ironworks
02-13-2013, 03:34 AM
Feed Source: Bleacher Report
Eric Bischoff famously stated in his 2006 book that controversy creates cash. WWE would be wise to listen to those words when trying to figure out how to book Jack Swagger from here on out.
Whether by accident or on purpose, the company may have found itself some lightning in a bottle last night. The potential seeds were planted on Monday Night Raw this week for an act that could create quite the buzz with the internet wrestling community.
In case you missed the episode, Jack Swagger was accompanied to the ring by a mysterious man. Even as the commentators and on-screen characters attempted to explain who this individual was, the fans were a bit puzzled and nonchalant.
On screen, it was revealed that his name was Zeb Colter. Michael Cole even tried to explain that only old-school fans would recognize him, hinting that he could be the same character known as Uncle Zebekiah who once managed JBL (when he was Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw).
Off screen, he's "Dirty" Dutch Mantel, a former wrestler and writer. Several wrestlers, including Dustin Rhodes, took to Twitter to express their pleasure in seeing the 63-year-old back in WWE.
After a quick win over Zack Ryder, Zeb Colter grabbed the microphone and provided the fans with a mission statement. He basically let the wrestling world know that he and Jack Swagger were working the heel patriot act.
While this may not seem much to the casual fan, it is actually a potential catalyst for WWE. If the company is willing to cross the line and add in a heavy dose of controversy, it can even capture the attention of fans who no longer tune in on a regular basis.
WWE has to make the storyline with Zeb Colter and Jack Swagger introduce quite a bit of racial tones. Obviously, they have advertisers and network executives to answer to, but the creative department really needs to see how far they are allowed to go with this thing.
After every victory, the All-American American and his associate need to find someone in the audience and verbally berate that individual. If it's a native, then they can bash them for not taking full use of the opportunities in the USA. If it's a minority, then they can bash them for crossing into their borders.
Doing this generates a lot of heat for Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter. It would also cause the audience to yearn for a babyface hero to come save the day.
That hero can be Alberto Del Rio, who is currently trying to get the audience to warm up to him. This could be very reminiscent of when Lex Luger turned face in order to defend the United States from Yokozuna.
If they can manage to pull this off, then WWE will have a brand new main-event heel in Jack Swagger and a world heavyweight champion that the fans can truly get behind.
Eric Bischoff famously stated in his 2006 book that controversy creates cash. WWE would be wise to listen to those words when trying to figure out how to book Jack Swagger from here on out.
Whether by accident or on purpose, the company may have found itself some lightning in a bottle last night. The potential seeds were planted on Monday Night Raw this week for an act that could create quite the buzz with the internet wrestling community.
In case you missed the episode, Jack Swagger was accompanied to the ring by a mysterious man. Even as the commentators and on-screen characters attempted to explain who this individual was, the fans were a bit puzzled and nonchalant.
On screen, it was revealed that his name was Zeb Colter. Michael Cole even tried to explain that only old-school fans would recognize him, hinting that he could be the same character known as Uncle Zebekiah who once managed JBL (when he was Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw).
Off screen, he's "Dirty" Dutch Mantel, a former wrestler and writer. Several wrestlers, including Dustin Rhodes, took to Twitter to express their pleasure in seeing the 63-year-old back in WWE.
After a quick win over Zack Ryder, Zeb Colter grabbed the microphone and provided the fans with a mission statement. He basically let the wrestling world know that he and Jack Swagger were working the heel patriot act.
While this may not seem much to the casual fan, it is actually a potential catalyst for WWE. If the company is willing to cross the line and add in a heavy dose of controversy, it can even capture the attention of fans who no longer tune in on a regular basis.
WWE has to make the storyline with Zeb Colter and Jack Swagger introduce quite a bit of racial tones. Obviously, they have advertisers and network executives to answer to, but the creative department really needs to see how far they are allowed to go with this thing.
After every victory, the All-American American and his associate need to find someone in the audience and verbally berate that individual. If it's a native, then they can bash them for not taking full use of the opportunities in the USA. If it's a minority, then they can bash them for crossing into their borders.
Doing this generates a lot of heat for Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter. It would also cause the audience to yearn for a babyface hero to come save the day.
That hero can be Alberto Del Rio, who is currently trying to get the audience to warm up to him. This could be very reminiscent of when Lex Luger turned face in order to defend the United States from Yokozuna.
If they can manage to pull this off, then WWE will have a brand new main-event heel in Jack Swagger and a world heavyweight champion that the fans can truly get behind.