What qualities must a wrestler have to make you a fan?

[NYSandman]

With all the complaining about losers being pushed in WWE, guys who no one reacts to, I'm wondering what it truly takes to earn the fans respect.

Here's how it goes for me.

Babyface:

Must appear from the onset to have good, unselfish qualities.
Can eliminate the above if the Face can connect with the fans through their own desires, like Steve Austin being the guy who beats the shit out of his boss.
Mic skills must be top notch, and Face must be able to generate hate towards his Heel opponent in promos.
Must have something that sets him apart, besides just being on the moral side of things. Any training, prayers and vitamin stay in school shit is old and tired.
Must be willing to go beyond fair wrestling, and not be afraid to use illegal tactics AS LONG as he can make them justified to the fans.

Heels:

Must show a level of selfishness, and a willingness to win at all costs, putting aside the well being of everyone around him to achieve his means.
Must be able to "anger" the fans with promos, to say things that will piss people off.
Must show a total lack of regard for the rules, and cheat whenever he can get away with it.
Must do at least one thing horribly over the top, such as severly "injuring" someone, or causing unbearable emotional stress to a rival.

Above all, the Heel or Face must be able to actually wrestle, and not survive on mic skills alone. Both MUST have a balance of both mic skills and wrestling ability, which compliments that person's size and athletacism.

These are just my criteria. And, much like assholes, everyone has an opinion. Just curious what everyone thinks.

 

[TheShocka2k]

The person must be charismatic and know how to handle a crowd. Shawn Michaels, The Rock, Austin, Hogan, Piper and Flair were great at handling a crowd. They were also great at cutting promos. Thats one of the reasons why Shelton Benjamen has never reach main event status is because the guy cannot talk. You need someone boisterous but not overly annoying. John Cena is ok the mic but his promos have been boring and stale. "The Champ is Here" can only work so many times. You can't also rip off other performers and their gimmick or how they talked on the mic. Cena seems like he wants to rip off jokes from the Rock and it fails every time. The person also needs to put on a great 10-20 performance in the ring. You can't be complacent with doing the same trademark 5 moves in every match anymore. Fans are looking for something different and something knew. The fans are much smarter than what they were back in the 80's and they'll let you here it if you don't perform well in the ring. I really do not care about the size or the look of a person. If you look at someone like Austin, who got over because of his persona and not because of his size or "look". I agree with what Jim Cornette use to say about the Rock and Austin, "They were themselves but turned up 20 notches." The person needs to be real in the ring as well and on their promos. For heels, the most important thing is that they believe what they are saying. The person needs to make fans feel that he or she believes they are right when they say things even though they might be wrong. They cannot sound too scripted but more "shoot-like". The person also has to adapt in-ring to the person they are working with to produce a great match. You can be as small as Rey Mysterio but that doesn't mean you can't put on a great match with someone as the size of Khali. Flair and Michaels were great at making their in-ring partners look better than they actually were. Also, don't try to get a cheap pop every time by mentioning the name of the city you are in. Mick Foley only did that as a joke and it became a continuation as it was pretty entertaining and humorous. Backstage, please respect the locker room leaders and become one of those individuals. Undertaker has always been a great example of a locker room leader. I understand people may not like him that much because they feel he plays to much politics backstage. However, the fact remains that the guy will do anything for a company and that's how leader are supposed to act. Most wrestling fans now a days read the dirt sheets and they do not want to here about another young promising star becoming a jackass backstage because he wants he rise now.

 

[TakerHardy13]

any wrestler for me must have an interesting moveset and unique gimmick for me to be a fan. any wrestler must also have good mic skills. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING A WRESTLER MUST HAVE FOR ME TO BE A FAN IS TO CUT A GREAT PROMO!!! this is what makes me a true fan of a wrestler

3 of my favorite wrestlers are Jeff Hardy, Raven, and CM Punk.

-Raven can cut one of the gratest promos I have ever seen. HE ALSO HAS THE GREATEST
GIMMICK OF ALL TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He may not be the best wrestler in the world by any means, but his ability to cut a great
promo and sell his characters gimmick made me a huge fan of his since a
while back.

I now that Jeff Hardy and CM Punk may be a contradiction to my great promo statement, but they are not a contradiction of my great moveset and gimmick comments.

-Jeff Hardy was the first wrestler I was ever a fan of. his high-risk moves and
highflying style made me an instant fan.

-CM Punk is has great in-ring abilities and has a good gimmick. with the WWE
getting media coverage with its sterroid problems, CM Punk is the perfect
solution. his stragiht-edge gimmick is a great solution. I have been a fan of
his since hos ROH days.

 

[drmagic326]

The qualities a wrestler must have to make me a fan of them are
BabyFace
-Must be able to relate to the fans
- Must have Charisma and be great on the stick
-Wrestling skills
-Catchphrases or something to get the crowd going like "Cause Thats the bottom line cause stone cold said so" or "Finally the Rock has come back to..."

Heels
-Again, must relate to crowds problems like it reminds you of your evil boss or evil teacher.
-Must be Charasmatic because promos and interviews are a big part of a heels situation.
-Still a good wrestler ,but not outdoing the babyface
- Achieve heat from the crowd. Not Cheap Heat like Shane Douglas
-Rule Breaker. Cheat, Knock out the Ref, Use Weapons to beat up your oppenent.
- Make the crowds heroes look like there in pain to get some more heat.

 

[Bobby B]

Simple really , I don't think you need to seperate that much between face and heel.

- Excellant Promo skills. Its a must really , to be able to cut a decent promo , can build up a storyline excellantly.
- A Decent Gimmick - I know the wrestler has little/no control over this , but a good gimmick , can make or break a wrestler.
- Decent in ring ability - I'm putting this third , but the wrestling ability isn't greatly important to me , aslong as they can pull off a decent match , take some bumps and make it all look realistic.
- A good finisher - Again the wrestler doesn't have full control over this. But a good finisher can make a wrestler. Impact finishers , that can be pulled off resonably quickly , Stunner , Pedigree , RKO etc... and ones that can be pulled off in tight situations when there is alot of people in the ring , or they need to clean house.
- To be able to be a face or heel , and pull it off sucessfully - I only really have respect for a wrestler , if he can be a face or a heel character , and do it well. The two guys that stick out for me are Edge and Triple H. Edge has been heel for a while , but is always entertaining. And Trips , I had alot of respect for him as a heel , and even more as a face.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

For me, I don't care if you are face or heel, I look for originality. I don't want to cheer for a blatant rip off. John Cena's white rapper angle got over huge because we hadn't seen it before. Chris Jericho put together the perfect package of the crybaby heel in WCW. The Rock perfected total, over the top arrogance.

Obviously, you must be able to COMMUNICATE these qualities. That doesn't mean JUST a great promo. It can be on the mic, talking to fans in the ring, etc. The Rock amazed me one night grabbing the headset off of a commentator and doing commentary on his match DURING his match. Ballsy!

In ring ability has to match the type of wrestler you are. If you are a "technical wrestler" I don't care how much power you have. If you are a "high flyer" I may not care how much mat skill you have. And if you are a high impact power guy, I don't care if you can do the top rope. I was a big Scott Norton fan in his day. Never saw him go off the top. But I'm also a Jannetty guy. He couldn't press his way out of a paper bag, but look out below!

 

[kurtisraw07]

A wrestler must have in ring ability that makes me think to my self "wow, this guy is awesome." I will say this, and I'm referring to John Cena, even the crappiest wrestlers can have great matches. I'm saying this to take down the Cena fan arguements that he has been in great matches. All wrestlers, no matter how much in ring ability they have, know how to do the things they do within the concepts of a wrestling match. Such as you cant just get pissed off and knock your opponent out with one punch. And even in the kayfabe context when opponents are supposed to hate each other, they still run the ropes for each other and so on. In my view, a wrestler must have a persona that he can get over with on the mic, he must have in ring skills that make me think wow hes awesome, and he must have a believable finisher. Mr. Kennedy at the present time is my favorite, but he is lacking the finisher.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

This is my take on everything. I believe to get over with the fans, or more accurately, to get over with me.. you must have the following..

Gimmick: While even the most stale of gimmicks are still okay, if you can't play out the character you've been given.. then leave now, cause I know wrestling is scripted.. but I don't feel like watching someone who completely makes everything look fake.

Attire: Not everyone can get away with plain colored trunks & boots. Steve Austin was fired because that look wasn't marketable.. that is, until he got the above mentioned attribute. The first thing I look for, is what he looks like overall. If you have a sweet looking outfit that you're going to be wrestling in.. & mulitple outfits (ala HBK, Edge, MVP, Mysterio) are a definate plus.. then you've already sold me half way.

Talent/Wrestling Ability: I don't feel like watching a 5-10 minute match of you showing me the basic moves, even "I" can do. Go out there & leave nothing behind.. show me all you have, because if you don't.. you've already lost my attention. Take this for example.. if Jeff Hardy, R.V.D., & a lot of E.C.W. talent didn't have the "balls to the walls" style.. I doubt they'd be as big as they are, today.

Finishing Move: Show me something thats going to make me literally go.. "HOLY SH*T!" I don't wanna see a d.d.t., with a gimmick name.. or a crappy top rope moonsault, with a twist. I wanna see something thats gonna make me jump outta my seat in amazement. Petey Williams, for example.. first time I seen the Canadian Destroyer.. I literally thought he hurt the other guy.. I want to believe your finishing move.. is exactly what its called.