WWE SmackDown: How to Book James Ellsworth as a Heel

With his recent turn on Dean Ambrose at WWE TLC, Smackdown Live needs to book James Ellsworth a specific way to make sure his heel run ends up being a success.

Two weeks ago at WWE TLC, fans were shocked when James Ellsworth ended up turning on his friend Dean Ambrose, costing him the WWE Championship in the process. Fans at the arena were left speechless when Ellsworth pushed Ambrose off the ladder causing Ambrose to crash through two tables outside the ring.

Later on Talking Smack, Ellsworth claimed that it was not personal as to why he turned on his friend, but rather it being strategy. Though a bit controversial, Ellsworth has claimed three victories over AJ Styles in his short career. The Chinless Wonder now has a future WWE Championship opportunity against The Phenomenal One.

Ellsworth, believing that he has Styles number, felt that by facing the WWE Champion instead of Ambrose, he had a better shot of becoming champion. Ellsworth is now scheduled in the near future to face Styles for the belt.

Going forward, it seems like Ellsworth will be booked as a heel as its hard for fans to find a way to root for a guy who cost his friend the WWE Championship. With that in mind, WWE has to book James Ellsworth a certain way for him to continue to get over.

The 31-year-old is not the biggest and not the most intelligent of the WWE superstars. Because of his lack of wit and strength, it would be hard for fans to believe that he could win a match against a top star legitimately.

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Going forward WWE should book Ellsworth as the company’s version of New Japan Pro Wrestling star Toru Yano. Yano, like Ellsworth, is not the biggest or strongest wrestler. He generally cheats to win matches. Yano has been notorious for low blowing, using chairs, eye raking and grabbing tights to win matches. He was one of the most hated wrestlers in NJPW for a number of years because of constantly using these previously noted tactics.

Yano’s methods helped him claim shocking victories over stars like Hiroshi Tanahashi and Togi Makabe. Though considered a fan favorite now, he used his cheating methods to win major matches and championships in NJPW.

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That should be the route WWE uses to book Ellsworth. While no one will believe Ellsworth could win a legit match on his own, that doesn’t mean people wouldn’t believe him cheating to win. The former independent wrestler could use the same tactics such as low blowing, eye raking, and using foreign objects to help him win matches on Smackdown Live. This could be done to beat fan favorites such as John Cena and Dean Ambrose.

Going forward on Smackdown Live, Ellsworth needs to be used as a the cheating heel. With him being small its the only way he could truly beat top stars and have the fans believe into it. In time his cheating like Toru Yano’s can be seen as funny and could turn him into a comedic face, using his tactics to get shocking wins over the top heels.

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To really help continue the build that James Ellsworth has gotten, he needs to pull some pages out Toru Yano’s book going forward.