Swaggers Promo 4/23/2010

[MoneyMack]

I just got done watching tonights Smackdown on tape. I tried to find the video- but I never have any luck with that.

The promo he had tonight was top-notch! By far his best promo ever!! Talking about grabbing the Viper by the neck & all that. He was getting some good heat from the crowd! I cant remember the whole promo rightnow unfortunately, but WOW- he really impressed me tonight! I think Swagger proved tonight that he was worthy of his push.

Anyone who saw it: Do you agree?

Anyone who can find the video: Could you please post it?

NOW: onto the BullShit! How in the hell do have Swagger get pinned clean by Morrison? Come on! Swagger was as believable as I've ever seen him on the mic tonight & it has to coincide with him losing to fuckin Morrison?!?!?! God Dammit Vince!! Way to make your champ look weak! At least have Orton do a run-in & distract Swagger into the loss!

SonOfABitch!!

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

I just got done watching tonights Smackdown on tape. I tried to find the video- but I never have any luck with that.

The promo he had tonight was top-notch! By far his best promo ever!! Talking about grabbing the Viper by the neck & all that. He was getting some good heat from the crowd! I cant remember the whole promo rightnow unfortunately, but WOW- he really impressed me tonight! I think Swagger proved tonight that he was worthy of his push.

Anyone who saw it: Do you agree?

Anyone who can find the video: Could you please post it?

NOW: onto the BullShit! How in the hell do have Swagger get pinned clean by Morrison? Come on! Swagger was as believable as I've ever seen him on the mic tonight & it has to coincide with him losing to fuckin Morrison?!?!?! God Dammit Vince!! Way to make your champ look weak! At least have Orton do a run-in & distract Swagger into the loss!

SonOfABitch!!

I wasn't impressed with his promo at all. I am never impressed with him on the mic. And no, it is not because of his speech issues. He's boring. He says the same shit week in, and week out, same as Jericho and Edge. The content of his promos are always the same; I'm a great amateur wrestler, I'm not a winner, I'm a Champion, blah blah blah. I just don't find any of his promos to be the slightest bit entertaining. He honestly puts me to sleep.

His delivery is no better. Sure, anyone who can hear can make fun of his speech issues, but that's not what I'm talking about. He has zero intensity, zero fire on the mic. I understand it's kind of in his character to talk slowly and be rather bland, but I don't like it. If the content of his promos aren't boring enough, his delivery makes it even worse.

And as for him losing to Morrison, I think that is supposed to be part of his storyline. He's going to lose a lot, but not for the title. He's not going to focus on losing matches, but on the fact that he keeps the title. Do I like that angle? Not so much. I don't like the fact that he and Orton have had zero air time to build a feud, but that's what happens when a wrestling company bases all of their storylines on competition (in a fake sport, which we all know is fake) as opposed to personal feuds. He already looks weak, but I think that's the point kind of. I'm not a fan of what they're doing with his title reign thus far, but it's still early (unless he loses the belt on Sunday, which I doubt he will).

I'm not a Swagger-hater. I think he is 10x better than Sheamus was during his first title reign, so it's refreshing to watch a guy hold the belt that can ACTUALLY wrestle (yes, I am saying Sheamus can't wrestle). I just don't think they have given him anything entertaining to do. I'm not sure he will ever be entertaining on the mic, but he's not being given much to work with either.

 

[LitasRevenge79]

I have nothing against Swagger at all. But my husband and I were kinda confused, he seemed a bit more entertaining BEFORE he had the belt. I noticed he's not so animated anymore when he walks into the room/arena/etc. Notice b4 he won, he'd always do his little 'on your knees' chest bump, and push ups, etc. Then his cocky swagger about the ring. Now he's all serious, and wears 3 piece suits, ala biting on Jericho, and just doesn't seem to have the same charisma to me that he had as he did before getting MITB. Granted, I've never been his biggest fan to begin with, but his promos PRIOR to being title holder seemed a bit more interesting. Maybe its just me though?

 

[ZeroVX]

I have nothing against Swagger at all. But my husband and I were kinda confused, he seemed a bit more entertaining BEFORE he had the belt. I noticed he's not so animated anymore when he walks into the room/arena/etc. Notice b4 he won, he'd always do his little 'on your knees' chest bump, and push ups, etc. Then his cocky swagger about the ring. Now he's all serious, and wears 3 piece suits, ala biting on Jericho, and just doesn't seem to have the same charisma to me that he had as he did before getting MITB. Granted, I've never been his biggest fan to begin with, but his promos PRIOR to being title holder seemed a bit more interesting. Maybe its just me though?

This. What made Swagger different from the other midcarder heels was his personality. People hated him because he jumped around and acted like a douche. Now that he's suddenly world champion, WWE seems to be trying to recreate what they did with Chris Jericho. They don't realize that it worked as well as it did because Jericho made it work. That's not something you can have just anyone do.

As for the promo, I'll give Swagger credit for the usage of metaphors and such, but the delivery fell flat for me. He sounded like he was reciting lines from a script, which he obviously did, but we're not supposed to know that.

 

[Ruthless-RKO]

I see what you mean with Swagger, they making himlook really weak, so at his match, he can defeat Orton, I do want orton as champion, but not yet, give Swagger a couple of months, I mean swagger has lost twice to orton, taker and now morrison..Swagger is gonna become a real champion after extreme rules, is what i think!!

I think he wasmore active before he had the belt though, like now he looks serioustoo serious... freaks me out..

 

[X]

I have to agree with Nick and say I really wasn't impressed. I WANTED to be impressed, I WANTED to like it but it's hard for me to take Swagger seriously with his lisp. Not only because it affects how he speaks, but it clearly affects his own self-confidence when speaking, which is to say he has very little. He doesn't look like he believes what he's saying, he looks like he's just reading lines off of a cue card. He needs some serious help in that promo skill department, mainly in the form of confidence. It's all about confidence, if he had a bit more on the mic, we could tell, and he would sound alot better.

Yeah, wasn't very impressed by his promo. In fact by the end when I started hearing chants of "Shut up! You suck!" it started to remind me of the ever-so-feared "X-Pac heat" that he was getting. Heat not for being a heel, but for being someone that the fans don't want to see and who they think genuinely suck at being a wrestler. Not saying that's true about Swagger, but that's the impression I got by the time the promo was over.

I like Swagger, but he's got a LOT of work to do on the mic.

 

[HBKevin]

His delivery is no better. Sure, anyone who can hear can make fun of his speech issues, but that's not what I'm talking about. He has zero intensity, zero fire on the mic. I understand it's kind of in his character to talk slowly and be rather bland, but I don't like it.

That's the whole point of a heel, to make you not like it. He would be a bad heel if his promos were entertaining and made you like him. That's why Jericho understands gimmicks and heat so well. He was one of the funniest faces ever, and one of the most annoying, repetitive, serious heels.

When people criticize a heel's promos, they are actually complimenting them, unintentionally.

 

[klunderbunker]

I just watched it and I hadn't read this thread yet. I loved it too. Swagger was totally believable as the World Heavyweight Champion at that point and it worked like a charm. I loved this promo as he talked about being the antidote. It worked very well and was by far the best he's ever had. Loved it. The lisp really isn't an issue at all for me.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

That's the whole point of a heel, to make you not like it. He would be a bad heel if his promos were entertaining and made you like him. That's why Jericho understands gimmicks and heat so well. He was one of the funniest faces ever, and one of the most annoying, repetitive, serious heels.

When people criticize a heel's promos, they are actually complimenting them, unintentionally.

Yes, I understand the point of a heel promo, thank you for bringing me up to speed... Anyway..Heels are not always being boo'ed because they are good heels. Some heels, like X-Pac (an example given earlier) are boo'ed because people really think they suck. Does Jack Swagger get that kind of reaction? No, I don't think so. But it shows that heat doesn't always equal a quality heel.

So criticizing a heel promo is in no way a compliment. At least not from me. I don't think Swagger is terrible or anything like that, I just wasn't impressed with his promo. Sure, the part about killing the Viper was pretty creative, but his delivery was weak. It had no fire, and that was something I always dug about Jack Swagger. Jericho's promo's, the slower, more methodical ones are better than Swaggers. Why? Because Jericho is believable. You can look at his face and know he is a twisted individual. Swagger...well, he looks like a 20-some-year-old college student who is reading from a script. Fire and energy do not mean jumping around Ric Flair-style. It means you can see it written all over them, even when being quiet and subtle. Swagger hasn't shown that yet.

 

[HBKevin]

Yes, I understand the point of a heel promo, thank you for bringing me up to speed... Anyway..Heels are not always being boo'ed because they are good heels. Some heels, like X-Pac (an example given earlier) are boo'ed because people really think they suck. Does Jack Swagger get that kind of reaction? No, I don't think so. But it shows that heat doesn't always equal a quality heel.

Sorry, didn't mean for that to come off rudely. I just meant that a lot of people criticize heels for being annoying, making you not like them, etc., when that's exactly their goal. As for X-Pac, I thought that X-Pac heat referred more to total silence from the crowd, or a lack of heat either way. If people really think a guy is a bad wrestler, but still dislike him enough to boo a lot, he's doing his job as a heel.

So criticizing a heel promo is in no way a compliment. At least not from me. I don't think Swagger is terrible or anything like that, I just wasn't impressed with his promo. Sure, the part about killing the Viper was pretty creative, but his delivery was weak. It had no fire, and that was something I always dug about Jack Swagger. Jericho's promo's, the slower, more methodical ones are better than Swaggers. Why? Because Jericho is believable. You can look at his face and know he is a twisted individual. Swagger...well, he looks like a 20-some-year-old college student who is reading from a script. Fire and energy do not mean jumping around Ric Flair-style. It means you can see it written all over them, even when being quiet and subtle. Swagger hasn't shown that yet.

I agree that Jericho does the boring, serious heel persona better than Swagger, but it's Chris Jericho. You could be right that Swagger could be a better heel with a more animated character. If he takes a faster, more confident speaking style, more like Flair, as you mentioned, it could also make his lisp less noticeable. Ric Flair has a major lisp, but no one has ever seemed to make fun of it. I think it's because of how brash he was in his promos, not plodding deliberately over his words like Swagger has been imitating from Jericho.