When's the next time we'll see "hometown hero" in WWE?

[Trill Co$by]

I was just watching an old match with Edge and Cena at SummerSlam and the storyline behind this match, to me, seemed to be that Edge was walking into his hometown as the champion and the WWE advertised that. To me, I think that got the hometown excited because the fans were behind their kind and not the traditional face.

And then I got to thinking...

WWE doesn't do that anymore. WWE seems to have completely abolished the thought of "Hometown hero" in the WWE, well except for NOC but even then they turned CM Punk heel on his city. The same thing happened with Orton, Miz, and I believe MVP when he was heel.

So what I want to know is do you think we'll ever see the hometown hero again? And if so, when do you think it will be?

 

[Dragonfirez]

It's funny you should mention that because I remember when the announcers used to make a big deal of a superstar in their hometown by saying something like "Chicago's own! CM PUNK" or at least put emphasis on "from Chicago, Illinois!" if you get what I mean
But yeah, I do love when they acknowledge wrestlers hometowns and possibly use it in a storyline.

 

[Ruthless-RKO]

Why not, when the time is right and the feud is right and its in a good area, there will be..I think it was good aswell,having the crowd cheering for the heel, its good and a big change from what we normally see!

 

[Judah's Lion]

in fact, wasn't that part of the big controversy in "the montreal screwjob"? it's not just that Bret Hart got screwed out of the title, but it was more or less in front of his home crowd in Canada. Bret Hart has stated that he would have gladly lost the title cleanly in the US, but he just wanted to retain in Canada. and so getting screwed, the hometown hero, in such a fashion is what has made this night so infamous.

it's also why HBK got boo's every time he set foot in Canada.

or in a totally opposite contrast, it's what made Bulldog's victory over Bret so sweet in London. because it was the hometown hero winning cleanly over the biggest star in the WWF for the IC title. it was amazing.

so yeah, the hometown hero is a pretty easy way to add to a storyline. and i can't remember the last time it was done, period, let alone well. honestly, i'm not sure how this could be booked.

the obvious way would be at one of the big pay per views of the year, like Mania, Summerslam, Survivor Series or the Rumble, one of those events where you know it's gonna be booked months in advance. so if you know that (for example) the Rumble will be in Boston this year, then have a mega face (Cena) fight for his life (say maybe against Barrett) at the Rumble. then the hometown hero can win after a several-month feud.

the other way is to pull a swerve and have a heel, which is normally not cheered for, win a big match in his hometown since the crowd will likely cheer the heel. or you can do a heel/face switch at said event between the otherwise heel and otherwise face. plus it can freshen things up after the event for the Raw and/or Smackdown shows.

good thread. i hope to see more of the "hometown hero" theme in programming, because it does really seem like an easy and good way to add to the story.

 

[Serious Mozzarella]

I guess it depends, but the problem is lots of guys having trouble getting any heat, and having the "hometown hero" turn on his hometown is just so easy. It's the easiest heat in the world, aside from insulting the city's sports teams. There would be no reason to pass up on an opportunity for a heel, or if you were planning on turning heel (your hometown would be the best place to get a severe crowd reaction).

The problem with hometown heroes is that it's either extremely easy crowd pops or extremely easy heat, depending on what you do. CM Punk should be proud of the heat he got, as a heel, in his own city.

 

[Wade's Public Transit Bomb]

If Barrett has the title before they go to England next time, I think he would be the "hometown hero". Last time they were in England, it really didn't seem like a homer response but more like a "with the process of elimination, this guy sucks the least" response. It will also be put up or shut up time for the Brits who think they are more patriotic than mah fellow Americans.

I also think if the WWE takes the gamble, Justin Gabriel as a face in South Africa could be big for that region of the world. Justin is an ESL, so that is probably why his promos aren't exactly the best. But I am sure he has to cut better promos in his native tongue. Hey, if Maryse can cut promos in French, why can't Justin cut promos in Afrikaans? haha

 

[Spuddogg]

At NOC 2010 CM Punk bagged out Chicago and there were still Punk chants, so like they love anyone from there hometown

 

[Midcard Fame]

It happens still. Just not on TV. On the July 7th edition of RAW, you know the viewer one, with the Nexus things starting, Croft and Baretta came out before Superstars and cut a promo on how much better Tampa was then Miami to get cheap heat during their Superstars match..I don't think it worked, we were cold and wet and had to buy new clothes since we got so wet, so we were still mad about that. And they could have had MVP come out for a HUGE pop, but they didn't they had like..Matt Hardy come out or something.

 

[Stormtrooper]

There are a bunch of good reasons for not seeing this much.

1. It isn't very often that a wrestler comes to his hometown for a TV/PPV show. Therefore there aren't many chances for them to be a "hometown hero." The most recent example given was CM Punk. It doesn't make sense for CM Punk, a top heel, to wrestle a PPV match as a face since it could discredit both his heel persona and Big Show's face persona. Therefore they logically made Punk give a heel promo, to get the crown firmly against Punk, and behind Show.

2. Looking at the RAW midcard scene, there are very little chances for guys to get hometown hero reactions. There are only 3 guys who could POTENTIALLY get a hometown reaction in America: Daniel Bryan (Washington state), Evan Bourne (St. Louis), and MAYBE R-Truth (Charlotte North Carolina I think). The other faces are either small-town people like Mark Henry (Stillwater Texas) or international guys (Yoshi Tatsu, Primo, etc). The Hart Dynasty MIGHT be able to get a home-country reaction when the WWE goes to Canada. On Smackdown, the only people who could potentially get a hometown hero reaction would be Kaval (Brooklyn), Matt Hardy (North Carolina), MVP (Miami), and Rey Mysterio (San Diego, and he gets them every time he's there). The other guys are again either international, small-town, no hometown, or heel.

3. The top face stars really don't need the hometown hero welcome. the top faces in the company are John Cena, Randy Orton, and The Undertaker. Orton and Cena are both super-over, thus not needing to be a Hometown Hero. The Undertaker is an extreme gimmick who, while he has a listed hometown, doesn't really have a hometown to be welcomed fairly.

 

[Constanc00]

I agree. There really isnt many guys or girls who can represent. Two that come to mind though, are Batista and HBK. Washington DC and San Antonio. But we lost these two this year. I know San Antonio really popped for HBK, even though he was supper over anyways.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

The next time WWE will probably use it is for Wade Barrett on a UK RAW title match... it will be really interesting for him to wrestle in the UK as he's bound to have to be the face for the night...

 

[Max Headroom]

I think it would be awesome to have them do it, just, not as a story line. They should just have them play up to the fact their home and they love their home. It's not a bad thing, hell then the next week whoever happened to be the "hometown hero" the week before could come out bad mouthing the place saying how much of a worse place this town is than the one they were in last week.

It's quite simple.

 

[Thesage1989]

Well jacks in his hometown this Friday and last week he cut a promo about it so we would have to see cause i remember wen regal went England he was heated in the us badly but he went England and won the IC title that night the crowd went nuts.

 

[CJ The Pirate]

The next time WWE will probably use it is for Wade Barrett on a UK RAW title match... it will be really interesting for him to wrestle in the UK as he's bound to have to be the face for the night...

That will be Nov 8th in Manchester. Down the road from where Wade Barrett is actually from (Preston) and where he is actually billed from. I will be there, clad in Yellow and Black and, Yes, we will be cheering!