The Curious Case of Eric Escobar

[PhD]

Now that Eric Escobar has been gone from the WWE for about 5 months, it seemed worthwhile to me to speculate on his release and where it fits into the recent spate of pushes given to up-and-coming talent.

WWE spent 4 years grooming Escobar between stints in DSW, FCW, and dark matches on Smackdown. He got promoted to the main roster, and spent about 2 months working with Vickie Guerrero as a heel, was abruptly turned face, and got squashed for about a month until his contract was dropped.

Escobar debuted close to the same time as other top FCW talent, including Sheamus and Drew McIntyre. However, while neither of those guys took off immediately with the crowd (I'd argue they still aren't as over as management would like to think), they were given persistent and fairly aggressive pushes. My question is, why then was Escobar given barely 3 months? The guy was a good worker, was above average on the stick, and seemed to draw decent heat. So what gives?

WWE has been pushing tons of new talent lately; between Sheamus, McIntyre, the Usos, Archer and Hawkins, the Dudebusters and the NXT seaons 1 and 2 groups, it seems that almost the majority of the FCW group is getting a shot at the big show. As noted above, no one has been given as short a time to prove themselves as Escobar.

Why then was Escobar's push terminated so abruptly? Is this evidence of the widely held opinion that the WWE has no interest in pushing non-white talent (even though they badly need someone to connect with the Hispanic market for Mysterio's imminent retirement)? Does this bode ominously for Dos Cara's impending debut on one of the major shows? Why wasn't Escobar just sent back down to FCW like nearly everyone who doesn't get over on their first try (see Drew McIntyre ca. 2007)? Does it call into question the larger enterprise of trying to push so much new talent at once?

 

[President Evil]

Id really like to know what happened with Escobar. He seemed to have the essentials. The look, height, speech, and didnt stink in the ring. Plus he was put with Vicki so you would think they had good plans for him. He had that Razor Ramon-ish gimmick to him which was not bad. But maybe not best for PG tv.

I hope he comes back. The E will certainly need to have a good Hispanic wrestler that people can connect with.

 

[zman21]

the fact that hes not white probly had something to do with it also his physique also had alot to do with him being releases. the guy wasent in bad shape but also dident really stand out

 

[CCSUShAdOw212]

Well I remember reading somewhere that both Sheamus and McIntyre are both favorites of Triple H. Sheamus is his workout buddy and Triple H saw alot of himself in McIntyre when he was first starting out in the business so i think because of those reasons they are getting those pushes. I just think that they felt that Escobar was really getting the heat he needed and it was all just becasue of Vicki that people didn't like him. So when he split from her and they saw how his reaction actually fell, they most likely felt he wouldn't be able to do what they wanted.

 

[ABMorales787]

He is currently working at World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico. Under a heel gimmick. Quite frankly I never saw anything wrong with the guy. He has experience and isn't lazy like a certain other ex-WWE guy. It has been said that he had a tendency to be grumpy towards the crowd. However, this being true, why would he have even be promoted to the main roster? WWE obviously saw something in him, but barely gave him a chance. When asked about it, he says he looks to return to the WWE soon. Will it happen?

 

[Reddannihilation]

Probably because he just couldn't get a reaction. If you look at the other 2 guys who showed up around the same time (Sheamus and Drew) of the 3 Escobar got the least attention from the crowd. Sheamus spent about 2 months on RAW and was put in a feud with the top face. Drew took out one of the most over faces in the WWE R-truth and Escobar got paired with the WWE's biggest heat magnet and as soon as Vickie stopped talking all he could muster up was his last name and it got 0 reaction from the crowd. They turned him face and people still didn't care. I think the WWE looked at it in the simplest terms, Escobar was given a few months and couldn't get over. By comparison McIntyre was over as a heel about 3 weeks into his Smackdown Debut and as soon as Sheamus beat Cena he was getting decent heat. Escobar just bombed as both a face and heel.

 

[Ferbian]

the fact that hes not white probly had something to do with it

WWE trashing him of racial background really wouldn't come off very well, WWE has their share of wrestlers with a different racial background like Rey Mysterio, Chavo Guerrero, Eddie Guerrero (when he was alive) Kofi Kingston.

So that automatically eliminates skin color, and it would be ridiculous to assume that it is the skin color.

I think that it may very well have been because he weren't getting the crowd reaction WWE was expecting him to get, and he wasn't getting over even when he was with Vickie Guerrero, or dissing Vickie Guerrero.

The problem with you comparing him to Sheamus and Drew McIntyre is that Drew had the backing of Vince, Shawn and Triple H, Sheamus has the backing of Triple H, something Eric couldn't brag about.

 

[PhD]

He is currently working at World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico. Under a heel gimmick. Quite frankly I never saw anything wrong with the guy. He has experience and isn't lazy like a certain other ex-WWE guy. It has been said that he had a tendency to be grumpy towards the crowd. However, this being true, why would he have even be promoted to the main roster? WWE obviously saw something in him, but barely gave him a chance. When asked about it, he says he looks to return to the WWE soon. Will it happen?

My sense is they aren't looking to bring him back. I read excerpts from an interview with Escobar a few months back, and he did not sound like he expected to be contacted by them again, especially after having been kept in development for so long in the first place (link is below). I have to think if Escobar was coming back, they'd have kept him working in FCW.

http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/article/eric-escobar-on-his-wwe-release-dating-dixie-carter-97081

 

[President Evil]

Out of Drew, Sheamus, and Escobar. What a COINCIDENCE that the 2 guys who got pushed to the moon happen to be Michaels' and Triple H's buddies. Escobar didnt have a snowballs chanced in hell. So they put him with Vicki, ok, but that wasnt enough for him to keep his job. Drew and Sheamus being over? A joke. At least Sheamus has that neon white skin color that at least gets people's attention and people to talk about him. Drew, not one single iota has gotten my attention. He should have been in NXT for what I care. With that big forehead of his and talking like if he was constipated. Oh wait, so he's Vince's boy so lets get that Intercontinental title ready for him!

Its not just what you know, but who you know. In life.

 

[PhD]

Probably because he just couldn't get a reaction. If you look at the other 2 guys who showed up around the same time (Sheamus and Drew) of the 3 Escobar got the least attention from the crowd. Sheamus spent about 2 months on RAW and was put in a feud with the top face. Drew took out one of the most over faces in the WWE R-truth and Escobar got paired with the WWE's biggest heat magnet and as soon as Vickie stopped talking all he could muster up was his last name and it got 0 reaction from the crowd. They turned him face and people still didn't care. I think the WWE looked at it in the simplest terms, Escobar was given a few months and couldn't get over. By comparison McIntyre was over as a heel about 3 weeks into his Smackdown Debut and as soon as Sheamus beat Cena he was getting decent heat. Escobar just bombed as both a face and heel.

My recollection is that Escobar was getting a reaction at least on par with what McIntyre and Sheamus were getting during their respective debuts. However, this brings up two further points:

1. If he wasn't getting a reaction, wasn't the nonsensical way in which he was booked be a major factor? I mean, why turn the guy face after he's just debuted as a heel?

2. Is 3 months really long enough to determine if a guy is getting a good reaction, especially when he's being terribly booked? I would argue people were mostly indifferent to McIntyre until he viciously beat down Matt Hardy for like 3 weeks in a row, and that was a good 6 months at least into his push.

And on the point of race: I realize plenty of nonwhite wrestlers are getting pushes at various times, but you do not see them getting the kind of corporate backing of guys like Sheamus, McIntyre, Swagger, etc. If a nonwhite wrestler gets over, it's because he's getting a huge response from the crowd, whether from in-ring work (e.g. Kofi and Mysterio), personality (e.g. R-Truth), or promos (e.g. MVP). I would argue that Escobar wasn't even given a chance to get over in any of those dimensions, and it's completely reasonable to speculate whether his race had anything to do with it.

The fact that Mysterio is the company's only nonwhite main-eventer suggests some degree of corporate complicity in a racial hierarchy that anyone looking at the racial composition of live audiences can't be solely based on "getting over" to whatever the minimally acceptable extent is.

 

[rubberman]

WWE wasn't being Racist in pushing Escobar, they push a lot of non-white wrestlers too (Eddie Guerrero, The Rock, Tajiri, The Iron Sheik, Kofi), the list goes on.
The reason he was kept so long in developmental was he was considered a headcase of sorts. When he was brought up to the main roster he still had the reputation which didn't help.
Also most new stars are given several months worth of teasers before debut so the fans know them before they appear. He wasn't given this treatment he appeared with Vicki Guerrero, and they hope that her rep worth get him over. The problem was nobody knew anything about him and weren't interested in him as they couldn't find why they should hate him or love him.
This put him in the catergory like Kizany, Mordecai plus others. Where the fans could not associate with the charectors. This means if they can't associate with them, they won't buy the merchandise. WWE have a position if a star can't sell merchandise, they are not going to waste time with them. Look at Santino, he is a jobber, but fans love him they buy merchandise, WWE wil keep him.

 

[airvar]

He was in Developmental for 4-5 years, a pretty long period of time. He was 30 years old ( not too old when compared to sheamus/R-truth/MVP/ Randy Orton who are all around the same age, but he should have been comming into his prime. He was with the comapny a long time but was (in my eyes) somewhat of a genaric latino talent, at the time they had Carlito and primo colon who played the same type of character better then he did. They put him with the biggest Heat magnet in the company (vickie) to get him over, and he really didn't , then when he turned on Vickie, he got some pop's , but again , Vickie was over not him.

They probably didn't send him back down because of his age, I'm betting it was his last shot. He was finally moved on the main rooster, he received a push ( being put with Vickie is a huge opportunity to show that you are capable of being a big time star) and the E just didn't see enough talent to warrant keeping him around any longer. They had invested 5 years into the development of him, and I'm sure wanted him to become something big, but it just didn't happen and they parted ways.

It's buisness, that stuff happens. Just my opion though

 

[Ezekyo]

lt can be said that Escobar only got his heel heat from being associated with Vickie. The same could be said for Drew Mclntyre though, because it seems to me the only reason he gets any heel heat is because Vince gives him special treatment over the rest of the roster. l agree with President Evil that he does nothing for me, and l don't see what the big deal is. ln his defense though, he has more of a look to him than Escobar.

For some reason, it looks to me that out of the blue, he just kind of got set up to fail. lt's near impossible to get someone over as a babyface after they've been a heel for around 2 months, simply because they don't care. Kinda didn't make sense to me how they suddenly abandoned his relationship with Vickie. lt's a similar case of what happened to Colin Delaney. His gimmick was the kid who keeps getting knocked down, but was always back on his feet no matter what. Then they turn him heel. How the hell does that make sense!? Needless to say he got released shortly after turning heel, which looked to me like he was setup to fail at that point.

Honestly l can't say a whole lot about Escobar, because l didn't really get around to watch SmackDown much while he was around. But it sounds to me like he didn't get much of a fair shake, which always sucks. The whole thing about him not getting a reaction is moot in my opinion, because there's still guys on the roster that hardly get a reaction, yet they're still chugging along.

 

[Deexter Jorgan]

If i remember the reports, Escobar was abit of a demanding headcase backstage, the same thing Drew Mcyntire is known by and the reason his push is stalling, Escobar was an ok talent with too many demands, the fact that he was released was because of the fact that the WWE kept him in development for so long and he wasnt worth the time.

I'm glad he's gone, even with Vicky he wasn't a main eventer, he was just ok, Vicky had some serious heat and it didnt even translate over to a push for escobar, so IMO let him gain a bit more momentum and do something with his career.

 

[darbare]

i personally dont care about race when i watch wrestling.....if i like their character then i like their character.....yes it does seem as though white superstars outnumber any other race but who cares.... the only problem i have is that it seems there are only white main eventers....hopefully Kofi can break through the glass ceiling of being a main eventer of color......its just like in real sports or fighting....i root for the team or guy who stands out and has the best ability regardless of their color....anyways back on topic i never saw anything in Escobar and felt he had the most boring look of a wrestler since Primo debuted....race or whatever the issue i didnt like him, and Im black so I dont discriminate.....peace bitches lol

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Escobar was shit. Plain and simple. WWE really tried to get him over as a heel by pairing him with Vickie, and the crowd just didn't care for him at all. Then, they had him turn face, and he still received a very weak reaction from the fans. Escobar was boring in the ring, and his mic skills were terrible. Escobar is just another one of those guys who wasn't very good....at all. Anytime you're paired with, Vickie, who is a like machine when it comes to getting heat by the way, and you can't get over as a HEEL. It's just not a good sign any way you look at it.

 

[degenxr1]

Wow you must have been watching a different program-the guy was a horrible wrestler. When some falls you should hear one sound---his own falls were bad--you heard 2 or 3, his punches were beyond bad, those shoulders in the turnbuckle were beyond light, he was really horrible---behind the scenes it is said people thought he was a head case. He just had nothing. I would fast forward through his stuff.

Sheamus was nervous bad at the beginning and occasionally he rushes his interviews; but is solid now. Drew was always technically good; but he seems bland and they are probably going to see if getting him seasoned with Matt Hardy is worth the push or dropping him. He has the best interviews of the 3 but there is something lacking with him too-he lacks some tangible charisma.

Escobar was just blah. He was just not there.

 

[TheLunatic]

Every week, he was forgetable. I arrived on the scene slower then he left my mind. His ring skills looked weak, (I couldn't honestly remember any match he had, I had to look it up) and he only got heat because he stood next to the geatest heat drawer, ever, Vickie "The Cougar" Guerrero.
He was just total shit, all the way around.

 

[Goliath Uterus]

I heard the reason Escobar got realeased is because other workers were saying he was unsafe. I think they should have kept him with Vickie and given him a mid card push, he was decent in the ring, (besides the unsafe claims) and he wasnt to bad on the mic. If they had kept him with Vickie longer i can guarentee he would have gotten loads of heat.

 

[Ruthless-RKO]

The thing is..he had a manager as well...and it was Vickie Guerrero, the most hated person in WWE ever!!...with her by his side, he could have really gone far...i mean he debuted alongside Sheamus and Drew, but i didn;t even notice those 2...i only noticed Escober first when he debuted on Decade of Smackdown!! my question was why him??

Im pretty sure he would have been a more live character holding the IC title rather than Drew's rather boring reign...

 

[Scott Star]

I'll probably get lots of heat for this but I don't care.

What's so great about Eric Escobar? He had a bit of size, an accent that was impossible to take seriously and I was turned off the moment he debuted as Vickie's latest conquest (That shit seriously has to stop. It draws the wrong kinds of heat.)

I didn't see much of his work in FCW, DSW and the like and I'm sure he was a decent talent or they wouldn't have kept him around. Certainly not as lazy as Carlito if he stuck to it for 4 years.

But again I ask: What's so great about him? Using his heritage as an excuse for his release is weak and the "Triple H holds everyone back" bullshit doesn't hold up well either, since you know, none of us are backstage and see how he does business.

It's a shame Escobar didn't get sent back to FCW but maybe WWE felt that after say...four years...if you don't get over, what's the point?

Maybe the cards would have played out different if he hadn't been saddled with a ricockulous gimmick. (See Kizarny)

 

[dotty_84]

Could it be simply put that Sheamus was Raw, McIntyre was SD and they would help get more Promotion overseas and for Tours being from the UK & EIRE?

Maybe they had planned whoever was getting the least reaction would be dropped?

It's still slightly shit.

 

[gd]

Probably cause he sucked. Sure, 3 months isn't a lot of time, but he literally didn't to anything to make him stand out during that time. As others have stated, if you can get heat when you're paired with Vickie Guerrero, something's wrong. I don't think he had any major flaw, other than that he didn't stand out.

The fact that you're blaming race saddens me. Is that always the issue? Sheamus and Drew McIntrye both got pushes because they did in fact get desireable crowd reactions and they just plain and simple have a better look. Not to mention they aren't too bad in the ring. They stood out and were able to succeed. Escobar wasn't, plain and simple.

 

[Reddannihilation]

My recollection is that Escobar was getting a reaction at least on par with what McIntyre and Sheamus were getting during their respective debuts. However, this brings up two further points:

1. If he wasn't getting a reaction, wasn't the nonsensical way in which he was booked be a major factor? I mean, why turn the guy face after he's just debuted as a heel?

Sure the booking had an effect but for his first few weeks he was the new Edge circa 2007. He was paired with the ultimate heat magnet and he still couldn't get any reaction.

2. Is 3 months really long enough to determine if a guy is getting a good reaction, especially when he's being terribly booked? I would argue people were mostly indifferent to McIntyre until he viciously beat down Matt Hardy for like 3 weeks in a row, and that was a good 6 months at least into his push.

If I remember correctly McIntyre was getting a fair amount of boo's from the fans after his repeated attacks on R-Truth. Infact I distinctly remember on his debut when he attacked Truth during his entrance getting a fair reaction.

And on the point of race: I realize plenty of nonwhite wrestlers are getting pushes at various times, but you do not see them getting the kind of corporate backing of guys like Sheamus, McIntyre, Swagger, etc. If a nonwhite wrestler gets over, it's because he's getting a huge response from the crowd, whether from in-ring work (e.g. Kofi and Mysterio), personality (e.g. R-Truth), or promos (e.g. MVP). I would argue that Escobar wasn't even given a chance to get over in any of those dimensions, and it's completely reasonable to speculate whether his race had anything to do with it.

The fact that Mysterio is the company's only nonwhite main-eventer suggests some degree of corporate complicity in a racial hierarchy that anyone looking at the racial composition of live audiences can't be solely based on "getting over" to whatever the minimally acceptable extent is.

You could play that card, but to say the WWE are restrictive based on race seems a bit silly. For starters one of their most well-known Alumni is the Rock and I don't think many would call him white. A few years ago Bobby Lashley was given the insta-push but he decided to leave for MMA. Batista's of mixed heritage. Eddie Guerrero made it to the top just before his untimely death.

As for Corporate backing that has a much to do with being a certain colour as it has to do with being connected. Everyone knows HHH is friends with Sheamus and McIntyre, of course HHH has backstage pull. But that doesn't mean he's a racist. And I fail to see how Swagger got to his postion via corporate backing, he was dominant on ECW and then spent half of last year jobbing to Santino and Evan Bourne, going into MITB very few people thought Swagger would win, it was just a shock that he did.

One thing people seem to be forgetting is just how many young stars WWE was trying to push at the time Escobar debuted. You had McIntyre, Ziggler, Sheamus, Swagger, Kofi, Morrison, Miz, MVP and R-Truth. Of the few matches he had on Smackdown Escobar wasn't really that interesting to watch by comparison to his mid-card competition. So maybe people need to look at it as Escobar not impressing management as much as other wrestlers.

And that's not even mentioning the fact that we don't know how he was backstage, he could've been a total douche which lead to management ditching him. As much as we'd like to believe that how they are in the ring is all that matters, people who act like dicks backstage tend to piss of the higher-ups and that can lead to all kinds of issues. I mean look at CM Punk he pissed off Vince and suddenly he was being squashed by the Undertaker and dropped down to the mid-card. So personally I'd say Eric Escobar was dropped because he failed to make an impression and that it's possible his attitude backstage may have affected that outcome.

 

[PhD]

Lots of good discussion here. A few things:

I do think race is an issue worth discussion. Bringing up race isn't the same thing as "playing the race card." Escobar said in the interviewed I linked that Vince wanted him to play a "fierce Latino," suggesting that he was meant to be identified as a racialized character. I would say this is common for nonwhite wrestlers, who are basically never allowed to work race-neutral. Even Eddie Guerrero, who was way over, was saddled with what is, to me, a horrible degrading gimmick. Of course, we don't know all the factors that contribute to someone's advancement, but it is reasonable to point to a generalized pattern and ask, "Why?"

Second, for those shitting all over Escobar, clearly this remains a point of disagreement, because everyone is working off of recollection rather than specifics. If the guy was really as shitty as some are claiming, why was he even put on TV at all? Given that he didn't have a monster physique, I'm hard pressed to believe someone who was such an unsafe/sloppy worker would be given such a prominent spot after 4 years in the minors.

I started this thread because I found the guy interesting; unfortunately, enough time is passed that I can't offer many specifics. I do know I thought he was pretty good on the mic (certainly better the Drew M.), and I liked the way he drew out the 'S' in his last night; it was definitely a memorable touch. Again, with his in-ring work, I can't remember much because the last month he was on TV he was getting squashed. At the very least, it seemed to me like he could sell good.