Preface: Damnit, Shane. Why'd you have to go stealin' mah thundah?
It's rare someone so mediocre gains such a large following no matter what the sport. Sure, there are the exceptions who become cult icons like Vince Young or John Daly, but for the most part, if you're mediocre, you have an equally mediocre following. WWE is no exception here, and one of the best--if not the best--example of this is Christian.
Christian is strange in that people either seem to think he's a main event singles Godsend, or he's some bottom of the barrel hack. I'm in the distinct minority that finds him to be neither: He's not bad per say, he's just not good either.
Normally, we'd all go about our business and collide only when one side gets particularly uppity--though that'd be hard for my side to do for Christian as we're rather apathetic to the whole shebang. The problem is that his fans, or "Peeps" as they refer to themselves, tend to rise out of the ground in untold droves at every opportunity they get to talk about topics including but not limited to: why Christian is great; why Christian needs to be pushed more; why Vince McMahon is the only thing holding Christian from being the next Austin; blah blah blah.
This behavior and thought process must stop.
First, Christian is okay. TNA tried hardcore to push him to the top, yet he didn't dominate TNA the way his Peeps seem to think he will dominate WWE. This train of thought makes little to no sense when looked at piece by piece. How is Christian a legitimate name to throw out for "potential WWE cash cow" when he didn't even catch on at a company which desperately wanted him to succeed? More importantly, if he was so great before leaving WWE the first time, why aren't the promotions in a ratings war? Surely Christian should have propelled TNA to the highest of heights! Or maybe just to a 1.2 on the Neilsen rating scale.
Do you get it yet? Christian hasn't ever proven he's a sustainable main event wrestler--even though TNA did everything but sacrifice the first born of every employee to get him over as a top star. If he wasn't even hacking it in TNA, how can he possibly fare well in the company that is even bigger and more demanding?
Hell, his best success has been as a nine time Tag Team Champion. That's right: His best work has been done with a partner--namely Edge--and not by himself. Christian is best known as Edge's sidekick and here's the real kicker: He's never even sniffed a WWE or World Heavyweight Title.
The closest he's come to one of the two major belts is the ECW title, which based on fan reaction was lackluster at best.
Speaking of that, the more important point is that it isn't Vince McMahon who is holding back Captain Charisma, it's his fans.
Peeps will often argue that there are strong reports Michael Hayes is high on Christian and that it is Vince who holds him back. However, if we look at the timeline of Christian's return, this just doesn't seem 100 percent right.
I personally don't think Hayes is high on Christian at all, but even if I'm dead wrong, it's fans and not Vince holding Christian back.
Assume I'm wrong and Michael Hayes is fighting tooth and nail to get Christian a push. Christian was supposed to be Jeff Hardy's attacker but eager Christian marks kept spreading that word like butter on toast. Eventually, the suspense was gone before Christian could even debut and then Vince probably pulled the plug and switched with Matt.
Fine.
Normally, if Vince wasn't high on someone, this would be the end of it. However, Christian was then supposed to show up on RAW or SmackDown, meaning that either Vince really does want him to succeed, or Hayes had it out with Vince and got his way.
That secret stayed under wraps for all of about four seconds. However, again, Christian was merely rewritten to show up somewhere else...meaning either Vince is really high on him, or Hayes once again got his way.
Finally, Christian had to be rewritten for the umpteenth time and was given a shot on ECW...where he quickly got in on--and cashed in on--the title picture.
Working off the premise that you're all right, and Vince wants to crush Christian, I've showed that Hayes would have had to go into battle with Vince--and...haha...win--no less than three times, and probably more.
I ask you: If Vince McMahon and Michael Hayes really didn't want him to succeed, would Christian have been given chance after chance to debut? Would he have been practically handed the ECW belt? Would he still be in the title picture today?
The answer is no. Jason Reso aka Christian is talented, and WWE desperately wants him to succeed but his fans keep killing him.
Either, they leak his storylines before they come out forcing constant changes, or they're dead at shows. That's right, you people are dead.
I'm hard pressed to find many matches between Christian and anybody that got any pop. Sure, the title matches on PPVs got some pop...after Tommy Dreamer won. Christian was an afterthought to the fans who overwhelmingly supported somebody who has been a jobber since the original ECW folded.
The title rematch on the RAW "Three For All" was a joke. I have heard high school girls basketball games with better crowds.
The bottom line is that if you want someone to succeed, you have to show that he's going to get the support a top billed star will get. He's got good tools, his mic skills have improved, and hell--he even looks like a wrestler. But if he was that big, and that overwhelmingly talented, he'd get stellar fan support week in and week out.
Christian hasn't gotten that yet, and his fans need to shut up until they decide to show he can.
To close, let this be a challenge to "Peeps" worldwide: Prove me wrong. Prove you can give him the support he needs to get pushed. Prove we can get into his promos; his matches; his career. Prove. Me. Wrong.
Don't forget to go to the ROH forums and demand more Grizzly Redwood, and to WWE Universe so you can help start the movement to push Katie Lea Burchill out of obscurity.
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