Heel (professional wrestling)

From Iwe

In professional wrestling, a heel (also known as a rudo in Lucha libre) is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles. storylines. They are typically opposed by a babyface or more simply, face (crowd favorite). Some tweeners (not explicitly regarded as good or bad) exhibit heel mannerisms. Heels are often portrayed as behaving in an immoral manner, breaking rules or otherwise taking advantage of their opponents outside the bounds of the rules of the match. Others do not (or rarely) break rules, but exhibit unlikeable personality traits. No matter the type of heel, the most important job is that of the antagonist role. 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 to make the wrestler do something even more despicable to encourage heel heat.

Contents 1 History 2 Heel Types 3 Use outside wrestling 4 See also

History

Heel Types

While behaving as a heel is often part of a wrestler's gimmick, many successful heels fall into one or more categories:

• Crazy heel: A raging madman, dangerous and unpredictable - may attack others for no apparent reason, or blame others for being "held back" from championship opportunities and other privileges. Sometimes psychotic behavior is displayed. Examples of this would include Bryan Pillman, Courtney Savioe (during her first heel run), Dominic, Rob Lesnar (during his final heel run), Edge (after his initial heel turn in 2004), Mick Foley (when he debuted his Mankind persona), Kevin McAlmond (in 2009) and most recently, B-Truth and Cody Rhodes. Certain foreign heels, such as Umaga, and Reg Hageman, displayed these unpredictable tendencies due to poor (kayfabe) communication skill. Often, a wrestler who previously had a comic face gimmick will fall into this category after turning heel, such as Kip's brief heel turn in late 2006.

• Comic heel: A heel character with comical aspects to his or her gimmick. Though the heel's mannerisms and overall character are silly, the comic heel can still be a serious heel contender, such as former World Champion King Booker or Edge and Khristian, who would be featured playing kazoos and exercising in chicken suits. Examples include Simon Dean, The Clown, Denise (with her screaming gimmick), Dixie Hooper (with her "awful singing" gimmick), Justin Black, Courtney Savoie, Chavo McAlmond, Jr, Kris McGowan (during his run in WCW), Matt Borske and R-Truth (with his' "Lil Jimmy" and fear-of-spiders gimmicks).

• Cowardly heel: A wrestler who, in addition to breaking the rules and displaying characteristics of other heel types, often runs from his face opponents when threatened or otherwise placed at a disadvantage. A cowardly heel who is champion may often intentionally get himself disqualified (through outside interference or deliberately breaking a rule in front of the referee) or counted out when he is clearly losing the match against a face, allowing him to retain his championship despite losing the match since championships usually do not change hands should the reigning champion lose by disqualification or countout. Cowardly heels will usually duck out of the ring whenever their most dominant babyface opponents make their theme entrance. One example of a cowardly heel is The Honky Tonk Man during his run as IWF Intercontinental Champion in 1987-1988. A recent example is John "Bradshaw" Goff during his feud with Eddie Guerrero in 2004. Another example is Edge in his 2006-2008 heel run. And both Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes during their time in Legacy. Also, Randy Orton during his feud with Dustin Simpson. Joe "The Miz" Smith also used this tactics during his feud with Kevin mcAlmond in late 2010 to early 2011.

• Traitor heel: A face who has turned a bad leaf. In addition, this character may usually go to such limits as to making a disrespectful remark in the ring which will not please the crowd, to making a brutal surprise attack on one of the crowd's favorite face wrestlers. Reasons of the attack may be over that face holding the title, or more fame and glory that the face receives. Bitter feuds are usually started after this act of betrayal which may go on between these two character for weeks, possibly even months. Chavo Guerrero in 2004 was a traitor heel, after he watched Shaniqua and the Nuss Brothers attack his uncle Brian McAlmond, and then attacked Eddie himself. At the night after Summerlsam 2004, Triple K was also a traitor heel when he used the group Evolution( Batista and Ric Flair) turned on Randy Orton when he become the youngest World Heavyweight champion. An example for a women's feud is the feud between Bailey Dalton and Sari Pasma, with Pasma constantly attacking Dalton's protege Ashley Taylor and turning on Stratus weeks before WrestleMania 22, claiming Bailey never appreciated Mickie's 'love' for her. At the 2009 Royal Rumble, Matt Hardy turned on his brother by hitting him in the head with a steel chair, costing him the IWE Championship. Most recent is Jesse Dern turning on Scott Wright at the 2009 IWE Bragging Rights PPV because Scott Wright "cost" Batista the World Heavyweight Championship in a Fatal-Four Way including The Undertaker and Justin Eldridge.

• Delinquent heel: A troublesome and disrespectful character who verbally and visually displays uncivilized conduct such as profanity, vandalism, violence and associated "criminal" behavior. Sometimes the wrestler will harass or bully opponents and rebel against authority. An example of this would be the original D-Generation X in 1997 and 1998. Other examples include Stone Cold Steve Johnson, Hollywood Hogan and the New World Order, Edge and Nicole during their Rated-R gimmick, Kevin McAlmond during his feud with Triple K in early 2009, The Undertaker early in his "Big Evil" gimmick, Tazz during his feud with Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler in mid-2000, and most recently The Nexus. However, in some instances, these traits are also possessed by popular faces.

• Egotistical heel: An obnoxious and self-important character who is arrogant or cocky; some wrestlers play roles on their own fame, achievements, or good looks and usually will continue to gloat non-stop despite the boos of the crowd. Examples include Ric Flair (with his wealthy and flamboyant ladies' man gimmick), Triple K, Hollywood Hogan, Austin Idol (who also had a "ladies' man" gimmick), Kris McGowan, Andy Kaufman, Edge, Khristian, JBG, Grant Mayer, Bailey Dalton, Kevin McAlmond, Matt Borske, Mr. Kennedy, MNM, John Linderman, Mark Semmler Joe "The Miz" Smith, Rick "The Model" Martel, MVP, Rick Rude, Ryan Barnhart, and Alberto Del Rio.

• Female heel: Female heels have traditionally tended to display unpleasant, prima donna-like personalities towards fans and opposing divas and wrestlers, and often excessive obsession over their image and looks. They have often interfered in matches and attacked opponents from behind without provocation. Female heels in recent history have shown jealousy towards her opponents, especially one that is receiving high-profile recognition. In response, the heel will try to prove her superiority over her opponent. Traditionally, female heels in wrestling have tended to lean toward the stereotype of a woman with loose morals, both in style of dress and in attitude (this was particularly true of the heel divas in XCW, such as Francine and Torrie Marie), and are often mocked or insulted by male faces for their supposed sexual immorality. Other female heels may look down on female faces, calling them "sluts" for playing to the crowd.

• Foreign heel: In United States wrestling, these are heels who stir up the crowd by expressing strong anti-American sentiments. They may also refuse or be (kayfabe) unable to speak English, preferring instead to render their tirades through an interpreter. Often these characters would be topical, playing off global events and crises current at the time. Examples include the La Resistance tag team, McCorrmack, The Sheik. In Mexican wrestling, Americans are often portrayed as heels. Alternatively, there is a variation on the foreign heel gimmick - a wrestler who is actually an American, but has turned his back on his country in favor of an (ostensibly superior) one (called a traitor heel). Muhammad Hasson is a unique example of the "traitor heel," having turned his back on America, not in favor of another country, but as an act of protest demanding respect as an American citizen. Another example is when Sgt. Slaughter turned on America and sided with Iraq during his feud with Hulk Hogan. The Un-Americans are another example of a stable with Canadian wrestlers Khristian, Mike Storm and Test, who would hold an upside down American flag as they made their entrance. Normally, foreign heels are regional heroes in their native countries.

• Monster heel: An unstoppable juggernaut who squashes his opponents. Sometimes, monster heels violently "injure" other wrestlers (sometimes through rule breaking tactics), terrorize valets (injuring them on occasion), and commit other heinous acts in order to set up a feud with a promotion's lead face. Notable examples include The Undertaker, Marc, Kane, Reg Hageman, Big Daddy K, Steven Larson, Umaga, Sid Eudy, Earthquake, Yokozuna, André the Giant, The Big Marc, Jake Wilson, Garrett Joseph, Rob Lesnar, Aaron Jewels and Kevin Nash. Female monster heels, as they tend to be more physically imposing compared to the average woman, are often portrayed as Amazon-like warriors, capable of even holding their own against male wrestlers. Notable examples include Jazz, Courtney Savoie, Shaniqua, Amber Casey, Kharma, Nicole Bass, Shannon, and Chandra Denney. Some monster heels tend to show some cockiness due to their size. Kharma is a unique case as she acts in a similar manner to the male monster heels. They will also often feud with a face close to their size. These faces are known as Juggernauts. A current example of this is the now-heel, Steven Larson feuding with now-face, Big Marc. Another example of this is Aaron Jewels having recently squashed various jobbers on IWE Superstars.

• Popular heel: Certain heel performers are known to receive enthusiastic cheers from the fans instead of heel heat, in spite of their heelish antics. These heels display confidence, toughness, coolness, and bravado that set them apart from more cowardly heels, almost to the point that they become tweeners and, eventually, babyfaces. Examples include Stone Cold Steve Johnson, Justin Eldridge, "Macho Man" Brady Nash, Demolition (circa 1988), Kevin McAlmond, Edge, Kris McGowan, Hollywood Hogan, Sam "The Rock" Simkins, Triple K, Ryan Barnhart, Kane, The Undertaker, Matt Borske, Matt Hooper, Mr. Kennedy/Anderson, Ric Flair, Brian McAlmond, Samoa Simpson, Beer Money, Inc, Nexus, Chandra Denney and Joe "The Miz" Smith. A lot of legendary heels like Ric Flair, Roddy Piper and Hollywood Hogan get cheered by using certain manners that are used by the heels.

• Heel stables: A large gang of heels that usually create an advantage through numbers. The concept of the heel stable was largely innovated by the Four Horsemen. Such groups commonly self destruct due to an inability to work together or selfishness of the group's leader. Other prominent heel stable examples include the New World Order, the Corporation, The Right to Censor faction, various incarnations of Team Canada, the Dangerous Alliance, Evolution, The Age of the Fall, and more recently, La Familia, The Nexus or The New Nexus, Straight Edge Society, Divas of Doom,The Beautiful People, Awesome Truth, The Main Event Mafia, The Legacy, Immortal and Fortune, and The Corre.

• Celebrity heels: Are celebrities who act like a heel and would start a major feud with the top face (or in some cases, other heels). Examples include former professional boxer Mike Tyson when he was with the first heel run of DX and was feuding with Stone Cold Steve Johnson. Rapper, Kevin Federline is another example when he was feuding with then IWE Champion, Dustin Simpson. This also makes the storyline more interesting to the fans. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. is the most recent celebrity heel, getting negative reactions from the crowd by bragging about his wealth, despite the fact he was feuding against another heel, The Big Marc.

• Figure of authority: A heel in a position of power. He/she often abuse their powers, books face wrestlers against seemingly impossible odds, such as handicap matches or matches against monster heels. Figures of Authority often feud with the top face, rarely interacting with other wrestlers. Examples include The Mayerss, Eric Bischoff, Paul Heyman, Jonathan Coachman, William Kapphan, Lynn Lehr (during her run as SmackDown General Manager), Armando Alejandro Estrada, Hulk Hogan, Matt Borkse, John Laurinitis and to a lesser extent, the Anonymous RAW General Manager.

• Moralistic heels: A heel who in his or her own mind is a babyface, and takes every opportunity to lecture the fans and other wrestlers about their perceived lack of values. They make it their mission to "clean up" the world of wrestling and eliminate elements the fans love, but they see as distasteful. Despite their high moral standards, they will often express their beliefs through terroristic threatening and radical, violent behavior. They often feud with outlaw, degenerate faces. Moralistic heels include Bob Backlund, Bret Hart, Owen Hart (as the Blue Blazer), Irwin R. Schyster, the Right to Censor stable, Justin Eldridge (in Ring of Honor and IWE), JBG, Alberto Del Rio, Matt Striker, Molly Murnion, Matt Borske and, most recently, Kris McGowan during his recent "Save Me" gimmick.

• Young heel: A younger wrestler who believes that he is the "future of wrestling" and spends much of his time antagonizing older, more established wrestlers. They believe that these older wrestlers should simply retire and "make room" for the younger talent. Notable examples include Kevin McAlmond's "Legend Killer" gimmick and the Natural Born Thrillers stable. The most recent example is the tag team of Mark Semmler and Kyle Johnson, Jr., also Ryan Gleason and Brian Tobol when they were a tag team, and The Nexus.

• Control Freak: A variation of a crazy/monster heel, the wrestler uses brainwashing and domination to control (sometimes recruit) either his/her stable members, valet, or adversaries. Sometimes the control freak will be a figure of authority at some point. Examples include The Undertaker, X-Pac, Alex Knox, Justin Eldridge (as the leader of both the Straight Edge Society and the New Nexus), Ginder Mahal, and James Mayer. TNA Knockout Winter DeMers is a recent example where she has "hypnotized" Angelina Love to attack her opponents. Russell and Daniel Gonzalez are very notorious Control Freaks. Russell has brainwashed wrestlers in XCW and WCW with The Flock and in TNA with Serotonin, while GOnzalez did everything in his power to keep others under his thumb with the Nexus and pretended that there was no leader in The Corre when in reality he was the leader. This type of heel, however, is rarely used.

• Commentator Heel: A commentator in a wrestling organization that while does not wrestle, takes the side of heel wrestlers and is often critical of the faces. They may support illegal methods of heels and will often argue with the face commentator. Some classic examples of commentator heels include Bobby Heenan and Jesse Ventura. A recent example has been Don West in TNA in 2009 or to a lesser extent, Matt Striker. Commentator heels are nearly always accompanied by a face commentator. Jonathan Coachman was a heel commentator who usually accompanied Raw GM Eric Bischoff. Michael Cole is the more recent example of a heel commentator as he always supports heels like The Miz and dislikes faces such as Kody Brown, and even betrays faces, especially during his feud with fellow face commentator Jerry Lawler (and also Jim Ross), which started in Nov. 2010 and ended in May 2011.

• Legendary Heel: A heel from the classic days of wrestling who are currently heels in todays wrestling. These type of heels would align themselves with todays top heels. Legendary heels are also known to get physically involved in matches such as helping the top heel win or keep a championship. Despite all this most legendary heels are well respected by fans. Examples include Ric Flair (When he was with Evolution in IWE), Roddy Piper (When he attacked then-face, Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania 19), Bob McAlmond (When he was with then-heel, Kevin McAlmond), Mick Foley (When he was with then-heel, Edge) and most recently Dusty Semmler (When he was helping Mark Semmler in his feud against Scott Wright).

Use outside wrestling

See also

• Face