Teddy Long's Superstar Initiative

[Harthan]

I've heard much talk about Jake Hager, but, not ever having seen him wrestle a match had no idea who he was. I was really excited to hear that Jack Swagger was Jake Hager; he looked great in the ring. A few promos, a few more squash matches to showcase his talent, and he's ready for a good feud with any face on ECW. It seems to me like he's gonna go heel, just something in his attitude. For some reason he kind of reminded of Matt Morgan, quite a bit smaller. Just a random impression I got. Either way, I'm looking forward to seeing him on ECW; between him and Bourne, and Ortiz to a lesser extent, the Intiative has been a success so far despite the disaster that was Braden Walker (have to admit that at least it gives wrestling fans a joke for the next few months/years) and that other guy he wrestled.

I don't know whether the Smackdown guys, Braddock and Goldman, are considered part of the Intiative, but since they're new, why not. I wish they'd let Goldman wrestle as Colt Cabana; I think it would have been a good idea to pair him up with Gavin Spears (who should be wrestling under Shawn Spears, much better name) and let them develop as a good tag team (they were OVW Tag Champs). Random bit of trivia, Goldman was ROH Tag Team Champs with the ex-WHC CM Punk. Go figure; CM Punk is main eventing Raw, and his old partner is jobbing on Smackdown Anyway, I get a bad vibe from Goldman; Colt Cabana would have been more fun, more unique. Scotty Goldman just looks and feels like he ain't going nowhere.

Braddock has about the same feel as Goldman with a less impressive record. He was OVW Champ for a while. Smells like a Braden Walker to me, but then, who knows? Both Goldman and Braddock might be jobbers now, but if they tough it out and prove they're good workers, they can move up. There's more than a few main eventers who started their careers jobbing. (Matt and Jeff Hardy, as I remember, were pretty much jobbers in their early days; they were a beloved tag team and now Matt has the US Title in his past and an ECW Championship; Jeff is probably in the WWE Title hunt). I won't rule them out as complete failures, but they definitely don't stack up with Bourne and Swagger.

Also, I forgot Gavin Spears. Like I said, would have been much better for him to tag with Goldman/Cabana. Just doesn't seem like he has much chance.

So, to rank them by top, middle, and low classes...

Top:

Evan Bourne
Jack Swagger

Middle:

Ricky Ortiz

Low:

Ryan Braddock
Gavin Spears
Scotty Goldman
That Guy That Braden Walker Wrestled And Then Got Fired

Hilarious:

Braden Walker

 

[rony31]

Was excited to see Jake Hager on ECW, wrestled a great match, very powerful and actually looks like he has some charisma on him. This guy can be a future player in the company if he doesn't blow it, he looks the goods. and I love the play on the name, he certainly has a swagger to him.

 

[ECWildsider]

Holy Cow! I must have been watching a completely different match. The match I saw with Jack "The All American American" Swagger was a dull piece of crap. His moves were less than impressive and he reminded me of Sid. Between that and the Carlito knockoff Ricky Ortiz, the Initiative it has proven to be less than interesting. Teddy Long (WWE) needs to focus on bringing the current ECW roster up to par and if they are going to bring in more new talent, make sure they don't stinkin the ring.


BRING BACK ELIJAH BURKE!!!!!!!!!
BRING BACK ELIJAH BURKE!!!!!!!!!
BRING BACK ELIJAH BURKE!!!!!!!!!
BRING BACK ELIJAH BURKE!!!!!!!!!

 

[chasingamy]

Jack Swagger: In-ring, he's impressive, an interesting blend of more traditional mat wrestling and power moves. He just needs to not rush the moves so they'll seem more impactful. (Of course, one can only do or expect so much when they only give you 90 seconds to work.) I'm sure he'll settle down after he gets a few more matches under his belt.

I wonder where they will go with his 'All American American' moniker and it's still not clear whether he'll go heel or face. He's got decent charisma, however that cheesy smiling needs to go or get modified. I wasn't into it when Ortiz did it at first. Swagger’s taking it to a slightly creepy Jack Nicholson level, which oddly works with his shock blond scruffy hair. I'm surprised he hasn't gotten a pre-taped promo yet. I'm curious to hear what he sounds like.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

I'm just gonna come right out and say it. This is the biggest waste of space on the E.C.W. programming schedule, possible. If I wanted to watch developmental talent, I'd buy more R.O.H. DVDs.

The only talent that's impressed me that's come out of this little gimmick invention has been Evan Bourne.. and that's only because he's like a copy of Rey Mysterio, with a slightly different moveset and look. Outside of Bourne, noone has come from this wasted investment that's made me want to watch the show.

Infact, I'm gonna also add that I'm really finding it hard to WANT to watch E.C.W. anymore, because so much of the time on the ONE HOUR show is being put forth to these no-names and new-comers.

Jack Swagger: I'm not impressed, at all. He doesn't have any type of solid look that screams "THIS GUY'S GONNA BE SOMEBODY!" He looks honest-to-God happy to be apart of the show, because in all likely-hood, even HE knows he sucks.

He's powerful, wow.. another big(ish) built power guy, not like we don't have an overrun on those. Tell me something more important, how long before he's unusable? I'd say about two weeks ago.. because the majority of the talent on E.C.W. are cruiserweights and light-heavyweights. Half of them just don't look right competing against pure power guys.. and Jack (off) doesn't strike me as the type of guy that can carry anyone through a match. (short of that being literal.)

Ricky Ortiz: How this guy is undefeated is beyond me. Well, besides the fact that he's been put up against even lesser known individuals than himself.. minus maybe one match I think he had against Chavo Guerrero, in which even Chavo can't believe he had to job.

The 'Ricky-O Rally Towel'. You know, anyone who's going to spend that much money on a worthless fricken towel just needs to send me their bank account numbers now. I'll put their money to GOOD use. He's like a white Carlito, and I just wanna know where the poofy haired guy is that's knocking up all these Woman to give us Ricky, Manu and Creed from T.N.A.

Honestly.. if this thing doesn't change and give me something worth watching, I don't even think John Morrison is going to be enough saving grace for me to wanna watch E.C.W. any longer.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Will.....

How can you say that Swagger kid has no look like he will be around?? Are you totally fucking kidding???? The guy is 6'7 or 6'8 around 300 pounds, is good looking, and moves extremely well. He is BOOKED to walk around like a happy go lucky fucking idiot. I was juuuussst about to write a post about how this guy fits in SO damn well with the priceless stable, they should just make some shit up about his father used to be a wrestler in like OCW or something crazy, so he could be in that stable. He is like Rhodes and Dibiase, but BIGGGER. That guy has future of the WWE written ALL OVER HIM.

On to the WWE fucking this up. Are we seriously watching this dude walk around with that DUMBASS grin?? THATS his fucking gimmick??? Are we serious?? what the shit?? I like the name. I like the all american gimmick. I love all that. and Seriousy the next step for WWE is to have him walk around with a silly ass grin, pointing at it?? This gimmick is so fucking lame that it makes normally genius individuals such as the one big will, say this guy has no future and wont stick around, WHEN EVERYTHING ABOUT HIM screams future champion. Its a prime example. He will get NO heat, good or bad with that gimmick. They shouldve given the towel thingy to him instead of that Ortiz douche. Wouldve worked far better. Jack Swagger is now on the NorCal's favorites list. Watch this kid. If they ever get their head out of their ass and give this guy a proper gimmick, He is gonna be huge. Best thing to come out of the superstar iniative so far.

 

[Adel_hamra]

for chasingamy: you're right, the guy sucks...does he have a finisher? and what's up with that towel thing...if i was in the roster i would take that towel, put my pants down and wipe my ass with it...these new superstars should me more like kofi kingston and evan bourne...halfway through their debut match, they already had fans screaming their names and look at them now, kofi already held gold and now i would like to see evan bourne hold gold as well...and btw, evan bourne teaming up with rey misterio on raw last week was one of the best tag teams i've seen

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

for chasingamy: you're right, the guy sucks...does he have a finisher? and what's up with that towel thing...if i was in the roster i would take that towel, put my pants down and wipe my ass with it...

They should totally make a heel do that if they want to start a feud with Ortiz (who I'm not a fan of) and someone.

Personally, I don't think he gets any reaction and he doesn't DESERVE to get any reaction. But if they're intent on keeping him, they need to do something with him - and fast.

The best method of giving him something to do in my mind would be to have someone like Swagger (who I'm also not fond of) or Spears (who I think is the best of the three but still isn't particularly impressive) beat Ortiz, ending the "undefeated streak". They have a rematch where Ortiz wins, and the heel is pissed, so he does exactly what you're talking about - wipes his ass with the towel. That's a subverted "spit in the face" that could add fuel to the fire of the feud.

Also, does anybody else think that maybe Ortiz/Goldman would be a better tag team than Ortiz/Bourne? Ortiz and Goldman both are playing sort of dumb faces, so they'd work pretty well as a tag team in SPIRIT at least. Maybe they could play off the fact that Ortiz could be the "big guy" of the two and Goldman can be the shorter, faster guy. They need more tag teams and it seems like these two aren't going anywhere on their own, so why not, right?

 

[tehblogger]

I see that the rumour mill has Bourne moving to RAW. Can't say I'm surprised. Despite not being pushed to the moon (he's had losses to Shelton on debut, Knox, Miz (cleanly, although he later paid this back) and Morrison), he's made a very major impact. Judging by this they plan to give him a substantial role in the Kane/Mysterio storylines, possibly teaming him up with Mysterio once the feud ends to give Team Priceless some babyface competition that isn't Cryme Tyme. And Bourne deserves no less. He's taken his chances with both hands (or in his case, maybe it should be feet). In his spottier matches the transitions between one perfect spot and another make sense, and he has good mat wrestling skills too (watch the match with the Miz that he lost).

Re the others...Ortiz doesn't impress. He has charisma, and is maybe sort of over, but that won't help disguise the fact that he couldn't wrestle his way out of a hug from Keira Knightley. Simply woeful in the ring. He needs to be put in a tag-team with somebody competent (probably not Bourne) and allowed to develop his ring skills while bolstering the tag division.

Gavin Spears...meh heel. Personally, I don't know why they fired James Curtis, I thought he was better than Spears, Braddock and Braden Walker combined. Plus, spears is a heel, which means - with the ECW/Smackdown rosters overflowing with young heels, you're screwed. I'm reserving judgment for now on Mr Swagger.

 

[Code Red]

I kind of liked "The All American American" Jack Swagger - until I saw the way they're setting up his first feud. He comes out, hits a prone jobber (and former Natural) Chase Stevens with his finisher for no apparent reason, jumps out of the ring when Tommy Dreamer arrives and then hits him with a blindside attack ... but the whole time, he doesn't utter a single word. Looks like we have yet another big guy who can't speak to save his life.

This is part of the problem with WWE right now. They seem intent on pushing colorless characters lacking in personality instead of the ones that know how to work a mic. Gavin Spears and Scotty Goldman/Colt Cabana, both of which have already been buried, can do this. Jack Swagger, despite showing promise as a wrestler, apparently cannot - but he's getting the push because of his size. Whoever said that size isn't everything obviously never spoke to Vincent Kennedy McMahon.

 

[CaseyisBA52'sGFnow]

Im realy hoping that tonights new superstar is going to be Jake Hager. I've heard that WWE is pegging him as a future WWE champion and he is currently working a undefeated streak in FCW. He's also a former football player for the Oklahoma Sooners and we all know how WWE loves former football players. If they sent him to ECW it would be the perfect place for him to build up a fan following and draw heat as a heel.

DAMN!!!!!!!!!! I'm getting very good at calling next breakout stars. First i called Sydal then i called Hager. Who's next you say ? I dont know , WWE has bleed its developmental territory dry during this talent thingy. I will say that Colt Cabana should get a push , the guy's hilarious.

 

[AMERICANFIRE]

this is getting better with each star they bring in. first it was bourne. then ortiz. now swagger. this is going better then expected. i forgot kofi. bourne and kofi are now mainley on raw. swagger is moving along slowly but good. ortiz im not crazy about but its to hard to tell yet

 

[Crush1]

The superstar initiative is good for both the wwe and the talent, because talent can go on tv and ''make or break'' and the wwe will have less wrestlers in fcw to clean up.

Anyway the S.I has brought some fine superstars like Evan Bourne Ricky Ortiz and Jack Swagger.Evan is a fantastic high flyer and being pushed to no end, while jack slowly gets his push by dominating over jobbers until they find someone for him to feud.As for Ricky Ortiz i find him flat out boring but it seems creative is giving him a push for being such a good worker... lol.

As for the rest of the losers uhm.. talent we'll have to see what they can do.Here's my prediction.

Braden Walker-released

Ryan Braddock-it could be a great wrestler if creative stopped jobbing himbut unfortunately i think the wwe will wish him well in his future endeavors

Gavin Spears-i hope they push this guy he seems like he has talent,anyways i think he'll end up in a tag team or feud with finlay.

Scotty Goldman-boring stale and what's his character suposed to be some weird cousin of festus? anyways he's soon to be released

 

[2012isbs]

Did anyone notice Ricky Ortiz use the L.A.X. sign for latin assassin?

Miz and Morrison are really helping push the new stars with their show and promos. Evan Bourne teaming up with Rey is a good idea to get him over. Kolfi is getting lost in the shuffle it looks llike i could be wrong though.

The Originals could comeback for a 1 nite only thing and face the new ecw satrs in an ecw match like what happened with new breed.

 

[fresh]

WE NEED COLT CABANA NOT SCOTTY FUCKING GOLDMAN. he is funny as hell and is great in the ring and i will also show you a reason that gavin spears should also be pushed. him and colt cabana put on a great match back in ovw.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4eg84_colt-cabana-vs-shawn-spears_sport
watch that it is great stuff
by the way colt cabana DOES rap his own music

 

[Kurt]

The superstar initative is going smooth to me. Having brought up Jack Swagger (Jake Hager) is probably one of the biggest stars they've done. I'm extremely irritated that they kept Nicky from the Spirit Squad and just re-named him "Dolph Ziggler". Somehow Ricky Ortiz was getting a huge pop from the crowd a couple of weeks ago when he came out and distracted Miz and Moorison. Primo has been alright, but him just getting moved from Raw to Smackdown is still bewildering me. They didn't even explain why/how he left, and he just showed up on SmackDown one day with Carlito. As far as his wrestling skills g, he's a good high flyer and will make an excellent and interesting partner for Carlito.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I like the initiative so far. some of the superstars it gave us have been cool, while some, well.... aren't.

Evan Bourne- great addition and I enjoy watching his matches.

Ricky Ortiz- Needs to get released, he is boring and do not care for him one bit. Pass the rally towel thing onto Jack Swagger or one of the other new guys.... Just get rid of him or change his gimmick!

Braden Walker- LOL.... honestly I felt sorry for him. Hope he can get back to TNA using his old gimmick?

Jack Swagger- Seems cool so far, probably the best of the newcomers aside from Bourne.


If there's more then I forgot them. Look forward to seeing more new guys coming in through the initiative (as long as they are NOTHING like ortiz....)