2nd Week of April, 2006
Face it, today's fans are not the same breed of those in ages past. We are smarter, louder, and more independent than ever before. No longer will we be pushed to cheer for vitamin eating, prayer saying characters. No longer will we let characters undeserving of their spot get away with their reign. Now, we live in an era where WE tell them if they suck or not.
Let's Be Pro-Realistic
Blurred - The New Character Type
Sorry for being absent the last two weeks, it has been my birthday and also the massive school work load and the two jobs I am working have killed my time, but here is the next work I have been anxious to drop. Hope we all are enjoying the new season of the WWE ( I consider everything post-WM as the new season). Is Randy Orton really gone? I hope not, he had everything going for him.
Now, on to our feature presentation:
Professional wrestling has always been known for a few things throughout its long and mostly controversial existence. First, it is known for its actor-athletes who perform moves rather than actually executing them. Second, wrestling is known for its predetermined outcomes. And finally, wrestling is known for splitting all wrestlers, both new and old, into either a good guy or a bad guy. While the first two facts are understood by most as being “easy” or “fake” to do, it is the last one that has truly defined the wrestling world both then and today. While the writers of pro-wrestling may be able to pencil down who they want cheered, it is not up to them. Not anymore. Today’s crops of fans are not only aware of all the backstage development of stars and their handlings, but also very stubborn. No longer can a wacky clown come out as a legitimate wrestler and have the fans go wild. Today, you need to earn the spot.
Reigning WWE Champion John Cena has been the focal point of the past few months. His rise to the top was ideally what every wrestler should go through. He debuted as a rookie, created a character, poured his soul into it, and then got his break. John Cena was the bad-ass white rapper who told the crowd to suck his privates and F-off, perfect for earning the hatred of people who want to be praised, not bashed. But there was a potential, and REAL ability, within the blue chipper than finally earned him a title shot at the big prize years before he would ever actually win it. He faced the fastest rising rookie (alongside Goldberg) in wrestling history, the WWE Champion Brock Lesnar. Fresh off Wrestlemania XIX, Lesnar had defeated Angle, took the title back, and then had no one to face when Angle left for surgery. It was clear heading into Wrestlemania that Kurt Angle was the heel, the bad guy, who had been taunting Lesnar for months. In fact, Kurt won the very title after Brock nailed Big Show during their Armageddon championship match at the end of 2002. But with Angle gone, John Cena seemed poised for a shot at the big time. Although not the last match of the night, it was a Championship match. John Cena & Brock Lesnar put on a hell of a fight. Possibly one of Cena’s all time best while in the WWE. Heel versus face, a classic right? During the match, the fans turned on Brock as the chants began for both men. Brock etched out a win, but it was Cena who won the crowd.
It is now 3 years since then and Cena now has the opposite problem. His role as a good guy and face has failed. The WWE did everything they could to get John Cena over but nothing seems to work. Just when it seems the jeers have quieted down, the boo’s explode again. But we all have heard this, over and over again. Truth is, we the wrestling community have forgotten that this isn’t the only face to ever ‘face’ such a dilemma before. Have we all forgotten the horrible attempt to be a ‘hero’ Scott Steiner tried doing at the Royal Rumble of 2003? He came as the man against Triple H, got a World Title shot, then during the match became more jeered than X-Pac ever was. Remember Christy Hemme needing a coach for her big match with Trish Stratus, all the while everyone with a computer hated her immensely for the whole cheating on Matt thing? What about Stone Cold’s heel run, who two weeks after going “what what what” turned him back into a face? The fact is, John Cena is the only truly unique character of his time. I have now become absorbed with what he is going to do next. I cling to my seat, waiting to find out how it continues. The struggle he faces has made him the center of attention. Everyone hates Cena. Everyone loves Cena. Boo Cena. Yay Cena. Cena Sucks. Cena! Cena! Cena! The crowd never knows what to anymore as everyone can now either boo or cheer him, and everyone seems satisfied. John Cena is the newest kind of character, the blurred.
Never before has a character done something so different, at least not in anything I have ever seen on WWE programming before. The Champ has been acknowledging the people’s voices and used it to his advantage. Is Cena really bothered anymore by his reception? No, he embraces it. He fills both roles, and as we saw on the recent Raw episode, he can be both. A cheap shot slap, trash talking, swearing on the air, and dissing heels has made him blur the very line of the code of ‘face/heel’ ethics that has an unwritten law book hidden somewhere. So many times before we have seen the WWE force the character to ‘turn’ in order to grasp the current fan reactions of their stars. So many of us have wanted a Cena turn since his feud with Jericho, then Angle, then Edge, then Triple H, but now I am not so sure they should. This truly unique situation for Cena could be the new wave of characters coming up.
Carlito & Chris Masters, two of the fresher faces on Raw & Smackdown in the last few years, debuted as heels on separate shows. Both seemed to get some reaction, more for Carlito really, but neither guy seemed really into their character yet. Even now, it is unsure as to who is the face or heel. The two Raws following Wrestlemania 22 saw Carlito ‘turn’ on Masters. But when we normally would hear loud screams or loud booing, we got a neutral reaction. Who the hell do we cheer for? As with John Cena, the new trend might be to cheer for who you want. Carlito seemed to be the intended face, since he has more fans and gets more reactions than Masters has had, but he went about it like a heel. Usually good guys are attacked by the turning bad guy, but Carlito assaulted Masters. Then next week got even weirder. Masters interrupted Carlito’s speech and then had an altercation, the result was Carlito bashing Masters with a chair. What you may have missed is Master’s promo. If it was given by… say… Rey Mysterio to Randy Orton, there would be massive pops for Mysterio. If you are confused, then you understand my point better. This whole mess has left it unclear as to who is bad or good. Will this all go away in the next few weeks, with Carlito as the established face? Maybe, but you never know. What is down on paper can never be transferred into the crowd as easily.
I have always enjoyed seeing the face versus heel events, but as with many things, the WWE needs to let it go sometimes. As seen with TNA, two respected stars can put on an amazing match with a very hot crowd. A.J. Styles versus Christopher Daniels is the prime example. I am not saying we need face vs face, or heel vs heel, I am talking about two respected wrestlers battling it out with the crowd deciding who to cheer for. The Undertaker faced off with Kurt Angle at the No Way Out main event and what a match they delivered. Did either guy need to be a ‘face’? No, in fact, neither of them really had much effort put into establishing the roles of a face, the respect was implied by us fans. This could be the new era of Sports Entertainment. Much like football, baseball, and all sports in general, they need not tell us who to cheer for. I am a Red Sox fan, but by default, I have grown up around Boston my whole life. But David Ortiz didn’t need to ‘turn’ on Manny Ramirez and hit him with his bat to make me interested or as a reason to cheer or boo him.
Either way, my bottom line for you all is to enjoy this new style of promoting a character. I enjoy the freedom to boo or cheer a big time guy. Nothing is more enjoyable than watching Raw with my best friend (a big Cena fan) and argue points and counter-points with him, since I have been a big anti-Cena fan for the last year. But now I enjoy seeing Cena come out, as it excites me to see what he will do next. And that is really all these guys need to do, excite us. Some have shown their disdain for Raw or the WWE, but I don’t. They know what works and what doesn’t. And right now, a blurred character for John Cena is definitely working.
Word-Lyfe.
Copyright © 2005; TheWrestlingVoice.com & Douglas Nunnally.
All Rights Reserved.
Disclaimer & Privacy Statement
| What Did You Think About WWE Backlash 2008? |
|
|