Eric Escobar: Is It Too Early...

[H-Fist]

Is it too early to say that Eric Escobar sucks?

I like to be patient. I like to give the wrestler a chance to win me over. But it certainly isn't promising when the company feels that a debuting heel needs Vickie Guerrero to get heat. That's like finding a flattened, stinking piece of roadkill and shooting it just to make sure it's dead.

His match with Matt Hardy last week on Smackdown! was really pretty bad, like midcard-of-a-non-ROH-indie-show bad. I gave him the benefit of the doubt. I told myself, hey, Matt's still getting back in ring-shape and likely can't carry a guy as well as he historically has. The kid might have some nerves out there. He's clearly not very good, but he might be okay.

And then he crapped the bed this week. And in a 9-man tag, no less. How do you stand out in a 9-man free-TV match?! He looked like crap taking Finlay's takeover out of the headlock. The clothesline he threw at Finlay looked worse than crap. The kick to the ribs was with the point, not sole or top, of his boot. He looked like crap taking the Cactus clothesline. They edited out the actual impact of his smacking Matt's head into the turnbuckle, despite having the perfect "close-up but not giving it away" camera angle. They came back from the mid-match commercial break having edited out most of his time in the ring. His mic work was nothing special.

I can't help but thinking that Eric Escobar will soon be following in the grand footsteps of Scotty Goldman, Kizarnynarnynarny, Hade Vansen, Braddock, Gavin Spears, and many others.

He strikes me as a "career minor leaguer," to borrow another sport's terminology. He is the guy in whom you immediately see the reasons why he is a 30-year-old rookie and why he has been down in developmental for five years.

He's more than welcome to prove me wrong. But until otherwise educated and pleasantly surprised, I would like to be the first person to wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

[lildude8218]

I don't see how him needing Vickie is a bad thing. She's pretty over as a heel. They want him to get some of her heat. It's been going on since the invention of managers in wrestling.

[Dub H]

I think quite the opposite,and i think his gimmick and vallet have alot of possibilities,for example having the right moves,turning Edge face and have him feud with Escobar and Vickie could be really nice

[Tyfo]

Yeah, I think putting him with Vickie actually shows how much faith that they have in him, that they want to put him with probably the top non-wrestling heel in the company. That means that they want him to be featured rather quickly in a prominent role.

And if he sucked, there's no way he would have been retained in developmental for 4 years, when the average tenure of a developmental worker is probably about 10 months tops. I know the guy can work, he just has to get the chance to showcase himself.

[Allie Kitsune]

Oct 23, 2009 23:14:18 GMT -5 H-Fist said:

I can't help but thinking that Eric Escobar will soon be following in the grand footsteps of Scotty Goldman, Kizarnynarnynarny, Hade Vansen, Braddock, Gavin Spears, and many others.

Come on now. Hade Vansen didn't even GET a chance, unlike the rest of the people on the list.

[Kevin's Thorn]

Don't disssssssssss the Esssssssssss...


...

...

(wait for it)

...







...Co-barrrrrrr!

[H-Fist]

Oct 23, 2009 23:16:49 GMT -5 lildude8218 said:

I don't see how him needing Vickie is a bad thing. She's pretty over as a heel. They want him to get some of her heat. It's been going on since the invention of managers in wrestling.

I'm not saying it's a bad thing. I'm saying it's absolutely the right thing to do for someone who can't do it on his own. But for every Yokozuna with a Jim Cornette in his corner, there are a half dozen Mantaurs looking for work at the local Mega Lo Mart.

I pointed out specifically that his wrestling was not good in *any* televised portion of tonight's match, and his match last week flowed slowly, poorly, and unimpressively.

Compare to Drew McIntyre: Mr. McMahon gives him a solid baseline of heat. Vince, like Vickie, has that ability. However, McIntyre has actually looked halfway decent in the ring. His movements are crisp and meaningful. He is comfortable in front of the crowd; he acts like he belongs there. He isn't great and he could go either way. But at least he looks absolutely like he deserves the chance.

I'm sitting here watching whatever I can find of Double-E on YouTube, and I'm waiting.

Given his background (trained by WWE friend Super Crazy; built up by WWE friend Carlos Colon, Sr; a Puerto Rican wrestler at point in time when WWE clearly wants to build new Latino stars*), I think his current promotion might be just as much a corporate decision as a talent one.

And the * - not the race card; just like both WWE and TNA are using more prominent talent from Japan and the UK, except more pronounced because of, well, reality

[Massive G]

honestly, doesn't anyone else see any reason to think of Color Me Badd? The hair, the clothes, the cross necklace, the beard... and did he sniff champagne on the Smackdown anniversary show? Like it was fine wine?

[bob]

it's way too early to say he sucks since he hasn't even been around for a month

[H-Fist]

Oct 24, 2009 0:25:18 GMT -5 bob said:

it's way too early to say he sucks since he hasn't even been around for a month

Fair enough. I'm giving him a couple more matches. I want WWE to prove me wrong. But I'm a bit of a cynic.

A guy like Brent Albright/Gunner Scott was endeavored about 3 years back. He had similar size. Better in-ring ability as far as I'm concerned. Not quite the appearance, but WWE didn't really give him much of one. So there isn't a lot of predictability here.

So the consensus is, YES, it is too early to decide that he sucks. I'll buy it.

[noleafclover1980]

The problem isn't him needing Vickie for heat to me. It's that he does nothing to keep it. Vickie shrieks "excuse me!" the crowd boos like mad to drown her out, which really is my theory on why she has so much heat. She's such a terrible actress, with an awful, grating voice that people boo as loud as they can to literally drown her out. It's like X-Pac heat times a million. But I digress. She introduces him, and then the crowd dies. He has a terrible look, an awful hair cut, and is kinda fat. The guy oozes mediocrity.

[Avalanche Alvarez]

He'll get as far as he can on a show with guys like Batista, Chris Jericho, Undertaker, and CM Punk at the forefront.

Maybe a shot at Morrison and the IC title?

If they're banking on Vickie GUerrero and her "pre-processed heatz", they're gonna lose. He's gonna have to do this on his own.

[vanboxmeer]

Vince - "Look at this tall, Mexican-looking guy that's been in developmental for so many years. Why isn't he called up? He's a big boy!"

FCW - "He's not very good, that's why he's been here for this long."

Vince - "God damn it, I'LL make him a star because he looks like a star and I'll use Vickie Guerrero to make him!"

[H-Fist]

The reason I started this thread was I asked my 11-year-old sister to record Smackdown! for me last night since I was going to be at the gym and miss the first hour or so.

I got home in time for the segment before Punk/Taker, so about 8:20. I asked her how it's been and told her she could tell me what happened. She told me about the change to Team Smackdown and said (I'm quoting directly):

"Eric Escobar is really bad, like, he should be losing in a few seconds on ECW bad. He stinks."

Now, this is without prompting, commenting, or my even seeing the match. The previous week I told her I thought his match with Matt wasn't that great, but it could've been worse. So she as a little kid who really enjoys Taker, Batista and Cena, on her own, came to the decision that Escobar is really bad.

So when a little kid who has been a fan for about a year and has seen almost exclusively Smackdown! with a handful of WWF ppvs from 86-94 and a smattering of ROH matches thrown in, when that kid notices the poor wrestling of somebody...that's when I wonder about how early is too early.

[noleafclover1980]

That's the coolest 11 year old smark ever lol

[Deleted]

I stopped watching SmackDown after Hell in a Cell (and I had only been watching the first half since Monk started its new season anyway), so I haven't seen anything of this guy in action. Although... Which is a better descriptor for him, Primo Morgan or Matt Colon?

[noleafclover1980]

Matt Colon

[Metalheadbanger Man]

They really need to give him a finisher. I don't like the idea of relying on Vickie's shenanigans being the main way that he picks up wins.

He needs promo time as well, I'd say.

But I'll give him a chance. He's only been in one singles match so far.

[AriadosMan]

He's too green for the push he's getting. I'm not gonna commit to "he sucks" yet.

[Handsome Halfbreed]

I'll use a pinball analogy to explain my point.
The decision to make Escobar Vickies boyfriend was like pulling back on the plunger and firing the ball into the playingfield. The ball bouncing around the field is where Escobar is now just bouncing around the midcard. Ultimately its going to take his wrestling skill and ability (the two flippers) to redirect the ball back up the playing field. The real question is... is his ability good enough to send the ball up the ramp for some major points or is he going to hit the ball into a bumper and fall between the flippers.

Time will tell. But if things don't workout for the guy, I just hope the E doesn't fire the ball back into the playingfield.