There has always been one big flaw in the dynamic of the babyface versus the heel, and that is that most major babyfaces – the guys for whom you are supposed to root – have always been impossible to like. I can’t fathom why anyone who isn’t a stupid little kid would have ever cheered for a John Cena or a Hulk Hogan. It’s the same reason I can’t root for Superman – he’s basically invincible and you know he’ll always win, no matter how clear it is that he shouldn’t (Cena could really help himself if he’d just sell the damage done to him).
Plus, they’re generally devoid of any real flavor – Rey Mysterio, for example, might be great in the ring, but he almost never actually says anything when he talks. He just wants the fans to chant, “6-1-9” along with him. While we’re on the subject, logic dictates that, for Rey to win a match, he would have to hit a lot of moves on his bigger opponent and only be able to take one or two big moves. Instead, he gets walloped for the entire match and makes a “sudden” comeback at the end. Watch his matches with Jericho for the worst case of this.
WWE, in particular, has always had a real problem with making their heels look like absolute crap in comparison to their faces. Anyone who thinks Cena is invincible needs to go back and watch The Rock steamroll over everyone in 2000, when he would beat Edge & Christian in handicapped matches, despite having Shane McMahon interfere on their behalf. Yeah, heels are supposed to be underhanded, but Triple H used to look downright pathetic, like he actually didn’t belong in a ring with The Rock.
Thus it goes without saying that I, Mr. Enigma, have almost always rooted for the heel in pro wrestling. There have been exceptions, naturally – I was a Stone Cold and a Bret Hart mark at different points, not to mention Randy Savage and Shawn Michaels, when it wasn’t abundantly obvious that he was a pretty boy and a dick. But for the most part, heels are always far more interesting than their opponents.
Chew on this: why is it that only heels are intelligent wrestlers? With rare exception, babyfaces come out swinging and solve every problem through straightforward violence. Then, once in the ring, they never do anything crafty, even if it’s clear that their opponent is going to cheat against them. The heels are guys who get ahead by thinking and strategizing and such – why would that make me hate them? I’m supposed to be annoyed that he rolled out of the ring to catch a breather, even though it wisely breaks up the opponent’s momentum? It’s true that most wrestling fans aren’t smart, but why make it seem as if only bad guys use their brains?
Things like that are what lead to a heel getting cheered even as they’re being as dastardly as possible. Edge has said in interviews that he tried to make his character devoid of any likeable characteristics, but when placed up against the “retarded gorilla” that is John Cena, no intelligent person could have rooted against Edge. All the same, Randy Orton in 2009 was virtually impossible to dislike. Roddy Piper may have been the first really cool heel, back in the 80s, though something tells me that Ric Flair was probably right there with him, as he usually worked against big oafs of babyfaces. When CM Punk first turned heel, he had something of a “cool heel” status because most of what he was saying was true. But nobody likes being told not to drink, so he stayed a heel.
With heels being likeable so frequently, I love having The Miz around. He’s a great company man, seems like a really nice guy who genuinely cares about the fans, and he’s incredibly skilled. However, he’s also clearly a gigantic tool. Look at that haircut. And he’s banging Maryse. Thus, he’s impossible to like. When you get someone like that who is so clearly talented, but so easy to hate, you get a great heel. I love to hate the Miz, and that’s a feeling I don’t often get in wrestling. I hope he never turns face, cause I’ll still despise him.
And yet, because he’s so good, you can hear the cheers increasing from month to month. It’s only a matter of time before the fans decide they like The Miz. Hell, he almost made that atrocious Subway-plugging segment from last week work. His frustration in the current storyline is justified, because he’s at the top of his game and yet he’s not being portrayed as relevant. Not having the spotlight on you can often be as good of an opportunity as when it is. And The Miz is smart enough to know that. Who would have thought, a few years ago, that he’d be on top and John Morrison would be fighting to get out of the mid-card?
At the end of last year and into this one, having Edge as the top face on Smackdown was amazing for me. I grew up being the only one who rooted for Edge & Christian when everyone watched wrestling and everyone my age was rooting for the Hardyz, who were clearly douchebags, and the Dudleyz. Then Edge spent years on top, but with everyone booing him. Seeing him getting cheered and being portrayed as practically unstoppable was a nice change of pace. So, naturally, it got cut short.
But now, I am eating up the dynamic between Punk and Cena. Even as Punk was getting pushed, I thought for sure that he would be forced to stay heel, if for no other reason than because only the smart fans would cheer for him. But Punk seems to be catching on with everyone, and WWE has allowed him to be a babyface. What about Cena? Oh, he’s still a face, too. For the first time that I can ever really remember, with a possible exception of Hart versus Michaels (Stone Cold and The Rock weren’t extreme opposites, nor were Hogan and Warrior) the fans have two real, different choices of that for whom they want to root.
Not being forced to think a certain way is a rare thing in wrestling. I love how Punk didn’t start dressing in a fancy suit the moment he became champion because, hey, that’s not him. He’s a T-shirt and shorts kinda guy. This might not seem like a big deal, but just about everyone other than Cena, Edge, and Orton seems to start wearing a suit the moment they become a heel champion – a trend that Jericho revived. But notice how he’s suddenly winning cleanly. Punk couldn’t buy a clean win when he was a heel. That’s just how things go.
It’s a shame that they can’t throw Punk into the match with Cena and The Rock. A triple threat doesn’t have nearly as much appeal as a one on one match, but Punk is as big as Cena is, at least within the world of wrestling. Yet he seems to have just as much fundamental reason to be annoyed with Dwayne as Cena does. However Mania ends up being booked, Punk better be in a very, very big match. Only Punk vs. Stone Cold or The Undertaker can be as big as the main event. Triple H as an opponent would be sufficient, but not as big as having Punk go at it with The Rock in some capacity.
In the mean time, I’ll order my CM Punk shirt as soon as I get the money for it, and enjoy cheering him along with everyone else who isn’t rooting for Cena. Something tells me that they’re not going to play up the fact that he’s straightedge anytime soon.
Oh yeah, and how long before we get to see him fight The Miz?
I wish this article would have had something about the current champion Alberto Del Rio. As of now he is one of the most entertaining characters in the WWE and is a very likable heel with his witty antics and name so bold he needs his own announcer for it. Him winning the title is what is keeping everything interesting right now.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with that to a certain degree. In one of my other articles, I mention that I think Del Rio is decent, and that I have no significant problem with him in the main event picture, but I'm not crazy about him either. He's one of the few people who doesn't seem to have a group of dedicated haters against him, though. I DO hope he makes it past his Cena at Night of Champions.
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