Jump to content

Has someone left a window open?


Undefeated Steak

Recommended Posts

Where's all the heat gone?

 

Sorry for the shit pun of a thread title. Didn't know what else to call it.

 

Ian posted a reply in the minor news thread and it got me thinking...

 

 

Even though I get its all an act and I'm a grown up, it still takes me back to that moment when I see something that I was gutted about when I was a kid.

 

... For as long as I can remember, WWE has just been about the babyface moments and pops hasn't it? There's been very few genuine heel moments where they get legit heat. Even stuff like Edge's cashing in of the MitB briefcase got a hero's reaction. I know the fans trying to be cool and cheering the baddies has a lot to do with it, but it's still possible to get real heat and have children crying - or is it? Ultimately, the pay-off is always going to be the face winning, but a lot of it comes down to the villains' ability to get the hero cheered. Maybe that's the problem with Reigns - there aren't enough decent heels to go against him. Would the crowd boo him so much if he was in there against younger Lawler and co on a regular basis?

 

The best example of getting proper heel heat in the modern era was when Orton won the WWE title off Daniel Bryan at SummerSlam. I know there'll be a few more but I'm struggling to think of them off the top of my head.

 

It's a bit of an open ended thread, this. Not really a question - more of a discussion. Is it possible to still get proper heat? Is this one of the biggest problems WWE have now? What are the best examples of this over the past decade or so.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 35
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Jeff Jarrett was regularly getting stuff thrown in the ring at him in TNA. This was when TNA was being widely praised too, there was a genuine hatred for him and it wasn't change the channel type.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I recall stuff being slung into the cage at Lockdown was it a few years ago, was it when Brooke Hogan sided with Bully Ray or something?

 

I'm just not sure you can get proper heat now, off the kids you can but for the most part people just look at someone like Kev Owens and go "Well played, that is fantastic heel work right there" and rate the performance rather than try and stab him on his way to the dressing room.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members

I've always said that the most heelish wrestler I can remember is Jake the Snake's awesome heel run in 1991/92 when he was being an absoloute cunt. They then threw the kitchen sink at trying to solidify Stone Cold's heel turn, had him stunning Molly Holly and all sorts.

I'm not even sure the WWE would be daring enough to try something like that these days though, everything is about "reality" isn't it? When you have storyline rivals joking and laughing with each other over Twitter and at Wrestlemania Fan Access, you have no chance.

Everyone knows its a show these days, but you can't even suspend your disbelief with nonsense like that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members

Jeff Jarrett was regularly getting stuff thrown in the ring at him in TNA. This was when TNA was being widely praised too, there was a genuine hatred for him and it wasn't change the channel type.

I'm not sure I agree here. Wasn't the heat with Jarrett always about the nepotism of the booking? Him being champ in his own company like Triple H on a smaller scale, push the X-Division rather than the Crusiers type stuff.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members

Rollins turning on the shield and becomming a slink? The best I've got in terms of super modern.

 

A normally forgotten gem is Martels vignettes when he was turning in to the model. Loads of mini vids of him promoting arrogance in top down cars with sexy ladies. Super twat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Jeff Jarrett was regularly getting stuff thrown in the ring at him in TNA. This was when TNA was being widely praised too, there was a genuine hatred for him and it wasn't change the channel type.

I'm not sure I agree here. Wasn't the heat with Jarrett always about the nepotism of the booking? Him being champ in his own company like Triple H on a smaller scale, push the X-Division rather than the Crusiers type stuff.

I would honestly love to see that sort of heat these days. The only person that gets real heat is Roman Reigns, and he's a babyface! Most other heels are cheered (Kevin Owens, Triple H) or met with mostly silence. The Miz gets decent heat, but it's difficult to take him seriously anymore.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You need a beloved Babyface to get real heat from. 

 

A decent heel could get amazing heat by doing something utterly horrible to Daniel Bryan, because there was genuine love for his character. Try the exact same thing with Cena - at least half the people will cheer.

 

WWE have happily pushed someone who's character is constantly treated to both cheers and boos, so you'll always be incredibly hard pushed to get a true, sympathetic reaction for him when a heel does something awful. Without that beloved Face - even the darkest acts can be met with cheers.

 

You can throw in the fact that WWE has also decided on a number of occasions that all their hottest, most vitriolic heat should go to non-wrestlers (or occasional ones). Vince, Steph, Triple H, Michael Cole, Vickie etc... all these guys were given reason after reason for fans to hate them - with almost nowhere for the hate to go. Meanwhile the full-time heel wrestlers are toothless and often get "dressed down" by the non-wrestling baddies. It's mental.

 

So you have heels that get their legs cut off just when they get going (in favor of building a McMahon's heat) and babyface stars that half the crowd think are skunk-pussies (sorry, just been reading about "Game On" in Off Topic). Perhaps if they pushed the people everyone likes and let the heel wrestlers get the heat they should be getting from that, we'd be in a more stable situation and they could tell their "stories" with a bit more passion and reason.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members

Heels are few and far between. Look at Takeover for instance. Not one real heel on the whole card. I know what your thinking, but Revival and Corbin etc. The thing is they don't WRESTLE like heels. Yeah they come off as pricks but there actual ring style is to wrestle as well as the Faces without needing to cheat in the slightest. The Revival's whole gimmick is that they are old school wrestling machines and Corbin dominated Aries for the entire match.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members

I think Miz gives it a good go to be honest. He's really got the old school, absolute little shit vibe about him which no one on the roster seems to have or want to have.

 

Kevin Owens does a good job too, but he's way too far into smartmsrk wank territory to be totally effective.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Heels are few and far between. Look at Takeover for instance. Not one real heel on the whole card. I know what your thinking, but Revival and Corbin etc. The thing is they don't WRESTLE like heels. Yeah they come off as pricks but there actual ring style is to wrestle as well as the Faces without needing to cheat in the slightest. The Revival's whole gimmick is that they are old school wrestling machines and Corbin dominated Aries for the entire match.

 

Corbin wrestled like a perfect heel in that match. I can't think of a single thing he did that was trying to get a face reaction from the smarky crowd. He was dismissing the popular face, taking his time, showing off, smack-talking and treating him like shit. Most of his offence was wear-down holds and stomps/strikes. He wasn't flying about the place, showing off his skill and athleticism or anything like that. It was straight up heel work. It was like Bully Ray took him to one side and just said "act like you own the fucking place and no-one else deserves to even be there" and he was in full-on asshole heel mode from the minute the bell rung.

 

I've seen very little in Corbin for a long time, but over the match month he really stepped up and this match was the best performance yet.

 

Of course he dominated the match - he's twice Aries bloody size! What were you expecting? For Corbin to be bumping about like Mr Perfect and showing arse like Bobby Heenan? He's a serious business heel - not a comedy jobber one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members

Some good points from Squeaky Clean Eddie. While I don't disagree on the Cena thing, the fact that there is fuck all heat up and down the card suggests it's a wider problem than just that. I blame the fact that heels can't wrestle as heels now. All of the old tricks have disappeared, possibly due to the "ref can't look foolish" thing people bring up, including Big Show on the Austin pod I think. Most matches are so heatless because there are no short cuts apart from the feet on the ropes which is now massively overdone because it's the only thing they can do. They need to bring back hair pulling, biting, blatant choking, foreign objects in your pants, etc. Let them cheat!

 

I think another issue is that we're well into a generation of guys who just want to have a good match. Heels want to be appreciated. They want that section of fans who'll cheer them and hold up signs for them because of their work.

 

Edit: Corbin's clearly an exeption. To get the reactions he gets in NXT is an acheivement. It might not be Puerto Rico in the 70s but still.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members
A decent heel could get amazing heat by doing something utterly horrible to Daniel Bryan, because there was genuine love for his character.

 

Not to beat the same drum again, but it's a crying shame that Lesnar didn't get to murder him at SummerSlam 14 like the plan was.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Throwing this out there but loving Charlotte as a heel at the minute in the Divas Woman's division. 

 

She comes across as a right smug bitch with the belt, although personally have enjoyed her run so far so maybe not the full heel? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Paid Members

I think Miz gives it a good go to be honest. He's really got the old school, absolute little shit vibe about him which no one on the roster seems to have or want to have.

 

Kevin Owens does a good job too, but he's way too far into smartmsrk wank territory to be totally effective.

Miz is a great shout, unfortunately he's one of those guys who got the big push (and WWE title run in his case) before he was ready. 5 years on, he carries himself loads better and has his act down to a tee, but audiences generally are just apathetic. Miz TV should be much more of a heat generator than it is.

 

The obvious super heel at the moment is Eva Marie in NXT and on the pre-Mania Raw. She's ultra dislikable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...