Christians impending return(spoilers)

Shaneomac

What a huge let down.

Fozzy

Right back where he was :pac: Did you really expect any different? He's not a big guy

Mossy Monk

ECW? Meh.

FutureGuy

rediculous..the most eagerly awaited return in sometime and they put him against Jack Swagger. Either Swagger wins and halts Christians push before it has begun, or Christian is put over one of the few rising starts in WWE.

Can't see how they are going to benefit from this. Lazy lazy booking.

FutureGuy

Fozzy wrote: »

Right back where he was :pac: Did you really expect any different? He's not a big guy

Big in size? No. But that hasn't stopped plenty of stars getting a World Title recently.

Big in character and ability? Definately. He deserves better than Jakked, Afterburn, ECW.

golfguy

next thing you no hhh is on ecw

Rjd2

Right people complain about ECW not having stars and they send Christian and people still moan? He will be top face for a few months on ECW and will probably be sent over to Raw/SD, and besides it’s not like ECW is the only show he can appear on, he will double up on Smackdown like Miz and Morrison I would expect. Swagger v Christian will be good.

RebelRockChick

Video of his return here

Good to see him back anyway.

Kid Nothing

Even the commentators didn't seem that interested in him returning, they were hying up the Finlay/ Swagger match more. surely it would have made more sense to hold him off until after that match and have him as a legitimate challenger then.

I think there was a message from Vince in Swagger's promo: "You're not gonna just show up here after 3 years and make a name for yourself at my expense!"

I'm sure he knew what he was getting into when he re-signed and although it was underwhelming to say the least, in the long run i'm sure they'll do something better with him. Surely the job of a veteran like him is to help put over the youth prospects like Swagger anyway, if this time next year Christian is on Raw/Smackdown in a decent program and Swagger is there or thereabouts as well, then this will have been a great move by creative/Vince.

Mossy Monk

A much better quality version id on the WWE site. It can be found here, http://www.wwe.com/content/media/video/vms/ecw/2009/february8-14/9340766

The complete lack of excitement in the commentary is unreal.

Gerard.C

The commentators are dire. Jesus someone put a bullet in Grisham

Rjd2

Gerard.C wrote: »

The commentators are dire. Jesus someone put a bullet in Grisham

I have not seen this weeks show so I cant comment to much on this, but Striker is normally very good.

Gerard.C

Rjd2 wrote: »

I have not seen this weeks show so I cant comment to much on this, but Striker is normally very good.

This is very true. I can assure you that they are septic in this particular segment though

Bubs101

Am I the only one who thinks it was a good thing. I mean they dug themselves into a hole with the Matt swerve but with this they achieved a few things. They surprised everybody and everyone is always complaining they aren't surprised. Swagger is a good talent but Finlay's not big enough to get him over, Christian is. Also, their Mania match could be very very good. Lastly, ECW needed star power and now they got it, if Christian returning doesn't boost their ratings nothing will. It also burries TNA.

Also, Striker is normally excellent

They should also have used his old music at last, much better

Degag

Bubs101 wrote: »

They should also have used his old music at last, much better

It is his old music

I think they'e messed it up alright, it could have been much bigger than that. Swagger vs. Christian could be good i guess though.

I'm underwhelmed:(

Bubs101

Degag wrote: »

It is his old music

I think they'e messed it up alright, it could have been much bigger than that. Swagger vs. Christian could be good i guess though.

I'm underwhelmed:(

I meant, Christian, Christian, at last he's on his own/come back home

Degag

Bubs101 wrote: »

I meant, Christian, Christian, at last he's on his own/come back home

Yeah that was good alright:D

JP Liz

For those who may have missed it, former TNA and WWE Star Christian Cage made his WWE return on the ECW brand tonight! He challeneged the winner of this Sunday night's No Way Out title match between Finlay and Jack Swagger, and made his in-ring debut on ECW defeating Jack Swagger in an singles match.

I so expected him back on SD this is a let down :mad:

CMpunked

they werent excited but i loved strikers line "This moment just became instantly classic". :pac:

"striker is speechless because he sucks at commentating". i lol'd.


Did swagger say he was a two time all american?...


I actually see a lot of potential in Swagger v Christian in a proper match.
Maybe WWE are basing the idea of putting christian on ecw to keep up with the fact that a lot of people have expressed that ecw seems to be the only real weekly wrestling show on tv.
And of course to get the smarks watching


Edit:
WWE could be sending out a "message" to any resident tna/ex wwe wrestlers that if they return they wont automatically get the red carpet rolled out for them.

Endaaaagh

Well I'm a guy who doesn't normally watch ECW, but I'll def be tuning in this week. ECW has been lacking in star power the last few months and with Hardy now part of Smackdown, there's no big names to fued with Swagger (apart from Finlay or Mark Henry). Hopefully it'll only be a matter of time before we see him on one of the big shows.

Machismo Fan

What a let down, the had such and asset in Christian and they wasted him with zero build on ECW (with a bad remix of his old music). Officially Evan Bourne's return has gotten more hype than Christians did. Striker and Grisham didn't even make a big deal of his return. ECW doesn't need star power, they are a glorified developmental territory with a decent TV deal. One of the biggest wastes I have ever seen.

And it just doesn't sound right without the Cage anymore.

Kid Nothing

Machismo Fan wrote: »

And it just doesn't sound right without the Cage anymore.

Ye it makes me think of him during his Brood days when I here "Christian" on it's own

Machismo Fan

amull87 wrote: »

Ye it makes me think of him during his Brood days when I here "Christian" on it's own

Cage makes me think former 2 time NWA champion, Christian makes me think temper tantrum throwing, goofy DDP sidekick.

Dickmcsavage

Bubs101 wrote: »

Am I the only one who thinks it was a good thing. I mean they dug themselves into a hole with the Matt swerve but with this they achieved a few things. They surprised everybody and everyone is always complaining they aren't surprised.

I haven't been on here in ages but I had to come on and express my utter disappointment at christian's return.

In regards to it being a surprise... you're right bubs it was a surprise but to be honest, it was an extremely crappy suprise. Why didn't WWE just bring him out the rumble???

RebelRockChick

Bubs101 wrote: »

I meant, Christian, Christian, at last he's on his own/come back home

Was hoping they would use that theme on his return as well, the fact that they use a newer version of his old theme (which was sung by a female the first time around) doesn't really help the surprise of his return.
But oh well, let's see how his return pans out, feuding with Swagger. He should add something to ECW anyway.

Diabhal Beag

Out comes the glass ceiling again. I didn't expect WWE to give him a great push but he could win the ECW Title

Bubs101

Machismo Fan wrote: »

What a let down, the had such and asset in Christian and they wasted him with zero build on ECW (with a bad remix of his old music). Officially Evan Bourne's return has gotten more hype than Christians did. Striker and Grisham didn't even make a big deal of his return. ECW doesn't need star power, they are a glorified developmental territory with a decent TV deal. One of the biggest wastes I have ever seen.

And it just doesn't sound right without the Cage anymore.

As much as I love Christian, he's not on the level of a Cena or Edge of Hardy in terms of star power, nowhere close. The internet loves him far more than most people. Secondly, for a "development territory" on cable ECW still outdraws TNA so it's not a thing to just throw developmental talent on. Look where the talent has gone. CM Punk, Miz and Morrison, hardy, Swagger, Kofi. He'll get a move in 3 months and being on ECW saves him from being buried by Hunter

Machismo Fan

Or is it that he was never given the chance to be on that level. He certainly has the charisma and wrestling talent, he plays both face and heel very well. Christian has every attribute to be a top star but putting him on ECW doesn't help that.

On ECW, I didn't say it was a bad thing that it's a glorified developmental territory as it's not. It gives the younger, less experienced talent a chance to find their feet. It's done wonders for Kofi, Bourne, Morrison, Punk and Swagger. I just don't think Christian should be on the show when he could be so valuable to Raw or SD!.

Mr.Nice Guy

That was one of the sh*ttiest returns I can ever remember. Astonishing. Hell RVD got a better return at the Rumble.

They could have put him on Smackdown and played up his history with Edge or put him on Raw and done something decent.

This was an abomination. He had to struggle to beat a C-list nobody. Very disappointing. Misused in 2005 and nothing's changed in four years.

dsmythy

Some people just have a penchant for moaning. Christian is not big with the kids and ECW needed a boost. The lack of crowd reaction he got is telling. So there he is. He can appear on any other show from there and can be drafted within 5 months to be exclusive on another show if the crowds watching ECW give a damn about him.

Bubs101

Machismo Fan wrote: »

Or is it that he was never given the chance to be on that level. He certainly has the charisma and wrestling talent, he plays both face and heel very well. Christian has every attribute to be a top star but putting him on ECW doesn't help that.

On ECW, I didn't say it was a bad thing that it's a glorified developmental territory as it's not. It gives the younger, less experienced talent a chance to find their feet. It's done wonders for Kofi, Bourne, Morrison, Punk and Swagger. I just don't think Christian should be on the show when he could be so valuable to Raw or SD!.

He got a programme with Jericho and Trish, both top level stars and that didn't elevate him. I loved him as a champ in TNA but I never ever believed that he was more than a transitional champ for either Kurt, Sting of Joe. He has the promo skills to be a top level star but his wrestling is overrated and he doesn't have the physique. His finisher is being used by Candice Michelle which has to stop for him to get over again. He is a niche wrestler. He has a niche of incredibly loyal fans who love him and always will. I am one of them but most people are not and in the global scale the internet over rates him. He could have been brought back as a top face on Raw for the short term while HBK is held up but he's not a main eventer

dsmythy wrote: »

Some people just have a penchant for moaning. Christian is not big with the kids and ECW needed a boost. The lack of crowd reaction he got is telling. So there he is. He can appear on any other show from there and can be drafted within 5 months to be exclusive on another show if the crowds watching ECW give a damn about him.

This

Machismo Fan

dsmythy wrote: »

The lack of crowd reaction he got is telling

It would help if he got any build-up.

GaryNUFC

would he now be at the raw tour in dublin now????:D

callaway92

GaryNUFC wrote: »

would he now be at the raw tour in dublin now????:D

No,,He will be at the Smackdown/ECW one

Brolly

Not the worst comeback (not great, but not terrible). It will ensure a good ECW match at Mania with Swagger most probably.

Mr.Nice Guy

dsmythy wrote:

Some people just have a penchant for moaning. Christian is not big with the kids and ECW needed a boost. The lack of crowd reaction he got is telling. So there he is. He can appear on any other show from there and can be drafted within 5 months to be exclusive on another show if the crowds watching ECW give a damn about him.

You're not a WWE scriptwriter by any chance? If Matt Hardy had returned to WWE in that way then he would have got a similar reaction. As Machismo Fan touched on, where was the build up?

Bubs101 wrote:

He got a programme with Jericho and Trish, both top level stars and that didn't elevate him.

Of course it elevated him. That was in 2004 and his win over Jericho at WM20 was probably the biggest rub he got at the time. He was at least twice as over the following year so it obviously didn't hurt.

Bubs101 wrote:

I loved him as a champ in TNA but I never ever believed that he was more than a transitional champ for either Kurt, Sting of Joe. He has the promo skills to be a top level star but his wrestling is overrated and he doesn't have the physique. His finisher is being used by Candice Michelle which has to stop for him to get over again. He is a niche wrestler. He has a niche of incredibly loyal fans who love him and always will. I am one of them but most people are not and in the global scale the internet over rates him. He could have been brought back as a top face on Raw for the short term while HBK is held up but he's not a main eventer

Can't agree with this. Physique is the excuse that they used to not elevate him in 2005 when he was red hot. It shouldn't be there now. CM Punk and Jeff Hardy haven't got physiques better than him. He was so hot in '05 of course that their top star of that year Batista had to have cheers dubbed in, and his boos dubbed out, in his main event match with Christian on a Raw show in London. As for wrestling, he participated in several great WWE matches through his feud with Jericho, RVD and Randy Orton.

People are entitled to moan about how this was handled as it was a classic case of WWE dropping the ball, and I suspect deliberately so. It's a joke.

savemejebus

I'm not sure that being brought back to ECW is such a bad move. When you think about it if he'd been brought back to Smackdown he'd be either a mid-card face or Edges/Matt Hardy's lackey which is also mid card and out of the championship chase. With raw it would be worse, he'd just be dropped right into lower mid-card as they have enough faces and heels filling the upper card spots.

However, in ECW he goes in and automatically becomes the biggest face on the show (taking Matt Hardy's spot since his heel-turn). It may be the smaller show but he's still in the main event for it. Also he gets the chance to 'guest' on either of the other shows which gives wwe lots of flexibility in how they use him.

I bet more people are talking about ECW this week than any other time in the last year and that the 'peeps' will tune in over the coming weeks to see how Christian goes

Machismo Fan

savemejebus wrote: »

I bet more people are talking about ECW this week than any other time in the last year and that the 'peeps' will tune in over the coming weeks to see how Christian goes

http://www.pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.php?id=36469&p=1

The 2/10 edition of ECW on Sci Fi did a 1.3 cable rating, down slightly from last week. It will be interesting to see what the return of Christian means for next week's number.

So the return of Christian did not draw any viewers to ECW, it lost viewers.

Mitch Connor

There will be a draft the week after WM, so he may only be on ECW for two months. Maybe they can use the time in ECW to rebuild a WWE following, a clamouring for him to be on one of the main shows and then deliver on that with the draft, on the back of *something* at WM.

Mitch Connor

Machismo Fan wrote: »

http://www.pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.php?id=36469&p=1


So the return of Christian did not draw any viewers to ECW, it lost viewers.

I don't think you can say he return lost viewers, that is unfair imo. There was no build up to a possible return on ECW and because of that you can not say people were thinking: "Christian back with the WWE...not gonna watch that". The numbers would more than likely have been the same without him on the show.

Machismo Fan

Mitch Connor wrote: »

I don't think you can say he return lost viewers, that is unfair imo. There was no build up to a possible return on ECW and because of that you can not say people were thinking: "Christian back with the WWE...not gonna watch that". The numbers would more than likely have been the same without him on the show.

Exactly why it was a huge waste.

Mitch Connor

Machismo Fan wrote: »

Exactly why it was a huge waste.

oh yeah - not disagreeing with that, yet another stupid move from the WWE, I just disagree with the assertation that Cristians return lost viewers, as I don't think the implication is fair or correct.

Kid Nothing

Machismo Fan wrote: »

http://www.pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.php?id=36469&p=1


So the return of Christian did not draw any viewers to ECW, it lost viewers.

But how can that be blamed on Christian if there was no build up? Next weeks numbers will be the ones worth looking at when people actually know he's gonna be on the show!

Bubs101

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Of course it elevated him. That was in 2004 and his win over Jericho at WM20 was probably the biggest rub he got at the time. He was at least twice as over the following year so it obviously didn't hurt.

He still didn't reach main event levels though. Like I said, he's an upper midcarder not a main eventer and better upper midcarders then him have been sent to ECW

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Can't agree with this. Physique is the excuse that they used to not elevate him in 2005 when he was red hot. It shouldn't be there now. CM Punk and Jeff Hardy haven't got physiques better than him. He was so hot in '05 of course that their top star of that year Batista had to have cheers dubbed in, and his boos dubbed out, in his main event match with Christian on a Raw show in London. As for wrestling, he participated in several great WWE matches through his feud with Jericho, RVD and Randy Orton.

People are entitled to moan about how this was handled as it was a classic case of WWE dropping the ball, and I suspect deliberately so. It's a joke.

First of all, London crowds don't count. They're smarter then most crowds and like Chicago and Montreal they get different responses than most crowds. Cm Punk and Hardy might not have better physiques but at their peak they were far more over than Christian. I prefer Christian of the three but he's never been more over than they were without Edge. As for his wrestling, I love it. A big fan of his and think he's one of the best sellers around

I just don't see what the complaining is though. The WWE dropped the ball when they didn't bring him in instead of Matt but they dug themselves into a hole fooling the internet and this is one of the best ways to get out of it. ECW is a brand that will protect him until the draft. Nobody will bury him there which definitely would have happened on the other shows to build stars up for Wrestlemania. It gives him a Wrestlemania programme which no other brand could have due to the time limit. He gets to help Jack Swagger develop his promos which no-one (including Matt) could have done on ECW. And it buries there competition. Could someone address these points rather than bemoaning the WWE's waste of talent.

Also, Machismo, the effect of Christian will only be seen next week on ratings but the loss of Matt would have had an adverse effect anyway. Also, am I the only one who liked the no build up surprise return. If they did that with jericho's it would have been much better

savemejebus

Machismo Fan wrote: »

http://www.pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.php?id=36469&p=1


So the return of Christian did not draw any viewers to ECW, it lost viewers.

I don't think that a surprise, unadvertised, appearance can be blamed in any way for this weeks viewing figures. Now if vignettes had been run etc. then you'd have a point but as it is people weren't expecting Christian's return.

Anyhow, as i said before, I think more people will be talking about ECW this week and, if the viewing public care about Christian, then the numbers will be up next week.

However, if the viewing numbers aren't up next week, then it would imply that people don't care and if that's the case, well how much would people have cared with Christian being lost in the shuffle on Smackdown or Raw?

dsmythy

Let's not forget the possibility of a Swagger v Christian title match at WM. Any other ECW combination you can think of would be dead weight. At least that match might eliminate a dud match at WM.

I'd go with Christian winning the title on ECW at some point during the long build up to April only for Swagger to win it back at WM with Christian moving to probably Smackdown soon after with a bit of added exposure for him towards short memory fans.

Machismo Fan

My point that Christian lost viewers was that they debuted him in a position that didn't gain any viewers.

Mitch Connor

Machismo Fan wrote: »

My point that Christian lost viewers was that they debuted him in a position that didn't gain any viewers.

not gaining viewers is completely different from actually losing them.

Bounty Hunter

The ECW title is now the title used to promote someone from mid-card to main-event like the Intercontinental used to be (now it and the US title are just mid-card belts) and I expect Christian to win this at WM. Until then he will be given enough air time on ECW to get over, when he wouldent elsewhere. It also gives Christian a fairly high profile match at WM immediatley upon his return.

Im sure he will at WM as (aside form it utterly wasting Christian if he came back to lose in ECW) then a feud between him and swagger who would demand a rematch would happen and such a feud would be good for Swaggers development. Also again as ECW champ Christian would get a lot of mic time and in ring time to impress with. And once the WM match is over id say just like all ECW wrestlers (except Swagger so far i think) he will be turning up on the other brands anyway were they can play up the ECW champs history with Edge, the Hardys etc as much as they want.

Its also possible that they took this step as TNA/Internet/older fans might know and christian and he might be over with them already but the new young WWE fans might not know him at all and it is much more youth orientated these days. So he can be introduced to them via an ECW return and reign were he would gain credability in the kiddies eyes.

not too disapointed myself with this return on reflection even tho i had anticipated his RR return.

Machismo Fan

Mitch Connor wrote: »

not gaining viewers is completely different from actually losing them.

My point was that the slightly advertised Swagger/Finlay match did a higher rating than the Christian return show. It shows how little the return of Christian did as it was unadvertised with no build.

Mitch Connor

Machismo Fan wrote: »

My point was that the slightly advertised Swagger/Finlay match did a higher rating than the Christian return show. It shows how little the return of Christian did as it was unadvertised with no build.

You see, I agree with this; but your original post, which i took issue with, implied that this weeks ECW did a lower number because of Christians return. I think it would be fairer, and more accurate to say it did a lower number despite his return, due to it being botched by the WWE.