If your favorite wrestler turned heel would you still root for him?

[agentmichaelscarn]

The thread about cheering heels got me thinking of this. Say your favorite wrestler went heel how would you react? I'm not just talking about a guy you like but your absolute favorite. Hypothetically speaking if Cena was your favorite guy and next week he completely turned on the fans and went heel would you still like him or root for him? I think many fans would answer that yes, which is why I think nowadays you see alot of heels get cheered regardless of what they do or what their psychology is because many of them were faces at one time.

From personal experience I know it never effected me when it came to my favorite wrestler because I obviously knew that it was a work. I was and still am a huge Bret Hart fan and when he went heel in 97 I still rooted for him, despite the fact he bad mouthed my country and all of its fans. Why did I? Because he was my favorite wrestler and I knew it was just a work so why should it change the way I feel about him when I know he doesn't mean it? Now if he did this from the start and it was before I was a fan of his my feelings would be different and I certainly wouldn't have rooted for him.

Same thing with Hogan when he turned heel, I was such a Hogan mark it didn't change my feelings about him despite him turning heel and bad mouthing the fans.

So what would you do if it happened or what did you do if it already happened to you?

 

[Pimpin]

Hell yeah I would still root for my favorite if he turned heel. Hell that's why I cheer for Edge to this day cause back in 2002-2003 there was something about him that made him become one of my favorite stars. You shouldn't hate your favorite wrestler if they turned heel, no you should continue to cheer for them cause you spent long long time cheering for them so them being a heel shouldn't change that.

 

[BooCocky]

I would cheer a heel but only in a way that heels are supposed to be cheered. I would boo the living shit out of them. Booing them tells them they are doing a good job. Cheering them says they are doing a shitty job.

You shouldn't hate your favorite wrestler if they turned heel, no you should continue to cheer for them cause you spent long long time cheering for them so them being a heel shouldn't change that.

Yes it should, you are supposed to hate them, and in the long run, all of those people booing a face and cheering a heel are hurting there characters. You are not bigger than Edge so you should do your favorite a favor and boo him.

Same thing with Hogan when he turned heel, I was such a Hogan mark it didn't change my feelings about him despite him turning heel and bad mouthing the fans.

So, you were set out to hurt your favorite by cheering a heel? . Makes no sense to me.

 

[WrestlingHistorian]

Of course I would cheer for him, I don't draw a line between heel or face and I cheer my favorites weather they are winning matches fairly, or cheating and stealing to get their wins. I never understood the "Cheer the good guy, jeer the bad guy" way of doing things....

 

[agentmichaelscarn]

So, you were set out to hurt your favorite by cheering a heel? . Makes no sense to me.

So instead I force myself to hate a guy that I always liked because he is a "bad guy"? That doesn't make any sense, it kinda takes the fun out of things when you're not allowed to cheer for somebody you like just because he is portrayed as the "bad guy". Why do most people watch wrestling? Most people watch it to follow and root for their favorite wrestler, that's what makes it fun, now you can't and you're supposed to root against him and hate him, that takes the fun out of it. It would be like somebody telling you not to root for your favorite sports team anymore and to start rooting against them. What fun would that be? I don't think I would be hurting him by cheering him for him either, do you think in the history of wrestling a guy was buried or fired because he was a heel and got cheered but he was making money for the company and was drawing the biggest reaction? I doubt it, if he was drawing the biggest reactions from the crowd chances are he is going to be getting a push whether they were boos or pops.

I also never understood the logic about it being so horrible for you to root for a heel. Yeah people will say "Well you're not supposed to, they're supposed to be booed and if they don't there not doing their job". Where does it say that you're not allowed to or not supposed to? Do they pass out handbooks or rule books that state that? Cause last time I checked pro wrestling is a business, so whether you choose to pay money and support the company to cheer for a heel or you pay money and support the company to boo and root against the heel you're still paying money to see them. In my eyes that means that they are in fact doing their job because ultimately a wrestlers job is to put butts in the seats and make people watch the show and make money for their company and that's what they would be doing.

The most successful times in the past 10 years or so in WWE or WCW their heels were being cheered, not more than the faces but they still got cheers. Watch videos of the NWO they were booed out of the building at first but within 6 months they were drawing pops anytime their music hit. The only time they really got booed and were rooted against was with Sting and when Goldberg beat Hogan for the belt and that was because both of those guys were so over it wasn't even funny. But anytime Scott Hall did his "are you here to see the NWO or WCW thing" the NWO always got equal to more pops than WCW. Yet WCW was drawing huge ratings so you think Bischoff or anybody else in the company actually cared? They were making money and that's all that mattered.

Same with the WWF during the attitude era or around there, the only person that wasn't was McMahon. Before the attitude era started Austin was getting cheered as a heel and WWE was slowly getting more popular because of it. In 98 or so when The Rock was a heel people were cheering him yet people were paying money to see him and ratings were going up. In 2001 when Austin turned heel, he got booed at first but then he was getting cheered again and people were still watching, so you think Vince gave a damn? I doubt it all he cared about was the fact people were still watching and paying money. In 2003 when The Rock turned heel same thing happened and people still paid their money to see him.

Look at Jericho now for example, people say he is doing this great job because people are booing him yet when he was champion ratings were shit, so how is he doing a good job when poeple don't pay to see him? Is it just because he is getting the reaction that he is supposedly supposed to even though no where does it show that he is supposed to get booed? What would be better for the WWE that or if Jericho was getting scattered cheers and the ratings were up? I'm pretty sure the latter would be and Vince McMahon would take that 10 times out of 10. You saw it with Cena, it's a lesser extent now but in 06-08 many times he was booed out of the building or atleast there were enough people where you could hear it but he was still making money for the company and people were still paying to see him so Vince didn't do anything to his character and kept him at the top of the card cause all he cares about is making money, which is what he should be.

 

[BooCocky]

So instead I force myself to hate a guy that I always liked because he is a "bad guy"? That doesn't make any sense, it kinda takes the fun out of things when you're not allowed to cheer for somebody you like just because he is portrayed as the "bad guy". Why do most people watch wrestling? Most people watch it to follow and root for their favorite wrestler, that's what makes it fun, now you can't and you're supposed to root against him and hate him, that takes the fun out of it. It would be like somebody telling you not to root for your favorite sports team anymore and to start rooting against them. What fun would that be? I don't think I would be hurting him by cheering him for him either, do you think in the history of wrestling a guy was buried or fired because he was a heel and got cheered but he was making money for the company and was drawing the biggest reaction? I doubt it, if he was drawing the biggest reactions from the crowd chances are he is going to be getting a push whether they were boos or pops.

So instead you are going to cheer a guy whose job it is, is to get you to hate him? When you boo a heel you are telling the person they are doing a very good job at portraying the heel type character. Booing a face results in character changes, especially the heel and face alignment. If they keep adjusting it they are saying they can't portray a single character well enough to do anything. Why do you think they have to continuously change John Morrisons character? It is because he can't play the character well enough. When he is a face he gets booed, and vice versa. Pretty much that is going to hurt him in the long run because most feuds are based on heels and the face.

You used Jericho as a reference, I boo Jericho because he is a heel, I agree with everything he has said about Ric Flair, but I don't pop for that. Do you know why? Because we aren't supposed to. It is that simple.

 

[agentmichaelscarn]

You used Jericho as a reference, I boo Jericho because he is a heel, I agree with everything he has said about Ric Flair, but I don't pop for that. Do you know why? Because we aren't supposed to. It is that simple.

Again where does it say that or who says that? I remember Vince cutting a promo about 10 years or so ago and it went something along the lines of "We at the WWE feel that the fans are tired of having their intelligence insulted with the "Good Guy" vs. "Bad guy" routine" And that's the truth, were not living in 1985 where people thought this was real, everybody knows its a work.

Besides it's not about what type of reaction a wrestler gets what determines what happens to them(as far as where they are on the card) its how big of one they get. I used the Cena example, did he not stay champ and stay at the top of the card despite the fact he was getting booed as a face? He did because people still cared about him and paid money to see him. As long as that happens that wrestler is going to be fine.

Did Austin not get a huge push when he was a heel despite him getting cheered? He did because he was getting a huge reaction and people were paying to see him. The same with The RocK.

Anyway I'm starting to stray away from the the original topic, there's already a thread talking about if it's right or wrong. I was just asking if people would still do it. I just responded to your original post because I don't think that would ever hurt the wrestler if you did that, whether your supposed to do that or not, it wouldn't hurt them because like I said all the promoters care about is if you're bringing in the money and you still would be.

 

[WrestlingHistorian]

Again where does it say that or who says that? I remember Vince cutting a promo about 10 years or so ago and it went something along the lines of "We at the WWE feel that the fans are tired of having their intelligence insulted with the "Good Guy" vs. "Bad guy" routine" And that's the truth, were not living in 1985 where people thought this was real, everybody knows its a work.

Besides it's not about what type of reaction a wrestler gets what determines what happens to them(as far as where they are on the card) its how big of one they get. I used the Cena example, did he not stay champ and stay at the top of the card despite the fact he was getting booed as a face? He did because people still cared about him and paid money to see him. As long as that happens that wrestler is going to be fine.

Did Austin not get a huge push when he was a heel despite him getting cheered? He did because he was getting a huge reaction and people were paying to see him. The same with The RocK.

Anyway I'm starting to stray away from the the original topic, there's already a thread talking about if it's right or wrong. I was just asking if people would still do it. I just responded to your original post because I don't think that would ever hurt the wrestler if you did that, whether your supposed to do that or not, it wouldn't hurt them because like I said all the promoters care about is if you're bringing in the money and you still would be.

I couldn't have said it better myself. The bottom line is you cheer your favorites and you jeer your least favorites, anything other than that is lame internet nonsense. I don't care if Triple H is kissing babies or hitting them with sledge hammers, he is getting my cheers reguardless.

 

[Cena's Little Helper]

I cheer whom I want to cheer. However, when I go to wrestling events, I'm not the type of person to cheer throughout the match. Rather, I clap and whistle during the entrance of my favorite wrestlers, hold my applause for their opponents, clap and whistle if one of my favorite wrestlers wins, and shrug and sigh when they lose.

Thus, while I'm respectful of all the wrestlers and what they are trying to convey to the audience, I am also respectful of my feelings; some wrestlers, even if they are heels, are just too damn gifted not to be cheered.

 

[Electric Wizard]

Of course I'd still cheer my favorite wrestler if he got turned heel. The whole heel/face thing has never really mattered to me. I just cheer for who I like and boo who I don't like. Booing a heel even though you might like him, because that shows he's doing his job is just a dumb way of looking at it. The whole heel/face thing is for entertainment within the entrainment. I mean how boring would it be if everybody was a face ?

Again where does it say that or who says that? I remember Vince cutting a promo about 10 years or so ago and it went something along the lines of "We at the WWE feel that the fans are tired of having their intelligence insulted with the "Good Guy" vs. "Bad guy" routine" And that's the truth, were not living in 1985 where people thought this was real, everybody knows its a work.

Besides it's not about what type of reaction a wrestler gets what determines what happens to them(as far as where they are on the card) its how big of one they get. I used the Cena example, did he not stay champ and stay at the top of the card despite the fact he was getting booed as a face? He did because people still cared about him and paid money to see him. As long as that happens that wrestler is going to be fine.

Did Austin not get a huge push when he was a heel despite him getting cheered? He did because he was getting a huge reaction and people were paying to see him. The same with The RocK.

Anyway I'm starting to stray away from the the original topic, there's already a thread talking about if it's right or wrong. I was just asking if people would still do it. I just responded to your original post because I don't think that would ever hurt the wrestler if you did that, whether your supposed to do that or not, it wouldn't hurt them because like I said all the promoters care about is if you're bringing in the money and you still would be.

Exactly! Very well put.

 

[Ryanhitman316]

I always cheer the "wrestlers" whether they are heel or face...look at my favorites:

Bret Hart

Chris Benoit

Kurt Angle

Chris Jericho

Edge

Undertaker

RVD

No matter what I will always cheer them....And Bret's bad mouth about America was a work...I am American and I totally agree about what he said about America...Canadians are much nicer and friendly....I am kinda sick of America...I think I might move when I get older

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

I have, and always will, cheer the Undertaker and Kane. I've always rooted for the darker, more subversive characters in any medium. My favourite fictional character of all time is the Joker ffs.

I got hooked on wrestling when i witnessed a face Undertaker nearly permenantly cripple a heel Mankind in HIAC '98. The good guy took the first chance he got to severly injure his opponent, and when the heel valiantly got up for more, the face beat him down even harder and the crowd cheered him for it, long and hard.

Does that really follow the 'good guy/bad guy' rules? Oh hell no!

In the attitude era, you were encouraged to cheer who you wanted, and more often than not the cheers went to the foul mouthed, charismatic, ass kickers. That's why people cheer Orton as far as i can tell, because he systematically takes his opponents apart, and dishes out that extra physical abuse to go with it.

A lot of us have grown sick of the nice and friendly heroes, politeley laying down challenges and valiantly overcoming obstacles. We want our heroes to fight dirty and take no prisoners like they did 10 years ago. But the idea of a hero has been redefined again, and has in some ways reverted back to what it was before the Attitude era, and a number of us aren't happy about it. The new generations of fans don't get this, and why would they? Being a new fan when the more hardcore style of wrestling was becoming predominant, and the content of segments and promos was virtually unchecked, I look back at all the Hogan/Savage/Warrior talk from the older fans on this website and wonder, what exactly was the appeal? Soon we, the Austin/Rock/HHH fans will say 'it's not as good as it was' and look to the past, the way the Hogan/Warrior fans do now, and all those little kids who walk around in their Cena t-shirts are going to say 'why does my older brother like Kane so much?', 'why does everyone love that Foley guy?'

10 years ago, you could only tell a guy was a heel if he beat on other people without reason, and was fueding with everyone else's favourite, or he did something on TV that he always claimed he'd never do ie Austin joining McMahon, Rock leaving for Hollywood etc. Now, we're back to our top faces being Cena, HBK and Rey the honest, good guys, and Jeff hardy the pretty boy, HHH the veteran ass kicker, with Taker being the only real exception.

Booing faces wasn't an issue 10 years ago. It WAS an issue 20 years ago, and it's an issue now. If Orton comes out and says 'People in England are all ******s' then i'll chalk that up to cheep heel heat, and pretend he didn't say it and maybe boo. When he hits the RKO and punts Batista's head off, i'll cheer til my lungs bleed. It's my preference. I'll boo heels, but i'll boo faces that i think suck even harder.