What's happened to the "evil" heels?

[George Steele's Barber]

Also I'm calling bullshit on the one about how The Attitude Era made it cool to root for heels

This is true, the Attitude Era was the first point I remember when crowds would start rooting for who or what is the most entertaining instead of who is right and who is wrong. They didn't just root for the heel.

and smarks boo Cena just to "ruin the show" for the little kids.

This is somewhat true, smarks and others boo Cena for a few reasons: because he is not entertaining, because he represents a product that isn't what they want it to be and some of the ones that are pricks do boo to ruin the show for kids. But I think the booing is more because of the first two reasons I provided.

Whether you like it or not, not everyone is gonna like the same things in this world. Hulk Hogan and Stone Cold had people who hated them too. In a lot of ways John Cena really is annoying. I mean his Star Wars routine this monday and him acting like Ace Ventura a couple weeks ago was annoying as hell. And it ain't just being a smark, when Jim Carrey originally did it I thought he was annoying then too. Plus John Cena's been in WWE for 10 years, 7 of which as the top babyface. Sooner or later people get tired of seeing the same stars doing the same thing all the time and yeah wrestling fans are gonna be vocal about it.

This is all understandable, but I would still say that smarks are more likely to get Cena off their TV or change by not reacting as opposed to booing.


And back on the original topic, the fact that so many posters in this thread want 'evil' heels is just a sign that being 'evil' is perceived to be entertaining. If it is entertaining the fans will cheer for it and it will ruin the dynamic of the heel/face relationship that has carried pro wrestling for so long which leads the WWE no choice but to put out these half assed heels that the nostalgia crowd despises.

Then again, heels are supposed to be despised so maybe WWE is doing the right thing.

 

[Strife543]

WWE needs more evil heels. I could see Cesaro plaimng maybe a bully ray type gimmick where he bullies smaller guys and/or Teddy.

Anyone forgot about the Ascension? Their gimmick is supernatural and evil style heel. The Ascension could easily play the evil heels in the wwe tag division.

Tensai is another guy that crosses my mind for an evil heel. He has been bullying his worshipper Sakamoto and attacking guys like Cena not to mention they r repackkaging him

 

[mrpops]

I want the current heels to step it up. Give them the mic and have them say horrible things. I dont mean stuff like x city sucks, i mean stuff that would actually anger people. They can easily anger tons of people while still maintaining a pg rating. This would get us those evil heels back.

Examples:

Have a wrestler bash the make a wish foundation. Have him hate kids, have him say stuff to a kid live on raw like "So tony, you chose to come to raw and meet john cena as your dying wish? Are you insane? haha. John cena doesnt care about you etc".

Whenever a celebrity dies, have a heel come out and make fun of them. Example: (whitney houston dies) And heath slater comes out and says something ignorant like "In a failed attempt to save her before she died, even gavin from autoglass couldn't fix Whitney's crack problem. lolololol."

This could be a great gimmick for someone. Make him the biggest asshole in the world. Just make him the biggest hater/troll except in real life.

That too me would be alot better than mark henry breaking ankles with chairs and del rio running over big show. Those spots are just like...meh whatever. But when you insult someone or something people care about then thats how you get real heat.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

Thanks for all the positive responses here. You guys have brought up some good examples of more recent heels that have done a good job taking it to that next level. You've also brought up some good points about how the WWE and the fans do not allow these heels to grow and be heels, because they become too popular and get turned face.

That kinda sucks and is a real problem when it comes to actually building the next big names.

Maybe the answer isn't being so over the top evil that todays fan falls in love with the act. Maybe it goes back to the subtleties of heeling.

Go back and look at the video I posted of Jake Roberts. Forget about the cobra, and look at Jake himself. Notice how he doesn't actually attack Savage until the referee holds him back for a moment. See how Jake has no wasted motion when he's incapacitating Savage, but once he's got him tied up in the ropes, he immediately slows down and every motion is deliberate. He's building his heat masterfully, and he's allowing the fans to soak in what he's doing, and react accordingly. He could be using the cobra... he could be using a chair... or he could just be beating on Savage with his fists. It doesn't matter at this point, because he has the crowd in the palm of his hands. Notice at the end, how much joy Jake takes in what he's done.

These are the types of actions I don't see enough of from todays younger heels. Evil doesn't have to be over the top. Evil just needs to let you see it for what it is, and allow you to hate it.

Subtlety. That's what it takes, and that's a trait I at least, don't see enough of in the new heels coming up. Unfortunately without it, I don't know who the next great heel is that's going to put the next great face over the top.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

I want the current heels to step it up. Give them the mic and have them say horrible things. I dont mean stuff like x city sucks, i mean stuff that would actually anger people. They can easily anger tons of people while still maintaining a pg rating. This would get us those evil heels back.

Examples:

Have a wrestler bash the make a wish foundation. Have him hate kids, have him say stuff to a kid live on raw like "So tony, you chose to come to raw and meet john cena as your dying wish? Are you insane? haha. John cena doesnt care about you etc".

I'm actually going to stop you right there, because that last statement reminded me of a big problem I see with heels nowadays.

Like I said in the opening post, the heel should always feel justified in doing whatever they do. I left something out though.

Under no circumstances should the fan also feel that the heel is justified in what they are doing. Once you can relate to the heel, he stops being a heel.

I notice this the most with Michael Cole. He's horrible for it. When he's talking about why he doesn't like a particular face, he'll relate a story about how that face did something dickish... and a lot of the time, when he's done, I can see where he's coming from. Heat is lost instantly.

The heel should himself feel justified in doing the horrible things that he does... but those horrible things should be such an overreaction to what upset him in the first place that they're indefensible. It's like someone cutting in front of you in line, and instead of telling him off and making him go to the back of the line, you beat him so bad he has to go to a hospital... then banging his girlfriend while he's in the hospital... then stealing his dog right before he gets out. The unrelatable overreaction.

Too often though, I see heels today justifying themselves in a way that I can relate. THAT, is something that needs to stop... and if it does, then it's the first step to overcoming the problem of fans getting behind a great heel and ruining them...and once that happens, then heels can grow to the point that a face will get over bigger by finally giving them what they deserve.

That's just my opinion though.

 

[rge2010]

Whenever a celebrity dies, have a heel come out and make fun of them. Example: (whitney houston dies) And heath slater comes out and says something ignorant like "In a failed attempt to save her before she died, even gavin from autoglass couldn't fix Whitney's crack problem. lolololol."

This could be a great gimmick for someone. Make him the biggest asshole in the world. Just make him the biggest hater/troll except in real life.

Are you serious? Really? We all know WWE's obsession with mainstream media and getting non wrestling stars involved, coming out with utter ludicrous ideas like that would totally crush any mainstream momentum, nobody would want to be involved!!!

I think you are getting mixed up between fantasy and reality. In reality that just wouldnt work!

 

[R.K.O]

I want the current heels to step it up. Give them the mic and have them say horrible things. I dont mean stuff like x city sucks, i mean stuff that would actually anger people. They can easily anger tons of people while still maintaining a pg rating. This would get us those evil heels back.

Examples:

Have a wrestler bash the make a wish foundation. Have him hate kids, have him say stuff to a kid live on raw like "So tony, you chose to come to raw and meet john cena as your dying wish? Are you insane? haha. John cena doesnt care about you etc".

Whenever a celebrity dies, have a heel come out and make fun of them. Example: (whitney houston dies) And heath slater comes out and says something ignorant like "In a failed attempt to save her before she died, even gavin from autoglass couldn't fix Whitney's crack problem. lolololol."

This could be a great gimmick for someone. Make him the biggest asshole in the world. Just make him the biggest hater/troll except in real life.

That too me would be alot better than mark henry breaking ankles with chairs and del rio running over big show. Those spots are just like...meh whatever. But when you insult someone or something people care about then thats how you get real heat.

Someone did said something along the lines you have posted, Michael Cole talked about Jerry Lawler's dead mother and got insane heat. So your idea of the gimmick could work.

But your examples certainly wouldn't though. Make a wish foundation is an important part of John Cena's character and I doubt WWE would want to touch that. It's equivalent to saying CM Punk is not straight edge. As for your second example, I doubt WWE want to tarnish their reputation with the media anymore.

 

[DANIELBRYANrealwrestler]

Theres ALOT of reasons why most evil heels are gone.For example,most storylines they build only revolve around the WHC/WWE title and Cena and the rest of the show is half-assed.They dont put any effort into midcard storylines or tag team (well theyre trying w tag team division nd Christian as IC champion) and heels who really need the mic time get replaced with Cindy Lauper.Also alot of superstars arent creative, nor have much mic skills.Alot of superstars cud do alot iff they improved on the microphone and got some segments during the show (Kofi,Del Rio,Swagger).You can always tell whos creative and whos not (eg. chris jericho jobbed to punk MANY times and still kept the feud goin and remained interesting).

 

[Reality Era]

If barrett came back with an evil agenda and wwe give him the push that he deserves he can do something like I think your looking for. If ryback became evil, quote on quote it's alse believable but the problem is why are these heels evil and what defies evil in your eyes

 

[midgensa]

I seriously miss the evil heel.

I am not the only one around these parts to comment on the suit heel ... The Miz, Jericho, Bobby Roode, etc. They are taking over the world of heels in the more "realistic" world of wrestling.

I miss the heels that would run people over with cars. Hit people with sledgehammers. Show up and just maul their opponents for no reason.

Triple H always did it well (and did the suit thing also, go figure). Kane and Undertaker were good ones. Macho Man had some solid runs. Hell, Mark Henry was OK with his Hall of Pain.

I just want a mean dude with bad intentions.