10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About WrestleMania 29
7. Nobody Cared About Alberto Del Rio Versus Jack Swagger
Alberto Del Rio turned babyface in late 2012, and shortly thereafter he defeated The Big Show to win the World Heavyweight Championship. The company hoped that Del Rio would capture fans' imaginations as one of the top good guys in the promotion, but within weeks it was clear he was struggling. In order to help build a following for Del Rio - and get some mainstream media attention - WWE repackaged Jack Swagger as an anti-immigration, Tea Party-style heel. The rantings of Swagger and manager Zeb Colter did get some coverage, and the company fully committed to the Del Rio-Swagger program. Unfortunately, no matter how hard they tried, fans just weren't having it. Whether it was because Del Rio seemed disingenuous as a babyface or Swagger was coming off a couple of years as an undercard worker, the program didn't resonate. The crowd at MetLife Stadium took the ten minutes the bout afforded them to go to the bathroom or doze drunkenly.
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013