Heels or Faces: Who Do You Cheer For?

[It's Damn Real!]

I'm curious...

Suspension of disbelief intact, kayfabe in full effect, who do you find yourself rooting for more — the faces or the heels, and why?

A psychologist might theorize that fans are most likely to support/root for those closest like them, or those they most want to emulate, which makes sense if you subscribe to the theory that a man befriends a man like himself, but what if you don't?

Do any of you find yourself rooting against your own interests? Why?

Personally I always find myself cheering on heels (for the most part), and is it any wonder I'm also told I have an ego that rivals most? Seems I'd fit said psychologists theory, but what about you?

 

[Ferbian]

If we're talking strictly kayfabe then of course I'll find myself cheering the faces. Before I truly figured out that it was all made up material in terms of feuds and all that I was incredibly big on hating Randy Orton during his feud with Triple H back in 2009. Purely due to the fact that I thought it was real, and because Randy was just such a big asshole to put it simple.

And even without suspending disbelief and playing kayfabe I would find myself cheering the faces mostly. Sure I got some heels that I really like, yet the primary ones I like are usually faces - Triple H, John Cena, Shawn Michaels.

But then of course it also matters who they're up against. I've never been a big Hardy fan back when he was a face in 2009 and was WHC champion. So I was quick to get on the Punk bandwagon, as well as the Edge bandwagon when they were both feuding with Jeff.

 

[shattered dreams]

I usually cheer for whatever direction I'd like the story to go or whichever character I prefer. Sometimes I am just cheering for an entertaining match from both sides or a specific type of finish. It usually has to be something special for me to pick one side to fervently support. I definitely do not hate all heels or support all babyfaces though. Joe, when he is on his A game, is one of the few that can get me to suspend total disbelief and just excitedly watch him destroy someone. Probably goes back to stone cold and my support of DTA loners with an attitude does seem to have some elements of my personality in it. I do get caught up in underdog or first time champion stories though and not sure exactly how that ties in.

 

[TheSDQQKidJoe]

Honestly, even though i cheer the faces, I find myself cheering heels, (and so do England and Canada, but thats a different story). I've always cheered HHH face and heel because he's an ok entertainer and I have done the same for Rock, Austin, and Jericho. But lately I and (some people) have been cheering Dolph Ziggler and Wade Barrett. I have no clue why but the heels today are doing a really great job.

 

[hatehabsforever]

There was an interesting discussions of this topic a couple of months ago, perhaps Sly will chime in with his two cents worth because he was a big part of the discussion the last time.

The suggestion was, if you are cheering for the heels, well then they're not really functioning as heels in the true sense of the word, kayfabe or otherwise. Heels are supposed to be booed, and if you aren't booing them, they're not functioning well as heels. They're faces with an edge, an attitude, but not really heels. Take Alberto del Rio for example. Classic heel. I hate that son of a bitch. I cannot imagine cheering for him to win. He's a true heel; very few if any are supporting him or hoping for him to be victorious.

Faces are the ones who get the cheers. If you are cheering for someone, they are on their way to face status. See Randy Orton, John Morrison, or MVP, heels who became popular with the fans, starting to elicit cheers among the WWE universe, and so became faces (with mixed results I might add). Hopefully the Miz is not headed down this same path.

So I guess I cheer for the faces. Only problem with this theory? I am cheering for the Miz in a big way these days. When did I prefer JoMo, and when did I root for him? When he was the brash cocky arrogant heel. Do I like MVP now? No, but I did when he was a heel. Maybe the lines between face and heel are a little blurrier now than they used to be.

 

[Dyno Kid]

Don't know why but I always was more of a heel fan. Loved guys like Flair, Piper, the Road Warriors, Stan Hansen, the 4 Horsemen, and the Freebirds as a kid. HATED Hogan and guys like him with a passion !

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

If a wrestling fan is watching live either on TV or inside the arena I cannot think of a reason why one should cheer for a heel.

The best way I could explain this is by making a direct comparison with films. We know that both Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger essayed their roles in Batman and The Dark Knight respectively extremely well. But while you were watching the movies did you seriously want Joker to win over Batman?

I think that perhaps you can appreciate the fact that a guy is playing an awesome heel. Maybe you can even go to his twitter website these days and leave a comment how much you liked his performance. But I think it won't please him if he finds out that you were actually cheering for him while he was playing a heel.

I gather from hatehabsforever's post that Slyfox said something about heels not doing a good enough job if they are getting cheered. I'd like to add that the fans, especially smarks, aren't doing a good job either if they are actually cheering for a heel while he is playing one.

 

[future admin]

If I go to a show, I would cheer for the faces. Aside from that, I cheer for the people I like. It is just like in general life; if you like someone, or something, you will cheer or like it.
To wrestling, like many have stated, if you are getting cheered as a heel, or booed as a face, you are not doing your job. If you are being cheered as a heel, garner some cheap heat, or if you are a face, beat up a heel.
To wrap up my post, I cheer anybody, just like real life!

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I tend to just cheer for the wrestler I like most, whether its their gimmick or in-ring ability. It can be either. I don't end up cheering a face or booing a heel just because they have been given a specific role by management.

I like Kurt Angle, both as a wrestler and as a character so I cheer for him no matter what his role in. Same with The Rock when he switched back to his heel role in the latter days of his WWE career.

The only one I can remember hating just because they were playing a heel were Triple H and Chris Benoit back in the late-90s, when I was 12-13 y/o. I knew wrestling was scripted and all that, but their personas were such that I really was against them winning, and was going crazy for The Rock to beat them.

It depends on the wrestler really, some do have the ability to make you hate them when you should, but I think as I have got older I am more interested in their actual wrestling ability and judge who I am going to support on that and how good they are on the mic, be it a heel promo or a face promo, doesnt matter.

I reckon it was more fun when I cheered the faces and booed the heels, but I cant get into wrestling that way any more, sadly.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Neither. I cheer for who I think is cooler, regardless of their face/heel status. If the face in the feud is annoying, the heel gets my vote. If the heel is a cool anti-hero, the heel gets my vote. If the face is someone who's character onscreen is someone I can support, the face gets my vote. If the heel is incredibly annoying and generates "GO AWAY" heat from me, the face gets my vote. So I guess it's the heels more often for me, but I'm different in the sense that I'm going to root for whoever I like more out of the competitors. Face and heel status are meant to help us decide who to cheer, but there's no law saying we can't cheer for the heels. Some people are like me and just cheer the guy we think is cooler. That's a lot more simple and makes watching the show more enjoyable because we are allowed to root for anyone we want and having to worry about if we like faces better all the time or heels all the time gets too complicated for me. Give me the more interesting character over a generic face/heel anyday.

 

[LitasRevenge79]

This is an interesting subject. Among my group of friends who follow wrestling, I'm the one in the group who has been the odd person out to actually cheer the 'heel' in the angle that is being played out. I don't think that makes me a mean person or that I want to get out and hurt people. Sure sometimes that person is doing things I subconciously think "Damn, if I could get away with some of that, it must be great to act out some of that stuff..." But to me, I've always cheered the heels, like LAX when they were heel, Edge as a heel, even Alberto DelRio (in some cases), Batista as a heel, CM Punk (face or heel..more so heel.) Kane as a heel, Randy Orton (face or heel..more heel.) Roddy Piper, boy did he do some VERY heel things back then in the Federation days. Jeff Jarrett big heel love from me, and the creme de la creme, Nexus leader, Wade Barrett, the epitome of evil right now. To me, as someone said earlier in the postings that its about the in-ring talent, and charisma in playing that 'gimmick.' To me, its about the person within the 'on-stage' persona. Because even the heels will be one way on the stage and will still be able to be personable offstage knowing that without fans, they are nothing. No matter if they are heel or face, you are always going to have people who go against the grain and will want to be THAT ONE person who will stand up and cheer for that person even if no one else does. I'm proud to be one of those people.

 

[DangerousDave]

I have always liked heels, that's why my favorite wrestler of all time is Ric Flair, the dirtiest player in the game. The bigger the cheat, the dirtier the move, the nastier the promo, the more vicious the ambush and beat down, the better I like it. That may explain my second favorite wrestler of all time, Kevin Sullivan. If you aren't familiar with Sullivan, go to YouTube and search "Kevin Sullivan squash match" and you will see what I mean. I would say at least 95% of the time I cheer for the heel. There are certain wrestlers I like whether they are heel or face, but always prefer them as a heel. Its the heels in the business that keep things stirred up in wrestling. Being a heel mark makes you a heel by default to the fans around you. I've had many good laughs at the reactions of little kids and not so little kids when I cheer heels.

I see no problem with fans cheering heels, because there are a lot of people out there like myself that prefer heels over faces. If everyone just cheered heels and booed heels it would get boring quick. It would be like going to a football game where one team is cheered and the other side booed, it isn't possible for everyone in the stadium to like one team and hate the other.

 

[Disturbed]

When I was younger, I always ruited for the BabyFaces. I marked out for whomever was a good guy at the tiime. Now it all depends who is wrestling. Generally I go for heels now, that I have gotten older and find heels more entertaining than faces. The BabyFaces these days seem to cartoonish and superhero like whenever this is wrestling not DC Universe. The heels on the other hand are more unpredictable and keep you on the edge of your seats as the Faces are bland and boring and made for little kids to cheer for not me.

 

[Dyno Kid]

If a wrestling fan is watching live either on TV or inside the arena I cannot think of a reason why one should cheer for a heel.

Just speaking for myself it just comes down to preference. I just tended to side more with the heels, they were just so much more cooler to me. Hogan with the stupid "Say your prayers, eat your vitimans" crap was so lame and beyond stupid to me. I was always rooting for guys like Piper, Orndorff, and Savage who were all much cooler and way less lame than him to me.

Same thing like in the case of the Rock n Roll Express vs the Midnight Express. No way in the world was I gonna root for that teeny boper team against the Midnights and the funniest manager going in Jim Cornette ! Then you just had the big ass kickers like Stan Hansen, Bruiser Brody, the Road Warriors that you had to respect because of how powerful they were !

Don't get me wrong I did have some faces that I liked, Terry Taylor, the Von Erich's, Dusty, Tony Atlas, Barry Windham, and Ted Dibiase pre-WWF just to name a few but the heels for the most part were for me.

 

[RVDgurl]

I've been a wrestling fan since I was 5 years old and even as child (before I had any idea what kayfabe was) I was generally drawn more to the heels- I loved the Undertaker and Demolition, both who spend the early parts of their careers flipping between face and heel. I have always cheered for specific wrestlers regardless of whether they were supposed to be the "good guy" or the "bad guy". As a adult, I still find this to be true. There are specific wrestlers that I cheer for regardless.

 

[I_Am_Electro_Boy]

It depends on who's in the feud, if I really like the face I'll cheer for him and if I really like the heel I'll cheer for them. But if I don't really care about either of them I'll generally cheer the heel because I normally find them more entertaining, also if I don't like the face or heel I'll cheer for the other person. When Kofi and Ziggler feuded over the IC title I cheered for Ziggler because I don't like Kofi.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Sometimes I like to cheer the bad guys. I'm really enjoying Jeff Hardy's new Antichrist Of Professional Wrestling character, and I do go nuts for CM Punk when ever I get the chance. Technically, we're supposed to boo guys like Hardy, Punk, Flair, and Barrett, but in some cases, we end up cheering for them. It can be cool to root for the bad guys every now and then. A lot of us probably rooted for the good guys when we were younger, but as we grew older, we realized pro wrestling wasn't real. Now a days a lot of us probably cheer for who ever entertains us. If a wrestler can entertain me, then he or she will get my support.

 

[BillAlfonso]

I typically root for the face because that's the person who has to win in the end. Even if I like the heel's character more, for example, the number one feud when I was a kid was Ric Flair vs Sting. I liked Ric's character more as I grew older and wised up that there's no one on Earth that's as good, clean, and pure as guys like Sting, Hogan, and Warrior were made out to be(although my family often ridicules me for being a goody goody), I still cheered for Sting and booed Ric Flair. Even if you like the person being the heel more than the face and want to show your appreciation, you boo him because that's what he wants. That's the kind of heat he's trying to draw.

 

[Blush]

I cheer whomever interests me, face or heel. Of course, when I was little, I'd root for the face because that's just what was done. Cheer for the good guy and boo the bad guy. Now I just find the heels my preference because they have more leeway than faces. In shows/books/movies I'm the same way, but it's also influenced by the fact that I tend to find supporting (good or bad) characters more interesting than generic good-main-storyline guys.

One of the only shows that's really thrown me for a loop was Prison Break in terms of preferring "face" or "heel" because they changed so rapidly throughout the series. The only guy in wrestling that could make me either cheer or be completely perplexed on booing was Eddie Guerrero. That man could tell a story and could turn it off and on like a light switch.