The Smark Killers - Term 1 - "cheap heat"

[FromTheSouth]

I agree with NorCal.

I said Vickie Guerrero was the best heel in the business a couple of months ago, and got five responses telling me how dumb I was for that. Her heat is because she sucks, not because her character is hated. I tried to list things her character has done that would garner her heat, from picking on fan favorites like The Undertaker, to constantly giving Edge shot after shot, but no one wanted to hear that. When I said that her character wedding to Edge was enough to make her a strong heel, in that she defiled the memory of the beloved Eddie, I got called an idiot without anyone ever debating the point.

Unless you had been to a SD! taping, you have no idea how hated she was. When people talk about WWE piping in crowd noise, none of that held a candle to how much they had to pipe OUT when Vickie was speaking just so she could be heard on TV. Just showing her face on the screen filled the arena with such noise...

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

Everybody thought Vickie Guerrero sucked and absolutely hated but she was doing her job and she was brilliant at it. A perfect example would be JBL. Sure he basically said the same thing time in and time out but the fans booed and booed him. He did his job better than anybody because you never heard one cheer for him. When he quit at Wrestlemania, he still went out the way a heel is supposed to.

 

[Miko]

I agree with you about cheap heat, so I wont talk to much about it, as I cant be bothered.

X-Pac heat is a term that has been bastardised, it was coined for one man and one man only, that man is of course X-Pac, even when the guy attempted to be a face he was getting booed.

It has now become a term used by people who dont want to admit that JBL was awesome at what he did. The guy could make people legit hate him but it wasnt because he sucked as so many of the IWC would have you believe, if he sucked he'd have been booed in the APA.

People hated him so much that he became a world champion a few months after his heel turn, they hated it everytime he retained, but they kept tuning in too see the rich Texan finally get his come-uppance. He was the typical bad guy, surviving right until the very end.

Yeah, "X-Pac heat" as a term is a load of bollocks, Edge was hated because of his real life actions, but he managed to turn it to the advantage of his character. At the end of the day booes are booes.

 

[Shocky]

I have to disagree. There are a few guys out there that I genuinely can't stand, and it has nothing to do with their ability, but moreso, their lack thereof. JBL is the prime example of it. Here is a guy that was a career nobody, who all of a sudden, at the age of 40, got the break of his lifetime.

The guy only became champion, because Brock Lesnar left the company, that's it, no if's and or buts about it. JBL stumbled into the title, because he was simply there to fill a heel niche that Smackdown didn't have, because the entire roster was built around Lesnar.

A guy that gets cheap heat by making fun of Mexicans, and goose stepping in Germany is about as much of a cheap heat bastard as they come. It has nothing to do with the ability to cut a good promo, but everything to do to conjure up raw, racial or stereotypical emotions. If JBL pulled his shit on these forums, he would be banned, that's not the type of guy you want in your company. He was a fat, sloppy pig, that got over by being a racist, plain and simple, and yes, that is cheap heat.

 

[HBK-aholic]

Sure, 'cheap heat' exists. And? There's nothing wrong with it. Heat it heat, regardless of how you get it. If you can make the crowd hate you, then as a heel you're doing your job. You could argue cheap heat is more effective at times - I know if a heel began slating Leeds or praising their sports rivals it'd make me hate them more than beating a face I may not have strong feelings for. I'm not sure who made the hierarchy of what 'good' heat is, but it's all bullshit.

 

[klunderbunker]

I don't know if I'd call it cheap heat rather than bare bones heel tactics. Mick Foley made a huge aspect of his face persona by simply saying the name of the town he was in every night. There's nothing wrong with getting heat that way and often times it's the midcard heels that use it. Look at a guy like Jericho. He's one of the top guys in the company right now and he uses insanely complicated things to insult fans. A guy like Santino when he was a heel at a house show I was at simply said he liked Louisville better than Lexington, and I'd bet money he said the opposite in Louisville. It's not hard at all to do and it got him very good heat. It works just fine and there's nothing wrong with it. Is the heat cheap and easy to get? Yeah. Does that make it a bad thing? Not in the slightest.

As for X-Pac heat, this is very subjective, because how can you know if someone is booing because they don't want to see the person or because of the heel tactics? I'd agree on the JBL concept as well as a guy from the late 80s in the NWA: Ronnie Garvin. When he won the world title, people would boo him out of the building after awhile despite Flair being the heel. Allegedly people simply did not like him as champion and they let him know about it. Is that fair to do? I guess if the whole arena is booing the product because they're not satisfied by it then they ahve a right to boo, but I too have an issue with people that boo because they simply don't want to see a guy. I'm not huge on Cena nor do I hate him, but when he came out on Raw I marked out completely and was a Cena fan boy for a night. Same with HHH, R-Truth and Taker. Not huge fans of any of their's but the atmosphere got to me. I think X-Pac heat can exist in extreme circumstances but it's thrown around way too often.

 

[Shocky]

There's a difference between ripping a city for it's sports franchise or it's crime rate or something to that extent, but to rip a culture or a "race" of people for ethnic stereotypes is about the lowest form of cheap heat that you can get. Let's not even get into teh fact that nothing about JBL was original in the slightest. Everything the guy did was be a half ass Ted DiBiase, up to and including Orlando Jordan as his man servant. So when you combine the fact that JBL was unoriginal, plus terrible on the stick to boot, I got sick of seeing him. The man simply rode the coat tails off of what someone did 20 years earlier, and then decided to sugar coat his shit with ethnic stereotypes...bravfuckingoh.

Again, an Edge, a Mick Foley, or anyone else that was able to have some sort of education based ont he city they were in and the current events of that city, and then bash that city for it, that's funny, and smart. JBL would probably have come out to "Rock You Like a Hurricane" in new Orleans a week after Katrina if he could.

 

[FromTheSouth]

I think that cheap heat and real heat have the same effect. Being at a show and watching the show are two different things. I guarantee that the viewer at home hears the boos for JBL or Vickie, and loves it because it adds to the show. When you are at the show, you may boo because you absolutely hate someone, but, to the average viewer at home, it doesn't matter why you are booing - it still adds to the show.

 

[X]

I think that cheap heat and real heat have the same effect. Being at a show and watching the show are two different things. I guarantee that the viewer at home hears the boos for JBL or Vickie, and loves it because it adds to the show. When you are at the show, you may boo because you absolutely hate someone, but, to the average viewer at home, it doesn't matter why you are booing - it still adds to the show.

They may have the same effect, but that doesn't change the fact that one is better than the other.

Why are people making this so difficult?

"Cheap" would mean something is easier to obtain, correct? Well you CANNOT deny that insulting a hometown team (AKA cheap heat) is a thousand times easier to come up with than a thoughtful and intelligent heel promo.

But you guys are right, they do both attain the same goal: the crowd's scorn. That however does not change the fact that one is easier (AKA "cheaper") to come by than the other. Thus, cheap heat does exist, and it IS an inferior form of heel work.

 

[FromTheSouth]

But some people can't come up with anything better. It's a shame that those people work in creative.

I think the most gifted mic workers, as heels, are Edge, Jericho, and Miz. These guys draw their heat by being assholes. It is a nice mixture of cheap (insulting the fans) and earned (arrogance, sense of entitlement). I enjoyed the Miz's 7-0 vs. Cena run. It reminded me of Jericho/Goldberg, with a twist. Great heel mic work has always had a similar forumla, and I think that these three guys have done Ric Flair and Ted DibIase proud.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

They may have the same effect, but that doesn't change the fact that one is better than the other.

Why are people making this so difficult?

"Cheap" would mean something is easier to obtain, correct? Well you CANNOT deny that insulting a hometown team (AKA cheap heat) is a thousand times easier to come up with than a thoughtful and intelligent heel promo.

But you guys are right, they do both attain the same goal: the crowd's scorn. That however does not change the fact that one is easier (AKA "cheaper") to come by than the other. Thus, cheap heat does exist, and it IS an inferior form of heel work.

Alright, well then call it EASY heat, not cheap, since heat is heat, and holds the same value as any other heat, obtained by any other means. Innit.

 

[X]

Alright, well then call it EASY heat, not cheap, since heat is heat, and holds the same value as any other heat, obtained by any other means. Innit.

Easy heat? You're splitting hairs now Norcal, easy, cheap, it's the same damned thing. Something that's cheap is easier to obtain, isn't it?

All heat is not the same, it's just not. Someone could walk out in a full Klan uniform, and by your definition that man would be a good heel. Just getting heat doesn't make you a good heel, what about the No Limit Soldiers? Remember them? They were supposed to be faces, and everyone booed the living shit out of them. Are they good heels because they got so many boos? No, the fans just hated them as people, not as characters.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Easy heat? You're splitting hairs now Norcal, easy, cheap, it's the same damned thing. Something that's cheap is easier to obtain, isn't it?

All heat is not the same, it's just not. Someone could walk out in a full Klan uniform, and by your definition that man would be a good heel. Just getting heat doesn't make you a good heel, what about the No Limit Soldiers? Remember them? They were supposed to be faces, and everyone booed the living shit out of them. Are they good heels because they got so many boos? No, the fans just hated them as people, not as characters.

man HELL FUCKING YES THEY WOULD BE The KKK are some of the biggest heels in the history of earth. If someone had the sack to do THAT they would be an awesome heel. Also, TRY to deny the fact that the crowd would cheer ANYONE who them came out and painted those white hoods red with blood. Um, yea, they would. Even face MVP would get a reaction for that.

Heel heat is so much more about making the face look GOOD than it is the heel looking bad. Cmon X.

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

CHEAP HEAT

Good in the sense that a heel is supposed to get people mad at them, so that's perfectly fine for them to tell the fans to shut up and such. I have no problem with that whatsoever, and I'm surprised more people don't do it. If I were to debut as a heel and cut a promo, the very first thing I'd do is tell everyone to shut their mouths because I've got a mic in my hand.

Bad in the sense that its easy as hell. If someone can go out there, say "I hate the local town" and get booed, it doesn't particularly take a whole lot of talent to do that. Its the same as when a face comes out and says its great to be back in (insert city) and everyone cheers cause they like their hometown. If that's ALL you can do to get booed, you're not talented in that role. The good heels are the ones that can do more than just the guaranteed cheap heat stuff.

Cheap heat exists, and its not a bad thing, its just not something to be proud of, nor is it something you should praise a wrestler for being able to do. Most heat of the night goes to the guy who says "New York sucks", ok, well if you'd have told ANYBODY ELSE to do it, they'd have received the same reaction. Nothing special.


X-PAC HEAT

It depends on how you classify it. If the fans hate your character and they tune in to watch you get your ass kicked, then its ok. If the fans hate your character and DON'T WATCH because they hate it so much, then that's obviously bad.

Some people would say JBL was a great heel because nobody ever cheered him and the X-Pac heat idea was foolish. But, how many people would see JBL come out and go take a piss or something because they didn't like the PERFORMANCE? I know lots. It all depends on what you're going by. If they boo you because they don't want to see you - because they're not entertained by you, its completely different than them booing you because they hate your guts. Honky Tonk Man puts a guy in a headlock and keeps it there, boring the hell out of the audience until they boo. Is that good? Fuck no. That's boring. They're not booing at the Honky Tonk Man character, because the Honky Tonk Man character wouldn't do something like that. He'd try to win the match. They're booing at the WWE product and at Roy Farris.

HHH/Kozlov. People were booing for two reasons that night: 1) They were pissed at WWE because they had paid money to see Jeff Hardy. They weren't pissed at Vladimir Kozlov or "the unknown assailant", they were pissed at management. 2) Oleg Prudius and Paul Levesque were putting on a shitty, boring match, and they were bored, because this is a main event, and main events are supposed to be exciting to watch. Some people came on after the ppv and berated those that hated it, saying "it was booked that way; you were supposed to boo and get bored and then be excited when Edge came out". I agree that you were obviously supposed to boo about Hardy not being there, but I doubt WWE planned on having a shitty match between Kozlov/HHH to keep the boos up and leave an extremely sour taste in everyone's mouth which would result in all their reviews saying that the match was utter garbage. Did WWE want Orton and HHH to have a shitty match at WrestleMania too? Nope. People booed that because they thought it sucked. There's a huge difference between the Vickie Guerrero that was booed for saying "excuse me" and having an annoying voice and ugly face and screwing over faces, and when a wrestler gets boos followed by "you can't wrestle" and "fire Russo" chants and such.

 

[gd]

I think that cheap heat is a fine heel tactic. In the midcard there aren't any big time feuds or storylines, so the heels usually have to resort to something quick and easy to get the crowd to boo them. Shelton Benjamin isn't a heel for interefering during a match or attacking a face backstage, he's a heel because he spends about a minute on the mic insulting the hometown/race of the opponent.

The goal is to get a reaction from the crowd and it doesn't really matter how you do it. As long as the crowd is into the match and you've done you job by making them care about you. Ultimately cheap heat is a useful and effective part of wrestling that will be continued to use for years to come.

 

[Tastycles]

Cheap heat works to get boos, and to a certain extent it works to get people over. Muhammed Hassan could have headlined a WrestleMania, because despite the fact he had somewhere in the vicinity of 0% star power, people would pay to watch him lose to John Cena in the same way they'd pay to watch Cena win. However, it doesn't work in cases that aren't as extreme as this. Take somebody beating up Hornswoggle. JBL did that, but the fans remained flat during his feud with Finlay, because the cheap heat was ineffective. Compare that to the far more traditional, slow burning, heat he built up in his feud with Shawn Michaels, and you can see that it isn't the best solution most of the time.

X-Pac heat is bullshit and in no way, shape or form a good thing for anybody. They were booing X-Pac because they didn't want to watch him, not because they didn't like him. Edge got booed because people didn't like him, but him and Lita drew the biggest segment in 5 years of Raw, but that isn't what X-Pac had. X-Pac was heckled partly because it was the in vogue thing to do, and partly because he was almost unwatchable in 2001.

Nobody at all was paying to see X-Pac lose, and he was by and large succesful over that period, and booked as a face, so it certainly wasn't capitalised on. X-Pac didn't sell tickets in the way Edge did, and he was released as a result. Hardly anyone else has got heat like that since, but those that have like Snitsky and Bossman have been released, for obvious reasons.

The difference between the heat Vickie and X-Pac got is minimal, but crucial. People hated Vickie, but they would tune in to see someone try and give her her commupance, people would tune out when X-Pac came on, or boo him in the arena. This is why Vickie Guerrero walked out of WWE and Sean Waltham was thrown out.