Maybe the best heel isn't Jericho, Orton, or Edge...?

[AlexEqualsMoney]

I just gotta jump in add my voice to those who turn the channel when JBL is on. I'm a diehard wrestling fan and i love HBK, i was totally into the recent "hired help" storyline but i found myself literally changing the channel whenever JBL started to talk and checking back after a minute to see if Michaels was doing something yet.

It is my humble opinion also that heels are supposed to be people you love to hate and that keep you watching. i just flat out don't like JBL and i reach for the remote the second i hear his music start. I normally watch raw with about 3 or 4 other people who all share the same sentiment.

if we were to get nit-picky about it, then Adamle would be a great heel by this definition and that's just not right. everyone hated him but not in the way you're supposed to hate a heel.

 

[I_Like_All_Wrestling]

JBL is EXTREMELY boring to me. When he comes on TV I change the channel. I don't hate him where I want to see him get his ass kicked, I just hate watching him. He has a boring wrestling style, and he's boring on the mic. I agree that he follows heel promos to a T, he just has no charisma and therefore even if you dislike what he's doing, it's hard to actually maintain interest.

I personally feel the same way about Vickie.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

I disagree.

Everyone hates JBL... Literally.

Edge, Orton, Jericho - Yeah we hate them too but it's really really different.

A heel is not supposed to piss people off to the point of turning the TV off or leaving the room (which i'm sure im not alone in doing this when JBL is on).

I'll be honest. I change the channel whenever Jericho comes on the screen. Why? Simple. I find him incredibly boring as all get-out.

He says the same things every single damn time he's on anyway.

"I'm the best wrestler in the world today."

"I won the 2008 Wrestler of the Year Award."

"You fans are nothing but liars and hypocrites."


Why do I want to tune in to see him say the same damn things every single week? Plus, in a bland, boring, monotone voice ... that simply causes me to doze off. Same words every week. Same delivery every week.

Jericho is the heel Triple H of old that everyone despised. Comes out. Tells us that he is "The Game" every single week. Tells us that he is "That damn good!" every week. Wears a suit every week. Jericho fans came down on Triple H for doing it then. But they are fine when Jericho does the same thing today.

Hmmm. Go figure. Jericho is correct about one thing. Fans can be a bunch of hypocrites.

I simply chalk it up to blind, Jericho marks. Jericho could play any character in the world ... no matter how boring he is ... like this character ... and they would still claim he was the greatest character of all time.

 

[ad21k]

JBL definantly is one of the best heels in the WWE, not as great as Jericho or Edge in my opinion. But he definantly plays his role well, he can make anyone hate him with a few words. At the same time I actualy find him quite entertaining, despite not liking his character. Jericho and Edge are better though because they play to the crowd more, and create a negative atomosphere with their promos. In addition they make the face in the feud look a lot better than what JBL makes them look.

 

[The Madrid Slam]

JBL is well-spoken and that's probably the only good thing I will say about him. That's the only reason in my opinion he is still on a WWE roster. Granted he's not the worst wrestler to don the tights, but he's just not entertaining to watch.

He does his job well, and in my opinion is a decent heel if used properly. I think that storyline with Shawn Michaels was a step in the right direction, but the storyline ended very abruptly with an ending that made no sense. However it did give JBL more heat than he had before.

However I will not say that Edge, Orton or Jericho is any less of a heel than he is. Jericho is one the best in recent years if not THE best to work the mic. Orton and Edge are amazing as well. Jericho, Orton and Edge literally make you hate them with all the evil things that they do. Screwing people over, insulting others, cheating and then justifying it in their own way. They are enjoyable to watch because we LOVE to HATE them.

JBL...we just hate him.

 

[ChrisIrvine]

Well to put it short and sweet, OP: You're wrong


JBL isn't booed because he's a heel. He's booed because he sucks. Not 'bad guy sucks.' He is more like 'X-Pac suck.' He's fat. He is bad on the mic. He can't wrestle. He has no moves. The man can barely move. The only funny thing he's done since APA split up was chase the Mexicans back across the border when he was feuding with Eddie.

People don't hate him because he's a heel. They hate him because he sucks. BIG difference.

 

[03mf2]

nope i have to disagree, it is edge. edge has been given the most difficult situation of his life having a relationship with his dead best freinds wife vicki guerrero. he has been brilliant to watch for 2 years since his feud with the undertaker. i don't like edge but i have to say hes the best ever heel the wwe will ever see.

 

[Slyfox696]

I love how people are trying to distinguish between "worked" heat and "shoot" heat. As if there is actually a difference for a heel in wrestling. The fact that so many people are trying to excuse their intense hatred for JBL, without giving JBL the credit he deserves, shows just how many wrestling fans are actually worked.

JBL is a very good heel. Anyone who can literally get Shawn Michaels booed, just by association with him, is a great heel.

 

[Frank White]

However, as an APA member, you didn't hate him, but you hate him when you find out he's a stock market guru and an ass to boot.



About his weight....did anyone notice he lost like 70 pounds.




I'm no JBL lover, but I can see the ability there. He was MADE to be a heel and he is kind of our modern day Million Dollar Man, except his money is real so you can hate him more for it. .

^ this guys a smart man these were going to be some of my points exactly

in the late 80's early 90's Ted was arguably the top heel now he had in ring ability but didnt get to showcase alot cause of his role ( i mean he jobbed to virgil for christ sake ). but JBL is a bit of the same even if he did have in ring ability besides that of a powerhouse you wouldnt see it.

by the way he lost that weight because of his back injury that was suppose to retire him adn it was close too 100 pounds

but JJs right when he was smoking cigars and sucking down beers playing poker yalll was entertained, when they were takers followers i didnt hear to much complaining and when he was Justin Hawk Bradshaw i di....... never mind that gimmick was horrible. point is .......

The WWE's biggest Heel is you the viewer because you decide who to hate you give heat to whoever you choose whom u want to like and dislike in most cases


JBL has done his job as being a top heel sooo well thats there is no turning back hes a heel till he retires unless bizzaro world comes around i mean Orton Jericho Edge these guys could turn face in a heart beat but JBL nah hes a heel 4 Life and theres only a handful of guys who have played and kept a heel role going this consistant and this long. you dont think vince knows you want throw the controller at the TV or boo in the comfort of your own home when you here JBLs bells ring. Are u not going to tune in to see JBL catch sweet chin music monday soo he dont go on to face taker at 25???

Ill tell you why JBL is one of the top heels becuase u could put him in a feud with any top guy good or bad and jbl will get the heat do you think his recent feud with cena was a accident ???? no cena started getting heat so they put him with jbl to get his pop back up because we all know pops are contagious

im out pz

 

[Profit]

I love how people are trying to distinguish between "worked" heat and "shoot" heat. As if there is actually a difference for a heel in wrestling. The fact that so many people are trying to excuse their intense hatred for JBL, without giving JBL the credit he deserves, shows just how many wrestling fans are actually worked.

JBL is a very good heel. Anyone who can literally get Shawn Michaels booed, just by association with him, is a great heel.

Exactly, and HBK did receive a ton of heat during that storyline with JBL, which shows how good JBL is at being a heel. He cuts good promo's, and always has the fans in an uproar over what he's doing, and having the fans actually hate him is what he wants in the first place.

His gimmick is not unlike his actual person life, he just plays up his arrogance and rich-snob attitude more, but there are parts of the "real" him in his gimmick. I can't stand him, and thats a credit to the job he does as a heel. Again, his promo's are really some of the best in the WWE, and he's come a long way since his APA days.

Is he the top heel though? No. I'd give that credit to either Edge or Orton, with a slight edge to Orton(no pun intended). The guy is fantastic on the mic, I know some people find him boring but I think he is superb, and his badass character who is hell bent on causing destruction and helping only himself is great. The fact that he stated once that the reason he doesn't do that pose that he used to do during his entrance when he's on the turnbuckle because some fans began mimicking it, and he didn't want to have anybody liking anything he did, shows dedication to being that heel.

The problem with Orton right now, is that him attacking the McMahons is actually getting him over with the crowd. The constant "RKO" chants, and semi-cheers he receives might be an argument to the contrary that he's not the best heel, and that Edge or Y2J would be, but now that HHH is involved with this I think he is going to receive even more heat.

Edge is also great as a heel, I like the heels more and never really was a fan of Edge until he made his heel turn, now I enjoy watching the guy and hearing his promo's. One could possibly argue that the biggest heel in the WWE might even be Vickie Guerrero, who can barely speak two words without the crowd drowning her out with boo'ing, she practically has to yell what she wants to say in order for anyone to hear it.

 

[LEGEND KILLER]

somebody give this guy a trophy! 487 643 whatever your name is you got it man! whats a heel gentleman? JBL ...i will not ever say he is as good as orton, jericho edge etc...but he has a place in WWE i love his long drawn out entrance...and hearing that he is our saviour and he is a wrestling god...LMFAO! he isnt any of those but hearing it makes me laugh and i say vince...great job bc JBL is a great heel and the more you people write on this post and say you hate him the more amo to the point of this thread bc JBL is getting payed a lot of money to make you hate him and you guys do so very much!

Cheers JBL!

 

[ChrisIrvine]

A good heel makes me watch to see him get his ass kicked. A bad heel makes me change the channel. When JBL's face lights up that screen, ESPN becomes the best invention in the world.





Would any of you JBL supporters care to enlighten us as to what year it was, exactly, the last time he WON a match?

 

[Frank White]

A good heel makes me watch to see him get his ass kicked. A bad heel makes me change the channel. When JBL's face lights up that screen, ESPN becomes the best invention in the world.





Would any of you JBL supporters care to enlighten us as to what year it was, exactly, the last time he WON a match?

mid 08 he beat cena on PPV and im sure hes had a squash match this year not to mention his " pin fall " victory over shawn in that fatal 4 way so yeah hes gotten his hand raised this year

 

[Frank White]

nope can my last statement better yet JBL is undefeated on Raw this year because well he hasnt wrestled a match i dont think ????? i think in 2 months hes lost to cena and shawn and thats it just those 2 matchs this guys such a top heel he dont have to wrestle lol

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

However, as an APA member, you didn't hate him, but you hate him when you find out he's a stock market guru and an ass to boot.

I'm sure people didn't cheer him in the Acolyte days. Once they became beer drinking, poker playing, ass kickers for hire then people enjoyed their segments, doubtful they enjoyed the matches.

APA Bradshaw and Farooq were basically Stone Cold, if Stone Cold had been two guys stuck as a mid card tag team.

APA Bradshaw = Stunning Steve Austin merged with Stone Cold. Long Hair, beer drinking, stuck in the mid-card with no future.

I personally really like JBLs mic work. I thought he was a pretty good commentator (except when he shouted at Cole repeatedly. Yes Cole is uber shit, but shouting at him for 3 minutes over nothing makes you look equally shit).

I can enjoy a JBL promo. I can't stand a JBL match. I'd rather watch 2 guys who've never met each other put on a varied match, than watch a JBL match with a build up, where he's just going to forearm smash his way through 20 minutes of TV time.

I thought this was the forum where the mark of a good wrestler, heel or face, was determined by their ability to draw? Are you guys seriously suggesting that JBL draws? Or even Vickie G draws? Hell no. Edge draws, Vickie doesn't. Edge is the steak you wanted to eat, Vickie is the grissle that you leave. JBL is just grissle, and you pray that Vince gives you some steak when he appears on TV, i.e HBK.

HBK will face Taker, JBL will be lucky to be on the WM card, unless it's to bury a mid-carder at the Showcase of the Immortals, like he has the past 2 or 3 years he's wrestled.

 

[the_king_boi]

I think JBL is amazing, and doing his job perfectly. Which is obviously to get under people's skin and make them boo him. How can anyone say he's not good on the mic....hes awesome on it...everyone likes to say he's got a horrible physique...but the guy is huge! and he's strong...well, stronger then everyone likes to think. The only thing that really bothers me about him is how much he loses...he really need's to win some matches so that when a face does beat him it really looks like they overcoming a hard obstacle.

 

[demon316]

JBL aka Just a Boring Loser is by far NOT the best heel!

I'll give credit where it's due and JBL has been a constant heel who has excellent mic skills. He was a heel before becoming an announcer, during and after. But I think that's his major problem..always a heel. When you are a well liked face for a while and then turn heel it gives the audience a sense of betrayal and I think that is key to be a solid heel. JBL has ever actually liked JBL? He was only watchable when he in APA..sorry but it's true.

To me Edge is #1. He hasn't been a face for a long time, but unlike JBL he doesn't need to be. He always does whatever he has to do to be champ not matter how low and nasty he has to get...look at Vickie...Damn! Orton and Jericho are indeed awesome but still slightly fall behind Edge as top heel. I guess the bottom line is to be the best heel you have to be an asshole and somewhat likeable at the same time.

 

[y2empleh]

There is a difference between getting heat and creating heat. Just because someone gets head for sucking at their job does not mean they are good at that job. A good heel needs to be able to generate good feuds with people by drawing heat at the right times. Unfortunately I think WWE agrees with you however in that someone who gets heat for sucking at their job is a good heel. Look at Mike Adamle. What stops JBL in my opinion is his sub-par ring skills. Edge, Orton, and Jericho are able to have good matches. Name for me the last good JBL match? In my opinion WWE should continue doing to other wrestlers what they did to HBK. Have JBL buy their services for the sole purpose of winning the title so they can then give it to him. You go with this through royal rumble with person after person failing at this attempt. Then around time for the royal rumble you either have someone win the title and be reluctant to give it to JBL or you have the champion finally able to get a match with JBL himself.

 

[JohnnyTheAlphaMale]

The basis of the argument is that JBL is the best heel because he is "boring, slow, has annoying music, boring ring style" etc which means that the fans hate him for "real". Also the fact that he doent get JBL chants (unless against Edge or Cena a few years ago) unlike the aformentioned trio. However, by that rational The Great Kahli would have bin the best heel in the business at one point for these very reasons. So, I would suggest that he is a good heel and usually great talker, however, he is not in the same class as Randy, Jericho, and certainly not Edge.

 

[JoeBird76]

I would also have to disagree. Heels have to be entertaining in order for the company to even get good business. If people see JBL and leave the room, then he is doing a crappy job of being a heel and he needs to work a little harder on being the heel of the storyline. In my opinion, the best heel in the business right now is...Jericho. He gets the peoples attention, and he makes them hate him. Jericho ftw. -JoeBird

 

[Showtime]

Your argument is an excellent one and I do agree with you somewhat 487. Since JBL's transformation from middlecard face to main event heel, he has been one of the best heels during that time. I could compare him strongly to another former great heel, the Iron Sheik.

Like Sheik, JBL too dropped the title to a first time champion that began a great era, but the similarities don't stop there. Both were big slow power wrestlers and both are very good at getting under the skin of the fans. For Sheik it was easy, he was different, he wasn't from around here. JBL is different too, he's rich.

Nobody likes people who think their better than you because they're rich. Look at Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase, another great heel. Ted played the wealthy guy who could buy whatever he wants whenever he wants well, and sold the gimmick perfectly. JBL isn't quite that rich, but he acts like he's better than you, like he owns you.

JBL has played his gimmick perfectly for going on 5 years now and has maintained solid heat throughout it. His gimmick is a perfect heat getter. On the mic JBL is demanding and I quite enjoy him, he's like nails on a chalk board, like 487 said you want to take a swing at him. In the ring, he can be boring and sluggish at times, but he's not that type of wrestler. Slow, sluggish, brawling, nothing about JBL's look or in-ring style makes you want to cheer for him and he actually doesn't do a bad job in the ring, just don't expect too many 20+ minute matches from him. People do really bust his balls a lot about his mic and his wrestling and point to his recent angle with Michaels.

Firstly, It's a stupid angle, Michaels suddenly becoming poor after maineventing/co-maineventing so many PPV's in the last 2 years all the shit money DX comeback made, and having to work for somebody within the same company he works for in JBL, (and on another minor rant about company employee relations, you'd think after punting the boss in the head, injuring him in the process, and then jumping the bosses unsuspecting kids back stage would lead to a little more than a slap on the wrist for Orton, but enough about all the holes in the wrestling wall) second, JBL holds his own and always gets the job done.

What's that job, putting over the opponent and making sure they get cheered. WWE built him up by him winning all the time as champ, now they're ****ing him out and having him put over every main eventer. Look at his track record of his opponents at PPV's (ono-on-one matches only) Eddie 2 PPV's, Undertaker 2, Booker T 1, Big Show 1, Cena 6, Batista 3, Mysterio 2, Matt Hardy 1, Boogeyman 1, Jericho 1, Punk 1, Michaels 1. All big faces, most of him JBL did the J.O.B to and put over. Hell, made them all better faces (another thing great heels are supposed to do) hell, Cena was still on the receiving end of mixed cheers and boo's till his feud with JBL this year made it impossible to hate him and helped us re begun loving Cena again.

Now, here's the knock and it's been brought up before and it's not a bad one. JBL is a great heel like Jericho, Edge, and Orton are, but is he the best because he is great at what he does, naturally get's under the skin and does the best job being a heel, or is it because he's boring and simply just has the perfect body and the perfect gimmick to be the best. The fact is, the man is boring and that gets him a lot of heat, he's slow in the ring and makes some people scream for him to go back to the announce desk and that gets him a lot of heat, he's ugly, yup, another heat getter, his gimmick is he's a millionaire, what's that, oh yes, more heat. Don't get me wrong, JBL plays his role well and does an excellent job at it. He's the jobber to the stars, he's not here to put over the young kids yet, but keep the main eventers up there without sacrificing the young talent. But JBl is good because God made him to be a good heel, and he's boring as fuck a lot of the times, and that doesn't make him the best too me. The best to me are Edge and Jericho and Orton who can be big faces at any time but instead fight with the fans and really make them hate them.

 

[wolfpack22]

JBl is an incredibale heel, but he also has his flaws. Aside from Chris Jericho, no other heel is as good on the mike as JBL. His character is also entertaining I mean he's a heel that says he's better than you and he knows it. The only problems with JBL are that his ring work could be better and he needs to start working out again. Love handles do not reek of awesomeness I mean if he could get in shape like he was when he was aith ROn Simmons then he could be the heel he was meant to be.

 

[sTyLnK]

While not a wrestler, Vickie is the best heel.

 

[enigmaticdude]

JBL isn't the best heel at all. He is very well hated by many WWE fans because he isn't the best heel but because seeing him come out in his limo every time he comes to the ring with a stupid ******ed smile of a "special" person makes everyone want to either turn off their TV sets or just attempt to boo him out of the ring or set that he is in. Sometimes during his promos I have wanted to punch my TV screen because it is such a drag to see him on RAW speaking about how he is a "Wrestling God" In my opinion he is the absolute worst wrestler in the WWE and should have been released when the WWE was in Germany and he decided to the Nazi salute. NBC dropped his show, why couldn't the WWE do the same? But since he is a "big time" Wall Street employee here in NYC, they aren't about to fire someone with that much economical advantage. JBL just makes me want to turn away from the WWE all together. Even in the APA he was still a smug Son of a B*tch. His wrestling sucks big time well below sub-par in my opinion. His slow lethargic wrestling style of a drunken pissed off redneck has worn off with me as soon as I have seen him wrestle for the first time.
Chris Jericho, Edge and Randy Orton are FAR BETTER than JBL will ever be. I don't see a face turn ever for JBL. As with Jericho, RKO and Edge, they can pull a face turn within a matter of seconds. It is so easy for them because even though they are "hated" they are well respected because they have proven themselves as great wrestlers in the ring and not as some smug jackass in the ring just there to earn money and be a slow, hated, tub of rancid lard loser like JBL.
Vickie Guerrero is another story. She doesn't really belong in the WWE anymore. I feel sorry for her getting booed so much because her Husband Eddie Guerrero, same hated but respected heel and face with his lying, cheating and stealing(God, I miss him so much RIP EDDIE!!!) unfortunately passed away. So booing her is like booing Eddie. And those boos aren't out of respect, I sense that they are of complete hate. And the fact that they have her in such a storyline with Edge in the first place is just major disrespect to the Guerrero name. That storyline should be quickly ended. I don't like it at all.
Apart from that, JBL does his job well at being hated but not at being respected at all or being a great wrestler. He is just an insult to all of the other talent in the WWE.

 

[Miko]

JBL is an excellent heel, I've been saying it for ages, the guy makes people hate him. He's excellent because he can lose everyweek, get his heat back in a promo and make people want to see him lose the next week. He could (and probably does) lose 52 weeks a year and yet people still care enough to hate him.

The only thing that stops JBL from being the top heel is booking, as impressive as all that which I stated above is you cant really be the top heel if you cant win a match. Back when he was on Smackdown as the champ, in his very successful title run he was the top heel, higher than Kurt Angle even, he was the HHH of Smackdown.

JBL obviously has phenominal mic skills, even his haters admit that but his ring skills are dangerously underrated, there basic but they are effective, I couldnt care less if he cant do a flip, people rag on Hogan for not being agile. They are HUGE dudes, they dont need agility. Anyway JBL can work, he works the heelish match that makes you want to see the face come back from his assault, he frustrates you when he just keeps beating up one of your favourites and it's genuinely fun watching someone come back against him.

Basically what I am saying is if JBL was booked to win more and look more of a threat then he'd be the top heel. As it stands he is still a top player based purely on his ability to be hated.