Two weeks ago on RAW, WWE Champion John Cena told Heavyweight Champion Jack Swagger that he was not “championship material.” Swagger’s performance on Friday’s edition of Smackdown went a long way toward proving Cena wrong and garnering some needed prestige in his thus far beleaguered title run. Swagger shone and came out victorious ,in a marquee triple threat match against two of WWE’s top stars. Here’s how it went down:
The stage was set when general manager Teddy Long, in response to one of Chris Jericho’s trademarked grumpy tirades, granted Y2J the Heavyweight Championship rematch that he’s had coming, since Swagger lifted the title from him three weeks earlier. Jericho, however, was not the only one getting a shot at championship. Long also inserted the equally deserving Edge into the bout, making Swagger’s first championship defense a triple threat match with two of the greatest all around performers in WWE.
The match turned out to be a tour de force for all three men, and especially for Swagger as its winner and retaining champion. Swagger’s been losing points in persona and promos, since winning the Heavyweight title, but he’s very nearly making up those points with his work in the ring. The champ delivered some convincing, high-impact offense and took some hard bumps in the match. Aside from his hard work, Swagger is an interesting specimen in the ring. He comes off kind of like a meta-being halfway between Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde: entitled, upper class, aryan arrogance just about to give way to the brutal, power-possessed monster within. It’s a presence that makes Swagger’s character uniquely unlikable and believable as a dominant, dangerous in-ring entity. This match was the best showing thus far of that entity.
Of course, equal credit goes to Swagger’s opponents Edge and Jericho. Edge was at the top of his good guy game, selling his opponents’ double teaming and hitting some nice spots in retaliation (such as a double baseball slide on both men). Jericho for his part once again demonstrated not only his in-ring ability but his selfless dedication to effective story-telling, by offering up himself to put the young champion over. After absorbing a spear from Edge, Y2J was clearly down for the count. Before the referee could make that count, however, Swagger pulled Edge off of the cover and ejected him from the ring, before scoring a quick three count of his own on the still reeling Jericho. The ending garnered some good heat for Swagger, and though it was a “back door” victory, his showing was strong enough throughout the match that the win didn’t feel undeserved. He gets bonus points for getting one over on the “ultimate opportunist” Edge.
For as cocksure and unapologetic as Swagger the character is, Swagger the performer seems eager to prove himself to fans and his fellow superstars, in the sudden light of a big, new push and a major title run. If he keeps it up, he’ll likely get over more than Sheamus ever did as a champion. Let’s just hope that the booking committee recognizes his hard work and ceases its assault on his character, stripping away his beaming, heat-magnet grin and burying him under Randy Orton’s new face turn. Speaking of Orton: Swagger’s title defense against RKO at the upcoming Extreme Rules pay-per-view will likely be a make or break moment for Swagger. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.
Elsewhere on the show: Drew McIntyre scored a much needed win over Kane; that’s the good news. The bad news is it was a win by disqualification. McIntyre opted to walk away from the ring, rather than endure more punishment from the Big Red Monster. The boos came loud and steady from the British audience, as the referee counted out the sinister Scot. Before the count of ten, however, Matt Hardy rushed to ringside and forced McIntyre back into the ring. Hardy’s gesture garnered McIntyre the win… and drew the ire of Kane, who re-payed Hardy with a choke slam. McIntyre needed a win over a superstar like Kane, but this wasn’t the kind of win he needed. His fleeing the match made him look so weak that the fact that he got his “hand raised” was beside the point. While such a DQ victory may earn McIntyre some heel heat, It will take more than such an exhibition to convince the fans that he’s really the chosen one that he’s touted to be.
Dolph Ziggler turned in another great heel performance, when he beat R Truth with a sleeper hold. It’s a smart call to give Ziggler the sleeper as his current finisher. The move, one of the most time honored in wrestling, is nice fit with a performer like Ziggler, who inherently references a classic in-ring style and who brings a great tenacity to the move’s application. He already makes the sleeper look more menacing that Brutus Beefcake ever did.
Old rivals Michelle McCool and Mickie James met each other in the best Divas match in recent memory. After a lively back and forth and some cool spots (e.g. James hitting a flying Thesz press on McCool off of the audience barricade), the fan favorite fell prey to the lovely Layla’s distraction from the ring apron, allowing McCool to steal a win. The Women’s champion then launched a post-match assault on James, at which Beth Phoenix rushed out in response. The impending Phoenix/McCool clash has been booked well. Because only one Divas match airs on each RAW and Smackdown, WWE bookers aren’t as pressed to give away big match ups on free TV. Thus they can allow feuds adequate time to build into something special. It’s ironic that it works this way, seeing as how WWE clearly holds its female division in much lower regard than it does its male roster.
Cm Punk, Luke Gallows, and Darren Young faced Rey Mysterio and the Hart Dynasty, in a pay-per-view quality match that was full of great spots. Mysterio and the Hart Dynasty worked well together, delivering some innovative and entertaining offense, including a double suplex/high cross body amalgam on Punk and simultaneous dropkicks to Gallows’s skull (a move that would have quite simply made the man’s head explode had it been even slightly ill executed). Mysterio even hit a 619 around the ring post, which the always reliable luchadore hit perfectly. In the end, the Harts and Mysterio were victorious, adding fuel to the former’s big face push. Miz was on hand as color commentator, a role in which he was rather entertaining. Staying firmly in character, Miz put himself over and over and over throughout the match and wisely sold next Monday’s RAW, in which Bret Hart is scheduled to appear and declare Show Miz the greatest tag team in WWE history.
Though he wasn’t given much offense, Darren Young made a decent showing in this match as well. Young’s tumultuous relationship with his mentor CM Punk and the Straight Edge Society has made the NXT rookie very watchable of late. Once his angle with the SES has played out (and if he’s still a part of WWE at such a time) it will be interesting to see if Young retains that watchability or if he becomes just another African-American John Cena with Heat Miser hair.
JTG turned in a solid face performance in this match, against Caylen Croft. He sold well the dirty offense of Croft and the overwhelming odds he faced (as Croft’s fellow Dude Buster Trent Baretta and his own partner-turned-rival Shad Gaspard were present at ringside) and then mounted a convincing and soulful comeback. In the end he pinned Croft following a swing-around clothesline. Immediately following the bell, Gaspard stormed the ring and laid out his former partner in Cryme with a vicious clothesline of his own. He laced the beatdown that followed with an impassioned repetition of the thesis: “You ain’t nothin’ without me!” JTG, however, offered some evidence to the contrary, when he turned the tables on the big man and hit some offense of his own. It’s nice to see WWE recognizing the talent of both members of the the defunct Cryme Tyme, rather than booking Gaspard to steamroll over JTG and move on to bigger things. Still the unfortunately born after me Gaspard is the more likely breakout star of the two, and not only because of his size. He showed a seasoned heel intensity, beyond his years and experience, in this segment. If booked right, the Cryme Tyme feud could be surprisingly good and could lead to solid pushes for both men. Moreover, both have to feel relieved to be free of the two-dimensional, borderline racist gimmick, with which they’d been saddled for the last four years.
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