Before I begin, I want to explicitly state that this thread is not meant to bash Vince McMahon or Dixie Carter, it is not meant to say that WWE or TNA does NOT care about their fans, while at the same time I am not saying that they definitely DO. This is an objective thread, and I am trying to get opinions.
The other day, I came across a thread discussing the possibility of Randy Orton soon becoming the face of the company. One poster mentioned something about how we, the fans, made Randy Orton into a face by cheering him.
Something imedaitely struck me as wrong.
Wrestling is an interesting mode of entertainment. For all intents and purposes, it is no more real that Lost, House, The Office, or The Hills. However, unlike these shows, professional wrestling tries to maintain the illusion that it is real, and this attempt to deny what is blatantly true has created something called kayfabe.
The world of kayfabe is an absolutely crazy place, and it doesn't take a genius to realize it's not real. Though some fans attempt to try to live in the world of kayfabe, sometimes it's hard not to break a few barriers.
The barrier that seems to be most commonly broken is the face vs. heel barrier. Of course, we are supposed to cheer faces and boo heels, but sometimes, it's hard not to boo a stale face, and it's hard not to cheer an interesting heel. For instance, on NXT the boring Lucky Cannon is frequently met with opposition on these forums, while Alex Riley receives extremely high praise.
This brings me to my first question, and I believe it's a fairly simple on to answer: Should fan favorites always be faces, even if they become popular as heels?
My answer is a resounding no. The WWE has turned many wrestlers face after their heel personal attracted a following. One superstar from recent history that comes to mind is MVP. MVP was a hilarious heel who was fun to listen to on the mic. Basically, I loved to hate him, and I doubt I was alone. The WWE preceded to turn him face, and has lost 90% of steam since then. He had one memorable promo with Randy Orton and Legacy, and a forgettable US Title run. MVP was much more entertaining when he was claiming to be better than us, he was constantly bragging about his money, arrogant, cocky heel.
My second question kind of assumes you answered no to my first question, and it is: Does cheering for heels devalue the product?
It's always a crap shoot when WWE goes to Canada. It seems like at least once a broadcast, one of the announcers has to claim, "It's like bizzaro world up here!" Faces like John Cena are booed in favor of heels like Edge or Chris Jericho. Now, this is partly because of allegiance to their fellow Canucks, but this isn't the only place where the WWE meets this problem. In particularly smarky audiences, John Cena is met with the same boos, and Edge is met with the same cheers. Does it damage the product when the guy who is supposed to represent everything good is getting booed, and the guy who is pure evil, out for only himself is getting cheered?
I have no definite answer for this question. It must be very frustrating for creative to work so hard to get someone over, only to hear boos when their lead face goes out to the ring. Certainly, they know that these are the smarky audiences booing, but they would still like to create a character that appeals to all audiences. So now creative is left with two choices: do they tamper with a character that is getting over with 80% of fans, but missing the 20% that make themselves very vocal, or do they not change a thing, ignoring the naysayers even though their boos pollute the airwaves? Either way, there is a potential risk that the character becomes more disliked, which is bad for everybody, but there is still the potential that the people booing will grow to accept the character, or, if the character is changed, that they will start to like him.
My third and final question is almost totally based around Randy Orton. Randy Orton is the biggest heel that isn't a heel, if that makes sense. He wrestles like a heel, he talks like a heel, he has heel entrance music, and his entire entrance is heel-like. But he is cheered wildly wherever he goes... but he is cheered.
The fact Randy Orton, a guy who for all intents and purposes should be a heel, is cheered is the only example I see of fans impacting the world of kayfabe. If Randy Orton was still being booed, he would still be very much the same character, but he would be fighting with different people. Instead of coming out to help John Cena a few weeks ago, he would be with the heels who came out to help Nexus. Instead of feuding with Sheamus over the belt, he'd be in a program with John Cena, or Evan Bourne, or some other guy they turned face to take the spot that is currently occupied by Randy Orton.
Because Randy Orton is a heel that is cheered, and thusly teams with other faces, this makes him a tweener. A tweener is a character that the WWE cannot create, as it relies completely on the fans' reaction.
So my third and final question is: Can fans impact kayfabe to the point that they decide who is face and heel.
My answer is no, because it is a world that we cannot enter. You can be reading a Spider-Man comic and be rooting for The Green Goblin, but he is still the villain. You can be watching a match that is John Cena vs. Edge and cheer for Edge, but he is still the villain.
This is, of course, just my opinion, and I posted this because I am very interested in hearing yours. I hope you enjoyed this thread, and I look forward to hearing what you all have to say.
The other day, I came across a thread discussing the possibility of Randy Orton soon becoming the face of the company. One poster mentioned something about how we, the fans, made Randy Orton into a face by cheering him.
Something imedaitely struck me as wrong.
Wrestling is an interesting mode of entertainment. For all intents and purposes, it is no more real that Lost, House, The Office, or The Hills. However, unlike these shows, professional wrestling tries to maintain the illusion that it is real, and this attempt to deny what is blatantly true has created something called kayfabe.
The world of kayfabe is an absolutely crazy place, and it doesn't take a genius to realize it's not real. Though some fans attempt to try to live in the world of kayfabe, sometimes it's hard not to break a few barriers.
The barrier that seems to be most commonly broken is the face vs. heel barrier. Of course, we are supposed to cheer faces and boo heels, but sometimes, it's hard not to boo a stale face, and it's hard not to cheer an interesting heel. For instance, on NXT the boring Lucky Cannon is frequently met with opposition on these forums, while Alex Riley receives extremely high praise.
This brings me to my first question, and I believe it's a fairly simple on to answer: Should fan favorites always be faces, even if they become popular as heels?
My answer is a resounding no. The WWE has turned many wrestlers face after their heel personal attracted a following. One superstar from recent history that comes to mind is MVP. MVP was a hilarious heel who was fun to listen to on the mic. Basically, I loved to hate him, and I doubt I was alone. The WWE preceded to turn him face, and has lost 90% of steam since then. He had one memorable promo with Randy Orton and Legacy, and a forgettable US Title run. MVP was much more entertaining when he was claiming to be better than us, he was constantly bragging about his money, arrogant, cocky heel.
My second question kind of assumes you answered no to my first question, and it is: Does cheering for heels devalue the product?
It's always a crap shoot when WWE goes to Canada. It seems like at least once a broadcast, one of the announcers has to claim, "It's like bizzaro world up here!" Faces like John Cena are booed in favor of heels like Edge or Chris Jericho. Now, this is partly because of allegiance to their fellow Canucks, but this isn't the only place where the WWE meets this problem. In particularly smarky audiences, John Cena is met with the same boos, and Edge is met with the same cheers. Does it damage the product when the guy who is supposed to represent everything good is getting booed, and the guy who is pure evil, out for only himself is getting cheered?
I have no definite answer for this question. It must be very frustrating for creative to work so hard to get someone over, only to hear boos when their lead face goes out to the ring. Certainly, they know that these are the smarky audiences booing, but they would still like to create a character that appeals to all audiences. So now creative is left with two choices: do they tamper with a character that is getting over with 80% of fans, but missing the 20% that make themselves very vocal, or do they not change a thing, ignoring the naysayers even though their boos pollute the airwaves? Either way, there is a potential risk that the character becomes more disliked, which is bad for everybody, but there is still the potential that the people booing will grow to accept the character, or, if the character is changed, that they will start to like him.
My third and final question is almost totally based around Randy Orton. Randy Orton is the biggest heel that isn't a heel, if that makes sense. He wrestles like a heel, he talks like a heel, he has heel entrance music, and his entire entrance is heel-like. But he is cheered wildly wherever he goes... but he is cheered.
The fact Randy Orton, a guy who for all intents and purposes should be a heel, is cheered is the only example I see of fans impacting the world of kayfabe. If Randy Orton was still being booed, he would still be very much the same character, but he would be fighting with different people. Instead of coming out to help John Cena a few weeks ago, he would be with the heels who came out to help Nexus. Instead of feuding with Sheamus over the belt, he'd be in a program with John Cena, or Evan Bourne, or some other guy they turned face to take the spot that is currently occupied by Randy Orton.
Because Randy Orton is a heel that is cheered, and thusly teams with other faces, this makes him a tweener. A tweener is a character that the WWE cannot create, as it relies completely on the fans' reaction.
So my third and final question is: Can fans impact kayfabe to the point that they decide who is face and heel.
My answer is no, because it is a world that we cannot enter. You can be reading a Spider-Man comic and be rooting for The Green Goblin, but he is still the villain. You can be watching a match that is John Cena vs. Edge and cheer for Edge, but he is still the villain.
This is, of course, just my opinion, and I posted this because I am very interested in hearing yours. I hope you enjoyed this thread, and I look forward to hearing what you all have to say.