2010 Pro Wrestling Thread

Not neccessarily. It's happened quite a few times in the past. Undertaker was starting to get cheered when he first debuted. Austin and The Rock were both cheered as heels, so they eventually became babyfaces.

In Foley's second book, he described a talk he had with Rock where he tried to tell Rock to not act so heelish when he became a face. Rock explained that he was so concerned after the Rocky Maivia problems that he was afraid to come off as a babyface. Foley told him that eventually, fans would get tired of rooting for a guy who didn't seem to want to be cheered, and Rock lightened up.

As for me, I always liked the heel who gets cheered. It's so much cooler than a guy acting like a big babyface.

 

I don't mind that either, Baron. I'm a huge Jericho mark and have enjoyed him way more during his heel turns than when he was a face. It just doesn't seem like Orton is doing ANYTHING different. There's usually one point in the turn where the guy does something like beat up a real heel and Orton hasn't really done that yet. It's like people just decided to start cheering him for no real reason other than they collectively woke up one day felt like it.

 

I'm with you. I like Orton, so it doesn't really bother me, but he hasn't really made a lot of face moves...

The earliest I can remember him really getting cheered was vs. Sheamus on a PPV a few months ago. The fans were clearly behind him, but it was still a heel v. heel match. Then, I guess, when Legacy started turning on him, the fans had to pick between cheering him or cheering Cody/Ted. Then he fought Swagger, same situation, the fans are going to want to cheer one of them, so they pick RKO. Again, tonight, a similar situation with Edge.

It's kind of like he's been forced into this face leaning tweener role by default.

 

I just can't believe the hyper-controlling WWE hasn't ruined Orton's turn yet. No matter how many times it has backfired, how many times have we seen a heel get over with the crowd, turn face, then lose all the characteristics that made people like them in the first place?

 

I like Orton in this role. His mannerisms and facial expressions are awesome, and I love it when he starts going crazy and hitting the mat with fists. I think that whole thing started in the match with Kofi, who botched a couple of moves and pissed Orton off.

As far as when fans began cheering him, it started before Sheamus came along, back when it was seemingly Orton vs. Cena each and every PPV for the title. Fans -- at least the older generation -- grew tired of Cena and started cheering for Orton, who was full-on heel.

I forget which PPV(s) it was, but I'll never forget the pop Orton got when he RKO'd Cena.

 

As far as Vickie as GM ...

To borrow a line from Joey Styles: Oh. My. God.

Glad they ended that rather quickly with her "resignation," and I hope to goodness it stays that way. I absolutely abhorred her EXCUSE ME!!!!! angle, and was glad when that went by the wayside. Hopefully she's not back in that role next week.

Also, I was thinking Miz was going to choose Natalya as his opponent for next week. Why they're letting him face Bret, I don't know. I hope Miz can carry Bret in a good match, but we'll see.

 

It was a nice swerve. I thought The Miz was going to wrestle Natalya too.

I will say this: Nobody gets more heat than Vickie. I actually loved the opening segment with Edge and Vickie. Edge's taunting head bobs were hilarious, and I couldn't stop laughing at the ridiculous heat Vickie was getting. You could barely hear her.

 

I remember a really good Raw match with Orton and Edge after they broke up Rated RKO. Both were still heels, but the fans got behind Orton like crazy.

 

There's a difference between liking to boo someone and just plain hating them on screen. I seriously considered turning it off the moment she came out of the back, and I made it a point to take a bathroom break or a snack break for all of her segments.

 

"X-Pac heat" is not good heat.

 

She can be annoying, but there aren't that many heels that get the reaction she does.

The heels today don't really inspire the hatred that old-school heels used to get. The last one that I remember was Muhammed Hassan. Vickie, in her own way, gets the most heat out of anyone today.

 

I wonder if the WWE's endgame with Orton is trying to create some new kind of Attitude era. I think he's clearly the most over of their performers, and I can envision him eventually "snapping" on Cena or McMahon or some other face... and just getting cheered for it. That would then transition out of this G-rated era, and into another R-rated one.