Zeb Colter Not Helping Real Americans

[CultOfPersonality]

The Real Americans seemed to be a sure thing for future tag team titles. Swagger and Cesaro made a strong heel tag time, and Cesaro was extremely hot when he was hitting massive uppercuts and swinging guys each week.

And then I noticed something, Cesaro stopped swinging guys and Zeb Colter started coming out with these stupid signs rather than cutting his promos. The fans always got involved with the 'We, The People' chant, but they don't do that any more.

Have WWE secretly turned The Real Americans into a sub-par comedy team without any reason or motivation to do so? Zeb is getting K/O'd by Big Show, gored by a little bull all for cheap laughs. Why not keep them as a serious tag team, fighting for a title opportunity and having good matches in which Cesaro and Swagger were the stars because of their ability, not Zeb Colter because he's an easy target for cheap laughs.

 

[Softcore Holly]

You shouldn't be blaming Zeb, you should be blaming the Bad News Barrett gimmick. The Zeb promos pretty much stopped completely once BNB came along, which isn't surprising since they both do the same basic thing. The sign is a funny way for Zeb to get his message across without taking up any mic time, of course the promos are better but better than nothing I guess.

As for the RA themselves, their problem is other heel team are getting more attention than them. Shield has their internal struggle along with their thing with Punk, Wyatts - DB, and now they have the NOA. So they've been getting lower on the pecking order and sadly enough jobbers don't get to do cool moves like giant swings. At least they looked decent at TLC. Also if it's any consolation the Rhodes and the tag titles themselves hasn't been getting much attention either, which is very disappointing. Chances are the Rhodes will(sadly) drop the titles to NOA at RR just because it's WM legends season.

Shame since I would've put the RA and the Rhodes in a actual title feud since both of them and the titles have nothing better to do right now.

 

[Kamala316]

They need to disband. The gimmick started out well, but has lost its luster, imo. Swagger looks out of shape, and his in-ring work has regressed. He flat out sucks...he needs to be future endeavored after WM XXX. Now that Cesaro has (sorta) been accepted by the Universe, they could push him. It would be interesting to see Big E take the Giant Swing.

 

[louchratis]

For the most part, I agree. However, in order to be perceived as heels, they needed to stop the "We the People" gimmick because wrestling fans like to chant random crap and, historically speaking, heels aren't supposed to do something that encourages crowd support. Also, the Cesaro Swing is definitely a babyface move that Cesaro should save for when he eventually turns. I'm fully aware that Vince said there is no such thing as heels and faces anymore but let's be honest, the foundation of wrestling hasn't changed as much as Vince would have people believe. Also, Zeb's promos, while xenophobic and meant to garner heat, actually split the crowd because a large portion of wrestling fans lean pretty far to the right. If you don't believe me, go to a house show in Indiana. Stupid signs at least point a black and white picture that says "the guy holding that is a bad guy and should be booed." Never forget who the target audience is at WWE shows.

 

[Reflection]

The Real Americans seemed to be a sure thing for future tag team titles. Swagger and Cesaro made a strong heel tag time, and Cesaro was extremely hot when he was hitting massive uppercuts and swinging guys each week.
And then I noticed something, Cesaro stopped swinging guys...

Cesaro did the Cesaro Swing last night itself, on one of the Usos. He tried this move in almost all of the matches of his that I got the opportunity to watch as of late. The Neutralizer and Uppercut are used less often, yeah... But that is most likely because these guys lose most of their matches (in 10 minutes or so), and not get an opportunity to do them.

...and Zeb Colter started coming out with these stupid signs rather than cutting his promos. The fans always got involved with the 'We, The People' chant, but they don't do that any more.

What's wrong with that? The banners carried by Zeb Colter are hilarious. They have a comedy role right now, and the aim is to keep the crowd interested and get a reaction, which they manage to obtain. As for the "We The People" chant, that is the most distinct feature of the team... and again, they did it quite a few times last night itself. I wonder why you don't notice them
Addressing the title of your thread, Zeb Colter is the person who made Jack Swagger and Antonio Cesaro relevant, he is the man behind the Real Americans, and has helped the duo tremendously; so much that its hard to imagine the team without him. Before Zeb Colter came along, Antonio Cesaro although impressive in the ring, never got a heavy reaction from the people. Talking in five languages didn't help either. And Jack Swagger was someone with no proper gimmick, nobody cared about his "All American American" accomplishments or anything about him. If you take Zeb Colter off right now, those two would immediately tumble down into the lower-midcard.

Have WWE secretly turned The Real Americans into a sub-par comedy team without any reason or motivation to do so? Zeb is getting K/O'd by Big Show, gored by a little bull all for cheap laughs. Why not keep them as a serious tag team, fighting for a title opportunity and having good matches in which Cesaro and Swagger were the stars because of their ability, not Zeb Colter because he's an easy target for cheap laughs.

Maybe not exactly sub-par, but a comedy team nonetheless. I won't complain, because I personally find them much more entertaining in this role that as an over-serious, angry-for-no-reason, getting-mad-at-everything, generic heel team. And the fans too seem to agree; they get a much better reaction now than they did before. We already have serious tag teams in the form of The Usos, The Shield, Rhodes Dynasty, New Age Outlaws... so adding a freakish team like Wyatt Family or a (non-jobber)comedy team like Real Americans, add variety to the show in my opinion.

 

[The Eighties]

They certainly seemed to have gone more comedic as of late but I don't think it's done them a lot of harm. They have always lost more than they won and this change hasn't turned them into a squash jobber team.

I actually think Zeb's earlier stuff was too long winded and heavy handed, with content that appealed to Vince and JBL more than WWE's core fanbase. The more humorous they've become the better it's worked and I for one thought Zeb stooging in the wheelchair tonight was funny,

The Real Americans chances of becoming tag team champions have always been 50/50 in my view, the more entertaining they are with Zeb the better their chances become.

 

[H33LTurn]

I wouldn't say Zeb isn't helping the Real Americans, if by helping you mean getting them heat/attention. The team might be going in a different direction, but that's only natural considering how long the team has been around. I would have liked the team to have at least one tag title reign before disbanding, but I understand why some want Swagger and Cesaro to part ways. Of course, splitting up the team means you have two superstars who had a reason to be on TV now without anything going for them. I'm not sure why fans would want that.

 

[Aquaman6686]

As I've said since day one, Zeb Colter is one of the worst managers of all time. Not Dutch Mantel, Zeb Colter. He ruined Jack Swagger's push by making it all about him and not Swagger (then Swagger put the nail in the coffin by smoking pot). I've been to shows where The Real Americans competed without Zeb and they get a MASSIVE face reaction. Both Swagger and Cesaro are incredibly talented and would be much bigger stars than they are if Zeb Colter wasn't holding them back.

 

[CultOfPersonality]

What's wrong with that? The banners carried by Zeb Colter are hilarious. They have a comedy role right now, and the aim is to keep the crowd interested and get a reaction, which they manage to obtain. As for the "We The People" chant, that is the most distinct feature of the team... and again, they did it quite a few times last night itself. I wonder why you don't notice them

It was last nights show that brought it to my attention, Cesaro did the swing and I was like 'hey, when was the last time he did that?!'...and then you had the whole Zeb in a wheelchair thing that just really annoyed me, I want to see a competitive tag division, comedy teams can be saved for Los Matadores and 3MB, teams like The Real Americans have a place as a serious team and they're being made out to be jokes right now

 

[GameOver]

You can't turn shit into gold without serious help, Swagger was a joke long before Zeb came along, if anything Zeb gave him some relevency again and then he screwed it all up, he's lucky he still has a job, but i agree he's not doing them any assistance anymore, i liked the idea initially but now his rants are pointless and he stumbles over his words, realistically too if you were in his position and your charges lost continuously to people you keep claiming are criminals and illegal aliens would you still be supportive? No. you'd be pissed yet it doesn't seem to bother him from match to match.

 

[Mustang Sally]

The Real Americans seemed to be a sure thing for future tag team titles.

Actually, I'm surprised they've been kept together as long as they have, figuring they'd be looking to repackage both men into individual forces once again.

In the case of Antonio Cesaro, he just wasn't generating enough interest by himself. Yes, the guy is surprisingly strong for a man his size, but that's not the kind of thing that catches on with casual wrestling fans. They're more interested in that damn spinning thing he does with opponents. Still, I believe management sees him as a singles wrestler in the future and only put him with Swagger to disguise the fact he has no zip as a personality.

Of course, Jack Swagger is a case by himself. Every so often, they try to repackage him and stick him out there as a single......the only problem being that the repackage looks exactly the same as what he was doing before. He looks goofy even when not doing his goofy act. Even so, his good work in the ring always seems to convince Creative to give him another run at the title, before they once again find he just doesn't have the ring persona to make it on his own......so they start the whole process again.

Zeb Colter? Well, he started carrying the funny signs because there were only so many anti-immigration rants the fans could handle. Besides, how many new ways could he say it? The gimmick ran it's course, and now he's leading his men in verbally silent, yet still provocative, ways. I hope he stays around after Swagger and Cesaro disband. He can still be a mouthpiece for wrestlers, if Creative can come up with something new for him to carry on about.

 

[kumarjtk]

zeb colter is the back bone of real american. Wwe heavily pushed RA as whc contender. Swagger won EC match and became the no1 contender for whc title against del rio. due to swagger dui case they de push swagger and give the opportunity to ziggler by cashing his contract and end the Real American swagger title chase. Wwe creative team doesnt have any idea with RA. Then they put cesaro in their team and make a jobber team.

So the failure of real american starts from jack swagger not zeb colter.

 

[stagestareyeam]

Cesaro stopped swinging guys and Zeb Colter started

He hasn't stopped swinging guys...You have to watch the WWE App to see everything.. I think they do it intentionally...they won't always fuck you over and make you miss certain moves..but just enough to make you get the app...is my guess.

 

[GeneralKarim]

We might be watching a different product because that's not what I see and hear.

Cesaro is swinging people every chance he gets.He still hits uppercuts.Plus he doesnt need to hit vicious, perfect uppercuts every single match.

The "We the people" chants are always very loud.

Being a bit more comical I guess, doesnt hurt them they still are very vicious and have a very hard hitting moveset.

Zeb is helping them very much actually, in my opinion anyway.He is a very good mouthpiece and manager and I think his stick with signs and all that is better because his long winded promos , went a bit over the heads of a lot of people, especially their target demographic.

Zeb is the only one there with actual charisma. Swagger was a joke and is still a joke even with the help of Zeb and that's Swagger's fault for not giving a shit about his career and doing stupid shit when he is going to get pushed.

And Antonio, well I love the dude, the man has godly amounts of strenght and has a very nice moveset but he doesnt have much charisma nor mic skills, at least he hasn't been able to show it.

Now at some point mb Zeb will get faded out and Antonio might become a face and feud with Swagger.That's something I would like to see because Antonio with his moveset and all can get massive pops, and I like to think that he has more charisma than he shows.

 

[Pedigree1]

Zeb i think is a great manager,and has a lot of knowledge for the business. But when Glen Beck,said what he said about the Anti-Immigration rants he was doing,the WWE had to scale it back big time.. IN all seriousness,there is so many Anti-Immigration rants,the audience can handle its time to stop it. It has ran its course..

As far as the RA goes,Cesaro is the strongest pound for pound guy they have in the WWE. He is a future world champion,incredibly athletic in the ring and I like the swinging thing he does... He just needs to work on his personality,and charisma then he will truly have the total package..

Jack Swagger's athleticism cannot be denied.. He is one of the few guys on the roster who can wrestle a broom stick and make it look good. Simple reason why he is not champion now,one he cannot talk on the mic worth a damn.. He has no personality,and right or wrong his lisp hurts him big time.. Two,quit getting pulled over and busted for DUI and making the news in the wrong way.. That killed him last year as he was due to make a big run.. Eventually the RA's are gonna go separate ways but i look for Cesaro to make big waves once that happens

 

[Jack-Hammer]

It's not so much Zeb Coulter as it is WWE's booking. The past few weeks, they've essentially turned The Real Americans into the new comedy, jobber tag team. Personally, I'd rather see The Real Americans break up than see them reduced to this. On top of that, the schtick of being against illegal immigration has run its course. There's nothing new to be done or said. That is, there's nothing left to be done or said that won't result in WWE getting itself into a lot of hot water with the PC-Nazis who're offended by any little thing, despite the fact that anything WWE did would be scripted, and make a federal case out of it.

 

[bioshock]

They a good team that reminds me of the Powers of Pain without the paint and crazy hair, but that they can actually wrestle. I kinda wonder how this team could be if they were to go the route of a powers of pain with face paint, get a little intense. In laments terms be like a heel version of what the Usos are now with the face paint they wear.

And lets not forget last year and the year before that this exact thing happened. WWE had a strong tag division built up then in January it all feel apart because they wanted to push single stars instead. And right now they are in favor of pushing Big Show instead of the Real Americans, so thats why we see these guys jobbing to Big Show.

 

[New Hot Fed]

When Zeb did his first promo with Swagger I thought "wow they're going to really push this thing". But they've more and more have not only turned this thing into a comedy but they lose too much and here I thought there was a plan behind this whole thing. I guess the same thing happened with the Shield in that when the Shield came in, they were mysterious and seemed to have a secret agenda and then it went nowhere and now they're only serving HHH. Another thing is that I thought Zeb and the Real Americans were more than just a tag-team with a heel manager, like I said before I thought they had a plan yet but now Zeb is not even a competent heel manager! He doesn't even try helping them out during matchs. No interferences, nothing. The guy that came up with the idea should be fired. What's the point of Zeb if he doesn't help them win? He's worse than Miss Elizabeth.

 

[russoswornouteraser]

This is the fault of WWE booking NOT Zeb Coulter/Dutch Mantell.

The reason that I pull the Smark trick of pointing out ZC's former ring name, is any internet research will quickly reveal ZC/DM knows what he's on about - he booked Puerto Rico, gaining record ratings (listen to his Colt Cabana AOW podcast to confirm this).

So I highly doubt that its ZC's fault that The Real Americans are regressing - and more of the fact that the WWE booking committee are like a bunch of chimps... with ADHD... after 10 cups of coffee

 

[Bash@theBeach]

WWF it PG rated these days. Majority of the audience is kids who don't get racial politics. Either turn the team more heels by ripping up foodstamps in the ring, or disband them.