In my latest column, I talk about the WWE Universe ruining the heel status of Braun Strowman, and the face/heel dynamic being one of the biggest pitfalls of the current WWE product.
Here is an excerpt.
“Faces and heels are still a very essential part of professional wrestling. No matter how many smarky fans are in the crowd, at the end of the day, it is still about the hero – against all odds – defeating the villain. It is essentially a real-time comic book.
If there is no strong heel, the babyface does not get the heroic reaction drawn from people rallying behind him or her. If the Joker, Lex Luthor, and the Green Goblin were not so villainous, it would severely take away from Batman, Superman, and Spiderman. Moreover, it would not give the viewers suspenseful television to anticipate the good guy winning in the end. Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant was a perfect example of this.
This aligns with two of the biggest problems in the WWE. One, there are no Lex Luthors to opposite Superman, because the face/heel dynamic is so weak; two, people are cheering for Lex Luthor, which deflates the mission of Superman to save the people from the terror displayed by the menacing, heartless adversary.
Strowman was getting significant heat for months, which helped elevate his character even more as a heel. However, he is getting cheered more due to feuding with Roman Reigns since the beginning of the year. Since fans are very vocal that Roman Reigns is not the crowd’s “chosen one,” this hurts any heel who is trying to mature in the position after feuding with him.”
You can view the full article here, and comment below.
