Mustang Sally
Sells seashells by the seashore
I got to thinking about Cesaro the other day.....is he a face or heel? One might figure a wrestler can be defined only as good guy, bad guy or 'tweener, yet I don't think any of those categories apply to Cesaro, so I'm naming a new one.....'wiener.'
A wiener is a wrestler who isn't doing anything to either curry favor with the fans......or trying to alienate them. On the other hand, a 'tweener is actively doing good things and bad to get folks to alternately boo or cheer him/her, based on their deeds at the moment.
Randy Orton is a good example of a 'tweener because you can never figure on which side he's going to land. This lends an air of unpredictability to his act that simply booing him as a bad guy couldn't fill. It also explains why fans were fascinated with Stone Cold Steve Austin.....who might have been the first true 'tweener.....because he was a good guy who constantly behaved as a heel.
Then there's Cesaro. The man's identity in his early days with WWE featured him as a wiener because the only way we could determine whether we should cheer or boo him was based on the opponent he was facing at the moment. At first, he fought only good guys, so we presumed he was a heel. But how could we really tell? He wrestled exactly the same against heels or faces. He's always displayed an air of arrogance as he worked, which seemed heroic when he wrestled a bad guy.....and obnoxious when he fought a face.
Yes, of course there were times he displayed legitimately aggressive tactics that made us boo him when he applied them against a hero, but for the most part, he works the same repertoire in every match, with little to tell us what he's about.
Perhaps this is why it's been so difficult for Cesaro to establish an identity of his own.....and why Vince McMahon seems to think so little of him.
What do you think of this 'wiener' category? Would you agree that a performer who 'just wrestles' without giving us a clue as to who he/she is qualifies as a wiener (or wienerette?)
Do you think this is part of Cesaro's problem? Can you think of other performers who featured as wieners?
A wiener is a wrestler who isn't doing anything to either curry favor with the fans......or trying to alienate them. On the other hand, a 'tweener is actively doing good things and bad to get folks to alternately boo or cheer him/her, based on their deeds at the moment.
Randy Orton is a good example of a 'tweener because you can never figure on which side he's going to land. This lends an air of unpredictability to his act that simply booing him as a bad guy couldn't fill. It also explains why fans were fascinated with Stone Cold Steve Austin.....who might have been the first true 'tweener.....because he was a good guy who constantly behaved as a heel.
Then there's Cesaro. The man's identity in his early days with WWE featured him as a wiener because the only way we could determine whether we should cheer or boo him was based on the opponent he was facing at the moment. At first, he fought only good guys, so we presumed he was a heel. But how could we really tell? He wrestled exactly the same against heels or faces. He's always displayed an air of arrogance as he worked, which seemed heroic when he wrestled a bad guy.....and obnoxious when he fought a face.
Yes, of course there were times he displayed legitimately aggressive tactics that made us boo him when he applied them against a hero, but for the most part, he works the same repertoire in every match, with little to tell us what he's about.
Perhaps this is why it's been so difficult for Cesaro to establish an identity of his own.....and why Vince McMahon seems to think so little of him.
What do you think of this 'wiener' category? Would you agree that a performer who 'just wrestles' without giving us a clue as to who he/she is qualifies as a wiener (or wienerette?)
Do you think this is part of Cesaro's problem? Can you think of other performers who featured as wieners?