Wrestlemania 29 Preview – Smackdown World Title: Alberto Del Rio vs. Jack Swagger
Yeah this match is happening too.This is such a dull feud after a very hot start. There are multiple problems at the end of the day with the match, but the worst of all is fans aren’t getting behind Del Rio. A lot of the fans agree with what Swagger and Colter are saying and that’s not a good sign when you’re looking for a new top face draw in Alberto. This brings us to another problem: all the heat is on Colter. Swagger basically just stands around and says WE THE PEOPLE before getting into the ring for the same matches he’s been having for months. The real issue here seems to be between the managers instead of between the wrestlers in the match and that’s not a good sign.
Speaking of Swagger’s matches, they’re a big problem as well. Swagger is still having the same matches that he’s been having for years now which while ok, don’t scream world champion at me. The Patriot Lock is good enough, but as a rule you don’t see top faces tap in big matches. Thankfully Jack has the gutwrench bomb to get a pin with as well as various cheating tactics. That doesn’t mean the match is going to be good, but at least it could work better than other things they might try.
Another problem is this “feud” and character have only been around for a few months. Swagger wasn’t ready to make the jump up from where he was when he came back to a world title match at Wrestlemania. This is reminiscent of JBL back in 2004 as he went from an old character to a brand new one to a world title match in just a few months. That isn’t a good idea as there are no roots for this new character. We haven’t seen him do anything other than hound Del Rio, so it’s hard to get into this revenge feud. Swagger hasn’t done enough to earn vengeance yet.
The last problem with this is also because of the build. As I mentioned, the problem has really been between the managers. The broken ankle helped things, but the money move in this feud was to have Colter get Ricardo deported so Rodriguez could return at Wrestlemania and destroy Colter for good. The ankle….eh it happened and was a good moment but they haven’t really done anything with it since. I’m sure the managers will get into it on the floor during the match as well.
As for the match…..I think Swagger takes it. Yeah he’s got the DUI hanging over him, but I’m thinking WWE rolls the dice on him anyway. The other factor is that on top of the card, there’s no other heel that looks likely to win. Swagger is the only heel who you could put over to keep every good guy from winning which never happens. The feud will of course continue at Extreme Rules, and hopefully Jack isn’t nearly as dull as champion as he was a few years back.
The match seems like it could go one of two ways to me. They could either brawl, which would suck because neither of them are very good at that. Or they could roll around on the mat trying to lock on their submissions until one of them taps, which would be a whole lot better. Ultimately I think that Swagger wins it either way, eventually turning on Colter and going up against who ever Zeb can find to fight him.
I think Swagger would make a good champ, but, like you said all the heat is on Zeb (who’s damn fine at what he does btw.) If he can break away from Zeb the fans will all cheer him because it’s not him that they hate it’s Zeb.