Midcard Heels and their progress

[JJYanks121]

Last night, I sat in Madison Square Garden for my first live show in over a year (the last being The Bash in 2008 at Nassau Coliseum). That being a PPV, you only see the main eventers basically, and of the midcarders, most were in a 4 team tag title match. For this reason, I could get no sort of handle on what kind of crowd reaction individual wrestlers were garnering. Attending Monday Night Raw, you get a dark match, a Superstars match, and 2 hours worth of show, giving a great amount of performers time to perform in front of a live audience. Given this is Madison Square Garden, this is a hostile NY crowd and also a large one given the setup and size of the arena. From that I want to address the midcard heels and who I think based on my observations deserves a push.

We all know that management looks at crowd reactions when trying to determine who deserves a push. If they were watching the show I was, there is 1 heel that got more boos than anyone else, and it wasn't even close. I am going to go in reverse order of crowd reaction leading up to the midcarder with most heat:

6. Ted Dibiase - I know I have been critical of him on these boards and it's mostly because I see potential he's not reaching. He is still young and has a lot to learn and that shouldn't be taken as a bad thing. However, with many pulling for Teddy D to get a large push, a prerequisite is generally having a strong crowd reaction. While he only performed in a Dark Match capacity, he got very little reaction. The Legacy music hit, a few boos came out, but when the crowd saw it was Ted, they got pretty quiet. Perhaps no one was excited to see him wrestle Primo, but as you will see later, something was missing.

5. Chavo Guerrero - He may not even BE a midcarder, as midcarders probably win a match every now and again, but he got more heat then Ted. It might be "get out of the ring " boos, but his match with Santino was amusing and he played the heel role to Santino's funny face role well. NY fans were pretty excited to see Santino get the win over the Mexican Warrior.

4. Jack Swagger - This one might be the most surprising, but he didn't get much more heat than that of Chavo. On top of that, Evan Bourne didn't get a great pop. Perhaps with no segments or buildup to this match, no one was excited for it, but better heel performers will find ways for you to dislike them during a match to keep the heat going. He just opened his arms in a "how do you like me now" type gesture and it got very little reaction. The dude has a bright future, but he also might want to stay away from what looked like a move where he humps his opponent.......

3. Sheamus - This guy is hardly known, nothing graphic was said, but he was disliked, especially when he kicked the king. He is gaining heat pretty well and even though I would have liked for someone to answer his challenge, his segment got him more heat and went well, he got very strong boos leaving to go to the back, a strong heel trait to have.

2. Cody Rhodes - Cody had a superstars match, and since it hasn't aired yet, I wont' reveal the results, but when the crowd saw Cody, he got significantly more boos than his tag team partner. It's interesting to see at the very least because I sort of expected the opposite as much as I resist it. But live, it was no question who gets more heat......it's Cody. Cody played cowardly heel to Mark Henry's dominant face and the segment should come off well on TV. The kid just had a look in his eye that annoyed the Manhattan crowd, a confidence followed by cowardly actions. I was definitely surprised at how strong reactions were towards him and now I really do think he is in for big things.

And now, the midcard heel with the most heat................

1. THE MIZ - and it wasn't close. Boos were so loud that we could barely hear what he was saying. He got them BEFORE he even spoke and they got worse as he called himself a real champion as opposed to the hometown Yankees. He got the most boos of anyone (Orton got a face reaction and McMahon did too for most of it, even Jerishow didn't get the reaction Miz did) and it really took me back. The live crowd really hated him and that should serve him well. If anyone could match wits with the main eventers based on crowd reaction, it's him. I'm anxious to see if WWE takes notice and allows this kid to reach new heights.

I cannot guarantee that these reactions hold true in every city, nor do I claim it's like this every night. This is a live observation from one show in Madison Square Garden. There is no exaggeration or personal bias shown here. It is all based on what was seen and heard at this show. I welcome questions, comments, concerns and I would really like observations from others at shows outside NY to see if reactions are different, but please stay neutral so we can compare and see which midcarders are truly doing the best job at getting heat.

That is what I saw, what have you seen? Can't wait to hear about it!

 

[GuitarMan]

All of the mid-card heels are generic non-personalities. They give off nothing that the crowd or audience at home can relate to. Wrestling is part athletics, part entertainment, part character development. The WWE has been lacking in this department for the last year plus. None of those guys gets vignettes or segments dedicated to their persona or character unless its with Josh Matthews and someone already made a thread pointing out how bland, boring, repetitive and pointless his interviews are. When they do get time its rehearsed, cue-carded, monotone lines that have been recycled over and over. Its hard to get into any of the heels because they are all basically the same guy with different builds. I like the potential of some of them, but thats just it, potential. When will it get past potential and turn into results being delivered?

 

[INDYjon22]

I think your pretty spot on minus maybe Chavo. I havent been to a live WWE show since Raw was live from Fort Wayne whenever Triple H and Ric Flair were feuding for the IC title, so I have no basis of a live reaction in person. But from watching on tv most of your list seems pretty correct. Dibiasi and Rhodes get a ton of heat basically from just being Ortons lackies and it show on tv. Sheamus is getting great heel heat so far and it comes through great on tv. I find myself booing the guy yet he is one of my favorite up and comers. Swagger gets good heat but I think people live are starting to change their tunes based on his mini feud with Miz so far. As for Miz, I agree completely that he gets the most heat. People seem to legitamatly hate this guy. Probably because he doesnt seem to actually think hes the cats pajamas and people hate when wrestlers are like that. I don't agree about Chavo though, I think the heat he gets is more like people son't want to see him wrestle because they know it is going to be a waste of time. They don't boo him but the product WWE is giving that involves him. Poor Chavo, they need to fix what their doing to him.

 

[XgringolocoX]

Was at a live show back in Sept. It was a smaller market and it was mostly kids so the reactions were pretty much canned. Yea! good guy, BOO! bad guy. Cena's pop was HUGE.

The heels on the card were Swagger, Chavo, Legacy, Miz, and Orton. While Orton got the big boo cause he was facing Cena and the biggest star there the Miz outheeled everyone else. His match with Kofi was far better too.

Now I HATED the Miz when he first appeared. He sucked so bad. The fcker got better and grew on me. His promos are great, his inring work is decent and getting better. If there was a Slammy for most improved superstar he'd take it hands down.

I think your list is pretty spot on. The only thing I'd like to add is that Ted isn't, IMO, getting much heel reaction cause he doesn't emmit that heelish attitude. I just seems like everyone is waiting for him to turn face and feud with Orton and Cody. Even when he debuted I wasn't buying him as a heel. His Dad's a beloved retired superstar and now a preacher. No one aside from the kiddies is buyin this guy as a heel.

 

[JJYanks121]

You make a good point about Ted, but I'd argue that the best face turns or heel turns are made when the crowd buys you as one thing strongly, you tease going the other way, make people want it, and finally go full blown the other way. The best heel turns come from the strongest faces and the best face turns come from strong heels. If Ted can't garner a strong heel reaction, I'm not sure he can get a good face one. If he does in fact get a feud with Orton, which I'm not so sure of now given the Kofi feud, Orton got pops in NY and I understand he does so in other cities. If Orton is playing the heel, that doesn't bode well for a face Dibiase. No matter who you are, you have to get the crowd behind you one way or another.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

I really do not get why the WWE likes to keep pushing Ted Debiase and teasing his face turn? I mean between Debiase and Rhodes, I actually think Rhodes has proved himself more than Debiase. While in terms of in-ring skill they are indistinguishable Rhodes mic work has been better overall.

 

[bucks8897]

I think miz a great up and coming heel but needs alot of work in the ring before he will be pushed into the main event slots. He generates a lot of heat right now, but I think its because he's so annoying. WWE is going in the right direction though with his US title reign, his in ring work is improving.

All the miz needs now is a good babyface to fued with for the US Title. What I would like to see is the the Miz fued with a good baby face and have this face just beat him up and down the ring on a weekly basis. Have 2 ppv bouts where miz keeps a hold of the title in various odd stipulations and weak victorys. All of this will lead up to a big time match in a big time ppv with a stipulation that leads to miz and the face having a tremenodous match where it's going both ways and the face beats him fair and square but the miz being very close.

I think that's a good way for him to drop the belt and move on to a fued in the main event scene and he'll have much more ring cred and he's already got the mic cred.