Why do Heels become More Successful More Quickly?

[Midgetmania619]

Think of the Nexus, Sheamus and Brock Lesnar to name a few. Especially Lesnar, all big heels and they went nearly straight to the main event. Popular heels were Goldberg, Stone Cold and Hogan nWo and they quickly went to main event (exception for Hogan, he was always there...).

Back in 'the day' Faces would always be pushed, or at least WWE would try to give them the greater reaction.

Why do you think it's changed so much now?

 

[Calderownz]

A few reasons.

1. Faces are usually the "faces" of the company, therefore it's easier to get a heel over when he goes after the top guy. Throughout the companies history, for example, they get heels over after generally speaking, getting after the champion.

2. Fans already naturally don't appreciate/like a new guy to begin with. So, it's easier to just go for broke and hope that he can do a few rotten things and really get the fans to boo.

3. They are looking for THAT guy. If they can get a guy so over as a heel, that fans start to appreciate him, it's easier to assume that this guy has a legit fanbase. Better chance of him being one of THOSE guys.

 

[Father Uncle Oscar]

IMO it's because faces don't do anything to make us absolutely love their characters right away. With heels, punch a baby in the nads and we want you dead. But for a face, recycle, brush your teeth, walk elders across the street, and pray daily, and you're on Superstars at best. I honestly have no clue why this is. I feel Trent Barreta should be one of the top faces of the IC Title picture, which DESPERATELY needs another face to begin with. But he's on Superstars and his tag team partner has been future endeaver'd for a couple months. It's a shame, since he's great in the ring and comfortable on the mic. Sure he was a heel at first, but he never pushed a cripple down a set of stairs, so hardcore fans never caught on. Wait, he was on ECW, so that's not really a good example..... This question is a very complex one to answer IMO. Nobody really knows why it is, but it is.

 

[MoeLester18]

IMO I feel that they become successful more quickly because it's easier to get someone to hate you than to like you. This is also true in real life because most people do tend to start hating someone faster than liking someone. So all in all, I just feel the reason this is so is just because it's a natural thing with people.

 

[The Suplexer Perfecter]

Heels get heat way more easily. You just have to attack a face or do something bad, and you get booed. Insulting the crowd is easy to do and then you get booed, but getting the crowd to like you and believe enough in you to cheer is way harder.

For example, what did Lesnar do? He beat the shit out of the top faces.

 

[RendarSelin]

There can be plenty of reasons for this. It also depends on who the heel is thrown up against, as well as the mic skills and cockiness shown by the new heel. For instance, Matt Morgan, Snitsky, Heidenreich, and other WWE heels have just completely fallen flat.

However, there have been plenty of successful heels who have really skyrocketed recently. The Miz is a great example. After the breaking up of Miz and Morrison, The Miz was promptly thrown into a program with John Cena. After Cena "forfeited" multiple matches against The Miz, Miz would come out and brag and boast about his undefeated record against Cena. Even Cena haters wanted to see this cocky new singles star just get humbled and destroyed. However, although John Cena did beat The Miz, he also helped The Miz look like a fully capable main eventer.

Sheamus is another great example of a huge push early. After coming to the main roster after decimating the ECW roster, he destroyed Jamie Noble. After winning the WWE Championship in what was seen as a "fluke" in a Tables Match against John Cena at TLC 2009 as well as escaping the Royal Rumble 2010 due to a disqualification win, many just wanted to see this cocky newcomer finally beaten. After losing the title, Sheamus went on to a program with Triple H, which ended in Triple H being sent into "retirement". After his 2nd WWE title win/loss, Sheamus snuck into the King of the Ring due to another "sleazy" circumstance (with a 2nd round bye due to the double count-out by Ezekiel Jackson/Drew McIntyre). Fans just want to see the sleazy King get what's coming to him.

However, with the faces, they have to build up slowly. Outside of flashy moves, only one thing will get faces over: win after win after win, convincingly, moving slowly against "jobber" heels, then climbing the ladder to get some convincing wins over mid-carders and upper-mid carders. Example: Jeff Hardy. After returning to WWE, he slowly built up on his own, capturing the Intercontinental Championship multiple times. Steadily working through the mid-card, he challenged Randy Orton for the title at the Royal Rumble thanks to an upset of Triple H (while the IC Champion), and showed a great effort in a losing match for Hardy. Another great example: John Cena. He started strong against Kurt Angle to put himself on the map, then feuded with mid-carders such as Y2J and Big Show, won the US Title, then continued to build up with the occasional main-event feud.

Simply put, it's easier to hate heels than love faces.

 

[Disaster Master]

Basically its already been said, heels are easier to do, you insult people on what ever it is, e.g. whatever town your in the heel would crack jokes on it which always draws heat. Being a heel is just easy, in every good vs bad, the bad guy always has more fun because you do whatever to get whatever, faces basically have a guideline to follow so to speak. Its easier to boo someone then to cheer, being a face you have to perform well enough to even be cheered for a heel can just go beat up a face and look how quick he would be booed, that simple

 

[Klown_Karnage]

One thing people look at when it comes to success is dominance, specifically a solid win/loss record. As a general rule, heels win more often. It's necessary so that they can build themselves up as a difficult force that needs to be dealt with. This allows the eventual defeat of this heel by the face much more satisfying. However, while that difficult and dominant heel is being built, they become very "successful".

Truth is, I can only think of a few truly dominant faces, and most of them started off as heels.

In the WWE, the heels and faces are much more clearly defined, so this situation is much easier to see. I think that Vinnie Mac has a certain favoritism towards large heels, but I think the already mentioned reasons (including the one directly above) are more likely.

 

[Karaoke Superstar]

Think of the Nexus, Sheamus and Brock Lesnar to name a few. Especially Lesnar, all big heels and they went nearly straight to the main event. Popular heels were Goldberg, Stone Cold and Hogan nWo and they quickly went to main event (exception for Hogan, he was always there...).

Back in 'the day' Faces would always be pushed, or at least WWE would try to give them the greater reaction.

Why do you think it's changed so much now?

The big reason I think is it's easier for fans to hate them than to love them. And it's easier to get a negative reaction than a positive if you are starting out. Take John Cena for example, when he moved to Raw and started notching clean wins over guys like HHH and Kurt Angle many were outraged. A large portion of fans turned on him. If he was a heel then that reaction would have been appropriate.

But anyway it's just easier all around. Fans are naturally gonna side with the established name in that scenario.

 

[Ultra Awesome]

The most obvious reason I can think of is because faces have a harder time getting over than heels in general. Nowadays, people will gladly prefer to watch a heel than to watch a face. They think that liking the bad guy is cool; and liking a face isn't as cool. Sure, they still enjoy watching faces; but more often than not, they'd much rather see a heel than a face. But this is just the audience.

Techinically speaking, it REALLY is much harder for a face to get over than it is for a heel to get over. A heel could basically just go out to the ring and scream out "I'm better than all of you! You all suck!" and that would instantly draw him heat. Whereas, a face is different. A face has to play the good guy and has a much more limited script tha heels do.

In the current WWE roster, most of the *youth movement* consists of purely heels. You have: Sheamus, Miz, Cody Rhodes, Nexus, Ted Dibiase, Tyson Kidd, Jack Swagger, Drew McIntyre, Wade Barret, Ezekial Jackson, Alberto Del-Rio (and more whose names I'm forgetting) - all of which are heels. But as for faces, you have: John Morrison, Daniel Bryan, Kofi Kingston, and that's it, really. So as you can see, the heels are really pile-ing on; whereas the faces are very under-exposed.

Truth be told, the reason heels become more succesful quiclier is because they have a much more bigger script to work with than faces - thus allowing them to have a better chance to get over. And it's not just me who thinks that; the evidence really shows. New faces are harder to make now than new heels are.

 

[themanof2andahalfholds]

A big reason is its a lot easier to hate someone than like them. Its easy to gain heat either you insult the city your in , take out a face,cheat etc. To be a successful face you have to be passable on the mic, you have to play the goody two shoes. its alot easier to be a dick than to be a nice guy.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

Well heels do get more over quickly. In pro wrestling, the existence of a face depends on the availability of the heel. A heel has to start shit for the face to oppose. At the end of the day the job of the face is only to oppose the heel. As a result heels get to show off more facets of their personality than faces.

Also there can be a number of types of heels but only a few types of faces. A heel could be a cocky heel, cowardly heel, evil heel, manipulative heel and so on. A face has either got to be a quinessential good guy or a gung-ho badass. As it stands there is more room for character developement as a heel and more chance of making your character connect with the crowd. That is why heels become successful more quickly.

Also as you might know that in real life too, its easier to get disliked than it is to get liked. Same for pro wrestling.

As for why WWE is not pushing faces these days, it is because of the above reasons AND the fact that WWE already has mega over faces that won't retire just now. But in order to stay fresh he needs to face a lot of heels that he has never faced before. That is another reason why so many heels are produced by the WWE these days. To give guys like Undertaker, Cena and Orton newer and fresher opponents.

 

[Black Snow]

It's really quite simple. The quickest way to the top is to start out as a heel. Being a heel is sort of the gateway to being a face. It's very rare when someone comes in a face and has immediate success. In order for that to happen a company really needs to be behind you from day one. On the flip side, it's easy to start as a heel and gradually climb up the hill of success. Eventually, if you're really good at your job you'll win the fans over. They'll become accustomed to you and appreciate your efforts. That will turn you into a face. It's happened for Randy Orton recently and it even happened to guys like Hulk Hogan and The Rock. The tradition is there.

The general mindset of wrestling is that faces win a lot and they do so cleanly. When heels win they usually cheat. So the simplest way to get a heel over is to have them beat a face. That's a big deal. But to get a face over by beating a heel? Fans take the "so what" approach. Anyone can beat a heel. Heels lose a lot.

It's sort of a reversal of roles. Faces are cornerstones of the company thus being a heel to start out is easier because beating the opposition is a bigger deal. Heels can be dime a dozen thus being a face to start out is harder because beating the opposition isn't as much of a feather in your cap. A heel has a sure bet. The payout is smaller but you're more likely to win. A face is a long shot. It rarely pays out but when it does, it does so in a big way, i.e. Goldberg.

 

[Midgetmania619]

However, while that difficult and dominant heel is being built, they become very "successful".

Truth is, I can only think of a few truly dominant faces, and most of them started off as heels.

Vladimir Kozlov was a good example, and he was very hated because he didn't have good wrestling skills or mic skills. He just stood around yelling and pushing people.

And it seems true that Vince uses most large people as heels, or have them heels in major feuds: Mark Henry, Batista, Great Khali, Test, Kozlov, etc. Usually a large monster only becomes a face when their heel as failed, examples above (excluding Batista, he was a vice versa).

 

[Muffin Top Merkley]

The amount of overall success a wrestler can achieve depends on how "over" he can be with the wrestling audience. The easiest way to get "over" with the audience is to envoke emotion from them.

It's much easier for a heel to receive negative feelings from the audience and bee booed than it is for a face to cheered, because with human nature it is easier to view something in a negative light and criticize opposed to be postive.

Because it takes less effort to hate something and boo, the wrestler who just debuted as a heel by kicking a puppy is receiving a much bigger reaction, even though it is a negative one, than the new wrestler who just kissed his mom before the match.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Razor Ramon summed it up... "Everyone loves the bad guy"... and its true... most people's fave Star Wars characters are Darth Vader or Boba Fett... people watch Silence Of The Lambs for Hannibal, not Clarice... or Glee for Sue Sylvester...

Heels give fans the chance to vicariously be evil themselves... People like Wade Barrett cos they would like to run around with impunity and have a gang who do their bidding... They secretly like Punk cos he is right in 90% of what he says... They like Miz cos he shows an arrogance we would all love to display... Sheamus cos he stands out and does things on his own terms... Ted DiBiase was filthy rich, Rick Rude or Shawn Michaels had every woman lining up to get a piece...

If a heel can tap into one of those vicarious needs of the fans, he will get over much quicker than a face... after all who wants to be a goody two shoes except kids who want Santa to come?

 

[moneymaker90]

I disagree that heels become successful quicker than faces. I believe that is the type of push that you get, not if you are a face or a heel. Case and point the face of the WWE: John Cena. As heel he was really doing nothing. As a face he became the face of the company in 18 months or so. And this happened because of the monster push he received culminating on him winning the WWE title from 10 month champion called JBL on Wrestlemania 21. You can make an argument if it is easier to play a heel than a face, however I don't believe being a heel is a way faster way to success.

 

[Arkham Noir]

Well, its simply because heels just have to be disliked. It isn't hard to not be likeable. Faces have to gain support and people have to want to see see them.

The easiest example is RAW this past week. HBK came out and the crowd was hot for him. Enter Del Rio and the crowd was all over him for daring to intrude on the awesome moment. But if you were to do the reverse and have a huge heel on and than bring out , say, Evan Bourne; it's still Evan Bourne coming out. It takes time for the audience to developing an interest in someone and start to believe in them. Heels just need to be interjected in the right situations to get over.

 

[MattBarrett V.01]

I believe its easier because heels can win in any way neccesary. They can cheat, dominate and win clean. This helps them gain a certain amount of interest from the public. Because they're not just your average jobber. They actually have future's in the bussiness. With a face, its harder for them because first of all they have to gain support from fans. Second of all they have to try and make matches much more better than a heel does. Just some other reasons to support the idea of why its easier.

 

[joshhenkle]

its easier for a fan to hate a heel. new guys are usually not very liked in the first place. if someone debuts as a face then theyll have to try even harder to just get them to give them a chance. people like r truth and evan bourne were always faces and look where they are at in their career. on the other hand theres guys like sheamus and alberto del rio who get thrust into the main event

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

It is much easier to draw heat as a heel.

As a face, you can come in, win a few matches, and slowly earn respect from the crowd, but if they are overpushed too quickly, the fans can turn against them. It is harder to make someone love you than hate you.

For this reason, a heel that WWE want to push can come in, beat the shit out of the most beloved babyface and then almost immediately be in the main event, as the fans will desperately want their hero to get his revenge. This is why in the past you used to see the top babyface working through his heel challengers, some of whom would only be in the WWE/WCW/NWA for a short period of time and were just hired to be fed to the champ.

 

[mrbrownstone]

Simple it is easier to get people to hate you than to love you, not just in WWE but in life in general.

Say for example you meet someone for the first time, if you say one tiny thing that offends them, you can get them to hate you just like that, it could take no more than 30 seconds. However to get someone to like you is far more difficult, you have to earn their respect, earn their trust, show that you are interesting and many other things, it takes someone much longer to do those things and make someone truly like you.

The same is true in the realms of professional wrestling, for a heel to get heat is easy all you have to do it insult a sports team, perhaps be from another country, show arrogance or cockiness or cowardliness, beat up other top faces, all of those things can get you heat as a heel and they can be done right from the time you debut.

To get over as a face on the other hand is far harder, first and foremost you have to earn fans respect, a task that can take months in itself. As well as that you have to have charisma, have a gimmick the fans can relate to, be good on the mic and many other things.