I believe this is an awesome. It reminded me back how WWF used to do a face turn. Remember how it was with virgil and the million dollar man? for weeks people were screaming for virgil to nail dibiase, but by teasing it for weeks it meant something when he finally nailed him with the belt.it just seems awkward now to see the "slow face turn". Think about how heels have been made faces recently, the dreaded the good ol "back from an injury video" u know the one, where the show the wrestler get hurt, then they play music, show the surgery and then say Coming Soon". The same one we will see on edge in a few months.The WWE has been going the easy route with story telling 4 so long that it seems awkward to see something like last night.
While this was certainly hard to read, you mentioned something very interesting at the beginning of this post.
One of the most successful "slow-turn" face turns I remember ever seeing was Virgil. For years he was the valet/bodyguard of the Million Dollar Man, but it wasn't until the months leading up to his eventual turn that we started seeing him as also being a victim of the MDMs abuse. When that side of the relationship became apparent, people began clamoring for Virgil to stand up and do something about it. The interplay between these two men became almost as important as the matches that they followed.
What was really well done in this turn was the fact that, for the most part, the interaction between Ted and Virgil did
not have any effect on Ted's matches. The majority of it took place after the matches, or during locker room interviews. Too often we see the valet/wrestler storylines where the valet continuously makes mistakes that cost the wrestler their matches, ultimately leading to a showdown and a face/heel turn for one or the other. In the case of Virgil/MDM, Virgil did his job quite well, he interfered when he was supposed to, he helped Ted win his matches, and yet he still got abused and treated like garbage. This helped him gain a lot more sympathy with the fans, and did a great job building anticipation for the eventual feud between the two. Unfortunately for Virgil, after the inevitable blowoff to the feud, no one cared anymore. Virgil had built his entire career on working for, then feuding with, the Million Dollar Man. Once the relationship was over, he had nowhere else to go with his character, and we last saw him in the role of background scenery for the NWO.
The reason for this old-school history lesson is simple. It appears that the WWE is (at least possibly) trying to work the "slow-turn" face turn with Ted right now. I just find it interesting that one of the best examples of this method from the past involves Ted Sr. in the role of the heel, and this latest version has Ted Jr. in the role of the emerging face. It illustrates the cyclical nature of the business.
Plus it amuses the hell out of me.
