What Do You Do With Swagger Now?

Jack Swagger had a great feud with Rusev a few months ago. He turned face and the fans were liking him. I was hoping the WWE would continue to push him even after that feud with Rusev, which was obviously meant to put Rusev over. That feud transitioned into a minor feud with Bo Dallas. Better than nothing. But what do you do with Swagger now? He seems to have no clear direction.

I understand the issues the WWE have now. They lack stars. Guys have gotten injured. Depth is bad. On the one hand, it feels like they have no one. On the other hand, they do have people. Problem is, they are not using them right. And Jack Swagger is a guy I think they should use better. He has connected well with the fans, he is very good in the ring, and there is a lot of potential with his gimmick. I am not saying he needs to be pushed alongside John Cena and Randy Orton. I am not even saying he needs to be in line to face Brock Lesnar for the title. Might be a good match, but there are guys above Swagger for that kind of push.

Against whom should he feud? Aside from the tag titles, all the midcard titles are held by faces. Does that mean you should turn Sheamus heel so he can feud with Swagger? No. How about pairing someone with Swagger and having them go after the tag titles? That could be an interesting idea. I just cannot think of anyone to pair with Swagger. There are also other heels that can go against Swagger. The patriot gimmick does not even need to be a part of it. How about Miz vs. Swagger? Miz should be moving away from Dolph Ziggler. Have a new heel step up against Ziggler. How about one of The Wyatts? While that feud happens, Miz and Swagger can feud in a non-title feud. I could suggest Swagger feuding with a Wyatt, but I am not feeling that. Let The Wyatts go after titles right now. Let Swagger feud with another former World Champion. That will be moving him up from that midcard feud with Bo Dallas.

What Do You Do With Rusev?

The WWE has shown a little bit of inconsistency since Summerslam. I only mentioned Rusev in the title, but this impacts a string of guys. After Summerslam, it looked like Rusev's feud with Jack Swagger was over. Swagger was moving on to a feud with Bo Dallas. Rusev had that segment with Mark Henry on Raw last week. Mark Henry, however, is also teaming with Big Show. Those two are feuding against The Wyatts. This week, it looks like Swagger still wants Rusev, Mark Henry has forgotten about Rusev, and Bo Dallas and Swagger are still feuding. This is messy.

Where do I start? Let me start with Mark Henry, Big Show, and the tag division. Should these two even be a tag team? Splitting them up could open up some singles feuds. Mark Henry feuds with Rusev and Big Show feuds with Bray Wyatt. What kind of match does the WWE want for the tag titles at Night of Champions? That is what it comes down to. If they want a simple match between The Rhodes and The Usos, no need to waste  time with Big Show and Mark Henry killing Bray Wyatt's henchmen. There are other ways to transition Big Show to a singles feud with Bray, if that is the eventual idea. If they are going for some multi-team match, which would be better and utilize all these teams you have floating around, then I can agree with continuing to run Big Show and Mark Henry together.

How about this triangle with Jack Swagger, Bo Dallas, and Rusev? Jack Swagger's feud with Rusev is not over. Or has it become his mini-feud, while his feud with Bo Dallas now is his main feud? Is Bo Dallas his mini-feud? It is messy. Without Swagger, Rusev would have nothing to do right now. I'll get to that in a moment. Just focusing on Swagger, I think it is good that he is being utilized well. I just think they are going overboard with having him be so valiant. They are trying too hard to force him as a hero. The WWE sometimes takes something that works well in connecting with the fans, then murders it. They don't follow up properly. I have seen someone bring up the idea that this feud between Swagger and Bo Dallas is part of Swagger's road to redemption and will eventually lead to him beating Rusev. I don't think that was the original plan at all. Is that where it will go since Swagger has started to connect well with the fans? I don't think Swagger needs to beat Rusev. He can be pushed well without that.

As for Rusev, it really looked like he was moving away from Swagger. It would be obvious to say that it came down to choosing where to go with Mark Henry and they decided with his tag feud, leaving Rusev with nothing. That is, except for going back to Swagger. In this whole situation, it really seems like Rusev is the odd man out. I spent some time thinking about what credible guys are free to enter a feud with Rusev. I couldn't think of anyone. RVD? He always comes and goes. They could have had a mini-feud with him and Rusev. Besides, Rusev has already beaten RVD, although not in an actual feud. RVD just has no momentum. I honestly cannot think of anyone good for Rusev to feud with at the moment.

It makes me wonder what will eventually happen with Rusev. They might revisit his feud with Mark Henry soon. After that? Big Show? After a while, you will run out of top guys. Raises the question, what is the point of this guy? Just to be built up and be fed to Cena? I can picture him losing relevance one day. Will he last? Look at Jack Swagger. He has been around for years. He has won a World title. He has been a jobber. You can say he knows what it is like to be at both extremes. But he still remains relevant. If the WWE is having a tough time developing something for Rusev now, it will only get worse down the line. They will eventually weaken him to being a jobber to the stars. I doubt they are grooming him to be an A player. He is just a gimmick and a monster to be overcome. You can only hope they do better with him until his eventual decline.

Bo Dallas Loses

Bo Dallas has taken his first loss. And to R-Truth. It was pretty much a fluke win, but it isn't like Bo's character is to be taken seriously. I knew it would be fun to see Bo react after he did lose his first match. Wasn't expecting it so soon. There were probably a few more jobbers he could have gone through.

What becomes of Bo Dallas now? Undefeated streak is over. Gimmick is still there. Aside from that, he has had no real feuds. You have a situation where you have a guy with a gimmick that can lead to good feuds, but nothing is being done with him. Should they start a legitimate feud with R-Truth? He's a lower-midcarder. I don't see how a feud with him will help Bo now. Maybe when he first debuted. Do you stick Bo with his brother? Probably too soon for that. I don't like the idea of putting a midcard title on him. He's too much of a comedy character. He's got his "Bolieve" catchphrase and the fact that he's annoying going for him, but I don't think he really deserves a title reign because of anything he has done. I'll just see how long it takes for him to get lost in the shuffle for the sake of some other gimmick they debut down the line.

Let me give my personal opinion of Bo Dallas. He looks creepy and he annoys me. In my eyes, he's down there with Fandango. He does have his moments here and there, but I still don't like him. And it isn't because he is such a great heel. I usually like great heels. He's not horrible in the ring, but he's not amazing. He's okay. Overall, I think time can be better spent on other guys.