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as Randy Orton at Extreme Rules. But amid those wins, non-title losses to Orton, the Undertaker and John Morrison have combined to make a less than auspicious start to his reign as World Champion.
And while even the best champions take a non- title loss now and again, Jack Swagger isn’t the calibre of champion who can afford to be made to look weak this early in his brief title reign. Swagger is, as of this writing, only less than two months removed from his title victory and, for that matter, his victory at Wrestlemania.
In other
words, he’s less than two months away from being almost an afterthought in the match that gave him that World Championship opportunity.
Perhaps the very thing that has made Swagger what could have been the same type of breakout star in 2010 that Sheamus was in 2009 is the exact thing that may doom Swagger and his title reign. He’s come too far, too fast and now seems stalled in the worst place he can be for both he and his brand: at the very top.
Certainly, Swagger has been in WWE for
longer than a cup of coffee. Since arriving in the fall of 2008, Swagger has been ECW Champion and a contender for the U.S. title. He’s feuded with Tommy Dreamer, Christian and Kofi Kingston. But lately, you were just as likely to see him on WWE Superstars or, when he was on Raw, taking on Santino Marella in a match more suited for comedy than establishing him as a future Champion.
And Swagger from mid-card afterthought to placeholder World Champion in a matter of days is not doing “The All-American American”, the title or Smackdown any
This is not to say that the whole situation can’t
be recovered. Look at JBL, who won the WWE Championship from Eddie Guerrero in June 2004, and used it as a way to elevate his game to the point where he became credible as the top man on the Smackdown brand. Of course, JBL’s character and experience made that possible.
And because Swagger could use some improvement in both of those categories, he shouldn’t have been given the World title immediately. He had the Money in the Bank title shot, which could have been used for the better
tWP WoRlDWiDe WReStlinG MAGAZine 9
favors. To be a credible World Champion, a wrestler needs to be among the top guys in his respective organization or, in this case, brand. Swagger is far from being at that level at the present time. In fact, prior to the 2010 WWE Draft, the two top guys on Smackdown were arguably Edge and Chris Jericho. Swagger pales in comparison to either of those two stars, and will for some time to come, no matter how the WWE books him as champion.
A LESS THAN AuSPICIOuS START TO HIS REIGN AS WORLD CHAMPION
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