Jack Swagger’s fall from grace

I feared this day would come. I knew it would happen. I knew it would only be a matter of time. I just didn’t think it would be this soon. I didn’t think this calamity would happen all so quickly. But, it happened. The worst has become reality, and now, there’s nothing more for him to do, say, or even attempt because it will be mired in mediocrity. On April 13, 2009, at around 9:10 PM, Jack Swagger’s career ended in the middle of the ring. It ended with him tapping out. It ended with an amateur wrestling prodigy like himself submitting to a very poorly done submission move. It ended at the hands…….of John Cena.

Once again, the WWE, unable to learn from the foolish mistakes they make or have made, destroyed another young prodigy before something could be done with his career. Sure, he had some stellar matches as of late, and has cut a very incredible pace in the ring against some key and not-so-key wrestlers, but to snuff out his flame before it’s even lit is just disgusting, disgraceful, empty-handed, closed-minded, and downright criminal. Now, I may be making it out to sound like he’s dead or critically injured, but he isn’t. Don’t take it in that light, at all. Just look at it as if your favorite underrated sports star got cut…again…from another team because he was expendable. Look at it as if your favorite wrestler was fired after not being utilized properly. Jack Swagger joins the many different superstars that have fallen at the hands of Cena, bad creative writing, non-existent booking, and overall foolishness. Sadly, it’s not just Cena who is guilty of this as stars like Batista, Rey Mysterio, and even Finlay have cut down many a wrestler on his way up. Who’s to blame? Do you blame the wrestlers who win for being too formulaic in their matches and pretty much wiping out these other stars before they succeed with the same old unstoppable schtick (ex. Cena’s five moves of doom, Finlay’s Shillelagh shenanigans, Rey’s 619 into...whatever, etc.)? Do you blame the writers for dropping the ball creatively, as usual? Do you blame the political structure backstage that prevents any forward progression if you’re new? Or, do you blame Vince McMahon for allowing all those things to happen? The answer: all of the above, because, sadly one mistake feeds off of another mistake, which feeds off another, and so on.

Look, if you want someone like Swagger or anyone to succeed in his or her career at all in wrestling, the easiest thing you can do, and the most commonly sensible thing to do is this: KEEP HIM AWAY FROM ESTABLISHED MEGA-SUPERSTARS UNTIL IT’S TIME FOR THEM TO INTERACT AND FIGHT, WHICH WON’T COME FOR A FEW MONTHS, OR MAYBE YEARS!!!! I had to put that in all capitals letters because this is a common mistake that Vince has made on a number of occasions from his first day of ownership until today. It’s happened to Mr. Perfect when he dealt with Hogan, and it’s still happening now. Logically, you should be following this for two very sound and succinct reasons. Firstly, if you put a relatively new star on the rise against anyone that’s much more popular than he or she is, with more experience in wrestling within just a few month’s of the rookie’s career, you’re already killing any possible big-time match they may have in the future. Instead of people waiting to see if these two ever cross paths later, when the top star remains great and the new star gets great, they get it too early, doing away with any possible big money draws that could occur when they do finally cross paths. Now, I know sometimes this isn’t the case (refer to Randy Orton), but you have to know that not every wrestler can pull this off. Some wrestlers have the gift, while others have to work at their craft before it gets there. So, why mess with the not-so-gifted so soon? Secondly, it is a matter of further logic. Logically, the wrestler on the rise shouldn’t beat the top star if they are doing battle. In fact, it shouldn’t even happen unless the rising star has had a few more matches under his or her belt, preferably with better or top mid-carders or even some top stars that aren’t on top at the moment. In that case, have him or her win those mid-card battles if need be, and have him or her put on the fight of their lives against the top stars that aren’t on the top at the time. You DO NOT thrust this rookie against a top star on top at the moment. The reason is because, logically, the top star should not lose to the rookie, especially if said top star has had marquee matches that have done big business. If he or she loses, then why was that person a top star in the first place if he or she can’t even stop this random rookie on the rise for a few months? However, the flipside is still just as damaging. If you’re the rookie on the rise, your loss to the top star will do indelible and irreparable damage to your credibility as a star. When people see you wrestle this star again, or others like him or her, you’re not expected to win or even be better than him or her. You’re expected to lose, and that’s that. Logically, no one will buy you as a star capable of many things because there will always be that top star that is better than you, that can and will beat you or should be expected to beat you. You don’t have the credibility to be a top star anymore. Sadly, this mindset is not only adopted by the fans who don’t know better. This mindset is accepted by the politicians and the like backstage that control your future. They can’t expect you to ever get there, because it’s not in your ability to do so. Hence, you’re relegated to mid-card stuff that can and/or will destroy your career. You might get a high-profile match against another top star that’s not quite on the top right now, but if you win, it will probably be because that star is on the way out or is expected to lose because he or she is old and can’t weather the new talent as of the point of when they are or aren’t hot. I know this is a mouthful, but it has to be said. In fact, I bet you if you ask any wrestling personality that knows the ins and outs of the business, the stuff I explained is an aspect of “Good match booking 101”. The problem with this: there are no bookers in the WWE, just writers who don’t know wrestling, and road agents who come up with match finishes and advice for wrestlers on the rise. Who then figures out how to book properly? The answer is the “head creative member/writer”, of course, which is someone who probably hasn’t booked a wrestling-related thing in his or her life. See the problem? I hope so.

The sad truth about this is that this has happened more than a few times over the course of 5 years with talent that should have been on the rise but, to no avail. The common excuse is that the “creative team” has no good subject matter or ideas for these wrestlers to follow. It’s like, they tried to sell this wrestler or that wrestler on an idea or joke that people found unfunny, or an act that people found uninteresting. Instead of faulting themselves, it’s the wrestler’s fault, and they get demoted, despite the fact that they are excellent wrestlers. Apparently, the bad ideas of the writers have to be worked with to the point of success regardless of how bad they are. If they don’t, in any case, the wrestler is kept around as a jobber until they are shown the door or they just get less and less television time until they get shown the door. Sometimes, this happens after an idea loses its flair (i.e. Chris Masters). Other times, this happens as soon as the wrestler debuts (i.e. Braden Walker, Scotty Goldman, Ryan Braddock).

What really burns, though, is when there is an idea that works or just happens to catch fire quicker than necessary and then the “creative team” pulls the plug. Another burning problem is when the idea doesn’t work as well as it should have and yet, the wrestlers are kept around and placed in more and more high-profile situations and better timeslots on television and PPV until people are sick of it. An example of the latter situation deals with wrestlers like Chris Masters, Lance Cade, Trevor Murdoch, La Resistance, Chuck Palumbo, Jimmy Wang Yang and Shannon Moore, and currently Festus, Kung Fu Naki, and yes, even Ricky Ortiz. Seriously, people stopped caring or didn’t care then or now, so why parade them around on television like we should start caring? As for the former, some examples of wrestlers include Muhammed Hassan, Rene Dupree, Kenzo Suzuki, Umaga, Matt Striker (if booked right, he’d be as funny and as talented as Santino was supposed to be), R-Truth, Elijah Burke, The Spirit Squad (was there really a need to do away with most of them, when Kenny had potential, Johnny was one of your top prospects in your training facility, and Mikey could be a top cruiserweight? Sure, Nicky is Dolph Ziggler, but he’s starting to come up in the former pile with Lance Cade and the like), and now, Jack Swagger. They have great skill. They are getting some sort of reaction with what they are or were doing. They have potential to do more in the future? Why pull the plug? Is it because of the writers’ ineptitude in creatively writing for them? Is it because the fans are reacting to them in the opposite manner of what the writers wanted? Whatever the reason, don’t shirk responsibility, writers. It’s most likely your fault. The sad truth is, most of the people mentioned in the former were made to look useless against stars like Cena or Batista, guys they could probably wrestle circles around. Once that happens, stick a fork in them, because they are done. Bring out the pink slips, because the “revolving door of releases” is going to get a lot of users soon.

I just can’t believe they wasted all this time pushing Jack Swagger as the top guy on ECW, even to the point of giving him the “photo of the day” every day on WWE.com only to squash him under the thumb of bad booking and politics within 4 months of his first title reign and even a few months since his first loss. I understand you don’t want to create another “Brock Lesnar” and push him to the moon, in fear that he’ll leave, but that doesn’t mean you have to squash him before he gets remotely anywhere. Meet up halfway or something. Now, what’s going to happen to Jack? He’ll probably do exactly what I said and tag up with Kozlov, or not, because of what I have to tell you next. Swagger lost his ECW title to Christian, a wrestler the WWE (specifically VKM), won’t give a second look at for top star consideration on any other shows because he just doesn’t have the look. So, what does this mean for Jack? He takes a back seat to Kozlov instead of teaming with him as Kozlov is now poised to become ECW champion, despite the bad reviews he’s received in many matches on SD and RAW and his relative credibility destroyed now that he’s lost to HBK and Undertaker (although he did beat Taker, which goes back to my original point about stars beating top stars not on top right now). I don’t see Swagger going anywhere for the next 4 to 6 months, if not longer. If he does, why invest in it? He’ll always be remembered as one of Cena’s latest defeated opponents.

Jack Swagger: you’ve got nothing left. You’ve got no need to show swagger because Cena owned you on live television, Christian owns your belt after live PPV, and Kozlov is poised to take your top spot. If you’re lucky, you’ll tag up and be considered for tag contention with Mark Henry, granted they didn’t fire him yet due to his Finlay-related losses. If you even get a bone thrown your way, why revel in it? It’s not going to mean anything. I’m not going to invest anything big out of it. My suggestion to you: start looking for work elsewhere. ROH can use you. I mean, look at how they’re treating Brent Albright and other WWE castaways that can wrestle. TNA would want you, but won’t use you well. Still, you’ll get paid and you might even get a top match here and there. It’s “WWE lite”, so it’s all on you. Just don’t expect to get anything great in the WWE anytime soon or even ever. To them, you’re just another guy who has the look and/or the ability to make it there legitimately that has to take a back seat to those who don’t have either anymore. Does the bottom of the ladder look good, Jack? I’m sure Cena can’t tell you his opinion, since it’s so hard to see the bottom from where he is and won’t take a second thought about what it could look like. Get used to it, Jack. All great wrestlers start at the bottom rung in the WWE. It’s just a shame that a good portion of them now-a-days never see past the bottom rung. But don’t worry. If it’s any consolation, it’s not the writers’ fault. It’s probably yours.