The James Ellsworth Angle – Good or Bad?

The WWE dropped a lot of bombshells this week – a Goldberg/Lesnar feud; the first ever women’s Hell in a Cell match; the three big Survivor Series, brand vs. brand matches announced; and of course The Phenomenal AJ Styles, losing a match to IWC’s favourite jobber – James Ellsworth. Nothing could divide the WWE Universe like that last decision. Some call it the worst booking decision of the New Era and some simply can’t stop loving the ridiculousness of it all. Either way, the fans can’t stop talking about James Ellsworth.

Realistically, it was the WWE fans, who asked for this. Ever since the first time James Ellsworth made an appearance on Smackdown, the Internet has gone crazy about him. His comic, rather goofy look just clicked with the WWE Universe and the WWE YouTube channel’s comment section was suddenly flooded with James Ellsworth. He became a WWE meme. With that much attention, the WWE just had to run with it and last night was the company’s answer to the fans’ popular demand.

A lot of hatred and negativity came out of the IWC afterwards but the fact is that on Tuesday night, the crowd enjoyed the segment. Yes, the whole set up was silly. However, the fans laughed at the joke. Ambrose, Styles and even (or maybe “especially”) Ellsworth had the audience in the palm of their hand. Sometimes, we get way too serious about wrestling and we forget that it’s an entertainment business. A comic segment is bound to happen from time to time and this one was far better than the puke/fart/food fight humour we tend to get from the WWE.

But it’s not just that, the Ellsworth segment wasn’t just funny. It played a major role that most people might have missed. Whether you liked it or not, the angle caused a lot of ruckus and while everyone is busy with James Ellsworth, no one is questioning John Cena’s absence. Cena’s taking time off because of his involvement in the production of the second season of Fox’s American Grit. The crowd’s beloved “chin-less” jobber was one huge, elaborate distraction, which also brought the plot back to Ambrose vs. Styles.

The segment helped AJ Styles assume his heel role. The fans were so happy to see him retain at No Mercy that he had to work extra hard to turn them against him and make them boo. Playing the obnoxious heel, who walks with a ton of arrogance but picks on jobbers was AJ’s way of achieving that. On top of that, we got to see a WWE recreation of the Ref Moxley segment, which made a lot of Dean Ambrose fans happy. The truth is, this mischievous behaviour IS Ambrose’s gimmick. That’s exactly how he acted in his feud with Seth Rollins and the crowd enjoyed it. The fans had started to complain about the Lunatic Fringe becoming stale, so he’s returning back to basics. Again, when you think about it, the whole story is a case of the WWE, listening to the fans.

Then again, the Ellsworth angle isn’t all positives. What most people complain about – AJ Styles losing to a jobber, I’m not worried about. After all, nobody actually thinks Styles lost. Everyone knows that it was all about Dean Ambrose, trolling AJ. There are, however, two other much more serious issue with this storyline – the health hazard and the risk of overdoing it.

First, it’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt and SmackDown came very close to reaching the getting hurt part. AJ Styles, hitting the Styles Clash on James Ellsworth was one cringe-worthy moment. Ellsworth did the one thing one must definitely not do when taking the Styles Clash and that’s to tuck his head in. This is exactly how Yoshi Tatsu broke his neck. Luckily, AJ Styles is an experienced wrestler and he saved the day, or in this case, James Ellsworth’s health. AJ didn’t get as much as elevation, as usual and took some of the bump by landing on his arms. Then he immediately checked on his opponent. If AJ wasn’t as much of a pro as he is, this could have ended badly for Ellsworth. This is the danger of putting amateurs in the ring.

Second, a joke is funny the first time but repeating it all the time makes it intolerable. Having this charade once on a SmackDown was ridiculous in a good way. However, giving James Ellsworth a title opportunity next week is pushing the boundaries. I’d imagine this time around Ellsworth will get hurt (kayfabe) and AJ Styles will come out looking like a true villain. What’s important is that the segment doesn’t drag for too long. Unfortunately, there’s nothing more Ellsworth can bring to the table than what he already did, so extending that angle would be overdoing it and consequentially, ruining the Ambrose/Styles feud.

In the end of the day, a little bit of fun on SmackDown didn’t hurt anyone. It actually helped the storyline. However, any more of that foolishness might be detrimental.

 

What do you think? Comment below with your thoughts, opinions, feedback and anything else that was raised