Credit: WWE.com

Irony in professional wrestling is sometimes lost on many people, but in the recent case of both Jack Swagger and Cesaro, it's amazing to note just how similar the first few months of their solo careers have been.

Of course, it was never supposed to be like this for either man. When The Real Americans split earlier this year, it very much felt like the right time for it to happen. Cesaro was starting to outgrow both Swagger and Zeb Colter, and a face turn (and huge push) looked to be in the offing.

As we all know, though, that didn't happen. Despite giving him a huge platform to work from at WrestleMania XXX, the WWE has failed to act on Cesaro's popularity, and he faces a long road back after some appalling booking, typified by the failure to turn him face.

As it turns out, Swagger himself has been a recipient of exactly the same treatment of late, as the WWE has effectively botched another promising turn from one of its most talented performers. It all rolls back to June 30, the date Swagger turned face for the first time in his WWE career.

To give the company some credit, it had executed the turn nicely (just as it had initially done with Cesaro). It was done so Swagger was made to look like a real hero in the eyes of WWE fans, defending America's honor against a duo of Eastern European villains in Rusev and Lana.

The rivalry started off quite nicely, and it even looked like Swagger would be the man to end Rusev's undefeated streak at a couple of points throughout the feud.

Despite that, though, he slipped to a couple of losses on pay-per-view. He still looked to be on course for a successful face run and a decent rivalry against a guy who really was bringing the best out of him.

So when the WWE made the decision to bring the feud to an end, Swagger was left with very few options moving forward. Had it dropped the USA vs. Russia angle altogether, then you could have almost understood the decision to stop Swagger's promising momentum.

But astonishingly, despite continuing to build on the impressive chemistry Swagger and Rusev were building in this USA vs. Russia rivalry, the WWE ditched him for Mark Henry. Even though he does have a pro-American character himself, Henry looked to be heading into a tag team storyline with Big Show before the WWE changed the plans all of a sudden.

That isn't a slur on Henry at all, but the company has ultimately failed Jack Swagger by casting him to one side for someone who may not pull off the pro-American role with anywhere near as much success. As it has turned out, Swagger has been left to duel with Bo Dallas in an incredibly underwhelming storyline, and all the momentum he had built up has been lost.

It seems incredibly unlikely that Henry is going to be inflicting a first defeat on Rusev, so why wasn't Swagger allowed to persist in the role? The fans were starting to buy into Swagger and Colter as a face duo, and they were certainly earning the respect of wrestling fans with their impressive promo work following the turn.

Heck, the segment where Rusev forced Colter away from TV for a good few weeks was another nice move and gave another angle for the rivalry to be based around for the next few shows.

Instead, Swagger has been left dwindling at the bottom end of the roster once again. That is a grave mistake from the WWE, and it faces a huge task to correct it. A lot of effort clearly went into Jack Swagger's face turn all the way back in June, but once again, the WWE has let it erode into nothing.