Re: TNA Impact!
Quote:
all
one has to do is trash the fans, |
Cheap heat. Why not suggest that he make fun of the local sports team next?
It isn't that he trashed the fans, it was that he came off better than everyone else, he put himself on another level. He claimed accomplishments that weren't his and he denegrated a man who everyone knows went through a lot of personal pain and tragety. That's why he was booed not because he took 3 seconds to call fans ass holes.
If all you had to do was call fans names and they'd boo you, Rock would never have gotten cheers. Remember how Rock would make fun of fans, interrupt his own catch phrases and say they weren't worthy of him?
It was shortly before he was turned face because they loved him so much.
Getting good and sustained heel heat involves more than making fun of fans. Ric Flair made fun of fans for years and was still cheered. Plus, in the day of the internet and with the fans being more in on the act than ever before, they're not going to care what you say to or about them, if they like you they're going to cheer.
Drawing heel heat requires playing on fans natural emotions, you've got to give them a good reason for them to hate you. Part of that comes from the baby face pointing out reasons for why fans should hate their rivals.
Lets look at the reasons Samoa Joe gives us for why we should hate his opponent.
According to Samoa Joe, we should be booing Sting and cheering him because unlike Joe, Sting doesn't go out on the road and spends time with his family.
Yes, I'm supposed to hate Sting because he spends time with his family and I'm supposed to cheer A.J. Styles because he never sees his kids. Yeah, Sting is such a dislikeable man because he spends time with his kids. I hope fathers across this country don't follow Sting's example because it could ruin society if parents actually wanted to be there for their kids.
I'm also supposed to hate Sting because he's got a sweet contract from TNA. So I am suppose to hate a man because he was offered a good deal and he didn't turn it down? What a stupid reason for me to want to hate this guy. It doesn't play on the heart strings of anyone because anyone watching this knows that if TNA were to offer Samoa Joe a Sting contract, he'd trip over his own wrestling boots he'd be in such a hurry to sign that deal. We especially know it because I could've sworn that for the first 1/3 of this year, Samoa Joe did nothing but bitch about his contract on their TV show.
I wonder how the great heels of all time like Piper and Flair would react if they were told that all they really had to do was crack on the fans and they'd get booed. The Horsemen didn't need to 4-on-1 Dusty Rhodes in a parking lot and break his leg, they could just come out, insult some "fat boy" in the first row and boom instant heat.
I suppose the Freebirds weren't good heels because instead of insulting the fans, they mocked and denegrated the Von Erich family at every turn, screwing Kerry out of the world title in the process. Part of being a good heel involves being paired off with someone that people actually like. The Horsemen had their Dusty who people liked, Piper had his Hogan, and the Freebirds had their Von Erichs and Vince McMahon had his Steve Austin. Jericho has his Shawn Michaels and Edge has his Undertaker.
Sting isn't paired with anyone that is likeable which is why that given the choice, fans have cheered Sting and booed Samoa Joe. Sting speaks the truth, Samoa joe complains. Someone recently said in regards to this angle, that a good heel speaks the truth but it is the kind of truth the fans don't want to hear. Jericho in the feud with Michaels has told the truth about Michaels' character the whole time but since the people like Shawn it isn't something they want to hear. Sting has told the truth about the actions of Styles and Joe and because the fans generally agree with him, they cheer him and boo the geek squad.
Sting's promos have been good since the "turn" other than the one at the PPV where he lost his way in the middle. So it isn't his fault, he can't get booed he was given bad material in the first place because the reasons we're supposed to want to boo him come across as good reasons to cheer him instead.
The fact is that I called this as a failure before the angle even started. I knew what was going to happen and why and I wrote a lengthy column about how foolish it was that they were going to try this. So, they tried it anyway and everything I said would happen, has happened. Fact is, Sting calling fans assholes wasn't going to change things for one second. He might get the people in the building to boo him for a second by calling them a name but the TV audience isn't going to care that he called them assholes. They like Sting and Joe and Styles have done nothing but complain.
Fact is that the process and what makes a good and sustained heel involves a whole lot more than simply badmouthing fans. You need a lot more and you always have. It is a cycle, strong heels make strong babyfaces and strong babyfaces make strong heels.
People loved the Von Erichs, The Freebirds attacked and opposed the Von Erichs, so the Freebirds were hated. They love the Von Erichs and hated the Freebirds so much that it turned an entire territory in to the hottest wrestling company in the country for a time.
