Heel Heat - Is It All "Good" Heat?

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

Bobby "the Brian" Heenan was one of the best, if not THE best manager in the history of pro wrestling. He knew how to draw a reaction for his client, and some of the greatest heels in the business came out from under his wing. That heat would eventually transfer over to his commentary ability, which was also up there in the best of all time. But Heenan wasn't brilliant because he was annoying, like so many of today's most hated individuals. He drew heat because he knew how to work a crowd - how to make 15,000 people immediately turn in their seats and erupt into a chorus of boos.

Today, we have a few guys in wrestling that can draw a good heel reaction by their skill as a character. Mark Henry is great at it, and draws because he's destroyed so many beloved Superstars. Christian is whiny, but he's also king of the cheap heat promo. Wade Barrett cuts the second or third best promo in wrestling today, and it's no secret as to why the crowd comes together to boo him.

But what about Micheal Cole. What about Vickie Guerrero. This question can be applied to a lot of wrestling personalities, but I want to specifically talk about John Laurinaitis' job as Interim General Manager of Raw (hence the placement of this thread in the Raw section). Johnny Ace doesn't draw heat because he's fantastic at his job - at least that's my opinion of him. He draws heat because he's absolutely terrible, and I don't know a single person that actually enjoys his work. So of course when he comes out people are going to boo the heck out of him.

In a sense you could say that he's great at his job, because he draws a reaction. He gets the crowd to boo, and that's his primary job as a heel. Is it? Because I think at the end of the day everyone on the roster should be working together to promote the best product possible. John Laurinaitis may draw one of the best heel reactions today, but if his work is making people want to change the channel...if it's unbearably bad at time...is he still doing the right thing for the business? Should that kind of lazy reaction-getting be tolerated and even pushed in today's product? It's easy enough to garner heat, but it's 100x more easy to go out there and be the most annoying person in the world.

I don't think all heat is necessarily good heat. If a character is not adding to the product in a positive way, it needs to be edited to do so. There are a lot of people that will defend Michael Cole and say that even though he's annoying and is ruining commentary, that is his character. It's ok because he's drawing heel heat and in turn putting over a face... First of all, his antics almost never put over the face. SOmetimes they put over the heel, or make them more hated, but is it justifiable to ruin a product just to gain heat for the same product?

I love watching various TV shows and movies. I love villains, but not because they are annoying. You watch Naruto and you HATE some of the members of the Akatsuki, or Orochimaru, or Sasuke, or whoever... But you don't HATE them because they are constantly making the product worse. If that were the case, you'd just stop watching. In my opinion the WWE needs to refocus how they draw heel heat, and in turn how they enhance the overall product. Continuing to "better" the product by introducing annoying-as-hell characters is just going to keep dropping the ratings.

Thoughts?

 

[WWEgirlxx]

There is a fine line between drawing heat because you intend to and drawing heat because people just don't like you.

John Lauranitis is the perfect example, like you said. He is really bland, and just plain bad at what he is doing. When he first appeared, people were like "oh, ok, new guy….let's boo him because he keeps telling us who he is and it's annoying." But, as WWE always does, they are using that to develop his "character" (I use that loosely because I just don't know where that is going) and feed off the hate the crowd has for him. But in his case, people just generally don't like him, so he doesn't have the "good heat" we're talking about.

I DO NOT like Michael Cole, I don't think he generates the "good heat" either. People are tired of seeing/hearing him.

I think the guys getting the "good heat" right now are Mark Henry and Dolph Ziggler. Especially now that he has a title shot next week on RAW.

 

[Scofield]

There is a fine line between drawing heat because you intend to and drawing heat because people just don't like you.

John Lauranitis is the perfect example, like you said. He is really bland, and just plain bad at what he is doing. When he first appeared, people were like "oh, ok, new guy….let's boo him because he keeps telling us who he is and it's annoying." But, as WWE always does, they are using that to develop his "character" (I use that loosely because I just don't know where that is going) and feed off the hate the crowd has for him. But in his case, people just generally don't like him, so he doesn't have the "good heat" we're talking about.

I DO NOT like Michael Cole, I don't think he generates the "good heat" either. People are tired of seeing/hearing him.

I think the guys getting the "good heat" right now are Mark Henry and Dolph Ziggler. Especially now that he has a title shot next week on RAW.

Well tell me this, If Cole would have stayed Face....alongside a Face & Stale Jerry Lawler & a Face Josh Matthews...they would want him off commentary even more because in my opinion when Michael Cole was a face he was fucking bland as shit & I actually wanted JR back. I still love JR, but Cole as a heel no matter how annoying you think he is and even if he does tend to bury some product the guy is refreshing!

When he was busy burying the Divas, is that not what we think aswell when we watch the Divas?

Whenever The Miz would come out as WWE Champion and Cole would absolutely mark out, isn't that the same passion JR instilled whenever Austin would come out? Because ever since JR left, I have not seen one commentator shed one inch of passion whether its Face Passion or Heel Passion. Most of the commentators today send me to sleep!

As for the whole debate of just being plain simple terrible, well I am sorry if you think they are that terrible then please let me know when Jim Ross gives you a call and askes you to try out for a On-Air Personality with WWE. Again being on topic of being plain horrible, we can put out some of the all time greats that were absolutley terrible in the ring or at something they did but at the same time were a great contribution to the business....WHY????? Because that person whether it be Michael Cole, John Laryngitis, Classy Freddy Blassy, Evolution HHH they ALL PROVOKE EMOTION from the fans.

Whether your booing the living shit out of that person at the arena, yelling abuse at that person at the arena....or at your TV...saying to youself I hate this piece of crap! Folks thats the emotion in this "Entertainment" that they want you to have!

I once remember Triple H saying, it's great when the fans are cheering you...and it's great when the fans are jeering you and hate you but it's bad when you recieve no reaction at all. So when the likes of Michael Cole, John Laryngitis & Vickie Guerrero stop being mentioned on these boards, dirtsheets, Twitter or even in general discussion....I may believe an ounce of what is being said!

As for Dolph Ziggler drawing good heel heat, please fucking shoot me in the head. I love the guy and think he is an exceptional talent but this is whats wrong with todays heels. They aren't heels! Barely even. Especially in this day an age where the average fan is getting smarter and saying hey, that Dolph Ziggler he is kind of an ass on TV but he sure is good in the ring and he sure is interactive on Twitter. If that guy didn't have Vickie Guerrero at his side you would either hear crickets in the arena OR the fans would be trying to get him over as a face somehow way or the other.

 

[amazing_blue]

The thing about Johnny Ace is that he is supposed to be bland, boring and annoying. They even let CM Punk point out on TV what a boring and unexciting guy that he is.

 

[Miz_Mark]

Johnny Ace doesn't draw heat because he's fantastic at his job - at least that's my opinion of him. He draws heat because he's absolutely terrible, and I don't know a single person that actually enjoys his work.

Well now you do, because I enjoy his work, and I am far from alone. He is perfect in this role. The man was born to play soulless power hungry corporate stooge with no creativity or charisma but determined to sell the crowd that he does. There are certainly people who I hate not because I want to see them get beat but because I just don't want to see them, but the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and Interim General Manager of Monday Night Raw is not one of them. He is a big positive each Monday night.

 

[CrayzChris]

I think John Lauranitis' character is hilarious. He is so bland, and so dull and boring - it's funny. Every time he calls himself "Mr.Excitement", I laugh out loud, because it's such a ridiculous statement.

I think that the WWE is in the midst of a huge change. They are making WWE Corporate, the heels. Lauranitis, is the flag-bearer for what the fans perceieve WWE management to be. Old, boring, and out of touch. He goes out of his way to NOT give the fans what they want. He goes out of his way to NOT give the fans who they want to see.

We are seeing a guy like CM Punk become the face of the company. A wiseass with a big mouth, who speaks out against his bosses. Anti-authority, voice of the people. We see a guy like Zack Ryder who made himself a star, ON HIS OWN, despite the WWE "machine" not getting behind him. We're seeing Daniel Bryan as WWE champion, despite the fact that none of the big shots in WWE see anything in him. And we're seeing John Cena on the verge of a heel turn. Cena is doing nothing to change who he is, he's just getting booed because he's "THE GUY" that the WWE machine is pushing.

Hell, even guys like Punk and Ryder now, who were internet darlings, are now being hated by the fans, because the WWE is actually showcasing them.

Wrestling fans are fickle. They don't know what they want! All they know is, they don't want WHATEVER the WWE puts in front of them.

WWE is smart enough to realize that you can't please all the fans all the time. And I think they finally are saying "screw it". Let's do whatever we can to piss off the fans. They think we're assholes...let's be assholes. Having a bland, boring, bumbling idiot, who can't say one sentence without screwing up at least two words as the figurehead is brilliant.

Lauranitis is ACTUALLY the VP of Talent Relations...so having him on TV acting like a moron who doesn't know what he's doing, just adds more fuel to the fire. We are led to believe that that is how he is in reality. And it just furthers the fans perception that the WWE suits are a bunch of idiots. I like that they are blurring the lines between storyline and reality.

I think the fans are to blame for all the changes going on. If you're a bad guy, but you're good at it...you get cheered. If you're a good guy and you're good at it...you get booed. The fans basically go 100% against what they are supposed to be doing. It's been going on for years, but it's really apparent right now. The WWE are working on figuring out a way to get the reaction they want from the fans.

If being incredibly annoying like Vicki Guerrero gets at reaction, great. At least it's getting a genuine reaction from the crowd. The same with Michael Cole...and the same with John Lauranitis. I think the WWE is starting to outsmart the fans, and I kinda love it.

 

[WWEgirlxx]

Well tell me this, If Cole would have stayed Face....alongside a Face & Stale Jerry Lawler & a Face Josh Matthews...they would want him off commentary even more because in my opinion when Michael Cole was a face he was fucking bland as shit & I actually wanted JR back. I still love JR, but Cole as a heel no matter how annoying you think he is and even if he does tend to bury some product the guy is refreshing!

When he was busy burying the Divas, is that not what we think aswell when we watch the Divas?

Whenever The Miz would come out as WWE Champion and Cole would absolutely mark out, isn't that the same passion JR instilled whenever Austin would come out? Because ever since JR left, I have not seen one commentator shed one inch of passion whether its Face Passion or Heel Passion. Most of the commentators today send me to sleep!

As for the whole debate of just being plain simple terrible, well I am sorry if you think they are that terrible then please let me know when Jim Ross gives you a call and askes you to try out for a On-Air Personality with WWE. Again being on topic of being plain horrible, we can put out some of the all time greats that were absolutley terrible in the ring or at something they did but at the same time were a great contribution to the business....WHY????? Because that person whether it be Michael Cole, John Laryngitis, Classy Freddy Blassy, Evolution HHH they ALL PROVOKE EMOTION from the fans.

Whether your booing the living shit out of that person at the arena, yelling abuse at that person at the arena....or at your TV...saying to youself I hate this piece of crap! Folks thats the emotion in this "Entertainment" that they want you to have!

I once remember Triple H saying, it's great when the fans are cheering you...and it's great when the fans are jeering you and hate you but it's bad when you recieve no reaction at all. So when the likes of Michael Cole, John Laryngitis & Vickie Guerrero stop being mentioned on these boards, dirtsheets, Twitter or even in general discussion....I may believe an ounce of what is being said!

As for Dolph Ziggler drawing good heel heat, please fucking shoot me in the head. I love the guy and think he is an exceptional talent but this is whats wrong with todays heels. They aren't heels! Barely even. Especially in this day an age where the average fan is getting smarter and saying hey, that Dolph Ziggler he is kind of an ass on TV but he sure is good in the ring and he sure is interactive on Twitter. If that guy didn't have Vickie Guerrero at his side you would either hear crickets in the arena OR the fans would be trying to get him over as a face somehow way or the other.

I never said it was a bad idea to have Cole as a heel commentator. I'm just saying he genuinely annoys the fans. They don't boo him because he's a heel, they boo him because he legitimately annoys them.

The exact opposite is what I meant for Ziggler. I don't personally like the guy, but he's drawing "good heat" (I put it in quotes because I'm going off what the original poster was talking about) as in, he's being booed because he's a heel, not because the fans are annoyed by him. Trust me, I'm not a Ziggler fan.

I'm also aware that it is part of John Lauranitis' character to be bland and boring. Wasn't that the point? I know they let Punk attack him for it because it's intentional. I'm simply stating that the fans hate him no matter what because he IS boring. And WWE used that to their advantage to create the character.

I'm just going off what the original poster defined as good heat, heel heat.

 

[xavyer]

Well, it's like some of you guys pointed out, if your're a heel and good at it, you get cheered, and if your're a face and good at it you get booed, today's reactions from the fans is confusing, but in my opinion, the superstars that got the best reaction from the fans are no longer with the company, specially Jericho, it's like he and the fans had a special relationship, they taunted him, he tunted them back, it was fun, also with Shawn Michaels, when the fans booed him, they did it with a smile on their face, even Vince McMahon or Stephanie could make the croud boo them really hard, but today, at least in my opinion, Vicky and Michael Cole draw the biggest reaction from the crowd, and in Vicky's case, that bennefits Dolph Ziggler, the last heel in my opinnion who could draw heat from the fans was Edge, because he could be evil or funny, and the fans saw that and that's why he got good heel reaction, but today's heels are not like that anymoreit's more about themselves more than to entertain, that's why they don't get the same reactions as the guys who are no longer with the WWE........

 

[Jackal960]

There IS good heat and bad heat. If I go out to the ring and do stupid stuff, everyone will boo me out of the building. Noone will pat me on the back and say "well done! you got a great crowd reaction. You are a great heel!"

Getting boos doesn't make anyone interesting. Just because you get a reaction, doesn't mean you are doing great to deserve your spot. You need to be watchable. People should be excited about the promo you will do. Even if they hate you, they should respect you as a heel.

It has been a while that I watched but Vickie used to come out and yell "Excuse me" way before anyone even started booing her. Then as a reaction, to say "get the f out of here" people start booing her. That IS what we call cheap heat. And yes, if she were a face, it would be terrible, just like Michael Cole. But if someone is not a good face, and only gets cheap heat as a heel, obviously there is not much you can do with her. Instead of claiming she is better as a heel, just say she is not good neither as a heel nor as a face. She needs a character change, not necessarily a face turn, but change the way she acts. Same goes with Michael Cole and John whatever. Anyone heard of the term X-Pac heat? There is a reason for the creation of such a term. Getting cheap boos can be easy, but being interesting is not.

 

[Scofield]

I never said it was a bad idea to have Cole as a heel commentator. I'm just saying he genuinely annoys the fans. They don't boo him because he's a heel, they boo him because he legitimately annoys them.

The exact opposite is what I meant for Ziggler. I don't personally like the guy, but he's drawing "good heat" (I put it in quotes because I'm going off what the original poster was talking about) as in, he's being booed because he's a heel, not because the fans are annoyed by him. Trust me, I'm not a Ziggler fan.

I'm also aware that it is part of John Lauranitis' character to be bland and boring. Wasn't that the point? I know they let Punk attack him for it because it's intentional. I'm simply stating that the fans hate him no matter what because he IS boring. And WWE used that to their advantage to create the character.

I'm just going off what the original poster defined as good heat, heel heat.

As much as it's the fans right to cheer n jeer whomever they want but thats what I see as a typical WWE fan. Nothing but glorified sheep.

They will jeer the heel because that is who the WWE want you to jeer for. A wrestling fan will appreciate the pure douchebagery of a heel for the amount of heat he drews due to how annoying he/she percieves to be to the crowd.

To me, the heels of this era don't do anything to really justify themselves as heels. Yea sure attacking the good guy may make the sheep jeer you, but I remember a time when a heel would just rip into the fans and when the fans would cheer for him he would rip them back apart...or a time when a heel would cut a promo and have fans wanting to jump the guardrail due to what the guy in the ring said regardless whether the fan knew it was scripted or not.

Or a time when you have someone he is a true great & general of the squared circle face off against someone and using less moves than the 5 trick pony himself John Cena.

 

[DirtyD79]

There is a difference. Good heat is where the audience wants to see the heel lose or get embarassed. X-Pac heat leads to the audience going to the bathroom or changing the channel anytime that heel shows up.

 

[Scofield]

There is? X-Pac heat? What the hell is that? The guy was a good heel and not a bad grappler either. This whole labelling Vickie Guerrero/X-Pac heat is assanine...heat is heat.

Going to the bathroom or changing the channel? I'm sorry thats not heat at all, that's all not giving a shit at all. No pun intended.

See: 75% of Divas Matches, WWE Superstars or NXT matches for not giving a shit/bathroom break/changing the channel.

 

[Ellye]

I had never seen anyone mention the possibility of Vickie Guerrero drawing "bad heat" before. I thought it was one of the few things everyone around kinda agreed: she's a fantastic heel manager. She draws legit heel heat, lots and lots of it.

And I also agree that the only kind of "bad heat" that we're likely to see nowadays is the "I couldn't care less about this person"-heat type.

The other type of "bad heat" that I can think of is people genuinely feeling personally offended by a worker - this is extremely unlikely to happen in this day and age, WWE is smart enough to avoid truly polemic gimmicks.

 

[Jackal960]

There is? X-Pac heat? What the hell is that?

This is from wikipedia (since you never heard of it):

"Go-away heat" refers to heat drawn by performers in whom the fans are not interested in any capacity and do not want to watch. Heel characters are supposed to be booed (i.e. Roddy Piper in his early WWF years, Bret Hart during his "Canadian hero" angle), and a negative crowd reaction generally means that the fans are interested in the wrestler and will pay money to watch him out of hope he will lose or be humiliated by the babyfaces. However, for a wrestler drawing go-away heat, the crowd ignores face or heel alignment and boos the wrestler because they are actually bored with or have disdain for the performer (not the character) and would rather watch someone or something else. "Go away" heat is generally not acknowledged by announcers as it indicates that an element of the product is failing to go over with fans. The term "[Wrestler name] heat" has been used to describe the kind of heat directed solely at an individual wrestler; for example, "X-Pac heat" was used commonly during the Invasion storyline when X-Pac was booed and his opponents cheered despite X-Pac being a face at the time, simply because the fans disliked X-Pac as a wrestler.

So, since it made to wikipedia, I am sure there is something called X-Pac heat, used by lots of people. Now this doesn't mean you need to hate X-Pac to acknowledge such a heat. I personally don't hate him to say the least. But this type of heat is referred as X-Pac heat. And it is not good.

I had never seen anyone mention the possibility of Vickie Guerrero drawing "bad heat" before.

I can just list you a fair amount of threads about Vickie, how people had "bad heat" against her. As I said I haven't been watching her for a while, so not sure if anything has changed with her attitude. But since one of the reasons of theis thread opened is her, probably nothing changed much. When she came out, she normally had little response from the crowd and she started screaming "excuse me" then the crowd started roaring. That's not how you get heat. That's the definition of cheap heat. And it will only make people hate you more, regardless of if you are a heel, face or whatever you do.

 

[Cookie14]

It's a shame that we have X-Pac heat. how much better would it be if it was called 'Cole heat' or 'Laurinitis heat'? They seem to be competing to take over that title from Mr Waltman.....
Vickie is actually a very good heel, just like Ziggler, Ricardo Rodriguez, Henry and Cody Rhodes.
Cole and Laurinitis are just awful and annoying. No-one wants to see them, tha is why they get heat. But is that really any different to people like Miz/Del Rio etc who just play 'copy-cat' heels, ie, they are a carbon copy of someone we have already seen, and, as a result, we are sick of the gimmick and give that heat and ignore the actual person playing the role.

 

[Rampage Bentley]

There is? X-Pac heat? What the hell is that? The guy was a good heel and not a bad grappler either. This whole labelling Vickie Guerrero/X-Pac heat is assanine...heat is heat.

Going to the bathroom or changing the channel? I'm sorry thats not heat at all, that's all not giving a shit at all. No pun intended.

See: 75% of Divas Matches, WWE Superstars or NXT matches for not giving a shit/bathroom break/changing the channel.

Not true at all... I'll give you an example.

The Hardy's. I actually stopped watching TNA entirely because of The Hardy's. It's not that I didn't "give a shit." I hated them so much that I refused to watch them.

While some die hard fans are digging the new Cole, (no pun intended) he scares off the casual viewer and people flipping through the channels. How is that good for business?

The purpose for gaining heat is two-fold

1. To put over the babyface
2. To make people hate you to the point they would pay money to see you get beat up.

If you're heat doesn't fulfill BOTH of those requirements, then you have bad heat.

 

[Scofield]

I'm quite bloody aware what heat is aswell as X-Pac/Syxx/1-2-3 Kid/Sean Waltman heat is. Heat is heat regardless of what it is. Heat today like I have said time and time again is fucking warped in this era.

Yea well how was Cole being the same character that he has been for his entire WWE tenure aswell as having 3 Face annoucers on one good broadcast good for business?

"The purpose for gaining heat is two-fold

1. To put over the babyface
2. To make people hate you to the point they would pay money to see you get beat up.

If you're heat doesn't fulfill BOTH of those requirements, then you have bad heat."

2. To make people hate you to the point they would pay money to see you get beat up?

So what your telling me is people do not want to see Michael Cole get his mouth filled and humiliated aswell as get his come uppance? Your telling people do not want to see CM Punk slap the GTS on John Laryngitis and tear him a new asshole? Your telling me now that you don't want to see Vickie Guerrero tombstoned much like she was a few years ago by the Undertaker, I remember fans popping for that.

Last time I checked a heel is not supposed to be liked at all but your right they are their to put over the babyface BUT remember as much as this is "Wrestling" this is "Entertainment" and has been for many many years now. The thought of some beer ravaging texas redneck slamming the snot out of his billion dollar boss appeals to people in the "Entertainment" era.

 

[Rampage Bentley]

I'm quite bloody aware what heat is aswell as X-Pac/Syxx/1-2-3 Kid/Sean Waltman heat is. Heat is heat regardless of what it is. Heat today like I have said time and time again is fucking warped in this era.

Yea well how was Cole being the same character that he has been for his entire WWE tenure aswell as having 3 Face annoucers on one good broadcast good for business?

"The purpose for gaining heat is two-fold

1. To put over the babyface
2. To make people hate you to the point they would pay money to see you get beat up.

If you're heat doesn't fulfill BOTH of those requirements, then you have bad heat."

2. To make people hate you to the point they would pay money to see you get beat up?

So what your telling me is people do not want to see Michael Cole get his mouth filled and humiliated aswell as get his come uppance? Your telling people do not want to see CM Punk slap the GTS on John Laryngitis and tear him a new asshole? Your telling me now that you don't want to see Vickie Guerrero tombstoned much like she was a few years ago by the Undertaker, I remember fans popping for that.

Last time I checked a heel is not supposed to be liked at all but your right they are their to put over the babyface BUT remember as much as this is "Wrestling" this is "Entertainment" and has been for many many years now. The thought of some beer ravaging texas redneck slamming the snot out of his billion dollar boss appeals to people in the "Entertainment" era.

People absolutely do want to see Cole, Vickie, and John Lairvbksbvksjbvjdedvbksjbvitus get their come uppance, the problem is that they never do.

What made Bobby Heenan one of the greatest heels ever is not just that he could get under your skin, not just his scathing mic work or his hateability. What put Bobby in the great category was that when it came time, he was willing to put on that weasel suit and get the living hell beat out of him by whatever face he was feuding with. He gave the people what they wanted.

Cole's heat is bad because HE NEVER LETS YOU BEAT HIM. He jobbed to Lawler at Mania, but then they "reversed" it so he ends up with the cheap win, Austin pours beer all over him the next night, and he smiles and says it's his victory celebration. Cole isn't willing to put anyone over. It's soul crushing and frustrating.

 

[Scofield]

People absolutely do want to see Cole, Vickie, and John Lairvbksbvksjbvjdedvbksjbvitus get their come uppance, the problem is that they never do.

What made Bobby Heenan one of the greatest heels ever is not just that he could get under your skin, not just his scathing mic work or his hateability. What put Bobby in the great category was that when it came time, he was willing to put on that weasel suit and get the living hell beat out of him by whatever face he was feuding with. He gave the people what they wanted.

Cole's heat is bad because HE NEVER LETS YOU BEAT HIM. He jobbed to Lawler at Mania, but then they "reversed" it so he ends up with the cheap win, Austin pours beer all over him the next night, and he smiles and says it's his victory celebration. Cole isn't willing to put anyone over. It's soul crushing and frustrating.

The fact that they never get their come uppance does not lay in their hands! Christ! Even though I am not an "insider" even the casual internet wrestling fan knows that the likes of whom you mentioned have little to no creative control over their character. Yes they are told that they are going to be a heel and that they are going to need to play up the role of someone who pisses off the crowd but they have NO control over whom they go over or what angle they are going to partake in! Jesus H.

Alot of the issues in todays world of wrestling lay in the hands of "creative".

Cole isn't willing to put over anyone? Did you speak to him personally about this? Last time I checked he put over Jerry Lawler at Over the Limit, whilst being on the receiving on of a sharpshooter from Bret Hart.

If creative control or Vince himself tells Michael Cole he is going end Undertakers streak at Mania, Michael Cole is ending the Undertakers streak at Mania. If creative control tells Vickie Guerrero that shes going to partake in a Spirit Squad ******** storyline than thats what she does even if it's pure garbage.

At the end of the day, the 3 mentioned Vickie, John & Michael Cole do their job very well and thats pissing the fans of getting a reaction.

If you have no reaction...your either on Superstars, NXT or Future Endeavored.

 

[Twocenter]

Heel heat can be of several kinds. If you take John Cena into consideration, he gets heavy heel heat even though he is the main babyface of WWE because people(18+) are fed up with his character. They dislike his stale PG Character. He has been doing same thing since 2008 without tweaking his character. He gets real heel heat because fans hate his character. This ain't good if this goes on increasing and necessary actions are not taken however, Vince likes this.

Secondly, Vickie gets a huge heel heat because she is really very annoying. She makes me break my TV every time she says "Excuse me". This is fantastic because this is what she is supposed to do. Make us annoyed but sometime frustrated as well and I change my channel. This gains her heel heat. Cole gets one of the biggest heat today. He keeps on running his mouth on faces and marks out on Miz and other heels. He is a heelish commentator and generates heat that makes us change our channel. This is a good thing because he is supposed to do but can turn around if its annoying as some people say.

Similarly, Cody Rhodes, Wade Barret and Mark generate heat because they have great gimmick/character. Mark Henry's Hall of Pain gimmick is an excellent heel gimmick. This is a perfect way to generate heat by constantly talking about Hall of Pain and its victims. Cody Rhodes is a character which is against the people since he is arrogant and proud of his look. His arrogance generates heat and this applies to Ziggler as well. Wade Barret is a traditional heel. He is arrogant and proud. He gets heel heat due to his British Brawler Character much like William Regal which is good. Alberto is the same but he sometimes gets heat because of his limited mic skills.

So, all heel heat is not good heat. The heel heat which makes you watch WWE is good but heel heat that makes you change channel can be bad.

Just my two cents.

 

[Rampage Bentley]

The fact that they never get their come uppance does not lay in their hands! Christ! Even though I am not an "insider" even the casual internet wrestling fan knows that the likes of whom you mentioned have little to no creative control over their character. Yes they are told that they are going to be a heel and that they are going to need to play up the role of someone who pisses off the crowd but they have NO control over whom they go over or what angle they are going to partake in! Jesus H.

Alot of the issues in todays world of wrestling lay in the hands of "creative".

Cole isn't willing to put over anyone? Did you speak to him personally about this? Last time I checked he put over Jerry Lawler at Over the Limit, whilst being on the receiving on of a sharpshooter from Bret Hart.

If creative control or Vince himself tells Michael Cole he is going end Undertakers streak at Mania, Michael Cole is ending the Undertakers streak at Mania. If creative control tells Vickie Guerrero that shes going to partake in a Spirit Squad ******** storyline than thats what she does even if it's pure garbage.

At the end of the day, the 3 mentioned Vickie, John & Michael Cole do their job very well and thats pissing the fans of getting a reaction.

If you have no reaction...your either on Superstars, NXT or Future Endeavored.

That doesn't make it any less frustrating.

Just because Cole doesn't make the decisions, doesn't change anything. I, as a fan, never find solace in that, it's not Cole's decision to never be beaten or shut up.

When I say he's not willing to put people over, what i really mean is that he goes out of his way to bury talent, storylines, and the overall show.

And while he may not make the ultimate decision, he does choose how he acts and reacts to the positions he's put in. Like the Austin example I gave, he chose to take the little bit of humiliation he was scripted and completely no-sell it.