'Boring' Heat?

[HBK-aholic]

I've read a couple of posts recently which seem to state some wrestlers get heat because they're boring, rather than hated, and the fans want them to leave. I have 2 questions for you. First of all, is this true? And Secondly, is it a bad thing?

Personally, I've always thought if a wrestler was boring they just get no reaction. Heat is generated due to a genuine hate for a character, one which makes you itch from hatred, one who you can hardly stand the sight of. If a wrestler was boring the crowd just don't get into their promos or character. Usually they just couldn't care.

That being said, if the wrestler in question is being pushed hugely and you don't want them to be, maybe you would boo creative? Maybe trying to get a message to McMahon that you hate the person?

 

[Tim]

I think wrestlers get heat for a lot of different reasons. For not being able to wrestle (Khali), for being pushed when people don't want them to be pushed, for being hated, people wanting the wrestler to leave etc. Each wrestler gets heat for different things. If a guy is face and getting booed, people maybe want him to be fired. Heat can be a way of communicating to the wrestlers that they're doing a good job or that they should improve, or just to tell them that they suck and they should leave. Heat depends on what the fans think, not what the internet wrestling fans think.

 

[jpfizzle]

Tim Tak Khail isn't boreing he's just awkward. Possibly the wrestler who sprang to mind the most when reading HBK-Aholics post was JBL.

JBL can put on some spectacular promos, he knows this but lately he whines and complains and I see this as him chooseing to be boring and regurgitating the same old lines, "I should be champion, I should be champion, don't disrespect me" week in, week out.

Does it work? Sure it does but it isn't easy to generate much heat from it, me, you or anyone could walk into the ring and say "I should be champion" except for a few surprised WTF type faces and probably the odd laugh we wouldn't gauge much of a reaction. I think that some wrestlers tend to just go for Boring heat, we often here of how some gimmicks reflect the people playing them, if you're boring in real life why don't you just play to your strengths and put that into your character.

Before JBL there was Lance Storm, amazing talent, boreing as hell, but he embraced it making him one of the biggest heels in his last WWE run. Listen to the booes he used to that. Other talents would kill for that kind of a reaction regardless of how they get it.

 

[Miko]

I dont think its a bad thing if people get heat because they're boring, the only real example I can think of though is Lance Storm. Everyone else who is accused of being boring (JBL for example) isnt really boring, they are annoying and people will pay money to see some one like that get they're arse kicked.

People are complaining about JBL getting boring heat more and more these days but to me it just harks back to Stone Cold's last heel run where he'd come to the ring twice a week and say "I am a man's man, a champion's champion" etc. The only difference is Stone Cold used to do heelish things like beat up Michael Cole and Tazz (not that anyone cared about Cole).

So no I dont think its bad for someone to get heat that way at all, I just think that it helps if you back it up occasionally.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

I've read a couple of posts recently which seem to state some wrestlers get heat because they're boring, rather than hated, and the fans want them to leave. I have 2 questions for you. First of all, is this true? And Secondly, is it a bad thing?

1. Is it true? Well, in order to get a proper answer you'd first have to look at the fan. If it's an individual who can find themselves properly cheering, booing, or respecting any type of wrestler (heel or face) then it could be hugely believed to be true that those types of fans.. when feeling 'someone' is boring to them.. really feels that way.

However, if it's a fair-weather fan, or more importantly someone who's only cheering either heels or faces, then you need to realize they truly don't have as deep an opinion because more often than not they're feeling 'bored' by an individual opposite what they're used to loving and they just don't care to give them a chance.

The Great Khali is instantly one Superstar that comes to mind. Tons of people wanna call him boring, but noone has yet given a reason why he is. They say stupid things like "He can't talk." Well, he doesn't need to, it isn't apart of his character to cut a ton of solid promos. So then they say things like "But he can't wrestle like *insert chain wrestler*" Well, once again he doesn't need to. He isn't built to be a solid, technical athlete. He's built to be threatening with size.. and that's what he does.

Also it should be noted almost everywhere he goes, he gets HUGE ovation one way or another. Be it boos, to chants of "you can't wrestle". Even if that's disrespecting, he's still getting a HUGE reaction.. and that's why he's still getting Championship pushes. If people thought they guy was boring, then they need to exit to a bathroom or food stand when he comes out. The best way to show you don't like someone and don't wanna watch them.. is by not.

2. Is it a Bad Thing? To put into less words, yes. If you have an entire crowd chanting "boring, boring, boring" then it means you aren't doing roughly anything. You aren't getting good enough reactions to make the fans hate you to boo you.. and you aren't getting good enough pop to make the fans want to cheer you.

The one "alternative" to the rule was with Lance Storm. Steve Austin actually encouraged the crowds to chant boring during his matches, and as an end result a lot of people LOVED seeing Storm just so they could chant that. Kinda stupid if you think about it, but that's the one exception to the rule.

Any other time, if you're getting those chants, without being encouraged to get them.. you aren't doing your job properly.

Personally, I've always thought if a wrestler was boring they just get no reaction. Heat is generated due to a genuine hate for a character, one which makes you itch from hatred, one who you can hardly stand the sight of. If a wrestler was boring the crowd just don't get into their promos or character. Usually they just couldn't care.

That's almost exactly it. You're kinda being one sided in believing only heels can get a 'boring' type of reponse, but the fact is faces get it more times than heels do. Heels get disrespectful chants of all kinds that make an average wrestling fan believe he's boring and needs to lose his job.. but in fact that's the heel doing his job, by getting the fans to WANT him fired.

Whereas the real situation behind the scenes is, as you pointed out, when NOONE pays attention to you and simply doesn't care. It's when you get ZERO reaction, good, bad, or indifferent.. it's when noone even remotely cares to do anything for you.. that you're about a day or week away from losing your job.

That being said, if the wrestler in question is being pushed hugely and you don't want them to be, maybe you would boo creative? Maybe trying to get a message to McMahon that you hate the person?

First you have to understand the W.W.E. isn't T.N.A.. the fans in T.N.A. have been chanting 'Fire Russo' anytime they get something they don't like. (which is roughly 1-3 times a show) In T.N.A. that's a problem because they're still, even after 6 years, trying to make it and not struggle.

However with Mr. McMahon and the W.W.E., they're a billion dollar company and could give a shit less if one or two smaller programs doesn't workout right.. because they have enough major talent that you'll continue coming back for more.

Secondly, unlike the 'Fire Russo' chants. I doubt many good-great wrestling fans would truly wanna take the time to figure out how to chant 'Fire Laurinaitis'. And the fans that chant 'boring' more often to not aren't even smart enough to know how to pronounce 'Laurinaitis'. So there you go.

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

"Boring" heat is pretty bad, I think. Outside of the rare occurrences that people have mentioned already where the fans are actually cheering it to get under the skin of the heel, the boring chant doesn't come up unless its the fans sending a direct message to the powers that be. When we're stuck in a long match that is going nowhere and the fans start booing, chanting "boring", or "change the channel", or "we want wrestling"...how can that be a good thing? They're not saying that they dislike the heel, they're saying they dislike the product in front of their eyes as a whole. This is even worse than if they give you no reaction, because this means they're actually putting in the effort to vent their frustrations rather than just sitting back and mumbling to their friend "yeesh, this match blows".

 

[My$terio_Fan]

There are probably a few cases where wrestlers get boo'd for being boring but that probably only happens in very vocal cities(Philly comes to mind). People like Charlie Hass or boring and do not entertain, they are simply just ignored and given no reaction. Same goes for faces that get no reaction. A fan really has to care about a wrestler(either hate or like) for them to cheer or boo.

 

[Starchild]

There are some people that I find boring but still get heat, it's just a matter of opinion. I hate JBL to death and wish he would just retire, not because he's a good heel but because he is boring as hell and always says the same damn thing; and somehow always weasels his way into the main event when he is not nearly talented enough to be there. There are plenty of other people that I'd rather see get a push, if even to the main event, instead of watching JBL do the same thing every week.
Another is Vickie Guerrero. She just needs to get off television. Again, not because she's a good heel..but because she is boring and just terrible to watch.
I know the object of a heel is to get the crowd to boo you, but I'd say there a definitely people that fans just hate to a point of insanity but for the wrong reasons (creative wise anyway) so they boo them.