Two weeks ago on Raw, WWE did something I personally didn't see coming: they repackaged Michael McGillicutty (terrible name, I know) into something they should have done a long LONG time ago; they acknowledged his family history as a third generation wrestler, and named him in tribute to his dad Mr. Perfect and his grandfather Larry “the Ax” Hennig. They get a standing ovation from me for handling this repackaging flawlessly. That got me thinking: who else needs a repack worse than a fruit cake at Christmas time?
Drew McIntyre: Don't get me wrong, I looooooooooooooooooove 3MB, even though I think they suck. (it's a love/hate relationship) The one guy in that group who needs yet another repack is Drew. He was on fire when he was “the chosen one”, and winning the Intercontinental title. I think it's time for WWE to not only put the backstage BS behind them, but give Drew a character he can work with. Normally, I wouldn't suggest such a thing, but... why not make Drew McIntyre a fan favorite? Appeal him to the ladies a little bit, give him that “bad boy” persona with a do good attitude and he could get over HUGE. The accent helps. Let the guy cut some promos, you'll have girls all over him, and guys might enjoy his character. Better than what he's got now anyways.
Zack Ryder: Yep, here's Zack again. This one may seem obvious as he's already shown some hints of a change; no more spiked hair/glasses, teasing a new YouTube show, wearing pants instead of trunks, cutting down on his gear in general... you can feel it coming. But what should they do with the Woo Woo Woo kid? I think this one is easy: not much. I think a heel version of his same character would go over great. Just make him a stuck up Long Islander, bitch and moan about how the fans just forgot about you after a while, get new theme music (the Downstait version of Oh Radio). First guy he should go after is Kane. Yes I'm being serious. A heel Zack Ryder beating Kane as a form of revenge would put this guy on the right track. The fans have gotten behind him before, they will again.
Kofi Kingston: LONG LONG OVERDUE. Kofi has needed a character change for years now. Yes, his current character still works, but boy is it stale as hell. It doesn't even have to be a heel turn, although I think that would be interesting as hell to see. What's his character now? Can anyone legitimately tell me? He still has his original theme song, Trouble in Paradise and the S.O.S as his finishers, yet he's not even billed from Jamaica anymore. He's billed from Ghana but has no accent, apparently his “home” is in the United States since he went to Boston College... um, anyone? Help? Give Kofi some sort of direction, and a push when he finally gets an actual character. Until then, he's floundering in transitional champion land with nothing to do.
Ricardo Rodriguez: Time for the surprise. I know, I love Ricardo too. He's over as hell. The only reason anyone wants to endure Alberto Del Rio at this point IS for Ricardo. Despite all this, Ricardo is being criminally underused as ADR's announcer. The guy clearly connects with the fans even though he doesn't really do much. Put a mask on him, get him in the ring. He can wrestle. He can bump like crazy, he may be one of the top sellers in the business, and they won't let him. Time to let everyone see how awesome Ricardo really is.
And now, something that the IWC and everyone will probably jump down my throat for...
Daniel Bryan Danielson: Yes, it's time. Here's my thinking: I love the “Yes!” and “No!” chants as much as you all do. He's been fantastic in every role WWE has stuck him with to try and make him not be popular with the fans, and none of it has stopped his momentum. So why repackage him? Simple: it's time to put DBD back in the World Title picture... and not on Smackdown either. Take DBD, repack him as a heel who's tired of always being there for the fans, put over how fucking amazing of an in ring competitor he is, and have him feud with Cena for 3 months. You're telling me you not only wouldn't watch that, that you wouldn't go nuts at the idea of WWE actually promoting DBD as a technical wrestler and nothing else? Let him use 4 or 5 different submissions at once, he knows plenty of them. This guy could be the ultimate grappler as a character... kind of like a Bret Hart character. It'd work. And as much as you all hate the idea now, if/when it happens, you'll thank me for thinking of it. Oh, and it's been done before. “Snap or tap!” “I have til five!”. It's not farfetched. But if they wanted to go all the way... bring back the American Dragon.
What do you think about these scenarios, and who's character would you change? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, email me or tweet me!