X Division Heels

[NSL]

This is a really hard role to fill, since while you're playing a bad guy, you eed to be exciting enough to qualify for the X Division. Homicide has been able to pull this off flawlessly. His promos aren't the greatest, but they at least get his point across, and stay in character. His matches have very good psychology, with him going full heel, pounding his opponent all over the ring while adding in the usual X Division spots.

The only other one right now is D'Angelo Dinero. His promos are pretty bad, but at least they're heel-ish. His character also has no depth, because all we know is that he's a "street preacher". Other than that, there's nothing. His matches are OK, but he doesn't fit into the X Division the same way that the Light Heavyweight Title just didn't fit into WWE. He doesn't wrestle the style that's needed. he wrestles a very basic match, and doesn't sell spots very well.

Daniels appears to be turning heel, but he's also clearly out of the X Division for the time being. So, who else is there? Jay Lethal, Consequences Creed, Amazing Red, Suicide, and the MCMG are all faces.

The only other 2 I see falling into the X Division, are Bashir and Kyoshi, but neither has been in the ring much lately, and neither has shown to be a steady enough draw to work programs with any of the faces.

 

[y2empleh]

I'm a bit curious why you find Dinero to be so Horrible. I personally find him entertaining and during the street fight with Suicide, the fans were chanting his name all over the place. Does he have the supreme Mic skills to be a WORLD TNA champion right now? No. But I would not call his current Mic skills horrific. He's one of the few X-division stars with an actual gimmick. If anything TNA needs more people like him.

 

[CaptainZaltan]

This is a good topic, and something that TNA needs to address. TNA definitely ended Homicide's run too soon, putting the belt back on Joe for little to no reason and then removing Joe from the X division without really putting over any other X division wrestlers. Unfortunately this made not only Homicide but the entire X division look kind of second rate. It's hard to build a legitimate threat out of a villain that has basically been made to look like a chump in the grand scheme of things. And most of the X wrestlers who have been given major wins or title runs in the past are just too damned likeable to successfully turn heel (Lethal, Sabin, Shelly)

For this reason, I think TNA should go with someone more established, or at the very least get the new top X-heel to go over one of the X-divisions holy trinity clean (AJ, Daniels or Joe). Personally, I would like to see TNA bring back Petey Williams and pair him with an incredibly despicable heel manager to speak for him. Williams can wrestle the X division style and he holds some credibility as he has beaten AJ Styles and Chris Daniels in the past. Another possible choice would be an unmasked Frankie Kazarian...he's had some high profile matches in the past and kind of has the look of an arrogant heel. Other than that, Daniels may yet make a return to the X division as a heel, although I'm not sure who would work well as a face in a feud with Daniels, given his popularity.

That being said, Homicide could probably pull it off (although I do think he needs some big wins to boost his credibility). And it would be nice to see both Bashir and Kiyoshi used a lot more in the X division. They both have a good heel 'look' and Bashir is fairly solid on the mic. As with Homicide, I just think they need to be built into legitimate threats.

 

[PEP3]

Actually, I think Bashir is above-average on the mic.

The problem with the X-Division is the same as any light-heavyweight or cruiserweight division in the major American federations. At some point, someone from the heavyweight division invariably gets booked against the top stars and winds up squashing them. It ruins the credibility of these wrestlers to be major stars on their own. Most recently, Joe did it with Homocide.

 

[school-of-hard-knocks]

I might be picking straws here but I am not a big X Division fan at the moment. I don't think Vince Russo understand what has made it such a success for TNA in the past. It is not the flips and flops. What made X Division such a success was that it was fun to watch and it made sense. It had good heels (Petey Williams, Daniels, Joe), an abundance of good workers and quite honestly it had the story behind all of the bumps.

I remember watching BFG and shaking my head at that Daniels?Suicide spot at the end. Why? What was the point of it? Let's just put realism into play for a second. If you are trying to win the belt why would you purposely take a 15 foot fall by going for a reverse STO that would end up taking you out of the match? I mean if there was some kind of a long lasting feud going on in between Daniels and Suicide I could see that and it would make sense but a random spot like that really does nothing for me other than say "Wow, they are really stupid for doing that."

As long as it comes to faces/heels I'll say this much. As long as they invest time to create storylines, angles and feuds in between the X Division talent it doesn't really matter who the face or the heel is. You can build anyone as a face or a heel with the proper time investment. But as the things are setup in TNA right now that is simply not possible. With the World title, 3 sets of tag titles, Knockouts championship, and the Legend title there just isn't that much time left to promote the X Division.

 

[BladeRunner]

The thing about TNA is, it's not really a good versus evil, or face versus heel type setting. It's more gang warfare, and some gangs are more vicious than others, and you might call them "heels". IMO it's mainly made up of tweeners with a few faces and heels thrown in for good measure. But that's just my take on it.

So what I'm saying is, is that they don't need to balance out the heels and faces as much as say WWE, because when you have a bunch of tweeners you can put everybody against everybody more. Another good thing about tweeners is the audience gets to pick moreso who they want to root for, and that also gives the writers some indication on where they should push the character next, by the audience's reaction.

 

[HSB]

The problem with the X-Division is the same as any light-heavyweight or cruiserweight division in the major American federations. At some point, someone from the heavyweight division invariably gets booked against the top stars and winds up squashing them. It ruins the credibility of these wrestlers to be major stars on their own. Most recently, Joe did it with Homocide.

^^This.

Remember the whole angle with Kevin Nash/Rey Mysterio in WCW. Of course Mysterio is amazing and everyone has respect for him and the cruiserweight division but...meh. Heavyweights always win. Same thing here...cept the cruiserwights actually got heavy TV time in WCW, so it could rebound from the burial-by-heavyweight process. TNA and X-Division TV time...not so much.

 

[NSL]

I buy what everyone is saying about the X Division guys getting creamed by top talent, and thus burying the division, but you're mostly wrong. Creed had that short feud with Booker that pretty much buried him, but aside from that, who has suffered that fate? AJ Styles has gone on to become the Grand Slam champion, and Joe has been pretty impressive. With those two at the top, it gives someone like Daniels a chance to shine, and opens the door for more guys to fall into the X Division, like Shelley and Sabin. They've always been there, but you could tell they were begging for TV time.

As far as Dinero having an actual gimmick, I need that explained to me. He has a character, but no background. That makes no sense. Maybe he was supposed to explain it during a promo, but I missed it.

 

[The Hiphopapotamus]

This is a really hard role to fill, since while you're playing a bad guy, you eed to be exciting enough to qualify for the X Division. Homicide has been able to pull this off flawlessly. His promos aren't the greatest, but they at least get his point across, and stay in character. His matches have very good psychology, with him going full heel, pounding his opponent all over the ring while adding in the usual X Division spots.

Homicide is playing the X Division heel very well. While the faces are all high flyers, Homicide is more of a brawler, like a pitbull who just goes at it ferociously. He's different from them all. He still incorporates some aerial prowess, but focuses more on a high impact offence made of different strikes (such as his flying european uppercut), coupled with his speed and some suplexes. Looking at it froma Lucha Libre, the Tecnicos, or faces, use more aerial moves, while the Rudos (or heels) are brawlers. I see a very similar connection when it comes to Homicide in the X division.

The only other one right now is D'Angelo Dinero. His promos are pretty bad, but at least they're heel-ish. His character also has no depth, because all we know is that he's a "street preacher". Other than that, there's nothing. His matches are OK, but he doesn't fit into the X Division the same way that the Light Heavyweight Title just didn't fit into WWE. He doesn't wrestle the style that's needed. he wrestles a very basic match, and doesn't sell spots very well.

I actually have to disagree, I'm digging Dinero nowadays. At first I didn't really care much, but now he's impressed me. I like his character, and his in ring work is good. He adds a little bit of ground offence to the division, while still being able to fly when he's needed. However, in regards to his character, I like it, but I've seen something similar before in this division. Christopher Daniels, back in 2005, was the most hated heel in the division and champion, after adopting the "Fallen Angel" gimmick. Similar? Angel, Pope.

Daniels appears to be turning heel, but he's also clearly out of the X Division for the time being. So, who else is there? Jay Lethal, Consequences Creed, Amazing Red, Suicide, and the MCMG are all faces.

Daniels needs to turn heel. As a face, he's asd bland as a hand, because he really has no character. But his "Falllen Angel" persona is great. He thinks he is a gift to Earth, and that he is just simply better than you. A lot like what The Pope is doing. They are both, literally, Holier-than-thou.

The only other 2 I see falling into the X Division, are Bashir and Kyoshi, but neither has been in the ring much lately, and neither has shown to be a steady enough draw to work programs with any of the faces.

Yeah, I agree with that. They're shit. The motor city machine guns were good as cocky heels, but I much prefer them as faces. They're brilliant in the ring and on the mic. Oddly, they're both better as heels when singles. Jay lethal could be a good heel, and I love him, so I'd like for him to at least be in the spot light.

Remember the whole angle with Kevin Nash/Rey Mysterio in WCW. Of course Mysterio is amazing and everyone has respect for him and the cruiserweight division but...meh. Heavyweights always win. Same thing here...cept the cruiserwights actually got heavy TV time in WCW, so it could rebound from the burial-by-heavyweight process. TNA and X-Division TV time...not so much.

Heavyweights always win, huh? Who is the current World Champion? AJ Styles, the greatest X division champion ever. Jay Lethal once defeated Kurt Angle, if you forget. Yes, heavyweights mostly win. But to say always is just wrong.

All in all, the X division is in need of heels. With only Homicide and Dinero, and Daniels in the heavyweight picture, at least one more good heel is needed. But from where is the question.

 

[The Pope CTC MEM]

i think homicide plays a great heel. the way he just snaps at random i think is his cherry on the top. i am also a big Dinero fan and think he is good. but the bad thing about X Division heels is the lack of them, which is the point of this thread. i think they should turn a few people heel, like maybe lethal consiquenses!?! they havent done anything in ages, i think theyre getting a bit lost in the mix, and what happened to jethro holiday? anybody, i think he is face though, oh well

 

[NSL]

i think they should turn a few people heel, like maybe lethal consiquenses!?! they havent done anything in ages, i think theyre getting a bit lost in the mix,

They haven't gotten lost in the mix. They were just on the BFG pre-show, and had a match on Impact for the #1 Contender spot. I'm a fan of them separately, but as a team, they drag each other down. They can definitely split them, and turn one heel. Creed has the perfect character to work as a face, and I wouldn't mind seeing Lethal channel the heel side of Macho Man. There's enough tag teams, that they won't be too missed.

and what happened to jethro holiday? anybody, i think he is face though, oh well

What does he have to do with the X Division? He's appeared twice since the PPV match with Abyss, and has played tweener both times. I think he's doing some stuff in Europe in between tapings.

 

[PEP3]

Poor Jethro. What a sh!tty gimmick to be saddled with. I do think it would have been nice if TNA signed Lance Cade, though, and reunited those two. There is something exciting about a team that goes from area to area collecting titles. They used to do it all the time back in the day, and it made the teams feel like something really special. Of course, had Cade and Murdoch...er, Holliday...done that, people on here would have probably just blasted them as "WWE rejects."

In my opinion, the X-Division's most capable heel is presently involved in the TNA World Title picture: Daniels.

 

[NSL]

We finally had a chance to see Bashir and Kiyoshi in the ring again tonight, and I must say, I'm impressed with them working as heels. Granted, they didn't do too much, but at least they sold the match, and put over their opponents. Given some time, they can work with other X Division guys, putting them over, and helping the division as a whole rise back to where it was at its peak.