Post by Tapout on Dec 12, 2007 20:02:07 GMT -5
Assuming he doesn't screw things up too bad, and doesn't panic on the microphone, I think/hope Shelton will be on his way to the ECW title soon. Neither Big Daddy Mabel nor Morrison is really an appealing contender, and for whatever reason, they don't seem to want to push Elijah too much.
GIMMICK:
Assuming he can keep a straight face and continue to talk as well as, or better than, he has been these past 2 weeks, I would like to see him keep the cocky, athletic heel gimmick he seems to be using now (almost Mr. Perfect-like), though he could kind of go either way as a heel or a tweener. Tweener might be better for his later run, especially when he gets closer to the title or picks up the title...that'll let him feud with Morrison and Miz who seem like they'll stay full-on heel for a while.
EARLY BOOKING:
I think it would be great to have him booked pretty much as he has been now: brief, impactful promo, followed by a good, solid matches,. I'd like to see the duder running roughshod over the SmackDown undercard (Yang, Major Bros., Jessie, possibly Festus maybe by cheating, etc.), where he sells a bit of offense so it doesn't look like a total squash match, but where he's booked to win most of his matches pretty decisively and get over on skill, then brag about it afterwards. The spot where he turned Yang's moonsault into a gutbuster over his knee was great. He also did an awesome reversal of Van Dam's rolling thunder into a Samoan drop a couple years back. I also actually like the fact that he's not going all-out with the highspots anymore, that just means less botch opportunities and also gives him something to build up to. I would like to see the guy slowly, gradually, pulling out the bigger guns with each successive match, especially when he starts getting closer to the title matches.
FINISHER:
However, I would like to see him get a better finisher. The weird botched jumping DDT/flatliner thingy isn't that great. I think that could be tweaked slightly to be his old tag team flying bulldog/side cutter thingy he used to do back with Haas. Haas would hold the other dude in the corner and Shelton would come flying off the top rope, grabbing the dude's head/neck and swinging his body all the way around to carry the dude down to the mat with his weight. Considering the guy's leaping ability, it would work just fine. I kind of wonder how far he'll be able to go with a "come from out of nowhere" type finisher, now that Orton and Jericho both use one, but as long as Shelton stays on ECW or the Blue Show, he should be OK for a good while.
Example video of the spot I'm talking about
TITLE HUNT:
After Shelton beats out the lower-card dudes, maybe has a brief program with Jimmy Yang (that guy can make anyone look good), he should start cutting through the ECW ranks and get recorded wins over either Miz or Morrison, and some kind of "victory" (not necessarily a pinfall) over Big Daddy Mabel. Maybe Shelton tosses the duder out of the ring in a battle royale type match. I think it would be great to see him in a good, long program with Punk over the title with him as the heel/tweener and Punk staying babyface. I'm sure they could put on some really good matches and have him turn into a tweener champ who could start programs with Morrison and others.
GIMMICK:
Assuming he can keep a straight face and continue to talk as well as, or better than, he has been these past 2 weeks, I would like to see him keep the cocky, athletic heel gimmick he seems to be using now (almost Mr. Perfect-like), though he could kind of go either way as a heel or a tweener. Tweener might be better for his later run, especially when he gets closer to the title or picks up the title...that'll let him feud with Morrison and Miz who seem like they'll stay full-on heel for a while.
EARLY BOOKING:
I think it would be great to have him booked pretty much as he has been now: brief, impactful promo, followed by a good, solid matches,. I'd like to see the duder running roughshod over the SmackDown undercard (Yang, Major Bros., Jessie, possibly Festus maybe by cheating, etc.), where he sells a bit of offense so it doesn't look like a total squash match, but where he's booked to win most of his matches pretty decisively and get over on skill, then brag about it afterwards. The spot where he turned Yang's moonsault into a gutbuster over his knee was great. He also did an awesome reversal of Van Dam's rolling thunder into a Samoan drop a couple years back. I also actually like the fact that he's not going all-out with the highspots anymore, that just means less botch opportunities and also gives him something to build up to. I would like to see the guy slowly, gradually, pulling out the bigger guns with each successive match, especially when he starts getting closer to the title matches.
FINISHER:
However, I would like to see him get a better finisher. The weird botched jumping DDT/flatliner thingy isn't that great. I think that could be tweaked slightly to be his old tag team flying bulldog/side cutter thingy he used to do back with Haas. Haas would hold the other dude in the corner and Shelton would come flying off the top rope, grabbing the dude's head/neck and swinging his body all the way around to carry the dude down to the mat with his weight. Considering the guy's leaping ability, it would work just fine. I kind of wonder how far he'll be able to go with a "come from out of nowhere" type finisher, now that Orton and Jericho both use one, but as long as Shelton stays on ECW or the Blue Show, he should be OK for a good while.
Example video of the spot I'm talking about
TITLE HUNT:
After Shelton beats out the lower-card dudes, maybe has a brief program with Jimmy Yang (that guy can make anyone look good), he should start cutting through the ECW ranks and get recorded wins over either Miz or Morrison, and some kind of "victory" (not necessarily a pinfall) over Big Daddy Mabel. Maybe Shelton tosses the duder out of the ring in a battle royale type match. I think it would be great to see him in a good, long program with Punk over the title with him as the heel/tweener and Punk staying babyface. I'm sure they could put on some really good matches and have him turn into a tweener champ who could start programs with Morrison and others.
