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Post by Nic Nemeth on Dec 27, 2009 1:52:42 GMT -5
I like him a lot. A whole lot. In fact, he's one of my absolute favorites. But I definitely don't think he's ever going to be THE guy in a company. I've come to accept that long ago. Still, being a world champ in the vein of an Eddie Guerrero or Chris Benoit wouldn't hurt, either.  This pretty much. |
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barley96
Dennis Stamp
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Post by barley96 on Dec 27, 2009 3:30:28 GMT -5
Prior to his TNA run I didn't hink Christian had that "spark." I think he improved tenfold since returning to WWE.
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Ralnathane
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Post by Ralnathane on Dec 27, 2009 5:03:53 GMT -5
TNA used Christian perfectly as a main eventer. Cocky heel who can lose at any moment but he's got his lackeys to prevent it ala Flair & the Horsemen. Heel Christian in TNA was actually my favorite version of his character. But then again, its usually the face who's the draw in feuds, not the heel. I have to respectfully say that you are wrong. The true draw in a feud IS the heel. The heel is the guy that you want to see have his ass kicked and have the face win... but the key is that the heel needs to be over the top enough to make you want to see him get his clock cleaned. Like Roddy Piper vs Hulk Hogan. Sure Hogan was the face here, and he did make the WWF all that money back then also, but where would he have been if it hadn't been of Roddy Piper? We know that the first Wrestlemania would not have been the draw that it was... and it set the mold for his other feuds, that would become great main events. Even if the heel has a great mouth piece like say... Bobby Heenan: King Kong Bundy Andre the Giant Or was great at promos: Randy Savage Ted DeBiase Or committed treason: Sgt. Slaughter It was always the heel that was the draw. Hell even Hogan himself was the main draw when he and Piper had the whole Battle of the Icons match. Flair was a great draw as well, and during that time, he was the main heel. My point is, the heel does not need to be a champion to be a great draw, they just need to be a great heel... and thus the heel is the real draw in the feud. |
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Post by wrestlecrapcrap on Dec 27, 2009 8:48:59 GMT -5
I think the OP is right, and that's why Vince doesn't view him as a viable main eventer, despite the likes of Powerslam magazine constantly proclaiming Vince is senile for not believing Christian should be there.
I think he is a good ECW champion, because for what ECW is, he is great for it. He can work with the young guys like Yoshi and Ryder and put on a quality match every night. He just doesn't have that extra hook that will make him a big draw in the WWE. He's too much of a 'jack of all trades' in terms of his qualities as a wrestler. He can talk well, he can wrestle well, etc. But he doesn't do anything outstandingly well. Even his wrestling, where he puts on typically good matches, doesn't have a unique style to it like Morrison does for example, which is why Morrison will probably go further.
It's all about standing out in the WWE. Christian doesn't really do that.
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Post by drjayphd (feat. Pitbull) on Dec 27, 2009 10:17:14 GMT -5
He needs to fight and beat this guy,  THEN he'll get the spark! (And his tights will change to light orange, too!)  This guy would've been so much less annoying if I could've just 3D'ed him. Hey, it worked for the Dudley Boys... |
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Post by MichaelMartini on Dec 27, 2009 10:35:42 GMT -5
Anyone who says he doesn't have the spark, wasn't watching him in TNA. As much as I liked the guy I wasn't certain he could main event until he went there. He had a phenomonal run, great promos, great matches. Any fault of fan apathy is the WWE's doing, not his. They don't promote him or ECW enough. It's been treated as an afterthought all year.
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Post by christiancage on Dec 27, 2009 13:19:44 GMT -5
The problem isn't him, the problem is that the ECW title means absolutely nothing to Vince or the 'wwe universe'. Christian has 'the spark', he proved that in TNA. If he were given the same push he has now on ECW on let's say Smackdown I'm 100% confident that he could fill Chef Hardy's role as the top face.
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SAJ Forth
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Post by SAJ Forth on Dec 27, 2009 13:52:21 GMT -5
I think that 1 problem is that his Feuds rarely had him and his opponent cutting Promos. It just felt like here's his opponent, they have 2 one-on-one matches, the end.
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barley96
Dennis Stamp
This is the biggest Mickie James mark
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Post by barley96 on Dec 27, 2009 14:30:54 GMT -5
Anyone who says he doesn't have the spark, wasn't watching him in TNA. As much as I liked the guy I wasn't certain he could main event until he went there. He had a phenomonal run, great promos, great matches. Any fault of fan apathy is the WWE's doing, not his. They don't promote him or ECW enough. It's been treated as an afterthought all year. I do not think I explained my previous post adequately enough. This explains it better. In TNA Christian looked like a convincing main eventer. |
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AriadosMan
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Post by AriadosMan on Dec 27, 2009 15:06:03 GMT -5
Alot of interesting posts here. I agree a TNA-style faction would help Christian alot if he was in charge of it. ECW has a roster that's too small though. Maybe he should go onto RAW or Smackdown and reform it. This post wasn't designed to say that Christian was "worthless", just that doing a Cena/Hogan style long title run isn't the best option for his character. I'm sorry if anyone thought this was a Christian hate thread.
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Post by wrestlecrapcrap on Dec 27, 2009 16:34:50 GMT -5
I think headlining TNA is a different kettle of fish to headlining WWE. Christian did well there but I wouldn't say that doing well in a lesser organisation means it proves he can do the same at the biggest.
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Paco
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Post by Paco on Dec 27, 2009 17:16:54 GMT -5
That's true but I do believe his heel Champ character (a la TNA) would work just as well on, let's say, SmackDown.
I always thought Christian could be a good Flair-type champ. Not Superman but, when the belt is on the line, he cheats to win or has his lackeys interfere for him. Until the fans are salivating for him to lose to one of their heroes.
If JBL can do it...
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SAJ Forth
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Post by SAJ Forth on Dec 27, 2009 17:22:33 GMT -5
While I prefer Christian as a Face, he could do that and not look too bad doing so.
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AriadosMan
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Post by AriadosMan on Dec 27, 2009 17:27:10 GMT -5
That's true but I do believe his heel Champ character (a la TNA) would work just as well on, let's say, SmackDown. I always thought Christian could be a good Flair-type champ. Not Superman but, when the belt is on the line, he cheats to win or has his lackeys interfere for him. Until the fans are salivating for him to lose to one of their heroes. If JBL can do it... Even Flair had a faction most of the time. Unless if WWE rediscovers the use of factions, booking Christian "like Flair" isn't really an option. And frankly, I think that the rosters should be merged. WWE does little to preserve the integrity of the brands anymore. All wrestlers show up on all PPVs and people are shifted at any time of the year, rather than in a predetermined "draft" time. |
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Post by Lionheart on Dec 27, 2009 19:03:19 GMT -5
And frankly, I think that the rosters should be merged. WWE does little to preserve the integrity of the brands anymore. All wrestlers show up on all PPVs and people are shifted at any time of the year, rather than in a predetermined "draft" time. I remember the good old days two years ago when there was an "End the brand split" thread virtually every week. That would be a fun tradition to revive since, as you point out above, for all practical purposes the brand split has already been ended. |
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AriadosMan
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Post by AriadosMan on Dec 27, 2009 20:08:58 GMT -5
I remember the good old days two years ago when there was an "End the brand split" thread virtually every week. That would be a fun tradition to revive since, as you point out above, for all practical purposes the brand split has already been ended. By now, it would be solely beneficial, as the rosters are so thin now (and will be even thinner in the post-WM Releasemania) that it would give guys an opportunity to work together as factions/tag teams. Christian's belt is, ratings-wise, worth less than the IC title now. Even he has said that the ECW champ rarely appears on PPVs. And, there's actually a ready-made storyline for Christian's faction: have him lead the "ECW Exiles", a group of ex-ECW wrestlers who fight for "the honor of ECW". Have them represent a rebel element in the new, unified roster. That would actually get Christian more attention than any of his current storylines as champ! |
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Post by cenaisunderrated on Dec 27, 2009 21:59:42 GMT -5
I think he is a good champion actually. I'm not huge into Christian, but ECW is really the only show I care about in a kayfabe sense. It's the only show that has a revolving main event scene and constant challengers to the title. I'm very interested in seeing who wins it next. I just hope Vance Archer isn't the one to finally beat him. Although the fact that I think that makes me in turn think that he should win because I hate him so much. You know, because he is a bad guy.
So then when Yoshi Tatsu beats Vance Archer I'll be so much more excited.
That is if ECW even makes it long enough to finish this ECW homecoming thing (tournament? I guess?).
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Post by MichaelMartini on Dec 28, 2009 6:42:45 GMT -5
Alot of interesting posts here. I agree a TNA-style faction would help Christian alot if he was in charge of it. ECW has a roster that's too small though. Maybe he should go onto RAW or Smackdown and reform it. This post wasn't designed to say that Christian was "worthless", just that doing a Cena/Hogan style long title run isn't the best option for his character. I'm sorry if anyone thought this was a Christian hate thread. A more appropriate topic title would've been "Has Christian held the belt too long?" because I agree that his run is past the expirary date. He's not benifitting from it anymore. It helped reestablish him, he helped a bunch of new guys get over - Swagger, Zac and Yoshi all had star making matches with him. Regal should've won the fued in England. It made perfect booking sense. Yoshi is hot, fueding with Regal and his stable over the ECW title would've been the quickest best way to make a main eventer out of the guy, like what they're kinda doing with Kofi and Legacy. Maybe Regal finds a way to get him moved to Smackdown so he doesn't have to face him again. Christian would've had the perfect opponent waiting for him if CM Punk would've still been champ. Take could've came back and still do the screwjob angle but leave him off TV for awhile so he has more time to heel. Christian beats Punk and right about now he'd be facing heel Batista. Christian vs Shelton was a waste of time, Batista/Taker has been a waste, R-Truth/Punk has been a waste and Zeke's face turn happened waaaay too soon. |
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Post by Avalanche Alvarez on Dec 28, 2009 10:56:59 GMT -5
Do you honestly think somebody on ECW is going to have the fans going crazy? Its also not really his fault, the WWE could put much more excitement into his character. Bingo. It's ECW. Plus, when Vince stopped offering free lemonade at the tapings, people that just came there for the lemonade, they got bummed... |
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Post by Clash, Never a Meter Maid on Dec 28, 2009 11:00:22 GMT -5
I'm apathetic to any form of Christian as a face, so it wouldn't matter to me whether or not he's got a belt.
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