They'd damn well better not be turning Mark Henry

[rnrk supports BLM]

From Henry and Bryan's interaction, both tonight and on last Smackdown, I've got the chilling feeling Mark's being repositioned towards a face turn.

And that's awful.

Heaven forbid WWE have a legitimately dominating, intimidating heel who doesn't need to cheat or scrape by on technicalities without him winding up a face a couple months down the line. Especially when you don't even give any babyface the benefit of overcoming his dominant monster heel run first.

It's 1995 all over again. None of this New Generation of guys is going to have a chance to become a draw if they don't have interesting opponents to define themselves against. And bland losers like Ziggler and Bryan are anything but that.

[Nic Nemeth]

To be fair, Henry is just too damn likable.

Although I agree he should stay heel and just plain hate Bryan.

[Deleted]

I love Ziggler, but yeah, I wish Bryan would be annihilated by Henry and give the title back to who it belongs to.

[Deleted]

He's is too likable and he's better as a heel. I say they go the Triple H 1999-2000 route. He was the most ruthless heel in the business and the heel you hated to see on get his way but at the same time the guy was so damn cool. Remember all the villainous things he did? The awesome clothes he used to wear? The greatness he proved time and time again? He was funny as well. Henry should just stay a heel and if people like him then dammit let people like him. Let him continue to be himself. Once he turns face he's not taken seriously. We already have 2 other huge babyfaces (Show and Brodus) so no need to have the other one do the same.

[Tiger Maskooo]

I dont know how bryan or ziggler are really bland. I mean..bryan cut a promo on raw that I enjoyed more than any mark henry promo.

And I like mark henry.

But I do think its a stupid decision to turn mark.

[BorneAgain]

I'm nervous about it myself, especially as these past couple of months seem to have a theme of doing solid stuff with talent and then either bailing on or doing nothing with them.

Writer 1: Hey that Sheamus babyface turn really got him over, who will we have him feud with.
Writer 2: Just have him do some stuff with Hornswoggle and some stuff with Mahal on SD.
Writer 1: Oh, um okay. What about R-Truth? Guy's hot, and yeah he's about to be suspended, but maybe he could beat up a beloved babyface, get kayfabe suspended and have the babyface itching to fight him.
Writer 2: Nah, Miz'll beat him down to become a serious guy, and Truth will come back a babyface.
Writer 1: But that doesn't... alright alright. What are the plans with Ryder post Ziggler? Lots of mid-card talent to work with, and the fans will get some big heat on any heel he faces.
Writer 2: Got a plan for that. Kane will go after him, try to drag him off to hell, beat him up one week, and he'll lose the belt to Swagger after holding it about a month.
Writer 1: Oh, for the love of- what will that accomplish?
Writer 2: It'll make Cena's character really, really, mad.
Writer 1: Please, tell me there nothing else.
Writer 2: Well one thing, how does Mark Henry being a babyface sound?
Writer 1: ...Maybe we should just try writing NXT instead.
Writer 2: What's NXT?

[Society of the Spectacle]

Jan 17, 2012 2:45:40 GMT -5 rnrk supports BLM said:

From Henry and Bryan's interaction, both tonight and on last Smackdown, I've got the chilling feeling Mark's being repositioned towards a face turn.

And that's awful.

Heaven forbid WWE have a legitimately dominating, intimidating heel who doesn't need to cheat or scrape by on technicalities without him winding up a face a couple months down the line. Especially when you don't even give any babyface the benefit of overcoming his dominant monster heel run first.

It's 1995 all over again. None of this New Generation of guys is going to have a chance to become a draw if they don't have interesting opponents to define themselves against. And bland losers like Ziggler and Bryan are anything but that.

Though I heartily disagree with your assessment of Bryan ( a favorite target of yours) and Ziggler, I do agree that Henry has been just too damn entertaining in his current run. I think it's the same old phenomenon that I mentioned in another thread on here. WWE couldn't book Henry as a face, so they tried again with him as monster heel. This time, the stars really aligned and Henry has been AMAZING. However, now fans are starting to cheer him again because they see he's finally being used right and is good at what he does. Thus, WWE sees it fit to turn him face. I don't know why WWE just can't keep the momentum going, because we all know that when he turns face again, they probably won't let him retain what is making him the star he is.

[frogsplash45]

I'm not sure if WWE is capable of doing this, but they should just let him act the way does now forever.

If people start cheering Mark because of Bryan's heelness, let them cheer. If they boo him, let them boo. Just don't mess with his character at all. He's at the best he's ever been in his 15 years, and there is no going up from here.

[Deleted]

Way I see it, whether a crowd is cheering or booing someone should be irrelevant to the story being told. Turning people like Truth or Henry because they're getting too popular or making people intentionally less entertaining to get more boos is just ridiculously stupid.

[Tiger Maskooo]

Jan 17, 2012 3:04:51 GMT -5 Lizuka #BLM said:

Way I see it, whether a crowd is cheering or booing someone should be irrelevant to the story being told. Turning people like Truth or Henry because they're getting too popular or making people intentionally less entertaining to get more boos is just ridiculously stupid.

Audience dictates the story though. If they really try turning you of course you should be turned cause thats what they want.

Just because wwe ruins characters doesnt mean there shouldnt be turns. It just means they should write it better. To not turn just to stick with narrative if the crowd cheers or boos you in the"wrong way" for the entire time is stubborn and counter productive.

The object is to tell the story that entertains people the most not stick to the narrative no matter what.

I dont hear mark get cheered much though.

[misconduct was wrong]

I kinda feel like Mark Henry is similar to where heel R-Truth was. His heel shenanigans and mic ramblings are incredibly entertaining and could easily shifted to face shenanigans and ramblings. I pray to the Boogeyman that they don't turn him.

[frogsplash45]

Jan 17, 2012 3:04:51 GMT -5 Lizuka #BLM said:

Way I see it, whether a crowd is cheering or booing someone should be irrelevant to the story being told. Turning people like Truth or Henry because they're getting too popular or making people intentionally less entertaining to get more boos is just ridiculously stupid.

Eh, I disagree.

You can apply this to certain guys, but not all.


I think Randy Orton was a guy that they changed too much when the crowd got behind him, but I wouldn't necessarily say the same for CM Punk.

[Metalheadbanger Man]

The Hall of Pain will become the Hall of Pleasantry.

[Bub (BLM)]

Jan 17, 2012 3:04:51 GMT -5 Lizuka #BLM said:

Way I see it, whether a crowd is cheering or booing someone should be irrelevant to the story being told. Turning people like Truth or Henry because they're getting too popular or making people intentionally less entertaining to get more boos is just ridiculously stupid.

You have to work with the audience, otherwise your storytelling can't work. Imagine if they'd continued to book Eddie Guerrero as a heel in 2003 after the Tajiri incident despite the fact that the crowd refused to boo him. It would have in turn hurt all the babyfaces he worked against. Ignoring who the audience boos and cheers for is by far one of the dumbest things any wrestling promotion could do.

[breakdownthewalls]

I don't think Henry's turning, I think it's more "Oh crap D-Bry's in over his head now, he has a monster heel and a monster face ticked off at him"

Also "bland Ziggler and Bryan" wow......

[The OP]

Jan 17, 2012 5:31:12 GMT -5 Bub (BLM) said:

Jan 17, 2012 3:04:51 GMT -5 Lizuka #BLM said:

Way I see it, whether a crowd is cheering or booing someone should be irrelevant to the story being told. Turning people like Truth or Henry because they're getting too popular or making people intentionally less entertaining to get more boos is just ridiculously stupid.

You have to work with the audience, otherwise your storytelling can't work. Imagine if they'd continued to book Eddie Guerrero as a heel in 2003 after the Tajiri incident despite the fact that the crowd refused to boo him. It would have in turn hurt all the babyfaces he worked against. Ignoring who the audience boos and cheers for is by far one of the dumbest things any wrestling promotion could do.

Seriously, this is like crowd psychology 101. It's a basic concept of the business. If the crowd loves Mark Henry he should be booked primarily against guys the crowd hates or are in the process of turning against (i.e. Bryan). None of these guys should change too much too suddenly regardless of face or heel alignment and none of them have, and I think that's a major reason why a lot of people are enjoying WWE more lately. There's been a lot more interweaving story logic and character continuity, it's like they've finally created a "WWE Universe" and made it more than just a corporate branding term. Look at R-Truth, he's hardly changed at all since the turn. He's even still working with Miz, just against him instead of teaming together since Miz is over as a heel and Truth is over as a face. I suspect it would be much the same with Henry. They would keep "Hall of Pain" and all the other things that have made him so much more entertaining and marketable than at any other time in his 10+ year WWE career. In fact, I think Henry will change even less than Truth has and it's Bryan who will continue to transition into a full heel role, in the process turning Henry by default.

Jan 17, 2012 9:08:23 GMT -5 breakdownthewalls said:

Also "bland Ziggler and Bryan" wow......

I wasn't even gonna dignify this part with a response, but I was also like "seriously?" Both are totally different than anybody else in WWE right now and have been doing great work.

[4real]

Man I hope not. If something's working why fix it? Mark Henry is awesome in his role so why tamper with that.

He needs to do more commentary though.

[Allie Kitsune]

Henry's basically been something WWE hasn't had in a long time. A "true" badass. A guy where if you piss him off, you're probably going to soil yourself at the thought of what he's going to do to you.

They'd be stupid to take that away from him.

[The OP]

Look, if you guys want Henry to stay heel so bad, BOO HIM. Stop talking about how awesome he is, and if you go to a show try to start a "Henry sucks" chant or something. If you want the current story to stay the same, play along with it.

[keezy]

Mark Henry has been great on the mic and has had a great character for months since turning heel, I'd be totally fine with him as a face as long as he has the same traits, like R-Truth who I still love.