Jack Swagger - What now?

Jack Swagger. When one hears the name, they instantly think one of two things. One, 'GOT SWAG?'(*1) or two, 'I'm sorry, who?' Alright, there is a fair few who do know who he is, but for those who don't, allow me to refresh your memory.

Pictured: Jack Swagger, desperately searching for a fan. He will be searching for a while.

Jack Swagger is the current WWE United States champion, a title he won from Zack Ryder(*2) about a month ago. Pre-US title win, he's been floundering in the mid-card scene for quite a while, doing little more than serve as backup to Dolph Ziggler and, to an extent, Vickie Guerrero. Look back further, and it'll surprise you that - hold on to something solid here - Swagger used to be the World Heavyweight champion. Yes, that big shiny block of gold used to be around Mr. Swaggles's waist. It's okay to feel surprised, not many people remember. He had a pretty forgettable run.

And now, post-US title win, he's... pretty much doing the same thing. Only difference is now he has a shiny belt. So, to recap: Flounders in mid-card, wins world title, flounders in high-card, loses world title, flounders in mid-card for the next year or so. Not a very good track record.

Pictured: Jack Swagger, assaulting a hapless John Cena with the dreaded 'Ankle Massager.' Do not try this at home.

This leads us to our two questions.

One: What do you think of Jack Swagger, as a whole? Is he ultimately deserving of the US title?

And, two: How would you go about booking Swagger's US title run from here on in? How would you build up credibility, who would you offer as challengers for his title, etc?

-=-=-=-

*1 - I hearby nominate 'GOT SWAG' to be Jack Swaggers catchphrase. It'll be on T-shirts, coffee mugs, plush dolls, beach towels, condoms, everything! Are you seriously telling me you wouldn't buy a lamp with 'GOT SWAG' inscripted on the shade?!?

*2 - Some guy who runs an internet show and now gets attacked on a regular basis.

I think Swagger is a fantastic in-ring talent and it baffles me that WWE don't seem to keep him consistently strong. In 2009 when he was drafted to Raw they did nothing with him up until he won MITB and then he was just World Heavyweight Champion: no build. His title reign was actually enjoyable: his matches with Edge and Jericho, Rey and Undertaker during that time were all good, but once he lost the belt he was back where he was a year before. Somehow, he managed to get through being alligned with Cole, who was at that time the most over heel in the company, with nothing to show for it. Swagger is perhaps WWE's worst example of stop-start booking.

As for his US Title reign currently, he's been on TV once (?) since he won the belt. Ideally they should have kept him in the limelight so that when Ryder eventually gets his shot at regaining the belt then the feud will be hot, but as it is I can't see many caring for it. I think Swagger is a really solid midcard wrestler and I would love to see him booked as much, but he often doesn't get more than 3 minutes on Raw and his PPV matches are always total filler because they don't build to them. They need to do something with him, at least.

I actually keep forgetting about this guy and the fact that he is the US Champ. WWE just really don't seem to know what to do with the guy. Frankly for the time being I'd say just keep him around with Dolph as a tag team and keep Vickie as their manager. Probably make him drop the US title to someone else as well since it doesn't seem like he's going to be doing much with it. WWE just need to work aroudnd what they actually wanna do with the guy and what direction they want to take his character next.

It is WWE's own fault that they don't push Raw's mid-carders enough, instead they opt to do this whole SuperShow thing when they fill in spots on matches with SmackDown talent however they forget to showcase their mid carders as well.

As for Jack Swagger, he has taken a backseat on Raw now, he went from World Heavyweight Champion on SmackDown to being Michael Cole's puppet and now he is doing the same with Vickie Guerrero. I hope he turns face after WrestleMania 28. Give him a Patriotism gimmick, where fans cheer him for caring about the United States that will really get you over in this day of age.

WWE has plenty of people that could fued with Swagger, but they have been busy. Raw has guys like Alex Riley, Kofi Kingston, Mason Ryan, and R-Truth that should be fueding with Swagger for the US title.

Originally Posted by The Main Eventer

WWE has plenty of people that could fued with Swagger, but they have been busy. Raw has guys like Alex Riley, Kofi Kingston, Mason Ryan, and R-Truth that should be fueding with Swagger for the US title.

That is where the problem lies. Swagger's booking is fine, but every face on the roster is either in the main event, or not credible enough. Riley was depushed, Ryan's push has been stopped, and Ryder's momentum was killed by the Kane/Cena feud. Swagger is now either beating lower carders on Superstars or jobbing to the main event faces.

Alex Riley is actually the perfect feud in the making for Swagger. The two of them actually put on entertaining matches; even the match with the infamous powerbomb botch was great.

At least they paired him with Vickie to pull his career back from the dead. Now, it's hard to see Ziggler without also seeing Swagger, and luckily, we see a lot of Ziggler. Sure, he's the meathead second fiddle of Vickie's little duo but he's there and he's always on deck for a match when needed. I think they made the right move by putting the United States championship on him. He's just legit enough to not dishonor the title and keep it looking like something worth desiring. They haven't exactly used him to the best of his abilities, but I'll temporarily chalk that up to WrestleMania crepping up. As well all know, the WWE throw away the Intercontinental and US titles around WrestleMania time, so before we just say that the WWE have given up on him, keep in mind that he can be in for a big spark following WrestleMania, when WWE can spare some lower profile stuff.

Me personally, I'm hoping that Jack will get into a program with Ezekiel Jackson, personally. It's kind of like two birds with one stone because you can boost both of their careers in one little storyline. Book it as a Clash of the Titans and give them a big blowoff at Extreme Rules, which will give them about two months to boost their status and one final show to get some closure and also put on display their brawling skills. I'm not holding out for it, but that's just a personal interest of mine that I'd like to see go down.

Realistically I have to say that the WWE will probably keep on using him as the muscle of Vickie's operation. He can be the reason that Dolph eventually wins his first WWE title in a couple of months (hopefully) and can be used as the protection for it forever on after that. This would open up a slew of opportunities for him, which would include run-ins with top contenders like John Cena, CM Punk, and R-Truth which would be good for any basic midcarder. I don't really care if they ever give Swagger another world title run, just as long as he is used to the best of his abilities for the remainder of his WWE career. If that leads to a world tile run, then so be it. If it results in only a few good high profile matches against main eventers and plenty of PPV appearances, then once again, so be it. I just like to see Swag on my TV screen. But that's just me.

Random thought came to mind, have him feud with Brodus?

I think WWE made a mistake by keeping him heel after he was yelled at by Cole in May/June 2011. He should have turned on Cole and become a face instead.