8 Ups And 7 Downs From WWE SummerSlam 2017

6. ‘All The Tools’

jason jordan curtis axel
WWE.com

Whenever an announcer says that a wrestler has “all the tools” to be a major star, be warned.

That phrase was used twice during the opening match of the kickoff show, describing Jason Jordan and Curtis Axel. Both men have captured gold before, both men are talented in the ring, and both men are floundering right now. We’ve heard that phrase used to describe Apollo Crews, who was most recently seen as Akira Tozawa’s cheerleader after his Cruiserweight Championship win last week.

Basically, “all the tools” is a kiss of death you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy. It almost means that s/he should be a top star, but they’re just not breaking through.

We can hope against hope for each of these wrestlers, because guys like Axel, Crews and Jordan are talented and it would be a great story if one or all of them became major stars. But hearing that phrase used twice within minutes of each other really hit home Sunday night.

Advertisement
Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.