Originally posted by Crossface Chicken Wing n the thread about women's matches [quotemid Finally, maybe I do have a little bit of heel-worship, but do you know why? Because most heels are actually showing originality, humor and, in general, working hard to keep their heat. Whereas most faces find 1 thing that works and live off that for the rest of their careers. Compare Jericho the good guy with WCW Jericho and current Jericho. Is there any doubt that, as a good guy, he found a few catchphrases and coasted? But as a bad guy, he's forced to try a little more. Wear funky clothes, make the crowd boo you without just repeating statements, etc.
You know, that is exactly why heels are so cool acually.
A face is supposed to be give the fans what they want. And that includes something to identify with like a catchphrase.
A heel is supposed to be awful, hideous and unlikable so any true catchphrases are out of the question.
The moment a heel does get a phrase people respond to by chanting it or something he is in trouble.
Look at Jericho in WCW. He was a heel, but was the funniest guy around. As a result 50% of the arena cheered him upon entering and wore his Monday NIght Jericho shirt.
Jericho arrived in WWF a heel, but his ayatollah phrases caught on so fast he was a tweener for a while and then a full fledged face for a long time..all because he had funny phrases.
Triple H became a tweener for a bit when he had the awesome entrance and yelled his that damn good line alot. Add to that he made fun of Angle and there were the pops. He had to kill Rock in order to get his heel status back.
Austin says 'what?' alot and there is no stopping his face turn. The crowd wanted it.
It's no coincidence alot of wrestlers say they would rather be the heel. You get to be as awesome as possible without jumping to the crowd's whims.
Btw..the same can be said for moves as well. If a move gets a pop (think pedigree, crippler crossface, even kurt and the ankle lock) the wrestler will have to turn face or do something evil.
I don't think the wrestlers are to be blamed though. It's just the way the business works.
And if it means heels are usually more interesting than faces it isn't because the face is less of a wrestler or talker..it's just the damn mold he has to work in..
"...And I use that to fuck them some place fairly uncomfortable." "What, like the back of a volkswagen ?" -Mallrats
How about a few of these used during lengthy heel runs...
"WHOOOOOOOO!"
"OOOOOO YEAH! DIG IT!"
"Nobody survives an earthquake!"
"Say 'what' again. SAY 'WHAT' AGAIN! I dare you, I double dare you, motherf--ker! Say 'what' one more goddamn time!" -- Samuel L. Jackson, Pulp Fiction (1994)
"Whether you like it or don't like it, learn to love it, because it's the best thing going today!"
"What's causing all this?"
I miss the old school heel too--I know that wrestling probably couldn't have survived had they not changed the formula, but I wish there were still a few real heels out there. Triple H was doing pretty good at one point, but of course that's all out the window for now.
"No one has a beer party at Scott Hall's expense!"
I gotta go with The Canadian Bulldog's way of looking at it. You can call it a High School Mentality, but that's what everyone in the business has, so that's what he HAS to deal with, not what he chose to deal with.