That didn't take long. At all.

[freak]

Well, let me ask this to people who saw it later on...when Thwagger ran down to the ring to cash the briefcase in, is it just me or does it look like he wasn't supposed to hit Edge with the briefcase as he was coming down to cash it in?

[matt]

Not sure how I feel about this. Swagger doesn't seem to have near the build to do the cash in this fast. Though I guess both shows feel the need (finally in some cases) to build up some new stars and this might help them do that. The guy is a hell of a wrestler, just not sure he is over enough to pull the title reign off this fast.

[Hollywood]

Whether he's over enough or not is hard to judge. But I can't help but watch the fan cam version of that and hear that crowd going crazy when they realized he was cashing it in, and then popping even louder when he won it. Last time I checked, that is the job of a wrestling show, to get people to react. Now if the ratings all of a sudden tank and go the way of TNA, then yeah, maybe WWE would want to reconsider. But I don't forsee that happening.

[matt]

I have to say as a WWEite for a long time that I really think they could have Hornswaggle beat Cena for the WWE title on Raw and they wouldn't have a huge decrease at this point. Its not like with WCW where you really had something else to watch. TNA is still really just a niche place and if someone flips past Hogan and Flair looking 100 years old and bleeding all over (which I did by the way a few weeks ago) I don't think they'll be inclined to stick with it anyways.

I think the Swagger thing is a good move in a lot of ways. I'm just surprised they did it so fast. Though he is better on SD where he can have the good matches and really get himself over without running into Cena, Batista or Triple H.

[Bubba JD]

if WWE can put out crap like the necrophelia angle, the Al Wilson/Torrie Wilson/Dawn Maria drama, the never ending title run for Triple H (while having several nagging injuries), the teased incest angle with Stephanie & Vince, and countless other things that i'm forgetting, then i think they'll survive anything.

i believe it was 2002-2003 when WWE was hitting it's low point, both in ratings & storylines. they came out of that, just fine. how they survived, i'll never know, but they still managed to survive. honestly, without real competition, WWE can pretty much do whatever they please.

in honesty, Swagger's not a bad choice for champion. not my first pick, by any means, but certainly not a bad choice. i think i would've prefered some form of build up, before the title switch.

[Hollywood]

Those pictures were funny, btw, JD. I got a good laugh out of them.

I think WWE may have been going for the shock value, and it seemed to work with the live audience based on the youtube link that Freak provided.

[Bubba JD]

now you can see why i think of Biff, whenever i see Swagger.


if you're right about the shock value, i'd have to say that it's the only thing that makes sense. nobody has cashed in that early, before.



speaking of Money in the Bank, i read some stats a few days ago (when this was being announced). these stats were rather interesting. the briefcase has always been cashed in successfully, thus far. RVD was the only person to name a specific time & place when he'd cash in the title opportunity (ONS PPV). every time the briefcase was cashed in, Edge has somehow had involvement with it.

that last one, can actually be proven. Edge won the first MITB match in 2005, cashing it in. RVD won it the next year. when cashing it in, Edge interfered in the match, assisting RVD. 2007 had Mr. Kennedy win the match, only for Edge to beat him later on for the briefcase, cashing it in himself. 2008, CM Punk would go on to win the briefcase. Punk would go on to beat Edge for the WHC. 2009 would see Punk win again, cashing in on Jeff Hardy mere moments after a brutal ladder match with Edge. 2010 would see Swagger win the briefcase, beating Jericho for the WHC after Edge had gotten done doing the dirty work for him.

so yeah, interesting though. one way or another, Edge had some form of involvement, either as a challenger, the champ or having somehow helped the challenger.

one stat you would've noticed me mention is that CM Punk is a 2-time winner, winning 2 consecutive years. that's actually two stats (winning twice & having back to back wins).

interesting to think about, ain't it?

[matt]

It is..Going into Wrestlemania I figured Swagger would be about the third last guy to win it (Figured he would before Kane and Bourne at this point) so when he won I figured he'd be the first guy to lose when he tried to cash it in on Cena.

Even without the belt I think him going back to SD is good for him. I actually like the guy as long as he doesn't talk but he was really lost on Raw until the last couple weeks.

[Bubba JD]

i have to agree with a couple thoughts. never expected Swagger to win the MITB match. never expected him to cash in the briefcase successfully. thought he'd blow it, competely.

having him on Smackdown is the probably the best idea, right now. Smackdown tends to fit his style, IMO.