Heel (professional wrestling)

Last updated

Foreign heels The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff and manager Freddie Blassie taunt an American crowd at Madison Square Garden in the 1980s Classy Freddie Blassie.jpg
Foreign heels The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff and manager Freddie Blassie taunt an American crowd at Madison Square Garden in the 1980s

In professional wrestling, a heel (also known as a rudo in lucha libre ) is a wrestler who portrays a villain, "bad guy", [1] , "evil-doer", or "rulebreaker", and acts as an antagonist [2] [3] [4] to the faces, who are the heroic protagonist or "good guy" characters. Not everything a heel wrestler does must be villainous: heels need only to be booed or jeered by the audience to be effective characters, although most truly successful heels embrace other aspects of their devious personalities, such as cheating to win or using foreign objects. "The role of a heel is to get 'heat,' which means spurring the crowd to obstreperous hatred, and generally involves cheating and any other manner of socially unacceptable behavior." [5]

Contents

To gain heat (with boos and jeers from the audience), heels are often portrayed as behaving in an immoral manner by breaking rules or otherwise taking advantage of their opponents outside the bounds of the standards of the match. Others do not (or rarely) break rules, but instead exhibit unlikeable, appalling, and deliberately offensive and demoralizing personality traits such as arrogance, cowardice, or contempt for the audience. Many heels do both, cheating as well as behaving nastily. No matter the type of heel, the most important role is that of the antagonist, as heels exist to provide a foil to the face wrestlers. If a given heel is cheered over the face, a promoter may opt to turn that heel to face or the other way around, or to make the wrestler do something even more despicable to encourage heel heat. Some performers display a mixture of both positive and negative character traits. In wrestling terminology, these characters are referred to as tweeners (short hand for the "in-between" good and evil actions these wrestlers display). WWE has been cited as a company that is doing away with the traditional heel/face format due in part to audiences' willingness to cheer for heels and boo babyfaces. [6]

In "local" wrestling (e.g., American wrestling) it was common for the faces to be "local" (e.g., Hulk Hogan, John Cena, and Stone Cold Steve Austin) and the heels to be portrayed as "foreign" (e.g., Gunther, Alberto Del Rio, Ivan Koloff, The Iron Sheik, Rusev/Miro, Jinder Mahal, and Muhammad Hassan). [7]

In the world of lucha libre wrestling, most rudos are generally known for being brawlers and for using physical moves that emphasize brute strength or size, often having outfits akin to demons, devils, or other tricksters. This is contrasted with most heroic técnicos that are generally known for using moves requiring technical skill, particularly aerial maneuvers. [8]

History

Common heel behavior includes cheating to win (e.g. using the ropes for leverage while pinning or attacking with a weapon while the referee is looking away), employing dirty tactics such as blatant chokes or raking the eyes, attacking other wrestlers backstage, interfering with other wrestlers' matches, insulting the fans or city they are in (referred to as "cheap heat") and acting in a haughty or superior manner. [9]

With his flamboyant gimmick, Gorgeous George became one of the most famous wrestlers of his era. Gorgeous George robe.jpg
With his flamboyant gimmick, Gorgeous George became one of the most famous wrestlers of his era.

More theatrical heels would feature dramatic outfits giving off a nasty or otherwise dangerous look, such as wearing corpse paint over their faces, putting on demonic masks, covering themselves in dark leather and the like. Gorgeous George is regarded as the father of the wrestling gimmick, and by extension the heel gimmick. Starting in the 1940s, he invented an extravagant, flamboyant "pretty boy" gimmick who wore wavy blonde hair, colorful robes and ritzy outfits, and was accompanied by beautiful valets to the ring for his matches. The crowd widely jeered his persona, and came out to his matches in hopes of seeing him defeated. [10] George relished this attention, and exploded into one of the most famous (and hated) heels not only of his era, but of all time. Another example of a dramatic heel is the wrestler The Undertaker, who, on many occasions throughout his career, has switched between portraying a heel or a face. [11] During his period as the leader of The Ministry of Darkness, he appeared as a priest of the occult in a hooded black robe and literally sat in a throne, [12] often in the shape of the symbol used to represent him.

Occasionally, faces who have recently turned from being heels still exhibit characteristics from their heel persona. [13] This occurs due to fans being entertained by a wrestler despite (or because of) their heel persona, often due to the performer's charisma or charm in playing the role. Certain wrestlers such as Eddie Guerrero [14] and Ric Flair gained popularity as faces by using tactics that would typically be associated with heels, while others like Stone Cold Steve Austin, Scott Hall and more recently Becky Lynch [15] displayed heelish behavior during their careers yet got big face reactions, leading them to be marketed as antiheroes.

Roman Reigns received negative reactions from the audience despite being promoted as a face. Roman Reigns May 2019.jpg
Roman Reigns received negative reactions from the audience despite being promoted as a face.

On other occasions, wrestlers who are positioned as faces receive a negative audience reaction despite their portrayal as heroes. An example is Roman Reigns, who in 2018 was a top face in WWE, but got booed in his matches while his opponents got cheered regardless of their status as face or heel, due to perceived favoritism from WWE executives and a lack of character development. Such characters often (but not always) become nudged into becoming villains over time or retooled to present a different public image, such as The Rock's turn from a clean-cut face to self-absorbed narcissist in the Nation of Domination heel stable, [16] or Tetsuya Naito's fan rejection of his babyface causing him to drastically form Los Ingobernables de Japon. The term "heel" does not, in itself, describe a typical set of attributes or audience reaction, but simply a wrestler's presentation and booking as an antagonist.

Depending on the angle, heels can act cowardly or overpowering to their opponents. For instance, a "closet champion" in particular is a term for a heel in possession of a title belt who consistently dodges top flight competition and attempts to back down from challenges. Examples include Seth Rollins during his first WWE World Heavyweight Championship reign, Charlotte during her Divas/Raw Women's Championship reign, the Honky Tonk Man during his long Intercontinental Championship reign, Tommaso Ciampa during his NXT Championship reign and The IIconics during their WWE Women's Tag Team Championship reign. Brock Lesnar's character in WWE had heel aspects, and was well known for failing to regularly defend his title (especially during his first Universal Championship reign), often only performing on pay-per-view events and not on SmackDown or especially Raw as he was only on a part-time appearance contract with WWE. [17] [18] This sort of behavior supports the intended kayfabe opinion that the face (or faces) the heel is feuding with is actually more deserving of the title than the title-holding heel is. Heels may beg for mercy during a beat down at the hands of faces, even if they have delivered similar beat downs with no mercy. Ric Flair in particular has been well known for begging an opponent off, then hitting a low blow on his distracted opponent. Other heels may act overpowering to their opponents to play up the scrappy underdog success story for the face.

Notes

  1. ↑ Oz, Drake. "Understanding Wrestling Terminology: A Casual Fan's Guide". Bleacher Report. Turner Inc. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  2. ↑ "Torch Glossary of Insider Terms". PWTorch.com. 2000. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 10 July 2007.
  3. ↑ Foley, Mick. Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks (p. 2).
  4. ↑ Sammond, Nicholas (2005). Steel Chair to the Head. Duke University Press. p. 264. ISBN   978-0-8223-3438-5.
  5. ↑ Edison, Mike (4 September 2017). "The Art of the Heel". The Baffler. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  6. ↑ Ostriecher, Blake. "5 Reasons WWE No Longer Has True Heels Or Babyfaces". Forbes. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  7. ↑ Esbenshade, Ellie (15 April 2019). "The Geeky Historian: What Happened to Foreign Heels in Wrestling?". The Geeky Historian. Medium. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  8. ↑ Cocking, Lauren (5 November 2016). "Everything You Need to Know about Wrestling". Culture Trip. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  9. ↑ Foley, Mick. Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks (p. 117).
  10. ↑ Jares, Joe. "George was Villainous, Gutsy, and Gorgeous". Sports Illustrated Vault | Si.com. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  11. ↑ Mueller, Chris. "Examining Undertaker's Legacy as the Measuring Stick for Every WWE Superstar". Bleacher Report. Turner Inc. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  12. ↑ Wagoner, Christopher (16 August 2019). "WWE History Vol. 9: Wrestling's greatest stables". Sportskeeda. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  13. ↑ Powell, John. "'WWE WrestleMania XX' Results". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on 29 March 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2008.
  14. ↑ Baker, Will. "WWE: 10 Wrestlers That Work Better as Faces Than as Heels". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  15. ↑ Martinez, Phillip (20 August 2018). "Did Becky Lynch Turn Heel? It's More Complicated Than That". Newsweek. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  16. ↑ Hayner, Chris. "22 Massive WWE Heel Turns Every Fan Had Better Know". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  17. ↑ Sidle, Ryan (29 November 2019). "WWE Champion Brock Lesnar Will Not Fight Again This Year". SPORTBible. CONTENTbible. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  18. ↑ Matthews, Graham GSM. "Analyzing Brock Lesnar's Part-Time Schedule and Why It Works for WWE". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 7 April 2024.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Professional wrestling</span> Form of athletic theater

Professional wrestling is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama, under the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Although it entails elements of sports wrestling and martial arts, including genuine displays of athleticism and physicality before a live audience, professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship. The staged nature of matches is an open secret, with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions; this is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Undertaker</span> American professional wrestler (born 1965)

Mark William Calaway, better known by his ring name The Undertaker, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Calaway spent the vast majority of his career wrestling for WWE and in 2022 was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Face (professional wrestling)</span> Type of character in professional wrestling

In professional wrestling, a face (babyface) is a heroic, "good guy", "do-gooder", or "fan favorite" wrestler, booked (scripted) by the promotion with the aim of being cheered by fans. They are portrayed as heroes relative to the heel wrestlers, who are analogous to villains. Traditionally, face characters wrestle within the rules and avoid cheating while behaving positively towards the referee and the audience. Such characters are also referred to as blue-eyes in British wrestling and técnicos in lucha libre. Not everything a face wrestler does must be heroic: faces need only to be clapped or cheered by the audience to be effective characters. When the magazine Pro Wrestling Illustrated went into circulation in the late 1970s, the magazine referred to face wrestlers as "fan favorites" or "scientific wrestlers", while heels were referred to as simply "rulebreakers".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gimmick (professional wrestling)</span> Professional wrestling in-ring persona

In professional wrestling, a gimmick generally refers to a wrestler's in-ring persona, character, behaviour, attire, and/or other distinguishing traits while performing which are usually artificially created in order to draw fan interest. These in-ring personalities often involve costumes, makeup and catchphrases that they shout at their opponents or the fans. Gimmicks can be designed to work as good guys/heroes (babyfaces) or bad guys/villains (heel) depending on the wrestler's desire to be popular or hated by the crowd. A tweener gimmick falls between the two extremes, such as wrestlers who manifests many heel and face traits such as Randy Orton's viper gimmick. A wrestler may portray more than one gimmick over their career depending on the angle or the wrestling promotion that they are working for at that time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heat (professional wrestling)</span> Professional wrestling term

In professional wrestling, heat can refer to both crowd reactions and real-life animosity between those involved in a professional wrestling angle, or match.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fabulous Rougeaus</span> Professional wrestling tag team

The Fabulous Rougeaus was the professional wrestling tag team of real-life brothers Jacques and Raymond Rougeau, best known from their time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), from 1986 to 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glossary of professional wrestling terms</span> List of definitions of terms and concepts related to professional wrestling

Professional wrestling has accrued a considerable amount of jargon throughout its existence. Much of it stems from the industry's origins in the days of carnivals and circuses. In the past, professional wrestlers used such terms in the presence of fans so as not to reveal the worked nature of the business. Into the 21st century, widespread discussion on the Internet has popularized these terms. Many of the terms refer to the financial aspects of professional wrestling in addition to in-ring terms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kayfabe</span> Portrayal of staged events as being real

In professional wrestling, kayfabe is the portrayal of staged events within the industry as "real" or "true", specifically the portrayal of competition, rivalries, and relationships between participants as being genuine and not staged. The term kayfabe has evolved to also become a code word of sorts for maintaining this "reality" within the direct or indirect presence of the general public.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bray Wyatt</span> American professional wrestler

Windham Lawrence Rotunda was an American professional wrestler best known for his tenure in WWE from 2009 until his death in 2023 under the ring name Bray Wyatt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WrestleMania 32</span> 2016 WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event

WrestleMania 32 was the 32nd annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on Sunday, April 3, 2016, at the AT&T Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. This was the last WrestleMania to be held before the reintroduction of the brand extension in July, which introduced another world championship, the WWE Universal Championship, thus it was also the last WrestleMania to feature one world championship. It was also the third WrestleMania to be held in the state of Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WrestleMania 33</span> 2017 WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event

WrestleMania 33 was the 33rd annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on April 2, 2017, at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida, and was the third WrestleMania held at the state of Florida after XXIV and XXVIII. The New Day served as the hosts of the event. It was the first WrestleMania to feature Goldberg since WrestleMania XX.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Rumble (2014)</span> WWE pay-per-view event

The 2014 Royal Rumble was the 27th annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. It took place on January 26, 2014, at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was the first Royal Rumble to be held in the city of Pittsburgh and the first WWE pay-per-view event held in the Consol Energy Center. The Royal Rumble match winner received a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For the 2014 event, the winner received a match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XXX; this was the first time since 2002 in which there was only one eligible championship for the Royal Rumble winner to challenge for.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Rumble (2015)</span> WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event

The 2015 Royal Rumble was the 28th annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on January 25, 2015, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This was the second Royal Rumble held at this venue after the 2004 event, when it was formerly known as Wachovia Center; the arena changed its name to Wells Fargo Center in 2010. It was also the first Royal Rumble to livestream on the WWE Network, which launched in February 2014. As has been customary since 1993, the Royal Rumble match winner received a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. For the 2015 event, the winner received a match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 31.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The New Day (professional wrestling)</span> Professional wrestling tag team

The New Day is an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods. The tag team is currently performing in WWE on the Raw brand. The team used to be a faction, however former member Big E would break his neck, putting him out of action indefinitely.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WrestleMania 34</span> 2018 WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event

WrestleMania 34 was the 34th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brand divisions. The event took place on April 8, 2018, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, and was the second WrestleMania held at this venue after XXX.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Public image of Roman Reigns</span> Ascendency of American professional wrestler Roman Reigns

Professional wrestler Roman Reigns is a focal point of extensive press coverage, with public attitudes towards him fluctuating at various points throughout his career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WrestleMania 38</span> 2022 WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event

WrestleMania 38 was the 38th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event was held as a two-night event, taking place on April 2 and 3, 2022, at the AT&T Stadium in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex city of Arlington, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WWE 24/7 Championship</span> Former professional wrestling championship

The WWE 24/7 Championship was a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It was a tertiary championship open to anyone—regardless of gender or WWE employment status—and carried the special rule that it could be defended "24/7", as in any time, anywhere, as long as a WWE referee was present. Because of this rule, the championship was available to all of WWE's brand divisions: their two main roster brands, Raw and SmackDown, and their developmental brand, NXT; at the time the championship was established, WWE promoted five brands, two of which were dissolved in 2022—205 Live and NXT UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reality Era</span> Period of professional wrestling within WWE, 2014–2016

"The Reality Era is a term used to describe the period from approximately early 2014 through May 1, 2016 within World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PG Era</span> Period of professional wrestling within WWE

The PG Era, also known as the Universe Era, is an era of professional wrestling within World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE), which began on July 22, 2008 after its programming was labeled as TV-PG rating under the TV Parental Guidelines. Doing business as World Wrestling Entertainment at the time, the company ceased using its full name in reference to the wrestling promotion in April 2011, and strictly started going by the "WWE" abbreviation, which became an orphaned initialism.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.