WWE Becoming More Than 3D?

[TJWWE]

I know the title is a bit boo ha, but last night on WWE (MIAMI! you are an amazing crowd!) the crowd were booing the faces and cheering the heels.

Now, this made me think, at what point during WWE have the crowds begun to boo the faces and cheer the fans because I know that it has not always been the case..

 

[Iversen]

It was still the Wrestlemania crowd in the main. It's a smart crowd much like the crowds in New York and Chicago are. They boo and cheer who they like rather than who they are told to. It does seem to be becoming more and more common though but I think that's because people tend to watch these PPVs see who these crowds are cheering and follow suit. Plus people are using the Internet more and more everyday which also effects it.

 

[MCMG]

I would say the reaction was simply because older fans attend 'mania and therefore attended this raw. Therefore they will be more inclined to do things away from the norm.

I suspect normality will be resumed in a few weeks after everyone has calmed down although the D Bryan chants will continue and he will turn face.

 

[Ellye]

The crowd of Miami was an exception, but there do is a slowly growing percentage of smarks in every crowd.

It brings about interesting effects. In a crowd full of smarks, you can't be a face just by pandering to the crowd - heck, big chances are that doing this will just get you booed. All in all, it really blurs the line between faces and heels, which, I believe, is a great thing.

One example that has been happening pretty much in every crowd is that Cody Rhodes get some cheers. He does get the typical heel boos together with it, but he has been almost consistently getting a considerable number of cheers too.

 

[Headman]

I know the title is a bit boo ha, but last night on WWE (MIAMI! you are an amazing crowd!) the crowd were booing the faces and cheering the heels.

Now, this made me think, at what point during WWE have the crowds begun to boo the faces and cheer the fans because I know that it has not always been the case..

You think a crowd that boos the faces and cheers the heels is amazing? I think it's obnoxious. I have no problem with people cheering for who they want, but some cities seem like they're trying to ruin the show by giving the worst possible reactions. It's the same thing here on the internet. Some people think they're rebeling against the WWE or some imaginary cause like that, but to quote Raven, they're really just showing their ass.


P.S. That wasn't a typical Miami crowd seeing as most of the people there traveled from all over the place to see WM and the following night's RAW. This was like an internet smark gathering which is why some of you liked it so much. I wouldn't use the term "Smart Crowd" though, because the majority of fans who describe themselves as smart fans are using the term ironically.

 

[Cats Pajamas]

Good evening, faces & heels, from the blue suede shoe'd Northeast. This thread is a tough one... it's actually something I catch myself pondering about from time to time as I get forever older... sigh... I can tell you the very f
irst occurrence that I can recollect was The Rock vs Brock Lesnar Summerslam match.


We all know the story behind that feud so there's really no need to reiterate. Rocky, who was by & large the [alleged] face of that storyline, was booed out of the arena with every step he took! We all knew he was on his way out for the silver screen, but the crowd took it awfully hard that night. I can still remember the image of The Rock looking completely bewildered mid sharpshooter as an entire audience cheered supersonic-ly loud for The Next Big Thing. To each performers credit, they rolled with the punches without missing a single beat.


Heyman had that sycophantic gratitude painted across his enormous head in the form of a full-breathed "hardy har har"! Lesnar stayed true to typical Lesnar sentiments; he all but ignored the sudden influx in his fan base to instead revel in the pain he was delivering like a postman from Hell. The Rock, in what would years later morph into an unanticipated character change, was in awe and instead of defending his Hollywood aspirations as he has recently he fired back at the fans. It was amazing! Even the commentators worked the chants into their play-by-play!


Personally, I was conflicted by that match. I didn't have any reason to dislike The Rock, but Lesnar was so believable in his role it was heard to dislike him. He was capable of feats of strength that we weren't used to and made a lot of the roster look like, well... wimps. He's made millions off peoples perception of him being a monster who can back it up despite primarily just being a mouthy, musclehead of a wrestler. He sells it well & by God I buy it every damn day...


I doubt that was the first delinquent crowd in wrestling history... but after the days of the near impossible to hate SCSA it was when I first started noticing it. From then, the crowds have only gotten exponentially more difficult. I don't know all the reasoning for that, but it has been partially justified... Angle, Guerrero, Lesnar, the original DX... those are all tough acts to follow and thus far the goody two-shoed, iced tea drinking, Hyundai driving Cena hasn't struck a chord with the contemporary, anti-cool audiences.

I don't know about you all, but I'm halfway curious to see if we get fickle again & turn on Lesnar sometime this year. Who's it contempt for if we do... Lesnar, the omnifiscent VKM, or the notoriously evil writers...? How about "all those Stamford, Connecticut bastards!" We're not biased... we'll hate everyone equally!


G'night, y'all... I gotta get back to the office in the a.m. and "Hick Dynamite" like me doesn't belong in a hybrid of "office" & "politics" so I'm just a tad cranky bout it (heeyuck-yuck!). Work hard, drink Pepsi, and best regards wrestling fans.


"All my life I've been waiting for, I've been praying for... for the people to say... one day!" - Matthew Paul Miller

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

smart crowds don't boo the face and cheer the heels. Crowds that want to look smart do that. These crowds are like the kid in class who answers every question that everyone knows and thinks he needs a pat on the back. It doesn't imperss ANYONE.

Also, they weren't booing all the faces and cheering all the faces, it was mixed. WWE WORKED them by having DB lose quickly. In fact, I doubt he'd be as over as he was last night had that not happened. DB's fanbase is mostly smarky people, so how do you piss off smarky people and get them to follow a guy? Well, first you have him "fired" for something that's not his fault. Then you have him go on a losing streak. Then you have him turn heel and win the title. Then you have him lose it in 8 seconds.

How do you get the "smart" fans to hate a guy and boo him and buy shirts that say how much they hate him? You have him be the ultimate good guy.

You guys give smarks too much credit. WWE works them every bit as easily. You just have to get off your high horse and look at it from afar to realize it.

 

[Psyclone]

smart crowds don't boo the face and cheer the heels. Crowds that want to look smart do that. These crowds are like the kid in class who answers every question that everyone knows and thinks he needs a pat on the back. It doesn't imperss ANYONE.

Also, they weren't booing all the faces and cheering all the faces, it was mixed. WWE WORKED them by having DB lose quickly. In fact, I doubt he'd be as over as he was last night had that not happened. DB's fanbase is mostly smarky people, so how do you piss off smarky people and get them to follow a guy? Well, first you have him "fired" for something that's not his fault. Then you have him go on a losing streak. Then you have him turn heel and win the title. Then you have him lose it in 8 seconds.

How do you get the "smart" fans to hate a guy and boo him and buy shirts that say how much they hate him? You have him be the ultimate good guy.

You guys give smarks too much credit. WWE works them every bit as easily. You just have to get off your high horse and look at it from afar to realize it.

this plus a million...


the only times in my wrestling career that I heard people genuinely cheer a heel and boo a face were just at the dawn of the attitude era... People were booing shawn michaels and cheering sid because they were tired of the "good guy shawn" (albeit I believe it was an MSG crowd at the time).

To be fair though Miami Sunday and Monday were both great crowds (again probably not built of true floridians but more international/national due to wrestlemania crowds staying for raw) but I hope that energy filters to the next few places because they were great... They brought excitement to the matches and promo's... They did not "hate the faces" as they loved it when santino won on raw (And also when he tagged in at wrestlemania, and when zack ryder tagged in...) Sure they also had a we want ziggler chant at raw, but that was more "we respect his wrestling ability and want him pushed" than outright cheers... He's a damn good wrestler and deserves a little push right now..

They also did not boo the face's (sure sheamus got some boo's at mania and cena got boo's on raw and smackdown) but at least in cena's case those boo's and cheers continue the thread of what cena is and what his character is.. He doesn't deny he's loved by some and hated by some, it's the fact that you get to choose he enjoys so how is that bad?

 

[Deadlysyns]

Cheer for who you like regardless of what side of the fence they are on some people like Heels for their characters others like faces either way cheer for whoever you want

 

[H33LTurn]

It all boils down to who the heels and faces are. Sheamus has been shoved down eveyrones throat even though its been a while since he was interesting. The smarks love DB so they cheer DB and boo sheamus. Its as simple as that. You have to look at the quality and popularity of the character, not just the fact that someone is a heel or a face. Just look back at the Attitude Era, the heels had more depth to their characters and got over with the crowds better so the same situation that presented itself back then has presented itself now.

 

[DetectiveZelix]

I believe one of the first times was during the Austin-Hart fued because the fans were bored of the Good Guy or rather the clean by the book good guy but also because we found ourself relating more to the Bad guy. The bad guy represents everyones breaking point and demon side in which we all have a la Austin Rock Mania 17. its when we are done trying and earning and now its time to TAKE! also in all honesty the bad guy just seems cooler like the Ninja Turtles and Shreddar. Also we like people like Punk and Orton because they tour the line and arent afraid to have Their own cause and not follow the book page by page. in all honesty its just the other side we all have and in days like these we tend to rely on our evil side a bit more to carry us through. Also in these days we read dirtsheets and try to show Vince what we know and arent surprised of because of that. Its really hard to say where it began. I think it was always around it just got more obvious over time.