When a wrestler turns.....

[JLAJRC]

whether it's from face to heel or heel to face, I've always wondered how that wrestler felt about fans all along. I'm going to use the Big Bossman as an example, but you could use Big Show, Paul Bearer, Kane, HHH, etc. anyone with multiple turns.

So Bossman comes into the WWF in the late 80s as a heel and beats the fan favorites and disparages the fans.

But then he turns face and starts craving the fans attention and becomes a huge fan favorite. So was he craving their attention all along?

Then after a stint in WCW (where he did stints as both a face and a heel), he returns the WWE as not just a heel, but a MEGA HEEL who clearly hates the fans.

So did Bossman hate the fans all along, even as a face and was simply playing along for whatever reason. You don't go from one extreme to another without something being there to begin with.

[HMARK Center]

That's actually a really good question, and one I'd love to see a creative booker delve into.

Just because somebody acts as a face or a heel, does that affect how they perceive the fans around them, or alter it in some way, etc. etc. etc.

Lots of things you can do with that.

[Angus Mcloud]

How about Nailz claiming Bossman beat him in jail. At that time Nailz would have been in jail Bossman would still be evil. How ever Bossman was the face in the feud.

[Famous Rocking Chimes]

Mar 1, 2011 11:36:51 GMT -5 Angus Mcloud said:

How about Nailz claiming Bossman beat him in jail. At that time Nailz would have been in jail Bossman would still be evil. How ever Bossman was the face in the feud.

And Boss Man's response to Nailz' accusations was pretty much "But you were convicted, and that's the most important thing."

[Azrael from Outerspace]

Boss Man was part of the law therefore he was always a heel. He decided to act nice because he wanted to get information out of you.

[zeez]

Hmmm...I don't know. I like to think that all wrestlers secretly hate the fans unless they aren't selling enough merchandise but I don't know.

[MolotovMocktail]

With Boss Man, we also had to somehow believe that it took him nearly 2 years for him to realize that his manager, who was strongly suggested to be a pimp, was not exactly an honest man (he turned when he found out Slick was taking bribes from DiBiase).

[James McCloud IS John Godot]

Based on kayfabe, wrestlers tend to have one of two opinions on their fanbase.

1) They hate their fans and were only pretending to be faces to get attention/groupies/merchandise sales/etc. and will brag about this when they turn heel. This type of wrestler has issues with empathy and maybe even be sociopathic.

2)They liked their fans but grew to hate them because they viewed them as demanding SOBs. They usually get over this when they turn face again, and then the pattern repeats suggesting this type of wrestler has severe emotional problems.

[johnnyk9]

I always thought from a fan prospective, you can only hate a guy so long you a trigger goes off in your head and you think to yourself, hey this guy isn't doing bad stuff, he's doing cool stuff, Austin is a prime example of that.

[Futureraven: Beelzebruv]

I remember an interview with Kevin Nash in WCW where he literally said 'Every few months I pretend to be a good guy so you idiots will buy my merchandise'.

[Porky's Butthole]

I remember doing a fantasy booking thing with some friends about something like this. We each offered one another challenges and the other had to respond with a logical fantasy storyline.

The challenge laid before me: "Turn Eugene heel." And here is how I responded:
--------------------
In November of 2004, Eugene and Regal captured the World Tag Team Titles. Regal was happy because his pupil had achieved success. Meanwhile, John Cena was going for the United States title. He eventually was successful.

Stephanie McMahon decided to use a little inter-promotional six man match for the next edition of Raw. Regal/Eugene/Cena vs. The La Resistance/Carlito.

Cena cuts a scathing rap about their opponents, calling La Resistance 'The Unwashables' and Carlito 'the Cuban Troll doll'. But before he can finish his rap, Eugene comes out and blindsides him with a chair. He then takes the mic and enters the ring...

"Boo me all you want. I hate this! I hate having to cater to the likes of you people. I hate having to kowtow to the ignorant and stupid. I'm tired of being something I'm not! I'm tired of doing this! *he takes his coat off* I'm no fool, I'm no idiot, I'm not "special". I'm just a person who does what he has to to get what he needs. So what did I do? I acted like each and every one of you. I acted like a damned idiot who don't know his ass from a hole in the ground! The most important thing is....I acted. I stooped myself to YOUR level. But I got sick of it. My name's not even Eugene! It's Nick! I'm one half of the World Tag Team Champions! And soon..I'll be the United States Champion as well."

He drops the mic and the camera pans to the entrance ramp to show Regal, smiling, nodding and clapping.
-------------

[molson5]

I always think of Paul Orndorf's turn on Hogan as the most organic, sensible heel turn ever.

He wanted to be a nice guy, he did. But the fans were just never going to accept him the way they did Hogan. Hogan acted like he was Orndorf's friend - but deep down, Orndorf was resentful, and always felt insecure. Hogan kind of took him for granted, as did the fans. But the Heenan family accepted him with open arms, as an equal. I remember as a kid - I actually kind of felt happy for him that he found his place with people that really appreciated him. The love and respect he got from the Heenan family far surpassed anything he got from the fans, or Hogan. All he had to do to get that acceptance was beat the crap out of Hogan - something he always wanted to do, deep down, anyway.

And it wasn't sudden and out of nowhere...yes, there was that tag match when he finally snapped on Hogan - but it was building for a while, and Heenan had been in Orndorf's ear for a while, telling him that the fans and Hogan didn't really give a crap about him (which was true - it's amazing to look back sometimes at what a jerk even megaface Hogan could be sometimes). It was just a matter of time.

[Disaster Report]

Too bad Warrior never went heel so we could've had promos ripping on the fans.

[arthuradams2002]

Mar 2, 2011 3:03:35 GMT -5 MolotovMocktail said:

With Boss Man, we also had to somehow believe that it took him nearly 2 years for him to realize that his manager, who was strongly suggested to be a pimp, was not exactly an honest man (he turned when he found out Slick was taking bribes from DiBiase).

The Bossman face turn was like the Zangief situation at the end of the Street Fighter movie. Didn't Zangeif say something along the lines of "Wait a minute, we are not the good guys ?"

[Deleted]

I would have liked to see someone like Rick Rude's reaction. (I don't really recall a long stretch of him as a "good guy" if he ever was one.) I mean, sure, he was arrogant, he had a good body, was handsome, so it wasn't so much that we hated Rick Rude, just the kind of company he keeps. His managers were slimeballs, or his friends ("The Ragin' Bull" Manny Fernandez comes to mind) were.

I would actually go as far as saying Rick was kind of a "fan favorite" (doesn't mean they're all "good guys"; just guys you like watching in the ring). The guys may have been turned off by his approach, but he was a tough guy who just happened to have a great look and he earned a lot of respect. He was no coward, he was a man's man.

Did Rick really hate the fans, or did he just go with it since he was such a magnet for heel hatred by how he looked?

[Futureraven: Beelzebruv]

Like Mr. Perfect, he was just very good at everything he did, not really a bad person.