WWE heel problem

[Gavschenko]

Over the past few years WWE has lacked top heels over the past year punk and henry done briliant jobs, but the past few years the top heels in the company have been non wrestlers michael cole and vickie guerrero and before that it was the man with balls the size of grapefruits being the top heel vince.

Why has it been though that vickie and cole have been the top heels there is plenty of top talent in the roster but they just cant seem to get a crowd reaction. When vickie goes to speak she can barely be heard she has to scream at the top of her lungs to be heard, she has be the top heel since 07 when she decided to pair up with edge is that a show on how good she is or how bad the talent are at being heels? Why would fans seem to hate these non wrestlers who are on screen for 10mins at most in vickies case. Were as cole is on the show and can be heard throughout the show, everytime cole would say "may i have ur attention please" or got on the mic the place would boo him out of the building. Surely you would rather hate a tough strong heel that you dislike that hasnt been beaten yet or an actually wrestler.

I have two questions:
1. Why do heels struggle to get strong reactions nowadays
2.Cole and vickie as top heels is it that there really good or are the in ring talent doing a poor job in getting heat.

 

[Hard Hit Prince]

I think that wrestling fans nowadays like to brought up "wrestling heat" and "go away heat". To me, there is NO difference at all. One of the mods here and a very good poster named Dagger Dias, told me that Miz in 2011 had a strong reaction, mostly being "go away heat", because fans hated the fact that he was getting a main event push and thought that he was untalented. However ratings have never been higher for the WWE since that time.

The problem with WWE heels right now it's how good and entertaining they are. They can't be it and be hated by the fans. I and most of people will not boo a guy that we love to watch. Do you realize how hard is it to boo a talented talker or worker like CM Punk? I'm not a CM Punk mark, or pretty much a fan by any extent but I can't boo a guy that talented. Now look at Alberto Del Rio recently... Unless you haven't been paying attention, you seem to now find yourselves surprised by the amount of heat he gets when he enters the arena - people really hate him, he's isn't cool and despite his in-ring work, there is nothing interesting in Del Rio so, he's getting the "go away heat" but who cares? He isn't losing viewers and better than it, he's getting a reaction that talented workers don't seem to get from anything they do.

Do people remember that Hulk Hogan was paired up against guys like Earthquake? What there is to like about 'Quake? I'm going to pay to see him being beat the shit out of him, I don't think that he deserves to be in the main event, so I'll root for Hulk Hogan. That's the spirit... Ryback got into the main event, "we" hate him, there is nothing "we" can find attractive about him, ence the reason he gets heat whenever he popped up the ambulance or attacks a Daniel Bryan. Also, that's the reason people actually cheer for John Cena and wanted him to win (do you realize how difficult that is nowadays?)

To me a good heel is the one that has the "go away heat". Vickie Guerrero is flat out hated, she is really annoying and I want to see her get kicked in the freaking mouth. Damien Sandow on the other hand is so funny and so awesome that if he loses to pretty much anyone, I'll be so pissed that my TV is gonna role. Hell, I'll come here and make trash about how the WWE is idiot and blah blah. There is always room for the Roddy Pippers, Randy Savages or the Jake Roberts of this world, but one thing you gotta understand is that if you are a cool heel, a heel that tells something funny and that shows brilliance or any sort of above than average talent, people will cheer for you.

It will come to the company and the individual to see if they want to go on the route of being "vastly" hated like The Miz and seem to find your way to the main event scene. Or you'll be the CM Punk heel, where whenever you go, or whatever you do, like make fun a real legend that recently died, people will always cheer for you, given how great and talented you are. However both need to exist in order to make me tune in. If I think that WWE heels right now, are all too much cool? Yes I do. Do I think that IWC fans that don't understand what a heel is, are morons? Yes I do.

 

[Gavschenko]

If del rio isnt interesting surely he should get booed out of the building as people hate him for being boring but no1 reacts to del rio, pin drops are heard when he comes down the aisle

 

[SportsNation2K7]

I think heels struggle to get a reaction these days because you can only do so much in a PG rated show without losing their rating. I've always watched wrestling but I didn't really get into it until the the time they had the brand extension. This is my opinion but the best heel from 2002-2007 time frame was Mohammed Hassan. He got the people to hate him. Now if someone repeats that Hassan terrorist angle on John Cena than I think you would definitely get the heat you were looking for.

As for your second question. Cole and Vicky are annoying due to the Anonymous RAW GM and that stupid laptop and Vickie's voice.

 

[MCMG]

There are a lot of heels in the WWE but not one of them is the number one guy. It is just a matter of getting the right heels at the top of the roster.There is no Rock, HHH, Edge, Jericho and that is worrying. If we look at the roster there are guys who are potentially great heels: Sheamus, Ziggler, Orton, The Miz but they are all face. Ridiculous, in my opinion. At least two of these guys needs to turn (my choices would be Orton and The Miz) which will help them and the WWE.

Orton can play your classic heel, cheating to victory and simply the antagonist to the babyface(s) Bryan and Cena. Feuding with Bryan AND Cena at the same time whilst aligning himself with a heel Vince McMahon is guaranteed to work. When Alberto Del Rio is your top heel there are problems. It just isn't working for him and the WWE desperately need to turn the aforementioned superstars because they can get genuine heat.

As for Cole and Vickie, I think it is commendable that they have been the best heels in the company, besides Punk, for the last few years. Michael Cole in his feud with Jerry Lawler was incredible and was easily the top heel in the company at the time. Vickie is just a constant heat machine. I'm starting to get tired of her but it works a treat.

 

[joduke41]

I think the art of being is heel is hard.Some people have it,the bad thing is,they get cheered even when they are heels.sometimes you just wanna see the hell win.just because the fans cheer doesn't mean you have to make him a face.Jericho,Orton,Edge,and Punk will get cheered either way.I just think some of the heels out there don't know how to be true heels.They just need to find the guys who truly enjoy being assholes and let them be assholes.and stop always letting good triumph over evil.

 

[kidmetal24]

The biggest problem WWE has is that the Manager/Brand GM's are more over as heels than talent. The top wrestling heels are ADR, Sandow, and Ryback. Sandow is the most over and the mid card feud between he and Rhodes is so much more compelling and interesting than the WHC. The only hope is that we can have a true top heel come out of Summer Slam this Sunday. Orton Needs to turn as does Sheamus when he returns aswell. Guys like Kofi Kingston needs a character change and R Truth needs direction. Truth was an excellent heel and I feel Kofi would be fresh enough to where he wouldn't have to do much. Kinda like Bob Saget telling dirty jokes. WWE does have heels but they are mid card at best. Zock Ryder could be good and relevant again. Tyson Kidd could turn and feud with Daniel Bryan and put on one of the best wrestling matches since Bret Hart vs Mr. Perfect at Summer Slam. There are options but the quickest fix is to turn Randy heel. I think WWE is just afraid he will be cheered instead of booed.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

AS MCMG alluded to, I think the only real problem in WWE is that there aren't enough of the top guys on the roster working as heels. I do think that's going to change to some degree in the near future with Randy Orton and, upon his return, I'd love to see Sheamus return as a heel. I like him a lot more as a heel because it just seems to fit better. When Sheamus was a heel, it felt smooth. As a face, while he's done a solid job, he's just too much of an Irish stereotype in some ways. The big jovial Irish lug might be who he really is in life but, frankly, it's not all that deep or interesting.

When it comes to the likes of Vickie or Michael Cole, heat is heat. Michael Cole, for the most part, was brilliant in my opinion as a heel commentator. While I do agree that WWE did put too much focus on him at times, Cole was a despicable old school heel. Some people don't like him because he ultimately took Jim Ross' spot but I say get the fuck over it. If Cole was lousy at his job, I'd be right there in agreement but he isn't. As for Vickie, while I've kind of gotten tired of her, she's still entertaining to watch. I would have preferred her being back in the role of a manager of someone like Ryback or Antonio Cesaro, which I think would be much better use for her.

 

[lifelongfan]

the problem wwe has with heels is simple. Cena ppl r so tired of seeing him win they cheer whoever wwe puts aginst him. and then they get turned face. look at HHH years ago turned face after fude with cena same with Orton. Mark Hearny C.M. punk all the best heels. they go aginst Cena get cheered then after Cena done with em they get turned. if cena didnt win so much fans would not want to c him loose so bad they would not cheer his opponent and heels would stay heeels and everythig b ok

 

[BillAlfonsos_Whistle]

I think one of the true problems is that the average age of wrestling fans has gone up since the early 90s and even the attitude era. WWF attitude era was just a reaction to South Park and the "pushing the FCC limit" movement that captured American youth during that time.

Every single time a good wrestler carves his niche out as a heel there are fans that begin to cheer him on because of entertainment value. Remember when Sheamus was a heel? He could be a TOP heel in the WWE no problem. He's got the size, the "brute physical aggression" and a good character on top of it all until creative turned him into Cena Light.

Same with the Shield. They got legit hatred early on but as their talents became evident the crowd responded. I hope Bray Wyatt finds a way to distance himself as a true heel and creative some negative vibes for a while. Seems like the angle could work for those guys. They have to do something hideous though first.

 

[actionsub]

Let's take a look at the current heels...
Damien Sandow--as already mentioned, he's comedy gold

Fandango--the classic chicken-s*** heel who would rather take a countout than a clean loss

The "Real Americans"--since many wrestling fans are politically conservative, nobody's really sure whether these guys are heels or not

ADR--it's siesta time when he shows up

The Wyatts--their gimmick is extremely fresh. They tried it with Punk a few years ago, but it didn't really take because, hey, CM Punk. The degree to which they're taking this gimmick hasn't really been seen since the territory days with Kevin Sullivan. I predict, though, that while they will always be dark, it will grow on fans like the Undertaker did.

The Heyman Guys--Curtis Axel is boring and it's really difficult to get behind Brock Lesnar since nobody knows how long he'll stick around before an injury or illness catches up to him again like in UFC.

Orton--RKO is the Lex Luger of WWE...he's been turned from heel/face/heel so many times even he isn't sure what side he's on

The Bella Twins--the mean girl heels, but hot. Whichever one's dating Cena should get booed for that alone, with cheers of "You F----ed Cena!"

 

[chicagokmc]

I think that over the years, especially in WWE, the best heels usually had heel managers that added to the situation. Or there was heel management who unjustly exercised power. Vince with the Rock, Vince with the 2 man power trip of Austin and HHH, Vince and the Taker, Laureneitis and people power (with Big Show). JBL also comes to mind when he was working the program with Shawn Michaels. I don't even have to mention the old days of Bobby Heenan as a heel manager. As you can see in these examples, many of the best situations involved the McMahons and I think that needs to change.

Here is what I would do:

1. Other than Vicki (who seems to be face-ish after becoming Smackdown GM) and Cole (now a face), I think the biggest heat generator in WWE now is Paul Heyman. I would try to phase out Lesnar and make him the new Undertaker in that he comes around generally just for WrestleMania. As I think about it, I'd have him beat Taker at WrestleMania and start his own streak. More importantly, I would add a new monster type as the main Heyman guy. And that person would either be Ryback or Sheamus. Both would benefit from Heyman as a mouthpiece and it would make sense from a storyline standpoint that both would be looking to change the directions of their careers. Finally, the new Heyman guy can't be as compelling on the mic as Heyman - this was the CM Punk issue and fans liked hearing Punk as much if not more than Heyman. That is why Lesnar is so menacing - he says little but does a lot. Also if Matt Morgan does in fact come to WWE he'd be the Heyman goon who would constantly interfere. Big E Langston could fill that role but he may have overdone that already with the Ziggler storyline.

2. Others have made a valid point of heels soon turning face after being done with the Cena feud. Whoever WWE would make as top heel, WWE has to commit to keeping them heel for a long time. The best way to do that is to make him WWE champion and give him a long title run. The Punk title reign proves that Cena doesn't have to have the belt (he just has to be trying to get it) to be Super Cena.

3. Whoever the top heel is, they need to win clean or dirty most of the time. Say what you want about Del Rio, but he and even Sandow lose too much now when nothing is on the line. The heel doesn't need to be unbeatable but they should find a way to get it done most of the time, even on Raw and Smackdown.