Christian Returns

[Troy]

*SPOILERS* If you have yet to see RAW then please look away now *SPOILERS*

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So on RAW tonight we finally saw the return of Christian where he defeated Wade Barrett in a singles match. He has been out due to injury (and the dreaded creative have nothing for you) since mid 2012 so it has been close to a year since he has been on WWE tv. His return has been speculated for months yet it never came even though he was apparently fully healed. Hopefully now that he is back WWE have an actual long term storyline in place for him and don't just forget about him in a month or two.

Having him face Wade Barrett first up is a good choice. Christian at this stage of his career is best used as a face that can help put over the up and coming heel midcarders. Guys like Barrett, Cesaro, Sandow etc could all benefit from working with him. Having him around the two midcard title scenes would also help to give it a bit of depth and credibility.

Thoughts on Christian finally returning? Who would you like to see him feud with? Do you see him sticking around in WWE much longer?

 

[Nate]

Re: *SPOILER* Wrestler returns after almost a year on the sidelines

Honestly I'd say nix to the whole Punk/Axel mini feud being discussed for MITB and have Christian and Axel start up at fued instead. Maybe have them battle it out at MITB but call for some obvious shenanigans which will lead to an intense match at Summerslam. Yeah I understand that people don't think that returning superstars should be entitled to title matches but hey, it's Christian!

That or if everyone's really THAT into Punk/Axel, have Christiann turn heel and battle the returning RVD at Money in the Bank? :hm:

 

[We Are Legion]

Re: *SPOILER* Wrestler returns after almost a year on the sidelines

Honestly I've been over Christian since 2011 and before he was taken off television in 2012, it was safe to say his return to WWE was a flop. Frankly I've always found the guy immensely overrated and never thought he was a good fit for the big leagues. He stood out in TNA simply because he came from WWE, but he's never had a particularly memorable promo and his wrestling skills are "alright" at best. It takes a very particular wrestler to bring out the potential in Christian, someone with a very strong personality like Jericho or Edge or even Cena to really make Christian's segments good television.

 

[Troy]

Re: *SPOILER* Wrestler returns after almost a year on the sidelines

Honestly I'd say nix to the whole Punk/Axel mini feud being discussed for MITB and have Christian and Axel start up at fued instead. Maybe have them battle it out at MITB but call for some obvious shenanigans which will lead to an intense match at Summerslam. Yeah I understand that people don't think that returning superstars should be entitled to title matches but hey, it's Christian!

That or if everyone's really THAT into Punk/Axel, have Christiann turn heel and battle the returning RVD at Money in the Bank? :hm:

I wouldn't mind seeing a Christian/Axel feud down the line, as long as Axel goes over clean. With MITB around the corner he will probably just be thrown in one of the MITB matches and then they will figure out what to do with him for Summerslam.

Honestly I've been over Christian since 2011 and before he was taken off television in 2012, it was safe to say his return to WWE was a flop. Frankly I've always found the guy immensely overrated and never thought he was a good fit for the big leagues. He stood out in TNA simply because he came from WWE, but he's never had a particularly memorable promo and his wrestling skills are "alright" at best. It takes a very particular wrestler to bring out the potential in Christian, someone with a very strong personality like Jericho or Edge or even Cena to really make Christian's segments good television.

He isn't really mainevent quality in WWE, and to be fair they have treated him as such since his only big run came after Edge's shock retirement. Don't you think that he is over enough to work as a solid midcard to upper-midcard hand? He is a well known name and surely has enough talent for that.

 

[Defiant]

Re: *SPOILER* Wrestler returns after almost a year on the sidelines

I've never been that high on him either but with his experience and fame he's a useful guy to have around and can usually get a fast-paced match out of people.

As for what Christian could actually do, I don't know. There's not a whole lot left for him to do these days. A feud with Daniel Bryan would be nice, or that Curtis Axel guy.

 

[Troy]

Re: *SPOILER* Wrestler returns after almost a year on the sidelines

After defeating Wade Barrett on last night's RAW, Christian spoke to Matt Striker on the WWE App and talked about wanting a spot in the Money in the Bank ladder match next month. Christian added that he came back for one reason - the World Heavyweight Title. Christian also tweeted to his peeps:

"Hello my friends, we meet again it's been a while, where should we begin? #RAW"

I think that there are a few others in front of him for a World Title shot but the idea of him being in the MITB match should happen.

 

[Crippler]

Re: *SPOILER* Wrestler returns after almost a year on the sidelines

As many of you know i'm a huge CLB fan and it really sucks that he keeps getting injured but he's one of these guys that constantly puts on solid matches each week.

vs. Axel - Make the feud for the IC title and, i know many of you know Christian is not the biggest name but they could have a really solid and good series of matches.

vs. Punk - Christian needs REVENGE! simple as that but seeing how both men are faces, i'm guessing this isn't gonna happen for at least a year.

vs. Bryan - IDK how it's gonna work, I guess Christian could call him "Creepy" when he wins the title and they can have TV match series that WWE seem to be doing now.

vs. Ceasro - Zeb and Cesaro are together now and i guess they can do the whole "He's illegal" gimmick.

vs. Sandow - Mocking him cause he's Canadian, BOOK IT!

vs. RANDY ORTON - the chemistry is off the chains so role reversal time

 

[The Cork]

Re: *SPOILER* Wrestler returns after almost a year on the sidelines

Really weird way to bring him back, I thought he was being saved for something bigger than returning in a filler match on TV against Barrett.

 

[Killz]

Re: *SPOILER* Wrestler returns after almost a year on the sidelines

Bringing him back like this NUMBED MY GOD DAMN BRAIN once Raw was over. I mean seriously Henry playing the world, you're going through with a double turn, you're booking Lesnar v Punk and you're sat on guys like the Shield and DB who are carrying crowds through the show and you think the best way to bring Christian back is unannounced for a meaningless singles match?

If it was just to fuel that little McMahon family power struggle segment with Vickie where Hunter was reeling off nonsense then they really dropped the ball.

As for Christian himself, we all know he's a hell of a worker. One of the handfull of guys who actually works great matches but isn't praised to the ends of the earth (I'm looking at the IWC's hate campaign against the likes of Orton and HHH) but his lack of character throughout his singles career really has hurt him. He can't get by on being over by association with Edge and the attitude era when so many superstars will be out-popping him. Great to see him back but give the guy a gimmick or a reason or a storyline or something!

 

[PHX]

Re: *SPOILER* Wrestler returns after almost a year on the sidelines

Nice to see him back but I think his return tells you all you need to know about how WWE is going to treat his comeback which is that he won't be doing shit. Might get lucky and get to find himself in some multi man WHC matches but for the most part probably going to be doing a lot of low and midcard stuff that don't have an actual storyline.

 

[Dale]

Re: *SPOILER* Wrestler returns after almost a year on the sidelines

Wasn't there a report like a week ago where it was said that one of the highest priorities was finding a big angle for Christian to return with? Creative sure earned their money with that one :hm:

 

[We Are Legion]

Re: *SPOILER* Wrestler returns after almost a year on the sidelines

He isn't really mainevent quality in WWE, and to be fair they have treated him as such since his only big run came after Edge's shock retirement. Don't you think that he is over enough to work as a solid midcard to upper-midcard hand? He is a well known name and surely has enough talent for that.

I really don't think there's any such thing as a "midcarder" in today's WWE. Either you're in it for the long haul or you're not in it at all. Unless you're a proven main eventer (which Christian isn't) or you have main event potential (which Christian doesn't have) then you don't have much of a chance in WWE. That's why I don't understand why WWE is still wasting their time with him. Jericho is a complete fucking jobber now, but even he has proven to be a reliable main event option when he needs to be. And it pisses me off that someone like Jericho is in the ranks of Drew McIntyre and Heath Slater right now because that's where Christian should be. If there's any room for him, it's to be the guy with a kind of big name that loses to guys like Wade Barrett and Seth Rollins. Not someone who is still striving to become something in the company at the age of 39.

 

[Troy]

Re: *SPOILER* Wrestler returns after almost a year on the sidelines

I really don't think there's any such thing as a "midcarder" in today's WWE. Either you're in it for the long haul or you're not in it at all. Unless you're a proven main eventer (which Christian isn't) or you have main event potential (which Christian doesn't have) then you don't have much of a chance in WWE. That's why I don't understand why WWE is still wasting their time with him. Jericho is a complete fucking jobber now, but even he has proven to be a reliable main event option when he needs to be. And it pisses me off that someone like Jericho is in the ranks of Drew McIntyre and Heath Slater right now because that's where Christian should be. If there's any room for him, it's to be the guy with a kind of big name that loses to guys like Wade Barrett and Seth Rollins. Not someone who is still striving to become something in the company at the age of 39.

In the end I think that is how he will be used. Need to bring him back with a few wins rather than jobbing him out right away. Give him some wins and then have the up and coming heel go over him. Also on Jericho, I am pretty confident that his match with Slater was just a one off thing and he won't suddenly start a long term feud with 3MB.

 

[Defiant]

Like Christian or not, he's not going to be used any differently from the way he usually is. Some new names have emerged for Christian to have fresh matches with since his WHC run, but I've always had the felling Vince doesn't particularly care about him. Being the solid worker he is, however, I agree with Legion that Christian would best be used to bring good performances out of other guys WWE wants to put over.

I'm hearing people complain about the timing and how he'll just be lost in the mix. I for one am not disappointed because I doubt Christian was brought back to be a main event act.

 

[SAIYANS]

Christians ceiling is Matt Hardy in the wwe, sympathy run for edge aside. In fact its a little bit lower because he's not as good at connecting with the fans as Matt was. He's never been over enough, worked great enough, or talked well enough to be a main guy. They ran thru name after name from Trish to Edge to Jericho to Rock to DDP to get him over. He's just not a guy you invest storyline time in as a main singles wrestler as there is no payoff, and likewise he fucked up when he left them high and dry willingly after years of trying to make him worth a damn.


Christians best use is revitalizing the tag division as a whole.