No-one really cared about Swagger beforehand and now he is one of the most popular people on the roster. It is such a simple gimmick (patriot) but the US crowds love it. Add the fact that Zeb is a strong talker and Swagger is very good in the ring; then we have a winning combination. The fact he never tapped out last night is significant. It shows he wasn't just fodder for Rusev - they have long-term plans for him.

Swagger definitely has a bright future. Cena, Bryan, Reigns, Ambrose, Sheamus and Ziggler are currently the top faces in the company. Cena is Cena; Bryan is injured; Reigns and Ambrose are young superstars being built for the future and Sheamus/Ziggler are both champs. Swagger is definitely in a strong position.

He can easily maintain a high position on the card. I'm sure the WWE can make money of him by feeding of patriotism. I could easily see Swagger across a ring from Lesnar but he could easily feud with the likes of Rollins, Wyatt and Orton.

 

[Mudlup50]

As someone who was a fan of his during ECW I say this one is a sign his push is done. Face it, this feud was only going to end in 2 ways...submission match or flag match. Both ways saw Swagger putting Rusev over. And I actually did see this coming(I made a prediction video which was awful on just about every other point due to the hot potato titles). Basically, Swagger was gonna lose this feud. And he did, if anything it means they're gonna set up a match for a title now? I can't see Swagger and Rusev continuing when Swagger has lost every match against him...I say set up a Rusev/Sheamus match for the US title. Fans get behind Sheamus and, as evident by the Rusev/Swagger feud, the fans will cheer anyone opposite Rusev

 

[Lord_Frish]

Swagger shouldn't be done yet, but WWE has a way to ruin opportunities like this. The fact that he passed out instead of tapped out is significant. They need to hype him up as a legit tough guy now. Put him in a hardcore match (extreme rules) and have him take an absolute beating from a heel, survive the beating and get the victory. It should be with someone other than Rusev though, Swagger has put him over, they should both move onto something else for now. I don't think WWE has anyone established as a 'hardcore legend' right now though, so that might be tough. Something along the lines of what Edge vs Mick Foley at Wrestlemania 22 and the 6 man tag at One Night Stand 2006 did for Edge.

 

[Mudlup50]

Swagger on Raw wrestled and lost to Cesaro? So the loser got beat by the guy who's been losing every week :S anyway, Rusev is feuding with Henry now. And Swagger might be feuding with Bo Dallas? Dare I say, Swagger is done with this mini push

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

This is one of the few instances where booking is getting a guy over. Put almost any American with zeb in this and they get over. Do they get THIS over? I don't know. This works so well because Zeb hypes the angle and Swagger delivers in the ring.

 

[Pedigree1]

Last night match surprised the hell out of me.. I thought and i would have put my house up i knew just knew that Swagger was going to win.. Good thing i dont gamble LOL! After Swagger passed out due to the Acolade who knows where Swags is heading..

I just dont know about Jack i dont.. He does seem to have nine lives but even at some point he is going to run out of lives.. He has got all world talent but for some reason,he just cant seem to get over.. His WHC run some years ago,really derailed him big time..

 

[Terry Gyimah]

Out of any superstar in the WWE the one who should definitely be pushed especially now is Jack Swagger and ever since this babyface turn has happened Swagger has actually become much more popular and hell even Zeb Colter has also become popular so why not catapult Swagger back into the main event? Swagger with Colter by his side, doesn't even need to do mic work but has the wrestling ability and the charisma to make up for the mic work not being there but still Swagger definitely deserves the push especially if WWE is going out of their way to create new stars

 

[Mudlup50]

Out of any superstar in the WWE the one who should definitely be pushed especially now is Jack Swagger and ever since this babyface turn has happened Swagger has actually become much more popular and hell even Zeb Colter has also become popular so why not catapult Swagger back into the main event? Swagger with Colter by his side, doesn't even need to do mic work but has the wrestling ability and the charisma to make up for the mic work not being there but still Swagger definitely deserves the push especially if WWE is going out of their way to create new stars

Now let me say that I'm a Swagger fan, but are the fans behind him? He's been feuding with the number 3 heel in the company for months. Now he looks pathetic and even on Raw lost to a fan favorite heel in Cesaro. I'm not arguing with you at all, I really think it'd be great if Swagger got pushed. I just don't think it's happening. But, let's hope I'm wrong

 

[WBL]

IMO, a large part of Swagger's push, and seeming resurgence, just goes to show how charismatic and entertaining Dutch Mantell is as Zeb Coulter. Although, considering his wife's political ambitions, one almost has to question whether having the Tea Party characters turn face so close to the mid-terms, and facing an easy-to-understand threat like Russian imperialism, has something to do with garnering votes.

Is Linda running for anything this year?

 

[wrestler36]

Anyone think a Zeb Colter heel turn is coming? Perhaps when he got beat up by Rusev, he 'saw the light?' This could be a HOT feud for Swagger in the future, leading up to Rumble or Wrestlemania. Zeb can manage an international star, like Sheamus or a returning Barrett as an anti-american. Not even anti-american , necessarily but anti-Swagger. I also noticed on Smackdown fallout, Swagger called himself 'Big Hoss.' I hope that catches on.

Why do people think Swagger cuts bad promos? I think people overemphasize the lisp that he has, which really isn't that big of a deal. If you go back to his ECW promos with Tommy Dreamer, he wasn't bad at all. He carried an almost 20 minute Smackdown segment with Big Show when he was champion. He's never cut a career changing promo, but he's pretty solid on the mic

 

[Mudlup50]

Anyone think a Zeb Colter heel turn is coming? Perhaps when he got beat up by Rusev, he 'saw the light?' This could be a HOT feud for Swagger in the future, leading up to Rumble or Wrestlemania. Zeb can manage an international star, like Sheamus or a returning Barrett as an anti-american. Not even anti-american , necessarily but anti-Swagger. I also noticed on Smackdown fallout, Swagger called himself 'Big Hoss.' I hope that catches on.

Why do people think Swagger cuts bad promos? I think people overemphasize the lisp that he has, which really isn't that big of a deal. If you go back to his ECW promos with Tommy Dreamer, he wasn't bad at all. He carried an almost 20 minute Smackdown segment with Big Show when he was champion. He's never cut a career changing promo, but he's pretty solid on the mic

It's funny you say this, I've never quite understood it either. His lisp has never been an issue for me, I understand what he's saying and it doesn't distract me so I've been a fan. Dare I say he's one of the best mat based wrestlers on the show now.

And I'd like that, keep Swagger relevant but I don't see it happening. I'm predicting Swagger becomes Swagger again xP being a jobber again. Especially being as Sandow has stopped jobbing recently

 

[Softcore Holly]

Especially being as Sandow has stopped jobbing recently

Well it's not like he's started winning, he's just hasn't been in any matches. Since he was in a dumb lumberjack outfit at SS I'm guessing his jobbing in silly costumes days aren't over yet.

More on topic Swagger's short push is probably close to over, shame since he has been getting great reactions. (not hard with the patriot gimmick, I know) The good news is he's still looks better than he has in ages, and maybe it's a fluke since he hasn't said more than the 3 same words in like 2 years but I thought his short promo on Raw was pretty good.

Bad news for him is now he looks good enough that beating him seems like a accomplishment so he'll most likely be back to jobbing soon enough, cept this time to heels. Especially since Bo's more likely to get pushed right now. On the plus side Swagger's going to be in back to back story feuds, which is pretty rare for mid-carders these days so he's still in a pretty good spot.