Posted in: The Classroom The Classroom - Etiquette Class: "Thank you"
By Sean Taylor
Apr 28, 2009 - 6:30:39 AM
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to The Classroom. I wanted to respond publicly to an email I received recently. Here is the email in its entirety: "F**K u rey mysterio is AWESOME!!" I think Bindi had a valid point there. I think I’ve been completely turned around on the whole Rey Mysterio issue this whole time. I wrote an entire column giving reason after reason as to why Rey Mysterio was a bane on the world of professional wrestling. I argued at length about how Mysterio should be kicked out of the WWE and shunned forevermore. But after receiving this wonderfully crafted counter-argument with that concise reasoning and well thought out point of view, I might have to reconsider my position on the subject. Maybe Rey Mysterio doesn’t suck after all. Maybe, just maybe, Rey Mysterio IS one of the greatest of all time. It very well could be possible that I am just jealous because he makes more money than me. Perhaps I just didn’t realize that despite the fact that he’s nothing but a flying spot monkey only popular because his best friend died that he really, truly, IS awesome.
Then again, I thought CM Punk stood 0% chance of winning the Money In The Bank match this year so what do I know? Let’s get to the column.
You’ve just won the big title. You got your hand raised and celebrated among thousands of screaming fans live in the arena. When the mobs of adoring fans finally let you go to the back, you were greeted by dozens of babyface wrestlers all congratulating you live on television. Your friends decide to take you out for a celebratory dinner at the most popular nightclub/restaurant in town. Once there, men beg for an autograph and compliment you on your fantastic athletic ability. Women fall at your feet practically throwing their hotel room keys at you wanting to plan a “late night celebration”. This is the single greatest night of your life. And why shouldn’t it be? You’ve been grinding it out for nearly two decades and you’ve finally achieved the solitary goal that started you on your path to be a professional wrestler. Drinks flow, music blares, and people dance – all in celebration of your greatest accomplishment just hours previously. Everyone in the place gets to share in your celebration.
Well, almost everyone.
Over in the dark corner, next to the kitchen, removed from any light source sits a man who is not celebrating. He is hunched over his dinner plate eating his food as quickly as he can. He’s not involved in your celebration and nor does he want to be. He doesn’t feel like celebrating because he has nothing to celebrate. All he wants is to finish his dinner, go back to his hotel room, and forget this day ever happened. He’ll have to push and shove his way through the crowds just to reach the front door. Everyone will treat him as if he piece of furniture standing in their way of their partying. He’ll be thrown into the wall, stepped on, and treated like a piece of trash. He’s not having a good day.
And it’s entirely your fault.
He was your opponent. The former champion. The monster heel that has made your life a living hell over the past few months. He badmouthed you but more importantly, he insulted your fans. He interfered in every single one of your matches often attacking you from behind like a coward. That scar above your eye is from the brass knuckles-assisted punch he gave you two weeks ago. He beat down your friend and former tag team partner. He invaded your beloved mentor’s home. He nearly ended your career by attempting to run you over with his car. All the feelings of hatred and resentment play in the back of your head. If you stood up, you could easily chase him down, and return the ill-willed physical confrontations. But you don’t. You simply locked his eyes to yours and mouth the words that he needs to know.
“Thank you.”
Wait a minute. Why are you thanking him? He is your most hated archenemy. You’re thanking him because as a professional wrestler, you know that you couldn’t have become as popular as you have been without him. Your success as a babyface depends heavily on his ability to get the crowds to hate him. If he’s seen as just annoying or a nuisance, beating him doesn’t do anything for you. But if he’s so hated that the fans will shell out their hard-earned money to see anyone kick his ass, then your importance rises in the eyes of the fans as well. Your importance only rises if the stories the two of you tell – both inside and outside of the ring – work to pull emotions out of the audience.
Remember, a few years ago when you were aching to break into the business? The promoter stuck you with that lousy heel who had just plain given up. He didn’t care about how the matches looked or even if the crowd was watching. And what happened? You didn’t get over. You tried like hell day after day night after night to get yourself over but it just didn’t take. His character was easy to hate but he didn’t do anything with it. He blatantly used illegal tactics in front of the referee often leading to disqualifications. You floundered because he didn’t want to do business the right way. Plus, because he used to be a star and you were a newcomer, you were fired while he stayed on for another year.
But you were lucky. The promoter still liked your work and hired you back eight months later. The initial storyline about your return was ok but you needed something to boost you to the next level. That’s where he came in. He was in the same situation as you – trying to get noticed. He worked just as hard as or perhaps harder than you. He did everything he could to be hated. His over-the-top gimmick grated on the necks of fans but he played it so well, it didn’t get annoying after a few weeks. He stayed fresh and even threw you a few curveballs in face-to-face verbal confrontations. His car was pelted with garbage wherever he decided to show his face. But almost ruined it didn’t you?
You wanted to control the matches.
Remember that match a couple of months ago? The one where you insisted on being the one to call the match. You wanted the chance to prove that you could call the action as you went along. But during the times when you were getting beaten down, it was next to impossible for you to see the crowd because you were having to act hurt. So when you thought it was time to make your comeback, you didn’t realize that he hadn’t had adequate time to build enough heat with the crowd. So when you made your comeback, the crowd wasn’t ready for it. This meant that he had to beat you down again and start to build his heat all over again. You had wasted half the match already and when the ref signaled it was time to end the match, you didn’t have enough time to pull off a proper finish. The whole match came off as sloppy and well below the expectations the office had of you. It almost cost you your spot in the card.
All because you wanted what was never yours.
That night you learned a valuable lesson. You learned why the heel always calls the match in the ring. Since he’s the one who is able to see and listen to the crowd, he knows when it’s the proper time for you to make your comeback. That way, he can build to enough heat from the audience; making your comeback mean that much more. Even if he goes into business for himself and holds off your comeback, it’ll just piss off the crowd more. But that’s ok. He’s the heel. He’s supposed to piss off the crowd. Your comeback won’t be affected in any negatively way. You tried going outside what you should have done and things got messy. It’s a harsh but necessary lesson that all professional wrestlers need to learn to be successful.
But why is tonight’s opponent so much better than the one a couple of months ago? Because he understood the biggest point of all. You are only as good as the guy you last beat. These days, the details can be argued but the idea remains the same. If you make your opponent look like a green jobber, it does nothing to help you. Why should it? Sure you looked great in a dominating effort but you dominated a loser. You were probably better off wrestling a pillow. However, if you make your opponent look good, allow him to “up” you, and then gain your revenge, both of you look that much better. So many wrestlers these days are afraid to be “upped” or embarrassed on national television because they don’t want to look weak. There’s one major problem with that statement.
Heels are supposed to look weak.
The entire reason heels are on the side of evil is because, generally, they are not as good as their babyface counterparts. They can’t out-wrestle or outsmart the babyfaces because the babyfaces are always one step ahead of them. Thus, the reason the heel has to resort to cheating or illegal tactics to gain the upper hand. Once they have the advantage, they can beat down the babyface all they want and act like they never lost control. The cockiness and underhanded tactics are what make a heel hated. How many times have you seen a heel cut a standard heel promo and then wrestle as a babyface? Doesn’t make much sense does it? They talk as if they’re heel, but then not cheat at all? Anybody can talk heel but when they follow up and wrestle heel, the audience is more apt to believe their character as a heel and therefore boo them.
And don’t fool yourself. Fans love to boo a great heel. Babyfaces need to emotionally connect with the audience in order to get over. The difficulty with that is that not everyone can usually agree on which babyface has the best character. Some are seen as too wimpy while some are wishy-washy. But all a heel needs is a cheap shot, an eye-poke, or even a sneering glance. People love to hate villains. It allows them to vent anger they have built up inside from their everyday lives. It’s stress relieving to yell “You suck!” to someone stole an ice cream from a little kid at ringside. It’s almost therapeutic. But the heel has to give the audience a reason to hate him. It’s a love-to-hate relationship that is essential to the success of a wrestling match. Without this relationship, the match will not connect. If that connection isn’t there, the match quality instantly suffers. Don’t kid yourself. The actual action in the ring could be the worst of all time but if the audience truly hates the heel, the match could be the most memorable on the card.
So there you sit, eyes locked with your heel opponent. Cheering fans surround you as he leaves the restaurant alone hidden under dark clothing. The people’s chants echo into the streets as he walks away into the night. He’s helped make you a star. He helped make you a champion. He helped make you a part of history. He loses the title, the main event spotlight, and the champion’s bonus on his paycheck. He only gets one thing in return. It’s the only thing he needs.
A “thank you”.
Thanks for reading. The next History Of will be arriving shortly and I’m still taking suggestions. As always comments, questions, and other forms of feedback are appreciated. You can email me here or if you’re a member of the Columns Forum, here. Here’s a question for you to answer: Who do you consider to be the best heel of all time?
