[DesolationRow]

I would have him be utterly obliterated by Dolph Ziggler with a steel chair, after Ziggler snaps on Raw next week due to all of the humiliating losses to Brodus Clay and Hornswoggle, ditching Vickie and making Swagger's back hamburger. I'd then start up a storyline in which Ziggler begins to court Eve to attain greater status and clout with her new executive administrative position. Swagger would disappear for about four or six weeks.

On some episode of Raw or Smackdown, some midcard heel like Otunga is assaulting some beloved midcard babyface (I guess Santino) after a match not going the way he wanted. Jack Swagger would appear, slowly walking to the ring, and completely dismantle Otunga/Whichever Heel You Prefer. Make the audience think he's Frank Mir, breaking the heel's arm, and then go after his ankle.

The next week, he shows up again and almost robotically goes after whichever heel you'd like who's harassing some weaker character, Hornswoggle or a diva or whatever.

His theme would be changed to something more akin to Dean Malenko's old WCW theme, and he'd wear a no-frills simple solid color singlet, perhaps either white or black.

After the third occasion on which he saves some injured or weakened babyface against some domineering, overbearing heel, he'd be interviewed by Josh Matthews and he'd refuse to say anything.

Then I'd feed him a bunch of heel enhancement talent, irritating people the audience enjoys seeing destroyed. Heath Slater would be a good choice.

Finally, once the moment was right like in September or so, he'd go after Ziggler to start up a six-week feud that elevates both guys due to their shared ring capabilities and developed characters.

I'd completely change Swagger into a carnivorous, borderline sociopathic, not-quite-there in-ring assassin whose almost psychotic state would be defined over a long period of time as a sort of deranged Jungian hero syndrome.

Try it out for ten months or so and see how it works.

 

[DesolationRow]

Thwagger Thoaring Eagle was my fave.

Someone pointed out that they should use Swagger's natural goofiness to work in his favour as a babyface. But if he is booked as goofy, he'll end up as the only kind of goofy WWE know, which is the OTT Santino-esque kind. That wouldn't do him any favours.

I dunno, they should do something with him I think! That clip shows it, there's just something about Swagger.


DRow, I don't think I've ever disagreed with you more

But as you say yourself, if they book him as goofy he's stuck as yet another goofy midcard babyface act. I like Swagger but he's not Sheamus. Sheamus is strong enough on the mic and with his character that he can vary the notes he wants to play with his persona. Despite some nitpicking on here, nobody seems to have a real problem with him relating fanciful Irish yarns about his home country and family and then segue with the least bit of a pause to simply pummeling guys who are in his way. Because Sheamus can pull that off and has; it's really why he's become so over in spite of so many booking and writing hiccups as well as a sheer lack of storylines for him as a face between the time his feud with Christin ended until he entered the feud with Bryan beyond wanting to win The Royal Rumble match and not let Jinder Mahal or Wade Barrett win it.

Swagger's goofiness could work as an asset short-term as a babyface but after six months to a year, most of us would be complaining about it one way or the other. Pro-Swagger people would argue that he deserves better/more but can't reach anything higher because of the goofy character he has and anti-Swagger people would be ripping their eyeballs out at the lameness of it all.

Having said all of this, though, if they want to simply re-push him as the guy he was in the spring of 2010, I wouldn't exactly weep over it. That character and run were both cut short, I guess because he had a questionable attitude backstage or whatever, but in any case it's too bad because he was then allowed to drop off the face of the WWE's main event and midcard earth, so that Rey Mysterio could keep the championship warm for Kane's five month reign of tedium. I understand Kane's reign was a giant "thank you" card from Vince for all of the years of hard, selfless work but Swagger's arc wasn't nearly complete and he had been booked as such a joke up to that point, being pinned by the likes of John Morrison and MVP while being World Heavyweight Champion, that in the end the whole push and cup of coffee he had in the main event seems like a stain on his career and a stain WWE gave that championship rather than the fully-formed kind of reign that character was crying out for.

I still contend, however, that if you gave him a solid push with a Travis Bickle self-fulfilling hero syndrome in which he completely ripped apart guys like Jinder Mahal, David Otunga, Heath Slater and the like, the guy'd be over with kids and families like that. *snaps fingers*

I'd like to see Swagger show that he doesn't have to be a goofy guy. Don't want to make the mistake of comparing him and Kurt Angle, but since it's been made in the past--even by Angle himself--I've always thought Angle's run of "injuring" guys like Scotty 2 Hotty after his first WWF/E Championship reign ended is what retroactively legitimized (that word again) him as something more than a goofy B-main-eventer/upper midcarder in the eyes of most casual fans.