Royal Rumble: Jack Swagger Vs Matt Hardy, ECW Title

[Mighty NorCal]

A rematch for the belt from ECW last week. Very nice. for two reasons

1. They had a VERY good match on ECW, and work well together. Truly enjoyable with both men giving and taking playing their characters to a T.

2. HOW ******ed did the ECW title look last year when the ECW champ was IN THE FUCKING RUMBLE??? What was he gonna do, fucking wrestle HIMSELF at WM?? It makes the title look better if its defended in a stand alone match, with a build.


I think Swagger takes this, hopefully cleanly this time. I see zero reason why they would put the title on a young buck just to have him drop it back two weeks later. then again, this IS the WWE. So who the fuck knows. It would be BEST for Swagger to go over cleanly here, to free Hardy up for a Hardys Vs E&C potential feud, and to push Swagger even further. It makes so much sense, you would have to be a complete moron no to book it that way. Which means the WWE will likely fuck it up.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

I haven't heard of this, but obviously NorCal is all over wwe.com.

I'm happy about this rematch for a number of reasons as well, but Chavo Guerrero being the Champion & in the Rumble last year didn't upset me as much as everyone else. That's another story for another thread though.

I'm happy about this match because they had a great single's match on E.C.W. this past week, and unlike every other shitty ass feud over this meaningless title.. this might actually be the first rememberable (and worthy) one.

Another reason is because Jack Swagger deserves to defeat Matt Hardy again. Hardy is about the only meaningful and important Superstar on E.C.W. Hardy's held the Championship since September, which is roughly about the 3rd or 4th Superstar (tied w/ Punk & Lashley) to hold it for four monthes, or longer. (Big Show = 5 monthes is the longest) So if you expect this Championship to be worth anything, you need to let your new Champion begin by defeating one of the title's better ex Champions.

I think Swagger against Hardy will likely still open the Royal Rumble, just because you can't ask for everyone all at once.. but as NorCal said, having the Championship being defended in a stand-alone single's match, that will have a build-up to it, is a lot better than having your Champion end up as one of the random 29 individuals who'd be eliminated in the Rumble.

 

[Tim]

Well now we have an opener for the PPV. And I was one of the people who was pissed off with seeing the ECW champion in the Royal Rumble match. So its good to see the WWE giving the championship a proper match. Should be another great match from these two, and I'm expecting Swagger to retain here. It would be stupid to put the title back on Hardy after losing it only two weeks prior. It would be a stupid move that would make no sense. But the WWE likes making stupid moves. So it could happen. Hopefully not, but don't count it out.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Well, it would have been better for Swagger to make his PPV debut by beating Hardy for the title. Instead they gave him the belt on the ECW show. People remember PPV victories more than TV ones. I can't help but think that a long Rumble run and solid outings at No Way Out & Mania would be better for Swagger in the long run. It's an odd time of year to see if he'll sink or swim with the title.

Even though it's a mid card title throughout the promotion, he'll still have to carry ECW.

 

[Khalifa]

Well i am happy. I don't watch ECW but i heard it was a great match so obviously I am looking forward to this match. Swagger could and should win but i don't know any more. Maybe WWE feel bad about Hardy loosing the title and Swagger taking it too early or something. If Swagger does win . I think it will be by DQ or countout or something so that he doesn't win clean and then they can further there feud till NWO in some type of gimmick match.

 

[klunderbunker]

This could be what Swagger needs to get over that small hump. The problem is, not nearly as many people watch ECW as people watch the other shows. No one really has seen much of Swagger. Here's his chance to be pushed up hard and be showcased at one of the biggest PPVs of the year. Hardy is a popular guy and a big name. Should Swagger beat him clean, it instantly gives him credibility as well as frees up Matt to go and help his brother full time on SD. Everyone wins here with Swagger dominating.

 

["Cool Guy" Jensen]

I have to admit that I was a bit shocked to see Jack Swagger win the ECW Championship from Matt Hardy on Tuesday. I do not like the fact that Hardy will get his rematch so soon because it almost guarantees that he will lose. I also don't expect Swagger's title reign to be too long (hopefully he will lose it to Tommy Dreamer soon). Hardy will lose at Royal Rumble, but where does he go from there? A person who is on ECW and is not the champ, usually does not get much TV time, so that would harm Matt. I mean look at Chavo, since he lost the ECW Championship, he has not done anything remotely memorable. Now, if WWE made Matt lose the title for Christian's return, then I'm all for it, but I hope that he can retain credibility even after losing the title.

 

[Rusty]

Like most people, I am very glad the ECW Championship is being defended on pay per view. When Chavo entered the Rumble last year, it made me utterly disappointed with the WWE. It totally devalued the belt and made both Chavo and the ECW Title look utterly useless. This year it's getting a proper match on pay per view, well on the second biggest pay per view of the year, but it's being held by a rookie. Not a great way to increase the credibility of a title, but nonetheless, hopefully Jack Swagger proves to be a great champion.

I was one of the guys that originally didn't want Swagger to win the belt just yet, but I pray to God that he retains the title here. If Matt Hardy wins the title back, it makes Swagger's reign and victory look like a complete fluke, not to mention it would devalue the credibility of Swagger. But I see people wanting Jack to retain cleanly, well I wouldn't say no to it, but is everyone just forgetting about Matt Hardy here? I mean shit, the guy won the biggest title of his life, and people don't seem to care that he lost the belt cleanly I might add, to a guy who is fairly new to the business which does make Hardy seem weak to an extent.

If the WWE ever wanted to push Matt as a main eventer, it won't make much sense as Hardy couldn't even beat a rookie, but yet he could beat one of the best in the business. And also, Swagger did win the belt cleanly, so how the hell isn't his title win legitimate and fair? Hopefully this is a very good 12 minute bout. I wasn't too impressed with their match on ECW, but I predict the result will be the same here and Matt Hardy will once again lose cleanly to the ECW Champion, Jack Swagger.

 

[Khalifa]

I do not like the fact that Hardy will get his rematch so soon because it almost guarantees that he will lose. I also don't expect Swagger's title reign to be too long (hopefully he will lose it to Tommy Dreamer soon)..

How does this guarantee he will loose. I mean look at Cena and Edge in 2006. He won it back 3 weeks later. Same with Jericho and Batista ( 2 weeks) and HHH and HBK ( 1 month). IF anything it says he has a better chance than any one else doing it because well Swagger is rookie and might not be ready for it. I wouldn't count him out yet.

Hardy will lose at Royal Rumble, but where does he go from there? .

He has many other people to feud with e.g. John Morrison and the Miz or someone from SD like umaga or TBK. Heck even Raw could work for him ( look at Mn'M)

A person who is on ECW and is not the champ, usually does not get much TV time, so that would harm Matt..

How ECW goes on every show. He is still like apart of the main roster on Sd because he competes so much on there. Heck what about Big Show and RVD. they got alot of time.

mean look at Chavo, since he lost the ECW Championship, he has not done anything remotely memorable..

Well he has jobbed to the Undertaker so that is remarkable for him.

 

[CCS]

This should be a good match. Both Hardy and Swagger are good wrestlers that seem to work well together. I expect a short fun little match, with Jack Swagger going over in the end. Then Jack can go on to feud with Finlay and Matt can go to feud with E&C. The only problem I have with this is that they had Jack Swagger win the ECW title on free tv last week. It would have been much better if he won it at the rumble.

 

[Danmen001]

*We want Hardy* clap clap, clap clap clap *We want Hardy*​

I've been a fan of Swagger, but I was disappointed to see them throw away Hardy's reign (me being a Hardy mark and all). I mean, it's annoying to see his reign being put through Mark Henry and Finlay. They should have (before they gave Miz and Morrison the tag team belts) given them shots respectively. I would rather see that then numerous pointless matches with Mark and Finlay, whom Matt unfortunately had to carry to something decent.

Nonetheless, Swagger and Matt put on a good match, so cudos to them. I would like if Matt took back the belt, but it would be pointless and unusual to give him back the belt already. This is the WWE though.

 

[Shocky]

this should be a good match, and maybe brings ome value back to the ECW title by not having the champion in the Rumble. It's amazing that two years ago, you had Lashley, Cena and Batista all standing as equals in the ring awaiting the Undertaker and who he would challenge, and a year later the WWE squandered the ECW title as a below midcard belt by having Chavo show up in the match.

These two had a good match with limited time on ECW, so I can imagine that these two could probably put on a pretty good clinic given enough time. The silliness of Matt Hardy winning the title back is obvious, so a swagger win is obvious at this point. I'd imagine Swagger will get a clean victory.

 

[Mr. TM]

So I think this comes down to a few things, and all of them are positive for ECW. Good job WWE, you are helping the baby brand out. Royal Rumble usually only has 5 matches ever year. That means all of those matches are ones that people will care about. All of the non Rumble matches are for a top tiered title in each promotion, as well as the woman's title, the top in many people's minds for Woman's Wrestling. Now I cannot see the WWE opening with a woman's match, so this will obviously be first. Not bad for ECW to start out first, this will give the match some seperation.

This will give ECW a prime Pay Per View match. Jack Swagger gets PPV experience, and fans will be able to see a great match. If it gets people interested, they will tune into ECW. The match is for the title, nad if Swagger wins, he will look more impressive.

This will open ECW up to a new person to tackle Swagger. A few guys in the back who are qualified, but maybe Tommy Dreamer will go for it here, I am not sure. This would give Matt a chance to go against Edge and Christian if that is needed.

And finally, the point against having the ECW in the rumble. This is great again, and I hope that some ECW guys put on a great show in the Rumble, including Knox, someone who will be great for ECW.

 

[theneil450]

I'll play the wwe booker with the "zany" idea.

Tonight we witness the first and probably only MATT HARDY SQUASH MATCH.
Not only will it keep Matt Hardy's push going it will make Jack Swagger the new val venis a.k.a. jobber for life. I can hear the announcer's now, "You know he's a former ecw champ king, blah blah blah"

 

[Khalifa]

This was actually a pretty solid match in it's own right. I mean Hardy got some really good offense happening at the start of the match and then Jack Swagger did what he does best, start doing the mat wrestling and stuff like that.

This match wasn't too long or too short. It was a perfect match length for the ECW title. The ending did sort of ruin it for me. I didn't like him throwing Hardy into the poll because now it looks like that Swagger can only beat Hardy by throwing him into the poll. But with Hardy like almost crying at the end it sort of amde me think that he was meant to loose on purpose. I don't know but the ending makes me think that there is a storyline in there with Edge or something were he had to throw the match or something.