By Greg Parks, PWTorch columnist

I'll admit, it took me a few moments of staring at the television screen before I finally recognized Dutch Mantel as Uncle Zebekiah, the former manager of the Blu Brothers and Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw, making an unexpected return last night on Monday Night Raw to second Jack Swagger for his match with Zack Ryder.

Mantel has been slightly repackaged (though not by much) as Zeb Coulter (get it?), apparent far-right extremist. When I saw Zeb headed to the ring with Swagger, before knowing anything about the relationship, I thought to myself, "I give this two weeks before Swagger is alone again." But after the promo and predicting where they may go with this pairing, I really like the possibilities.

After Zeb's promo, some may find this gimmick controversial or a little offensive. I see it as a play on current events. WWE has often been behind the times when it comes to seeming relevant in the mainstream, but Coulter's anti-immigrant, pro-America stuff touches a nerve. Next week, if he cuts a promo on gun rights, then we'll know for sure WWE suddenly has a pulse on political issues.

Some have noted the similarities between this gimmick and one established by R.J. Brewer in Lucha Libre USA, perhaps not-so-coincidentally at a time when Brewer was recently featured on the front page of Yahoo News. I don't have a problem if WWE saw that gimmick and decided it was something they were interested in - once the gimmick is established, WWE will put their own stamp on it.

Another complaint is that Swagger and Zeb's schtick seems to be closely related to what Antonio Cesaro is doing as United States champion. Both have been pro-America in their own way, and it's certainly not an ideal situation, but I think there is enough difference between the characters to where it's not a big deal. It would behoove WWE, however, to move Cesaro onto something more than a one-note xenophobic angle. He's better than that.

As for Monday's performance: Zeb certainly looks the part. His promo wasn't great, but I thought it got the points across. This seems to set up Swagger taking on Alberto Del Rio down the line, so much so that many fans have predicted a Swagger win at the Elimination Chamber, and a match with Del Rio for the World Title at Wrestlemania.

Swagger getting a manager to talk for him is not revolutionary, having just come from being managed by Vickie Guerrero. But if they utilize Zeb in a creative enough fashion, where he could be portrayed as this crazed backwoods militia member, I think it could be interesting. And it would give a different slant to Swagger's All-American American gimmick. When he returned last week, aside from the beard and hair, he was pretty much same ol' Swagger. This should change things.

The gimmick is certainly different enough from a lot of what WWE offers these days. The fact that they're not debuting Zeb as a dancing fat guy is enough for me.


Greg Parks has been a columnist for Pro Wrestling Torch since 2007. Follow him on Twitter @gregmparks for live Tweeting during Raw, Impact, and PPVs, as well as other bits of wisdom. Comments, questions and feedback are welcome, and can be sent to g_man9784@yahoo.com.

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