Classic Heels and New Heels

[Steve-O-Matt]

In the words of Bray Wyatt: "TIMES ARE CHAAANGING MAAAN!" That's right, the days of the old bad guy are slowly morphing. And this is not just in the WWE, check out loads of films now days, two examples come to mind: The Dark Knight and Thor. Think about it, when people saw those films, what were they talking about after? The Joker and Loki. They weren't talkng about the heroes, they loved the villians! And the same goes for the WWE, the fans love the bad guy.

Now, is this because the WWE can't book a babyface to save their lives? Probably, but like I said, times are changing. People like the bad guy, because in some ways they can live through them and exercise their naughty thoughts and instincts. Plus, they tend to have a lot more charisma and in-depth story behind them. Sure the good guy's motivation is to stop the bad guy... but what's the bad guy's motivation?

Let's look at the WWE. People are cheering the bad guys and having fun doing it (much to JR's dismay). Again, let's look at two examples of "New heels": Bad News Barrett and The Wyatt Family. They aren't the same old cheaty, weasel heels you used to get, but like I said earlier, the newer, more charismatic and charming heels you can relate to. Bad News gets people saying his catchphrases and Bray... well, you saw Payback. If you missed Bray's Payback entrance, please watch it, it's one of the best I've ever seen. People holding their phones in the air lighting up the entire arena, almost guiding their guy to the ring. I know people say the WWE handed out glow sticks or something, but even if that was the case, getting the crowd to sway back and forth and all join in with that is a beautiful thing and Bray's reaction to it as soon as he came out just says it all.

So what I'm saying is, now there's 3 roles in wrestling. Babyface, classic heel and new heel.

The classic heel stops in the middle of a match he can't win and walks out, he low shots the guy, throws the ref in his way and breaks the rules any time he can.

The new heel uses the lack of popularity in a babyface to his advantage, he wrestles like a babyface but still is the bad guy. He is also convincing, charming and charismatic.

These are the questions I raise to you:
Do you prefer the classic heel or new heel?
Who was the best classic heel for you?
Who was the best new heel for you?

 

[L@RISANO]

Tbf, some of the most popular characters whether good or evil have always been the edgy type and are embraced by a wider audience....take for example, Wolverine from the X-Men, even Deadpool is a popular character amongst many comicbook lovers.

Similarly, Stone Cold was an edgy character, and people absolutely loved that.

Sadly, today in terms of Classical Heels, due to people's inability or unwillingness to suspend disbelief, it is difficult for Classic Heels to get heat in today's WWE Environment.

Currently, only the Authority is a legit heat magnet since their angles are done with the most over Babyfaces in the company, but beyond that it is quite bare in terms of classic heels...Current Top Heels like Bray Wyatt and Bad News Barrett are cheered in the majority of their matches.
Only Paul Heyman who is gold on the mic, can get classic heat, and Brock due to ending crowd Fav,Taker's streak will get the classic heat.


Basically; every good Heel goes hand in hand with a good Villain.

For EG;
Daniel Bryan is pretty much a Classic Babyface, but he is over with the majority of the crowd, such that he made Bray Wyatt get legit heat in their ill-advised angle pre-RR 2014.
This same Bray Wyatt however, has been cheered by most of the crowd in his rivalry with the according to many,'stale' John Cena.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

For me personally, I generally prefer the days of the classic heel when the days of kayfabe were firmly in place and the internet wasn't around to help destroy the mystique surrounding professional wrestling. The problem with that, however, is that classic heels are much harder to get over these days than they were 20+ years ago and that's due in large part to the internet.

I'm a fan, always have been, and my primary objective when I watch is to be entertained. Like everyone else, I have my favorites and I have guys that I just flat out don't care about. Some would agree with my picks, some would disagree with my picks. Because of that, I'm willing and able to suspend disbelief enough to allow myself to enjoy wrestling. I'm also not as concerned with playing fantasy booker while I'm watching. Again, there are guys I prefer to see pushed over others, but I don't rant just because I don't get my way in every single little thing I'm watching. I'm not overly concerned with trying to make it more "realistic" as a whole because attempting to make a "fake sport" that you know is scripted seem "realistic" is an oxymoron if I've ever heard one. When I watch a pro wrestling match, I know that it's scripted and I know that it's over the top. Personally, I enjoy that much more than I enjoy real fights because wrestling matches can resemble epic fight scenes from a movie. Real fights don't have that sense of wow about them most of the time. I enjoy watching boxing & MMA now and again, but I'm usually more invested in watching how a story plays out more so than how it ends. Not that I'm saying how it ends doesn't matter, because it does, but an ending has to have a good story to progress it along, otherwise you're just waiting for things to end so they move onto something else.

The age old story of good against bad always has been and always will be essential in media entertainment. Even though the world isn't black & white, there are always protagonists and antagonists, someone to cheer for and to root against. A lot of wrestling fans these days are more concerned with letting wrestling promoters know that they know wrestling is scripted rather than even trying to be entertained. As a result, a ton of fans will cheer for wrestlers that they're not "supposed" to cheer for just because they know they're not "supposed to." Some actually think that it makes them cool or edgy, that they're "rebelling" against the machine or some other bullshit. That's all well and good, but it'd mean a lot of all time classic heels would have a difficult time getting over.

For instance, if Ric Flair was 30 years old today and came out in one of his custom made, rhinestone studded, feathered robes, any number of fans who worship the ground he walks on today would probably crap all over him. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if they gave him the "boring" treatment and said that he was slow and flabby. If Randy Savage was 30 years old and came out with his own rhinestone/sequined robe/cloak with his pink tights, his strange voice and actually called himself "Macho Man", a lot of fans wouldn't take him the least bit seriously. If these two men debuted today and used the mannerisms and the tactics that helped make them legends in the business 25+ years ago, I don't think they'd get over with a lot of fans.

The Authority are one of the few classic heel acts who can generate good old fashioned heat. When you look at their personal lives & history coupled with them portraying a couple of condescending, egomaniacal narcissists, it's easy for fans to buy into them. Even the hardest of hardcore smarks don't like arrogant douche bags who think they're a better class of human being than they are talking down to them. Stephanie was born the quintessential spoiled little rich girl while Triple H has been painted as the consummate politician backstage and has been accused of nepotism to get to where he is because he's been banging the boss' daughter for the past 15 years. But, of course, every heel can't do the exact same bit. The foreign monster no longer gets the heat he used to get, the rich pretty boy doesn't garner the resentment he once did, the cheating lowlife is greeted with cheers & applause rather than disdain, etc.

 

[laodaron]

I believe that the primary issue today is that a growing number of wrestling fans considers himself (herself) superior because of the internet and indy federation wrestling. This dynamic is the "smart" mark which is a certain breed of fan who has only one purpose: shit all over the mainstream product. Because of this, they ruin heel runs, they ruin face runs, and they generally aren't satisfied unless an obscure indy wrestler is getting a shot.

This "smart" mark is a mark for themselves. They consider their fantasy booking superior to mainstream creative/booking. They consider lower production cost to be a good thing. They consider themselves to be the end-all knowledge point of wrestling. They also believe that their increased "knowledge" grants them special privilege to ruin everyone's experience at live shows, to harass and annoy those at the arena and watching on television, and to basically destroy anyone's credibility as a wrestler, if they choose to. However, the fun thing about them is that their tastes change, depending on who is getting popular by the casual fan's perspective.

The issues that the "smart" mark creates is that they generally know a wrestler's work before they show up on a mainstream show, and therefore will cheer if they happen to like the work, and boo if they do not, regardless of the wrestler's current gimmick or their actual in ring ability. Their belief that they can spot REAL talent has them jaded beyond reasonable levels when it comes to supporting a wrestler.

When I watch, like JH said, I'm able to suspend my disbelief, because I want to be entertained. The classic heel can still work, if people didn't believe themselves to be superior to the current product.

 

[BOO_TISTA]

Half (probably more than half) the wrestlers on the roster don't know to work, so of course no one can get over as a face or a heel, unless they are extraordinary. There are very few absolutely detestable heels because everyone wants to be "cool". Heels aren't suppose to be cool.

 

[Slash-LN]

It's not really a new thing. The nwo took away the classic heel dynamic by becoming "cool" heels.
Same with Degeneration X when it was Shawn, Hunter, Chyna and Rick Rude to start with. They were meant to be heels but they started getting cheered.

Heels want to sell their t-shirts and stuff so they have to maintain a following to do that.

The only heel I can think of off hand that I enjoy watching get beat up is The Miz. I think he plays the heel role incredibly well and there's just something about his face that makes me want to see him get punched.

There's heels I don't care for but they don't make me want to see them get beaten up. It's more so that they bore me.

If Adam Rose was a heel with his current gimmick he'd be there with Miz in terms of wanting to see someone beat him up.

 

[mancini999]

Most heels have always really had the crowd on their side. So I guess i would say the new heel is what most over heels have always been.