Cheap Heat

[IrishCanadian25]

As the old saying goes, "No News is Good News."

And "Even BAD publicity is STILL publicity."

So following that logic, isn't CHEAP heat, STILL heat!?

A wrestler who comes to the ring at a show in Texas sporting an Oklahoma Sooners Jersey. A wrestler who gets on the mic and calls the home town fans "losers." It's all been done.

Now, we look at Vickie Guerrero (and to a lessor extent, Mike Adamle) who is receiving MEGA heat for being loud, obnoxious, and just plain unpleasant. Some call it "cheap heat" and seem to feel they should not get credit for it.

But cheap or not, isn't it still heat?

So what I want to ask and discuss is:

Does "cheap" heat still count as heat?

Should those who earn "cheap" heat get credit for being a good face / heel?

What are some of the best examples of "cheap" heat that you recall.

And of course, I expect a fair amount of discussion to concern the 1996 heel turn of Hulk Hogan, and whether his heat was legit, or "cheap."

 

[Slyfox696]

I think the whole point with "cheap" heat or pop is that it's not sustainable. Saying that the Cardinals baseball team sucks in St. Louis, doesn't mean a whole lot when you go to Chicago. Cheap heat/pop is looked down on, simply because it's not sustainable, and you won't get over long term with it.

However, whenever a worker is over for long periods of time, it's hard to say that the way they do it is "cheap". There was nothing cheap about Hogan's heat, because he played it out all the way through.

So, does cheap heat/pop count? Well, sure, but it only counts as long as it's effective. Once it's no longer effective, it doesn't count anymore, and the worker needs to think of something else to stay over. Generally, you'll find, that anyone who is over and considered a "great" worker doesn't rely on cheap heat/pop. They may use it, but have other reasons for being over.

 

[Monkey_Mania]

Yeah, cheap heat works. It won't work all the time. Some pull it off better than others. If you're looking for the cheap pop. Then it will work almost everytime, but as Sly said when you are a heel and you do it, it doesnt have the sustainability. There was nothing cheap about Hogan's heat, people literally wanted to kill him during that period.

A perfect example of cheap heel heat for me is when Chris Jericho first debuted back in 1999. He had that stupid ass long goatee/peach fuzz that he would play with. In all honesty I wanted to pull him around by that stupid thing. That worked for me. Also when John Cena was playing his heel rapper gimmick and he used to come out with the a New York Yankees Jersey, while he was in Boston. He did the same thing when he turned face except he wore the that cities home jersey and got a reaction for it.

So yeah it works, you just have to know how to use it like a Mick Foley and a few others. But you also have to be careful when using it.

 

[Showtime]

Foley's a classic for cheap pop, Hello Cleveland or whatever town they were in, but he needed it for when he'd tell a bad joke (I LOVE Bad Foley Jokes), like when he came back from knee surgery and had to talk about the Rock to get a good pop, but getting distracted. Cheap heat's usually cheesey or corny, but if played right and kept fresh it works for some wrestlers. I do hate how some of the top faces do it more often than not, especially Cena and Trips sometimes. But middle card heels tend to play the cheap heat thing better, like MVP and Kennedy, they are good at getting cheap heat and good heat. So yea, cheap heat is still heat, i guess it might actually be more heat because you hate it even more than good heat.

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

Does "cheap" heat still count as heat?
--Technically, yes, because the fans cared enough to go along with it and boo or cheer you like they are supposed to. But if the fans just flat out don't like you at all, and not in a "root for the face, boo the heel" way, then they won't give you any reaction, or they'll just start chanting "you can't wrestle" like with Khali.

Should those who earn "cheap" heat get credit for being a good face / heel?
--No. If they can only earn "cheap" heat, then they're not good enough to be a solid face or heel. There are some constants in wrestling. Fans will always cheer the American over the foreigner if the foreigner is a heel if they play up the whole country issue. Fans will always boo someone who badmouths the audience. Fans will always give a round of applause to any sort of disabled person that they focus on, or a warm reception for some kids with terminal illnesses. If you can't get past the basics and do anything out of the stereotyped and generic interactions, you're not a good face/heel.

What are some of the best examples of "cheap" heat that you recall.
--The cheapest, arguably, is the whole "this town is filled with losers" scenario. Another is the standard "I don't care about any of you fans" or "you fans must be idiots because you don't see my talent". A quick method to gain some boos is to tell the audience to shut up because you're talking. Another is when a heel rolls out of a ring to get a breath of fresh air or something. Are they necessary basics that heels can all do? Yeah. But they're not really anything ground-breaking. Also, apparently if you're a veteran, the fans will cheer you no matter what. Does anybody really give a shit about Hacksaw? But he gets simple pity-cheers lol.

 

[My$terio_Fan]

I still cont "cheap heat" as heat. The fans still have to care(whether its hate or love) enough to boo/cheer u. If Charlie Haas came out and blasted the home town sports team, he still probably wouldn't get a large reaction. Another example is when Diva Michelle McCool at either a ppv or smackdown(cant remember) came out wearing the hometowns football team jersey. She kept pointing to it trying to earn "cheap pops" but still got little to no reaction, so the fans have to still care enough to boo/cheer.

The thing is cheap heat will only go so far. After a while of wrestlers blasting the fans calling their sports team stupid or mocking somewhere from their state, fans will eventually stop caring and ur left with the same reaction as before.

There is also a debate about which people uses either "cheap heat/pops" to get a reaction. Jeff Hardy does alot of high spots witch he gets cheered for. At first it was probably "cheap pop" where the fans only cheered for this moves but I think Hardy was able to evolve pass these moves, even though he still is high risk I think the fans are so personally involved with him that even if he stopped doing the swantom or whisper he would still get cheered. Also Vickie Gurerro has been accused of getting "cheap heat". In a way yes, but I think its more "X-Pac" heat then cheap. Fans seem to really hate her and thats why they boo'ed. But they also hate her character and her cheating ways(like firing Undertaker or helping Edge pick up victories)so I feel she evolved pass "cheap heat" & "x-pac" heat and people just hate her character.

 

[FromTheSouth]

I thik the best example is Sgt. Slaughter during his title run. His anti-America rants during war time got so much heat event sites were changed to protect his life. In the end, the heat was cheap, walking around America saying you love Iraq in 1990 was the easiest way to get over as a heel ever. While easy, though, it was ubereffective.

Mick Foley and the Rock were the kings of cheap pops, but no one ever disputes whether or not they were over. When the Rock would yell, "Finally" the crowd would finish for him. I guess that's a sign of being over......when you go for the cheap pop/heat and the crowd finishes every time for you.

 

[HBK-aholic]

'Cheap' heat is still heat. It's still getting a reaction from the fans, and even more, it's getting fans worked up. Nothing is more insulting than having a 'foreign' wrestler come into your city/country and insult you. Automatically the fans are booing, which sets the scene for the rest of the night and their matches. 'Cheap heat' is a really good way to easily excite fans. If a wrestling event was held in Leeds, and a wrestler came out wearing a Manchester United T-shirt or mentioning the last weeks football results, they'd be lucky to escape with their lives. It's an exaggeration, but that's what it'd do to the fans.

Realistically, a wrestler cannot get by on just this alone. But I definitely think they should be given credit for doing it. Seriously, why put lots of effort into doing something uber-heelish if you could get a better (or worse?) reaction by insulting the teams football team or the smell of the city. It's strange how defensive people get about things similar to that.

As for Vickie, I definitely think she should be given credit for her heel heat. She was milking it up, making fans hate her, making everything seem worse.

 

[waylon p]

i have always thought the "if you trailer trash would take your tongues out of your cousins mouths long enough to listen, you might learn something" type of line has always worked to set the tone, much like an opening stand up comic sets the tone for the headliner that follows.

but if all i had was cheap heat lines like that, noone would hate me enough to boo whichever wrestler i'm fronting for.

cheap heat is a good thing, but if you have nothing to back it up, it's useless. a segment is supposed to be a multi faceted gem.

 

[Rusty]

Yes, I think cheap heat still counts as legitimate heat. Heat is still heat no matter how a wrestler earns it. They should get credit for getting cheap heat because it simply puts them more over as a heel. Vickie Guerrero is a classic example. The crowd booed her for many reasons. She was and still is just downright annoying in every way shape or form. She isn't the type of heel that the fans "love to hate". Every single person in the damn arena boos her. There is nothing to like about the women on the show.

Another example which is heat, but not totally cheap heat is the Great Khali. He mainly gets booed because the crowd thinks 'he can't wrestle'. They chant it regularly during a Khali match. He also gets booed for not being able to speak proper English. I actually think it counts as cheap heat as he isn't only being booed for his character and actions, but he is also being booed for his ability on the mic and in the ring.

 

[ROCKETPOTATO!]

I think cheap heat counts, but you can't get by on it alone. The same goes for cheap pops, which is why Foley's comebacks where he mentions the city's name aren't as special to the fans as Hogan coming out to save hornswoggle from Khali. Carlito used to be great woith cheap heat in his first run on SmackDown!. In his Cabana, he always said the city's name, and followed it up with "That's not cool." But Carlito added variety to his cheap heat, by saying things like "Hershey City, that's cool! *crowd cheers* You wanna know why your city's cool? Because you take pride in your traditions. And since you guys are from Chocolate City...well, just look at you." He got booed out the building, which is why he still stayed over until he was turned Face and his career went downhill.

I think Cheap Heat is great, but major heat is needed aswell to solidy a top Heel.