Jay here and welcome to another edition of ...And Thats What I Think. I'm doing this certain column from a Day's Inn at Boston and my laptop is almost empty as far as energy goes (prehistoric laptops don't tend to gather much fuel even with a power source!) I've been away for several weeks on vacation so I must first apologize to my eleven or so fans that have waited impatiently day after day for something new from me. But I have had all the time in the world to gather new thoughts about the wrestling world we care about so much and I hope that you enjoy or at least read what I have to say. Before I get to the nitty gritty (Yes, I'm southern so I am able to use that phrase without it sounding stupid) please forgive me if this doesn't turn out to be my best couple paragraphs of work but like I mentioned before I'm sitting at a Day's Inn at 1 P.M with no coffee so don't expect God-like wording (I can come close to a Jesus worthy effort!)
Today I'd like to speak about heel/face changes. It seems like today's wrestler changes from a babyface to a bad guy almost every chance they get. It's mind-blowing how many times these writing changes occur, and even though the changes aren't exactly a bad concept it's not a good idea either. Ever since wrestling started you had the popular face and the hated heel. That’s wrestling at it’s basic. Once in a blue moon some may ask why we watch wrestling events week after week even though the same thing happens on every show and the answer isn't so hard, because we simply love the never-ending struggle between good and evil. Again, that’s wrestling at its basic stem; good guy's and bad guy's dueling it out every night to see who becomes the victor. This does not apply to the old Westerns of cowboy's and Indians or Allies and Nazi's in World War II because we love the good guys (Cowboy's and Allies) and hate the bad guy's (Indians and Nazi's.) Wrestling doesn't necessarily fit that bill because sometimes we fall in love with the heels. Chris Jericho is one name I can spit out quickly of heels that, including me, adored. He had that certain spark to him; a cocky jackass with golden locks and glittering wrestling attire. Jericho was (is) a sound wrestler in-ring as well and could stack up great matches out the ying-yang. But now the cocky King of Bling-Bling that I admired so has turned into an unfitting good guy. Sure he had a good feud with Christian and his ex-girlfriend Trish, but what’s next for the new "Face Y2J?" It's not like Chris can get on the mic with his usual nonchalant fashion and rant like he could do so well. Now Chris is faced with new challenges of how to make his good guy character work with actually getting over with fans.
Others that we know and love started out as heels and slowly worked their way to being a top face. It seems that’s how it works, to gain attention with the crowd you have to be a heel then rank up and go into the babyface category. Shawn Michaels is a good (though rocky) example of this. HBK started off with D-X, the top heel stable formation of the 90's with WWF. People now must be scratching their heads and wondering why I would call D-X a heel formation. They did end up as faces once the crowd got around them, but in retrospect they were written as bad guys. So Michaels pretty much began bad and turned into one of the greatest faces of our time. Another fitting example is The Rock. After a couple of unsuccessful runs with being a face (Rocky Mavia) he turned against the fans and was a top member the The Nation of Domination, another great stable of the 90's. During that time he presented great feuds with top stars like Triple H and even battled with the reigning WWF Champion of that time, Steve Austin, as a heel. He of coarse turned into a face during the Invasion Era. Rock took the WWF to a new level and truthfully the WWF wouldn't have been the same without The Rock's presence, and The Rock himself wouldn't have been The Rock (Persona-wise) without his heel turn from Rocky Mavia.
These day's storylines are so much faced paced that wrestlers can't begin to define themselves as heels or faces without a sudden change in character a couple months later. Even the women's division is taking these procedures. Victoria defined herself as "the wacko Jezebel" that couldn't control herself in the ring. Next thing you know she's dancing in the aisles of a live show and kissing little boys down the walkway. Now why the hell did she need the change to be a face? In a women’s division that is scares of talent as it is why change a marketable character into a basic babyface? To give Trish the Women’s Title I guess. After a lasting feud with Molly Holly (even though their feud wasn't about anything) as a shadowy face, writers found nothing for her so they decided to turn her into a full time face and quickly strip the title from her and give it to Trish. Now why did I bring this up in the first place? Because if you remember, not even a damn year ago you had Trish being the face and Victoria being the heel. It's striking to notice this.
Will superstars be better off staying heel or face for their entire career? Yes and no I must say. Though staying with your original character for their whole pro wrestling life is tough for wrestlers I feel that it would be better in the long run if superstars stick to their original format year after year. Altering a wrestlers persona can critically affect the rest of their career. Like most know, John Cena began as a common face and soon turned into a common heel with no actual character; just blue shorts and wristbands. We also know that after time his mic skills came into play and he is now a major focus for the future of WWE television. It's a fact that Cena's new gimmick is much better than blue shorts and wristbands. Fans are certainly drawn to him, but not everybody has that much luck. For most it's very hard to find a gimmick that sticks with fans. We all remember Little Johnny with John Heinrich...or do we? Nobody gave a damn about him. Fans were not speculating what Little Johnny was like J.R and Jerry Lawler were week after week. Now he has a deal with Paul Heyman that will hopefully be more fulfilling for his career than Little Johnny.
I think the Ultimate Warrior is one of the few that have stayed the exact same from start to finish. Excuse me if my wrestling history isn't perfect, but from what I know of Ultimate Warrior he always kept up his heel persona; from WWF to wCw he kept his bargain as a major fan favorite. Personally I don't think he would have been the legend he is now if he had changed into a heel. Raven, now here is another profound wrestler that has made a name for himself without changing his charming personality once. Yes, he's tacked on a couple tattoos here and there, but basically he's the same as he was years ago in the wCw. Raven is a educated man from the mean streets and he's shed both parts of his life. If you take one look at the 6'2" superstar you see a grisly faced man who you wouldn't want to be around in a dark alley, but if you hear him talk he's a totally different man; a disturbed man who flaunts his knowledge of literature (His name and favorite quote do come from poet Edgar Allen Poe.) Raven his stuck this character down from wCw, ECW, and WWE, to TNA. Both certainly have a quality fan-base unlike the ever-changing Steven Richards, who by the way has the same talent as the other two.
So in conclusion I feel it's safe to say that there is no key evidence that changing from heel to face or face to heel is particularly good or bad for a wrestlers career. I myself feel that a wrestler should be stuck with the same persona year after year to gain attention and credit from fans, but there are some cases where I feel it's best to search around and try to find the perfect gimmick for a wrestler.
Again, thanks for viewing today edition of ...And That’s What I Think! I'm sorry this topic wasn't the greatest, but I thought I'd share my mixed opinions of this. I'm also sorry for the lack of columns I've put up. I know that I told you about my vacation, but that’s no excuse for not having a new column up in almost a month. I will try better for the rest of summer. Give me info on what you though about this column at jayd7@sc.rr.com. Thanks to all of you who have been giving me feedback for these past couple of months. Thanks for reading and...And That’s What I Think!
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