Are tweeners becoming too unlikable?

[MartialHorror]

When Ryback was being courted by the authority and Cena around Survivor Series 2014, he actually seemed to take up the Authorities offer. The only reason he didn't in the end was because Kane annoyed him. That made him seem like the kind of self serving jack-ass that the Big Show has become. It was funny because in that same night, Rose attacked the Bunny for the exact same reason and while Ryback's decision was seen as noble, Rose was treated like a monster.

They're more or less rehashing that angle with Randy Orton, who does seem like he would be content to rejoin the Authority, but his petty squabble with Rollins is what's keeping him from doing so. He turns on Rollins only because he tagged himself in?

On another note, also involving Ryback, why was he bullying Curtis Axel? As far as I can remember, they never really had a breakup. Ryback interrupted his promo and what made this worse is that Axel seemed like he was treating Ryback like a friend (looking confused and seemingly offering to shake his hand- which Ryback ignored). Ryback acknowledges their past, but sort of buries their tag team work and then squashes him...I really don't get why we're supposed to be rooting for this guy. He's a sellout who is quick to turn his back on his friends, but just happens to be fighting for the side of good because...Kane annoyed him. Even Rusev has shown more valiance than him.

At least with the Shield, there was a certain nobility to them when they were playing this role. They had a loyalty to each-other and ultimately opposed the Authority because they had grown disgusted with their actions.

I like Orton and Ryback, but I kind of hope they get their asses kicked. I was hoping Axel would win (even though everyone knows it would never happen) and am beginning to think Orton deserved getting that deadly curbstomp. I don't think this is what the writers intended...

But am I the only one who feels this way? Or should tweeners be this edgy?

 

[SoulTrain4]

Problem is there's no such thing as a "tweener".
There are heels and babyfaces, period.
They may vary in temperment and attitude but there are only babyfaces and heels.

 

[DexVendetta88]

Booking tweeners is fairly tough when you think about it. You need to find a good balance between getting heat, and drawing pop evenly. However, more often than not a tweener will be booked to be either more heel than face, or vice-versa. Russo was notorious for heavily using tweeners which pretty much blurred the lines between heel and face which is the purpose of the tweener in the first place. Essentially a tweener is just an anti-hero because their motives are typically unknown, and they always leave us guessing. So in short, tweeners have to be edgy, but mysterious at the same time.

 

[chuckmdubya]

Never been a fan of the use of the term tweener. Seems that everyone in WWE is a bit of a tweener and to designate guys that are "more of a tweener" seems to be inaccurate. The most famous of all time of course is Steve Austin, but to me he was just a face with a new attitude, not necessarily half good guy half bad guy, but a good guy that used less than heroic means and rhetoric to accomplish a goal.

One could argue that Hogan was a tweener, he would use weapons, eye gouges, and back rakes, all of those classic villain moves. And we all know that he was really after Elizabeth, especially when he carried her to the back while Macho was getting stomped in the ring. Adults men watching back then knew that Hogan was trying t get all sweet with Miss Elizabeth and get her in his corner.

If you really thing about it, you could say almost all heals are tweeners too. The majority of the time they follow the rules in the match, when it would be easy for them to just cheat from the beginning. Why do managers wait until 10-15 minutes into the match to distract the ref, why not just do it right when the bell rings and pop the face with a chair and get it over with? Because they follow the rules just about the same as faces do.

So to me, saying tweener, is just like saying WWE Superstar, they are all Tweeners, and I feel as if there is no need to designate certain wrestlers tweeners, just because they have a slightly different gimmick than traditional faces.

 

[Navi]

I don't like the term either but if I have to use it then Ambrose is the only tweener on the roster today. He is nuts and will take on the Authority, Cena anyone who gets in his way. A lone wolf who will go through not around heels and faces to reach his goal, whatever that is at the time. It might be getting his hands on Rollins or winning the IC belt. He's out for himself and that's it.

 

[DCLXVI]

I don't like the term either but if I have to use it then Ambrose is the only tweener on the roster today. He is nuts and will take on the Authority, Cena anyone who gets in his way. A lone wolf who will go through not around heels and faces to reach his goal, whatever that is at the time. It might be getting his hands on Rollins or winning the IC belt. He's out for himself and that's it.

I would agree that Ambrose is one of the only guys that comes to mind with being a tweener... but only kinda... he is more of a face. Heels have a few tactics people are trained to cheer or boo. Being cocky and arrogant, cheating, beating up the good guy, or telling the crowd they suck. All of these are getting increasingly blurred now that people really don't care about cheating or beating up good guys now that they chance quicker than the seasons. If Dean was a heel, he'd have to be the telling crowd they sucked and trying to draw heat. There isn't really a guy on the roster he could beat up and get booed.

 

[Mustang Sally]

I would agree that Ambrose is one of the only guys that comes to mind with being a tweener... but only kinda... he is more of a face.

That's true; he is. As unpredictable as Ambrose comes off, he's strictly a good guy because he attacks only bad guys....and fights on the side of good guys. By my definition,that's not a 'tweener......who might attack anyone. Presumably, they won't give a damn whether the fans are on their side or not; they have their own agenda and it might result in changes in behavior every time we see them.

That's where Randy Orton figures in. After watching him chase Seth Rollins out of the arena at Fast Lane, we reasoned Randy was coming back strictly as a face, right? But that's not Randy and I suspect it never will be. He's always operated somewhere in between when fighting on the side of truth & justice.

A 'tweener will always identify more with good guys than bad guys. If a performer is strictly evil, he'll never be confused with a 'tweener.

In Randy's current program, it was a surprise to see him join the Authority; I figured the backstage meeting he had with the Authority would end with them pounding him because he refused to join. Instead, he told them he'd fight on their side, but told Rollins he wasn't about to forget what happened previously. You know he's being cool & calculating about his alliance with the bad people, openly fighting on their side but liable to turn on them at any point.

That's the essence of a 'tweener. I don't see them becoming too unlikeable; they're unlikeable by nature. You can't ever fully trust them.....sometimes you'll love what they do, other times you'll hate it......especially when they play the role well, as Randy Orton surely does.

 

[whoopin' ass]

Biggest problem in wwe is that almost everyone is a tweener. You have the handful right now that are either clearly face or heel but a lot of the rest are whatever they need to be that week. It isn't that they are unlikeable, fans just don't care. That's the whole problem with the shades of grey/nobody is just good or bad mentality - people generally are good or bad in life. The average person doesn't go hold up a liquor store just for the hell of it - they are generally what we would call good people. In wwe however, they like to flip flop people and in order to do that, you can't have generally good people. Fans are tired of it so they just don't care about most wrestlers anymore.