One year after making his debut in ECW, Evan Bourne has been promoted over to the Raw brand.
Evan Bourne to Raw
In the fall of 2000, a young man by the name of Matthew Korklan made his debut in the world of professional wrestling by working a match at an independent wrestling show somewhere in the midwest.
At the time, very few wrestling fans across the country paid much attention to the guy. In fact, I'm guessing that it's safe to say that 99.9% of us weren't even aware that this guy was on the map.
The guy worked his way up through the independent wrestling circuit. He then started making a name for himself in TNA, Ring of Honor, Dragon Gate, and Wrestling Society X (the short lived wrestling promotion on MTV).
"Matthew Korklan" wasn't the name that wrestling fans were buzzing over. The name that everyone was talking about was "Matt Sydal".
Matt Sydal became so valuable on the independent wrestling circuit that WWE had to give him a chance. He was offered a developmental contract in 2007.
He was called up to ECW in 2008 as Evan Bourne. Thanks to some cameo appearances on Raw, he became a sensation with WWE fans.
A year later, and Evan Bourne is being moved over to the flagship show, Raw. Management wants to see what he's capable of.
Evan Entertains
A lot of people wanted to see Evan Bourne on Smackdown because there's a lot more dream matchups for him to participate in over there.
However, things aren't completely a waste on Raw. Evan Bourne still has a handful of guys that he can work with to produce some tremendously entertaining matches.
Guys like Jamie Noble and Chavo Guerrero are veterans of the game. They've worked with guys that were a lot more acrobatic and daring than Evan Bourne is right now back in the WCW cruiserweight division. They can play to his strengths and make him look even better than he already does now.
Brian Kendrick, Kofi Kingston, and Carlito are capable of being flashy as well. They might be able to mesh their styles with Evan Bourne to produce some entertaining matches.
A Star is Bourne
Not sure if Evan Bourne is going to be capable of becoming a main event talent like Rey Mysterio did, but it doesn't hurt WWE to at least take a shot at building him towards that.
In order to do that, though, they can't just have him working entertaining matches against those guys that I listed. He needs to work a slightly different style against the wrestlers that are higher on the card.
A guy like the Miz might not be as entertaining in the ring as Evan Bourne, but he does possess the mic skills to ensure that a program between the two will be decent to watch. Keep in mind that Evan Bourne has yet to show any mic skills.
There's a natural rivalry between Evan Bourne and Jack Swagger since they both came up through ECW. Of course, it would have been beneficial for both wrestler to have had feuded with one another over the title, but the company has already lost that chance.
The guy on the roster that can give Evan Bourne the credibility that he needs in order to move up the ladder is none other than Shawn Michaels. The legendary star might not necessarily need to lose to the kid, but he has to work a match that makes fans feel like Evan Bourne can at least keep up in the ring.
Closing Thoughts
I wouldn't bet the house on Evan Bourne becoming a main event wrestler on Raw, but I'm also not going to place that chip on the bet against him. He still has a slight chance at superstardom if WWE plays him right. |
