WWE News: Former WWE Wrestler Takes Shots At Sheamus And WWE Writing Team

You’re not alone if you can’t quite remember the name Eric Escobar. In the grand scheme, Escobar is a blip on the WWE radar, with his run in on the main roster lasting from September, 2009, to January, 2010. Few can claim a shorter tenure than Escobar, whose real name is Eric Perez. There had to have been support from WWE officials at one time for the native Puerto Rican as Escobar was the FCW World Heavyweight Champion, one of the company’s developmental federations before NXT.

Escobar was also put in an angle alongside Vickie Guerrero upon his promotion and placement in Smackdown. But after jobbing out for much of his matches, he was promptly released and never to be heard from in a major promotion again. Since 2013, Escobar has performed for the World Wrestling League in Puerto Rico. But after barely making a dent as a WWE superstar, Escobar is making waves with recent criticisms of those that still work for his former employer.

Escobar was a recent guest of the Pancake and Powerslams podcast, spewing unfiltered vitriol at former colleagues with WWE. His first target: Sheamus. Escobar and The Celtic Warrior were both groomed in the aforementioned FCW, with Escobar recounting tales of Sheamus’ in-ring style and how stiff he worked. That reputation has followed Sheamus with not much dispute to be found. (Thanks to Give Me Sport for the transcription).

“He always wanted to be the dominant big guy. If I stand next to you, we’re basically the same size, so there’s no big guy/little guy situation going on here… I always give the guys a ‘three strike rule.’ So he pops me one, and I go, okay – one. He pops me twice – two. He pops me three times – okay, my turn. So, after I popped him back, I left my [hand print] stamped on his back for like a week. I think after that, we had no more problems. He wasn’t stiff or anything.”

It’d be interesting to hear from some of the WWE veterans that Sheamus has worked with like Triple H, John Cena and Randy Orton on whether he tried to pull any of that with them during their marquee feuds.

Escobar didn’t stop with the physical Irishman, however. Bashing the WWE creative team and writing staff is nothing new, but coming from a relatively unknown former employee might raise some eyebrows. It’s Escobar’s contention that the writing team doesn’t know what they have with certain wrestlers and is failing others who should (in his opinion) be given a brighter spotlight and higher place on the card.

Escobar is specific in who he thinks at least should have been given a better opportunity: Zack Ryder, Dolph Ziggler, and Heath Slater. The latter two had cracks at the main event scene (Slater with Nexus, Ziggler as World Heavyweight Champion) but with little staying power ever since. Escobar claims that they’re being wasted now.

“[Zack Ryder] got over by himself. They [were] giving him a little bit, and then he went out there and got over huge. What happened? Why doesn’t he get the ball? Or, at least, they give him the ball and they take it away right away. I don’t think it’s fair… You have an amazing worker like Dolph Ziggler. What’s wrong? Why isn’t he a main event guy right now? Even another guy like Heath Slater. I’ve always been a big fan of his work. I remember when he first got hired in Deep South [Wrestling], and I worked with him a ton back in FCW. Why aren’t you pushing these guys and you’re trying to push the same guys over and over again? If it doesn’t work with this guy, try another guy.”

Had things in WWE remained the same, there may have been little hope for those three. However, the brand split should open more doors for guys previously floundering in the lower-to-mid-card.

[Image via WWE]