Post by HMARK Center on Nov 18, 2013 16:20:32 GMT -5
I've been thinking about this a lot in regards to pro wrestling, and it's something that fascinates me. "Monster heels", or however you want to describe them, are usually big strong (or big fat, or just big) guys who are capable of annihilating the competition. They often spend months going undefeated, occasionally win the big title in a company, but almost invariably lose to a well established or up-and-coming babyface who has to outlast them and use his technical ability/tenacity to overcome the heel's brute strength and ability.
It's a time-honored trope, really, and for the most part a highly effective one. Hell, it might be my favorite type of heel. When it comes to things like comic books and movies I've always loved the terrifyingly power-yet-equally capable or intelligent villains, like Darth Vader, Darkseid, the kinds that seem unstoppable because they have very few weaknesses that a hero can exploit to defeat them. It's why guys like Vader rank among my all-time favorite wrestlers: in Vader you had a giant brute of a man who wasn't just capable of pounding your face into mashed potatoes, he could also fly off the top rope...there was no avoiding him, you couldn't outrun him, and he dominated. It's part of what made Samoa Joe so popular in TNA; it's what made guys like Umaga work in the WWE; hell, one need only look to Mark Henry's last big heel run to see how effective it can be.
...So why can't we make it work very well today?
The monster heel made a ton of sense in the territory days, where truly independent contracting wrestlers went across the region/country/world from promotion to promotion, often for just a few months at a time, then vanished for awhile and left crowds eager for them to return. It's a large part of what made Bruiser Brody and Abdullah the Butcher into legends; they'd show up, destroy everyone around them, MAYBE lose one big blow off match (a big maybe sometimes), then reappear down the road with the crowd refreshed and eager to see them again.
But in today's oversaturated market, crowds demand to see the big attraction wrestlers every week, which almost instantly means any monster heel you create has been given a shelf life. At some point he's going to have to lose, at some point he has to lose his mystique, at some point he must appear mortal...and a few too many losses and the guy loses almost everything that makes him so seemingly dominant.
How do we fix this in a world of weekly three hour Raws, Impact having a small roster that's almost on every single episode, etc.? Is there a way for this trope to really work anymore?
I suppose it could also fit guys who aren't stereotypical "monsters"; a heel can be classified as this type of wrestler without being 6'5 and 300+ pounds or what have you, but you get my drift.
It's a time-honored trope, really, and for the most part a highly effective one. Hell, it might be my favorite type of heel. When it comes to things like comic books and movies I've always loved the terrifyingly power-yet-equally capable or intelligent villains, like Darth Vader, Darkseid, the kinds that seem unstoppable because they have very few weaknesses that a hero can exploit to defeat them. It's why guys like Vader rank among my all-time favorite wrestlers: in Vader you had a giant brute of a man who wasn't just capable of pounding your face into mashed potatoes, he could also fly off the top rope...there was no avoiding him, you couldn't outrun him, and he dominated. It's part of what made Samoa Joe so popular in TNA; it's what made guys like Umaga work in the WWE; hell, one need only look to Mark Henry's last big heel run to see how effective it can be.
...So why can't we make it work very well today?
The monster heel made a ton of sense in the territory days, where truly independent contracting wrestlers went across the region/country/world from promotion to promotion, often for just a few months at a time, then vanished for awhile and left crowds eager for them to return. It's a large part of what made Bruiser Brody and Abdullah the Butcher into legends; they'd show up, destroy everyone around them, MAYBE lose one big blow off match (a big maybe sometimes), then reappear down the road with the crowd refreshed and eager to see them again.
But in today's oversaturated market, crowds demand to see the big attraction wrestlers every week, which almost instantly means any monster heel you create has been given a shelf life. At some point he's going to have to lose, at some point he has to lose his mystique, at some point he must appear mortal...and a few too many losses and the guy loses almost everything that makes him so seemingly dominant.
How do we fix this in a world of weekly three hour Raws, Impact having a small roster that's almost on every single episode, etc.? Is there a way for this trope to really work anymore?
I suppose it could also fit guys who aren't stereotypical "monsters"; a heel can be classified as this type of wrestler without being 6'5 and 300+ pounds or what have you, but you get my drift.
