The biggest rumor making the rounds outside of "where will the NXT invasion go?" is certainly the pushing of Evan Bourne. When word leaked out early this week that Evan's main event exposure on Raw 2 weeks ago was due to intervention by John Cena, it justified what many already figured. With the backing of the biggest star in the industry, and one whose opinion the higher ups would certainly trust, it was an easy move to give Bourne a taste of the main event. However, everything the diminutive Bourne has done at this point will be under a microscope, since a push makes fans and workers alike compare other works and question who should truly be getting a push. I'm not sure I have an answer for "which face on Raw deserves it more?", but I'm buying Bourne's push just yet.
For starters, Bourne has said like 4 words on the mic since joining the Raw roster. To be a main event talent, one must be able to sell a feud with actions as well as words. Especially given Bourne's size, he needs to sell us on why he has any chance of beating these main event heels. On top of that, the only main event heel he's faced is Sheamus (and Edge if you count getting beat down for no reason a match). The matches he had with Sheamus were purely to get the Celtic Warrior over, so at this point, no one could take seriously Bourne being competitive with Sheamus when just a few short months ago, Bourne was getting no offense in while taking quite a beating from the Fiery Irishman. In my opinion, a push to a small guy cannot be hotshotted, because it simply isn't believable for a smaller guy to beat a larger guy. While we all understand that these feuds and matches are scriped, the issues and match stories are largely reality-based, meaning any match Bourne is in has to pit him as the underdog given his size. For him to win, he has to overcome odds each and every time. Perhaps that is why his "Air Bourne" finisher is so popular, since he is defying both odds and gravity as he flies to a victory.
The other thing Bourne needs to do is find one good feud. I think a feud with the Miz would do wonders for Bourne, since Miz could carry Bourne on the mic and Miz isn't too large a competitor where it seems incredibly unlikely for Bourne to pull out a victory. By the end, Bourne's mic skills might improve by simply having to keep up with Miz, and a victory over a former US and Unified Tag Champion would really help his credibility. Even better would be a US title run for the former Matt Sydal. A midcard title would certainly justify Bourne as at least a solid midcarder, and as he grows as a character, so too will his credibility and spot on the card.
Of course, with the NXT invasion, everything may change and nothing I wrote could have any value..............that's how awesome an angle like that truly is!
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