Three Tough Heels Who Should Be In The Main Event Scene

[NotoriousWWE]

As we all know Punk is currently... apparently.... probably reducing ratings with fans tuning out by the hour mark. However there are many other factors that I have highlighted over message boards such as the use of Twitter being shoved down our throats which doesn't help because they post their outcomes basically spoiling the outcomes of segments and matches. The fact that Punk's character is becoming so repetitive and one dimesional, but for me none more so than heels that you KNOW are not going to defeat Punk.

The 3 current main event heels are Alberto Del Rio, The Miz and possibly Dolph Ziggler. Now with this being said although I am a MASSIVE Ziggler mark it doesn't help when your top 3 heels on RAW are soooo similar. They all say similar things, have similar movesets and gimmicks. They are your blue collar type heels that believe they should be champions and so do anything to become champion. You can't look at any of the 3 and say, " Oh, he could beat Punk " or " He could destroy a superstar ". The fact that they actually tried with Miz, makes me laugh. So here's the solution.

Heels need to be dominating, fierce and bullyish. The Batista, Brock Lesnar type and so WWE currently have 3 of which I'll outline that could be pushed just to help ratings.


Wade Barrett

Should never have been drafted to SmackDown let alone been part of the pathetic group known as The Corre. He has a dominating look to him and his voice screams that of a vengeful european looking to strike the current leader of the company. His theme song is simple yet powerful stating he'll end your days basically put an end to what ever you have achieved. Barrett vs. Punk would be extremely intriguing especially since they already have a story of which Punk stopped Barrett's Nexus of which was all about rebelling and so Barrett can claim that Punk stole his thunder.

Kane

I'd have rather had seen Kane attack Cena and then Orton and then Punk as they were the three faces in his Ressurection promo's before he struck the glass with fury. Why not have him attack all 3, then all 3 come out to find out whom of which he's actually after and since he's only ever been World Heavyweight Champion, why not have him go up against the smaller Punk? Cena draws whomever he faces so why waste a big return on him? Cena vs. Miz/ Cena vs Ziggler they all draw and help put the heel over whether they lose or win. Punk vs. Kane seems interesting and would do Punk wonders of working as that face that can stop a powerful heel from rising.


Chris Jericho

Yes this is not powerful but WWE officials and board that do not know who the 2nd of January promo's are for have got to hope its for Y2J now that ratings are going down the drain. His charisma is astonishing and he can carry a feud whether the heel or the face. In fact he is perhaps one of the most adjustable wrestlers in the history of WWE and so ratings would shoot through the roof if the return on the 2nd was for Jericho. Undertaker would be interesting but he'd be feuding with HHH leaving Punk with an awkward feud with someone such as Miz.

So, who should step up to the plate and be Punk's next challenger? Another name that could have been used is WWE should have left Kane to just return and destroy every superstar in his way and go into the Rumble match whereas Punk faces Cena drawing more attention.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

1. Kane has been WWF Champion. Get your facts straight. Besides, when he has ever proven to be a consistent draw?

2. In what world has Jericho ever been dominating or fierce? I've never seen it.

I don't think any of your three would help boost anything.

 

[keehlnate]

You want ratings? It's simple. Bring back the 'attitude'. This doesn't just apply for the heels, but also for the faces. Remember how Bret Hart unleashed hell during his feud with Stone Cold? Even The Undertaker show some 'attitude'. And what's the result? Chaos. Yes chaos = ratings. Who doesn't want to see superstars beating the hell out of each other every single moment? That's the missing part of PG programming, they don't have the edge anymore so the program becomes too boring. Well, its PG and it includes kids so.. well..

Well if you really want to ask 'tough' heels that needed to be put in the main event I can give only 2, and this two will certainly boost the hell out of your ratings:

1. A heel Randy Orton
2. A heel John Cena

end of story.

 

[VinnieSunshine]

Its not about bringing heels up to the ME to raise ratings...its about one thing and one thing only.

BETTER STORYTELLING!!

There is no one for Punk to feud with (yet), Cena was in limbo for a few weeks, the whole conspiracy angle went up in smoke, Awesome Truth got buried in the spotlight by a returning vet, tag team division is coming along but still sucks, same old crap from the divas division...etc. Basically WWE is stuck in that awkward period they were in in the early 90s before the attitude era (and NO that isn't the answer).

WWE needs to tell better stories. Example, if the tag division is going to strive, make us believe that there is an actual feud going on. Right now only two teams are fighting for contention and 1 of them is made to look stronger. Mind you this is a team that was just made going over a team that has been around for a few years.

If WWE can tell STORIES again, ratings will go up. Bringing heels to the ME isn't going help much.

 

[Thepiedpiper]

As we all know Punk is currently... apparently.... probably reducing ratings with fans tuning out by the hour mark. However there are many other factors that I have highlighted over message boards such as the use of Twitter being shoved down our throats which doesn't help because they post their outcomes basically spoiling the outcomes of segments and matches. The fact that Punk's character is becoming so repetitive and one dimesional, but for me none more so than heels that you KNOW are not going to defeat Punk.

The 3 current main event heels are Alberto Del Rio, The Miz and possibly Dolph Ziggler. Now with this being said although I am a MASSIVE Ziggler mark it doesn't help when your top 3 heels on RAW are soooo similar. They all say similar things, have similar movesets and gimmicks. They are your blue collar type heels that believe they should be champions and so do anything to become champion. You can't look at any of the 3 and say, " Oh, he could beat Punk " or " He could destroy a superstar ". The fact that they actually tried with Miz, makes me laugh. So here's the solution.

Heels need to be dominating, fierce and bullyish. The Batista, Brock Lesnar type and so WWE currently have 3 of which I'll outline that could be pushed just to help ratings.


Wade Barrett

Should never have been drafted to SmackDown let alone been part of the pathetic group known as The Corre. He has a dominating look to him and his voice screams that of a vengeful european looking to strike the current leader of the company. His theme song is simple yet powerful stating he'll end your days basically put an end to what ever you have achieved. Barrett vs. Punk would be extremely intriguing especially since they already have a story of which Punk stopped Barrett's Nexus of which was all about rebelling and so Barrett can claim that Punk stole his thunder.

Kane

I'd have rather had seen Kane attack Cena and then Orton and then Punk as they were the three faces in his Ressurection promo's before he struck the glass with fury. Why not have him attack all 3, then all 3 come out to find out whom of which he's actually after and since he's only ever been World Heavyweight Champion, why not have him go up against the smaller Punk? Cena draws whomever he faces so why waste a big return on him? Cena vs. Miz/ Cena vs Ziggler they all draw and help put the heel over whether they lose or win. Punk vs. Kane seems interesting and would do Punk wonders of working as that face that can stop a powerful heel from rising.


Chris Jericho

Yes this is not powerful but WWE officials and board that do not know who the 2nd of January promo's are for have got to hope its for Y2J now that ratings are going down the drain. His charisma is astonishing and he can carry a feud whether the heel or the face. In fact he is perhaps one of the most adjustable wrestlers in the history of WWE and so ratings would shoot through the roof if the return on the 2nd was for Jericho. Undertaker would be interesting but he'd be feuding with HHH leaving Punk with an awkward feud with someone such as Miz.

So, who should step up to the plate and be Punk's next challenger? Another name that could have been used is WWE should have left Kane to just return and destroy every superstar in his way and go into the Rumble match whereas Punk faces Cena drawing more attention.

Drew Mcintyre
Sheamus
Wade Barrett

Would dominate as 3 nasty heels on Raw! has been said before but a stable with these three would bring hell down on Raw altogether!!
All the top faces would get a good ass kicking UK and Ireland style!

 

[WORD-LIFE-16]

Miz jus doesn't have the look, it's not his size it's his look, he doesn't have it. Del rio has allot of potential he has an aggressive side to him and be a Mexican badass who rides a motorcycle, there are multle thongs they could do to improve del rio's gimmick. As for ziggler he just ain't scary and does not have the size to be a bully or fierce but he does have aggression so if WWE develop his aggressive side, then del rio and ziggler have potential along with along with a wade Barrett. Rhodes whilst a decent heel, just doesn't look like the fierce type. Nt everyone can be Brock leaner or batista but they can think out of the box a little. Smackdown needs some better heels, you have Mark henry and I think once Henry retires maybe clay could take his place. Hopefully the draft can shake things up a little.

 

[fenfool]

I think Orton needs to go heel, he's just doing nothing as a babyface...just being wasted. Barrett needs to be brought (brought, not brung btw) along, but I don't think he's bringing in ratings any time soon. Kane's return is welcome...again, not sure if he'll have any ratings impact, but he's a good, unique character. Jericho will bring in ratings, if he does come back.

 

[JaylisJayP]

You want ratings? It's simple. Bring back the 'attitude'. This doesn't just apply for the heels, but also for the faces. Remember how Bret Hart unleashed hell during his feud with Stone Cold? Even The Undertaker show some 'attitude'. And what's the result? Chaos. Yes chaos = ratings. Who doesn't want to see superstars beating the hell out of each other every single moment? That's the missing part of PG programming, they don't have the edge anymore so the program becomes too boring. Well, its PG and it includes kids so.. well..

Well if you really want to ask 'tough' heels that needed to be put in the main event I can give only 2, and this two will certainly boost the hell out of your ratings:

1. A heel Randy Orton
2. A heel John Cena

end of story.

Turning Randy Orton heel again is so true. I don't watch Smackdown much anymore but what's absolutely insane is I cant even remember the last time Randy Orton spoke on television. He never does on RAW and he didn't on Smackdown this week, either. Cena, of course, would be a nice change of pace.

Of course, neither of these would happen because they are the "face" of their respective shows right now, and WWE is stuck in a pattern of awful writing and worse repetition.

Oh yeah....and... at "brung" lol

 

[King of the Words]

#1. A Heel Randy Orton needs to be brought in to Raw, or even heel him on SD. The guy is a natural heel and waisting his career as this half ass face.

#2. Heel Dolph Ziggler will be in the main event scene on raw perhaps after mania.

#3. A Heel Wade Barrett on raw, perhaps in a stable with Drew, Mayson, and Regal. They could run rough shot on Raw, like Evolution did. Wade Barrett the WWEC., Drew the USC, and even give Ryan and Regal the tag belts for a little while. They could be called The Barrage. I'd like to see them feud with a face Sheamus, trying to get him to join the group, sorta like Nexus trying to get Cena to join. I would love to see this story line on Raw. I think it would definetly help ratings.

Also, Turn Cena heel, have him feud with Punk after Mania on Raw.for WWEC. and who is truly the face of the WWE. Have Punk winning the war and Heel Cena going to SD for a while to do his Thug thing there. Actually, I would like to see the brands brought together, get rid of the lame stuff and focus on the best talent and have only one WWEC., INC, One Tag Team champions, and one Womens champ. Maybe bring back the Cruiserweight title for the high flyers. I think this would help Raw and SD and the WWE as a whole.

 

[shalliin]

A few things to mention:

Orton is still playing the same character as always, but fans at events just don't want to boo him. He's become trapped because no one wants to hate him, his talent and look (and I can't believe I'm saying this) is too good for real fans to dislike him. They want him to do well. In this way he is a lot like micheals and hhh in the later parts of their careers.

Cena turning him heel is not the answer. the boos he gets are mostly in line with matching his popularity. he is their most marketable star at the moment and while he is a bit bland for people who were raised in the attitude era, he is what the company needs now to connect in other formats. look at the poor reception others have had when doing non wrestling projects. ( although christian aka jay reso has some quality performances in movies ie Dark Rising) hhh's movies are horid, rock only comes back to remind wwe fans of new movies he's in while wee uses him to get mainstream audiences,

this was to ask about tough heels to bring back to help ratings.
unfortunately bringing people back at this time won't help rating they need to build the ones they have by going old school with their stories instead of repeating things they've done for last few years. the teddy/oksana angle has been done with every female 'assistant' they bring in for him. it's time to remove teddy. he's done, get someone else in charge.

revitilizing kane could help especially if they don't put him in title hunt, just keep him attackign everyone, keep him as a monster the way he was when first started. a big show heel turn could work but he's another one at a point were people just want to like him. HHH back even if only 1 show a week or two in a wrestling role would do some good, but some of the requests people have made would do nothing for ratings.

 

[WWEgirlxx]

Until you have an actual dominating heel, they're all pointless. I understand WWE wants to keep it PG for the little kiddies. But at some point they need to realize, those kids are gonna grow up and stop watching when the PG era annoys them too. I grew up on the attitude era, and pure love for wrestling is all that's keeping me watching.

The heels that were out destroying the other guys' cars and in hotel rooms doing scandalous things with their "wives". THOSE are the heels that can change the ratings up. When you do that, you have a legit reason for the face to hate them and WANT to fight. The closest WWE has gotten to this in a long time was Orton RKOing and kissing Stephanie back in 09 leading into WM25. Sure, that wasn't a great story line, but it actually showed WHY these two guys were fighting. Not just because they were booked to fight. Until WWE gives reasons for them to fight, we won't be seeing a huge change.

However, if Y2J is the one returning on 1/2/12 for Punk/Jericho, he has a reason. The "best in the world" thing was his, etc. It's not a lot, but it's enough to show the audience WHY it is they are having this match. Kids don't typically understand the idea of WWE just booking two guys to wrestle, so you have to physically show them something, and let's face it, the kids are who they are currently selling to. Just my opinion.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

If you're talking about three "tough heels" in the sense of real, potential badasses, then I'd probably go with :

Mark Henry - Mark Henry has been one of the best things going on SmackDown! for the past half year or so. Henry has a legitimate physical presence and brings a sense of natural intimidation to his feuds & matches that you just can't manufacture artificially. Henry has been the type of heel that you don't see a lot of in wrestling: someone that can cause fans to "genuinely believe" that their beloved babyfaces are in real jeopardy of losing to and "being hurt" by. He's been a menacing heel on SD! and could be of use on Raw.

Sheamus - Sheamus has shown that he can get over as a face as well as a heel. Personally, I think he's better as a heel and, with proper booking, can be every bit as intimidating and threatening as Mark Henry. Sheamus is just a big, muscular Irish lug that has a hard hitting, very physical looking style inside the ring. He can deliver on the mic and if they add a little more menacing aspect to him, he could be viewed as a threat to anyone. I don't look for WWE to turn him heel anytime soon, but it's a thought.

John Cena - As has been said & pointed out in numerous other threads, it LOOKS as if WWE is on a slow build towards a heel turn for John Cena. John Cena, the ultimate babyface and overall biggest star WWE has produced in a decade, going heel would get people interested. I should say, I think a heel Cena would get people interested in the long term if he's booked as someone you can take seriously. That means to leave the lame ass, Marky Mark-esque rap garbage back in the early to mid 2000s where it belongs. It means to lay off the corny jokes and lame attempts at humor. It means not trying to be the "cool heel" that people want to cheer for. If fans start cheering for him no matter what, that's one thing, but I don't think it'd work in having Cena's heel character court the adulation of the fans purposely. He's done that as a babyface forever anyhow and it's what needs to be moved away from.

 

[WWEgirlxx]

If you're talking about three "tough heels" in the sense of real, potential badasses, then I'd probably go with :

Mark Henry - Mark Henry has been one of the best things going on SmackDown! for the past half year or so. Henry has a legitimate physical presence and brings a sense of natural intimidation to his feuds & matches that you just can't manufacture artificially. Henry has been the type of heel that you don't see a lot of in wrestling: someone that can cause fans to "genuinely believe" that their beloved babyfaces are in real jeopardy of losing to and "being hurt" by. He's been a menacing heel on SD! and could be of use on Raw.

Sheamus - Sheamus has shown that he can get over as a face as well as a heel. Personally, I think he's better as a heel and, with proper booking, can be every bit as intimidating and threatening as Mark Henry. Sheamus is just a big, muscular Irish lug that has a hard hitting, very physical looking style inside the ring. He can deliver on the mic and if they add a little more menacing aspect to him, he could be viewed as a threat to anyone. I don't look for WWE to turn him heel anytime soon, but it's a thought.

John Cena - As has been said & pointed out in numerous other threads, it LOOKS as if WWE is on a slow build towards a heel turn for John Cena. John Cena, the ultimate babyface and overall biggest star WWE has produced in a decade, going heel would get people interested. I should say, I think a heel Cena would get people interested in the long term if he's booked as someone you can take seriously. That means to leave the lame ass, Marky Mark-esque rap garbage back in the early to mid 2000s where it belongs. It means to lay off the corny jokes and lame attempts at humor. It means not trying to be the "cool heel" that people want to cheer for. If fans start cheering for him no matter what, that's one thing, but I don't think it'd work in having Cena's heel character court the adulation of the fans purposely. He's done that as a babyface forever anyhow and it's what needs to be moved away from.

I agree that those would seem to be the most viable heels you could use. But when you think about it, yes, in essence Mark Henry is a great heel. However, he doesn't go over that well at live events. He's not really "feared" in the way they try to make him, when he should be.

Sheamus can go over either way and I as well like him better as a heel. I think out of the three he would be able to get the job done the best because of his success as a heel when he first arrived.

The idea of John Cena as a heel is one I support. However, I don't think we're going to see a Cena heel turn soon, if ever really. WWE relies on him too much for late night shows, appearances, movies, and any cause they support as well as Make-a-Wish. WWE is too afraid to lose the momentum they get with John Cena as the "face of the company." I think it's time for someone else to take that position and I'm glad that currently CM Punk is getting there, but let's be honest, WWE is too afraid to have people dislike John Cena.

 

[Little Jimmy 93]

Daniel Bryan

Bare with me on this one. You turn him heel any means necessary... attacking his enemies after matches, ripping on the crowd, whatever the cost. With a (dare I say it) Benoit style gimmick, bad-ass, no nonsense, submissionist (which isn't too hard to see), he could become an excellent heel. We're forever seeing these underdog faces (Rey Mysterio, Sin Cara, Evan Bourne and even Bryan himself) and this works well, so there is no reason at all why it shouldn't work in the opposite way. You have Bryan pin point specific body parts in his matches (which is something that needs to be done more in matches) and go from there. Every one of his matches doesn't HAVE to end in the Lebell Lock. I feel as though this could work out quite well. Try it on Smackdown for a couple of months and if it flops, you can always fix it instantaneously with a character like Bryan.


Wade Barrett

Just get this guy in the Mainevents again already? He's proven time and time again that he has the in-ring ability and mic skills to be a World Champion heel. He more or less ran Raw through-out the latter 6 months of 2010 and I don't recall many fast-growing rookies doing that. Not even Brock Lesnar did it as well as Barrett did. He is a born World Champion and is MUCH more deserving than the likes of Alberto Del Rio and this is coming from a Del Rio mark! Hopefully this feud with Orton will push him up to the top and he'll get into the Mainevent picture again. He's more than good enough to be stuck in upper mid-card limbo.


Dolph Ziggler

Surely you saw this coming? An amazing in-ring worker, and impressive on the mic. Does he need Vickie for heat? No. He's proved this time and time again over the past few months. I understand that he is helping to raise the prestige of the US Championship at the moment, but I'd say his community service is nearly over now and he needs to take a leap into that Top Heel Gap, with someone replacing Ziggler as the TOP upper mid-card heel. Whilst we're on the subject, what on Earth happened to Drew McIntyre? This time last year he was in Ziggler's position, although not nearly as good as him. The whole cocky heel thing works for him but it's EXTREMELY important that the writers don't screw this up if and when he gets this mainevent push. They did it with Miz and it's done nothing but harm. The cowardly factor. Now, Ted DiBiase Senior reckons the cowardly heel is the best type of heel in the industry but I couldn't disagree more. They appear week, don't get over as a maineventer and ultimately don't get over as a champion. The ring work alone doesn't counter this cowardice. You could be a Wrestling God, but if you attack your opponent from behind and then run off every week you're not going to get over as a top heel. Do you really think Stone Cold Steve Austin would of got to where he is now if he was a cowardly heel? No chance in hell. I'm not saying it's ineffective... It is. Only for mid-carders. Not maineventers. Maineventers need to be strong, believable and able to hold up the main villain role. When guys like The Miz (And I have no problem with The Miz, although I'd wish they'd focus more on getting him over as the companies top heel and not the guy we'd love to get in the ring and beat up, a top heel should do the opposite to Miz. We don't wanna get in the ring with the top heel because he'd kick our asses. That's the type of heel Miz needs to be. Then he'd be almost perfect) are your companies top heel and you wonder why your ratings are dropping don't blame the best thing that's happened to pro wrestling in years (CM Punk). Blame the heels. Cheap heat by attacking the face and running off damages your heels more than you'd think.

First post on WZ Forums so take it easy on me until I get the hang of this properly.

 

[SD619]

I agree with the OP that RAW needs more heel power. Currently the WWE guys that receive the biggest reactions are all faces(Punk, Cena, Orton etc.). No heel is on the same level as these guys and as a result, the feuds are not that interesting. Having two equals(one face & one heel) feud would be much more interesting.

As for who those top heels may be:

1. Barrett: He is one of the top heels in the WWE and needs to be in a main-event program.

2. HHH: Considering that he can still go, having him turn heel and work on a program with a top face(not for the title though) would be interesting.

3. Kane: He has the potential to be a top heel (but for a short program). He is still believable as a monster who destroys everyone in his path.

4. Miz: During the whole WM build, he was the top heel and performed quite well. If booked well, he could easily be the top heel.

 

[manstis1804]

To me, you have these 3 top babyfaces, and no heels on their level. One of them needs to turn. Two of them have only been faces for 1 or 2 years. The other has been stale in some ways since 2006.

So, turn Cena heel. Everything will fall into place if that happens, in fact I think they're trying to build the roster so once they move Cena to the heel side, things are perfectly even.

Faces: Punk, Orton, Sheamus, Bryan, Ryder, Truth
Heels: Cena, Henry, Kane, Rhodes, Ziggler, Miz

Lines up nicely.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Barrett is not going to improve the ratings. If Nexus had played out better he might have, but Cena and Orton kept beating them and then of course the splitting into "New Nexus" and The Corre completely ruined the angle. Barrett's current persona would likely do nothing to the ratings. Jericho and newly remasked Kane have better odds of it, but I doubt they will make the ratings go up much either. What about when the novelty of the new Kane or Jericho being back have worn off? The ratings would go back down again. Maybe it could improve with Kane as a heel champion. That's still a strong MAYBE though.

As for those who suggested Sheamus, he wouldn't change things any more than Barrett. He didn't when he was a heel WWE Champion and he has not been built up enough to change things as a top face yet either. He's on the right path, but of a face not a heel. A heel Cena is the best likelihood to change the ratings, but that will never work if they have not found someone to replace him as the top face. It's obvious they are trying to get Punk into that spot and I hope they do not give up on that anytime soon because he is their best bet for a new top face with the perfect opportunity for a Cena heel turn quickly approaching at Wrestlemania 28.