WWE has a major shortage of heel talent currently on the main roster. HHH made comments the other day that it's hard to be a face. I'm starting to wonder if it's harder to be a legit heel. I want to how we got to this point, who the top five are, and what can they do to fix this problem.
I think how we got here has a lot to do with John Cena and bad booking. WWE has fed Cena many of it's up and coming heel talents over the past few years and I'm hard pressed to remember any of them coming out of the feud better than they went in or being the winner of the feud.
Cena has only really put over two stars in the last few years that were full time on the roster and that was CM Punk and Daniel Bryan. Both guys got red hot after Cena did the job for them, but they were faces.
Randy Orton did get a clean win over Cena at the 2013 TLC, but we have to remember Orton was already well established. It's just not been the MO of the WWE to use Cena to put over new heels. A prime example of this was how the Bray Wyatt situation played out at WM30. Wyatt was as hot as you could get for the short time he had been in WWE, but the powers that be felt it was Cena who needed to go over. Wyatt got one tainted win in the feud, but things wrapped up with Cena on top in a last man standing match. It took nearly a year for Bray to recover.
Cena has been a part of the problem, but the general booking of WWE has not done the heels any favors. Do to the demands that WWE puts on itself they are constantly having to book enticing matches for RAW and Smackdown. This leads to more situations where somebody has to get pinned. Other times it just seems like they are trying to surprise you. Irregardless WWE pins more top superstars in a week then they should.
It's hard to take heels seriously when they are constantly being pinned. Winning and losing matters, but WWE does not seem to think so. I currently have Rollins as the second top heel in the company, but look at the loses he's taken over the past few PPV's. At Survivor Series he was pinned by Ziggler. At TLC he was beat by Cena. At the Rumble he took the pin by Lesnar. He also took the pin from Bryan a few weeks ago on Raw. It's hard to ask fans to un-see that and treat him like an unstoppable force. His perception despite his great performances is being diminished.
It also doesn't help that WWE has muddied the waters with guys. The Lesnar situation comes to mind. Sure it was a good idea to put Rollins in the match at the Rumble, but WWE wanted people to believe that Rollins could win so they rain a segment that had Rollins getting the better of Lesnar. This in turn endeared Lesnar to the crowd. If WWE thought getting Reigns over was challenging having Lesnar seem babyface going into WM31 isn't going to help matters.
Yet, all this pails in comparison to how the WWE has treated Bad New Barrett. Barrett started working the Bad News gimmick, which has been mildly successful. He got a win in his return over Ziggler to get back the IC title he never lost. So good new for Barrett...right? Nope WWE has had him pinned every where from Raw to live shows. It's hideous senseless booking. It degrades the title and Barrett's worth as a heel.
I don't have Barrett even ranked in my top 5 heels currently in the company and right now it's such a weak bunch that's not a hard top five to crack. Here's how I have it.
Brock Lesnar is first despite being part time and mostly cheered lately because when they want to sell Lesnar as a bad SOB he can flip that switch and get the boos. He's special in the ring and he's one of the most unique talents every to grace the squared circle. On the downside he's probably leaving in a month and he only works a part time schedule. I can forgive WWE for not having him on TV every week, but he needed to defend that title at Survivor Series and he needed a break from John Cena matches.
Seth Rollins is the best full time heel in WWE, but I'm not sure that's saying much. His mic skills are decent, but not great. He takes heat for his annoying habit of repeating everyone's name. I think he does this when he's trying to find himself in a promo as a way to buy time. His in ring ability is very good to great. They have just put too many key losses on him. I would also think that with the Authority pushing him he would get more respect, but I think he a victim of bad booking.
Bray Wyatt comes next. He would be lower on the list, but lately he has started to get some of his magic back. Rumor is he's going to take on the Undertaker at WM31, but reports have it Taker is in bad shape so we will see. The only issue is a loss would really hurt his momentum, so I'm not exactly sure how serious we can take Bray. When he was locked in that endless feud with Ambrose I lost touch with his promo's as they were just nonsense. Since the Undertaker rumors have started I'm reengaged.
Rusev comes in fourth. You think he would be higher considering he's never lost a singles by pin or submission. The company has put the rocket pack on him big time. The guy has some gifts, but he hasn't been paired with anyone to this point that makes him look really good. I also worry they are going to beat him at WM31 and once that happens he will be beatable by many. Hopefully they have a better plan, but I don't have a lot of faith. One very underrated match from last year was his title win over Sheamus. As much as people may or may not like Sheamus I think he is a solid performer.
Fifth is anyone's guess. It's such a weak list that I think that almost makes sense. Cesaro and Kidd are moving up the ranks as a team, but I worry WWE will pin them a few times and make them a thing of the past. They already had the new day beat them. Barrett can't get out of the blocks and his feud with Ambrose is a lose/lose for both guys really. Miz is being so overproduced he barely acts human anymore. Don't try to mention Kane or Big Show. Neither have much left to really get anyone excited for.
So I realize how WWE got here, and I see what they are working with, but I do think they can fix it quick. Here are a few solutions.
Get rid of the Authority. I haven't mentioned them much yet, but they get so much air time and really it does no one on the roster any good. They really aren't putting over any key faces and the only heel they are pushing is Rollins. They suck up valuable air time. It's hard for anyone to be above the Authority because of the perceived power. If you put that focus on the heel talents that are actually performing it matches the results would be really good.
Flip Roman Reigns. WWE can fight it all they want, but Reigns is not the GUY right now. He's a guy who's rough around the edges and has in reality become everything fans think is wrong with WWE. I say take advantage of this. Flip him heel at WM31 and give him the belt. Don't put Heyman with him because I think Paul can be used elsewhere. I think maybe reunite the Shield and let him have Rollins and Ambrose do his mic work. For those who say there's not much logic in that I say their break up had less, so why does it matter?
Have Sheamus be a smart heel. When I say that I want you to think back to heel Sheamus. He was portrayed as not being the sharpest knife in the drawer. Fast forward to face Sheamus who was always trying to be crafty. That's the way he needs to act as a heel. I think he could do some good things and I would start by having him cost Cena at Fast Lane and get over on Cena at WM31.
Bring up Neville and Balor as heels. HHH is wrong in that it's hard to be a face these days, but he's right in the sense that it's hard to start out as a face. It's better to start heel and feel out where you will end up over time. If WWE brings Adrian Neville up as a white bread baby face he will not get over. So, I say let him go with a guy like Heyman as a star that felt passed over in NXT with a chip on his shoulder. Balor just needs to be the arrogant heel like he was in the Bullet Club. You just ride him to see how far he will take you. It will take effort for WWE to mess up Finn Balor.
Bring up Kevin Owens. Kevin Owens knows how to make people hate him. In his post match interview with Renee Young last night on WWE.com he was very stand offish and unkind towards her. You were forced to be like what a dick even though you know he's probably not a dick. Owens lives Kayfabe just like Zayn. That's what makes them so good. If you bring Owens up he will get over as a hated heel. He's the anti-John Cena. This is the guy that should take down Cena get that heel rub off of him.
A quick note on Kayfabe. It can be dead or alive or whatever you think, but if it's used properly like on the NXT special earlier in the week it can do wonders. When important characters like HHH and Steph constantly jump in and out of it for major media events it becomes harder to take them seriously in the ring. If you actually work hard at protecting the heat your character has then people will despite you more. Live your gimmick.
This is not only hurting the heels it's hurting the faces as well. The Total Divas show is not helping John Cena or Daniel Bryan's image all that much. Cena seems like a total fraud. I realize he helps the show, but it hurts his on screen image. Even Bryan came off like a jerk in a few episodes. It's bad booking to use them on there. It hurts the girls as well.
For those that think it doesn't matter it does because when it's used the right way it's what helps add ot the drama. If you knew HHH was really a nice guy behind the scenes and all that then why would you passionately hate him when he enters the ring? It's asking the fans to almost be in the role of a fan and put on an act as well. That just doesn't work, so while the curtain is pulled back more these days a better effort should be done to protect the business.
Just in general as I have stated earlier WWE just needs to try to keep in simple. Have the heels win all the time on Raw and Smackdown and only beat them in tag matches or under tainted circumstances. Clean losses should be kept to live events and PPV's. Put some effort into making guys look good more consistently. If you do that these guys will matter again and their match will mean something.
What WWE needs to do right now is start building a foundation of a lot of heels. Let the faces be outnumbered. It will be a process, but in the long run the company will be much better for it.
No comments:
Post a Comment