Ever start marking for the faces as you get older?

[Clash, Never a Meter Maid]

I'm posting this here because I'm using WWE-centric examples.

I know that there are a lot of fans who get jaded overtime, but for some odd reason I've noticed that I've lost myself in the official narrative of a show and marking more and more lately. I still like a good number of heels (Jericho, but I laugh at his misfortunes), and some faces are written better than others (DX on cruise control), but it's getting generally harder for me to be the young renegade I was.

When I first started watching wrestling, I recall marking for a lot of heels- Flair, Martel, Vader, Dibiase, etc. Now when I watch Raw (or any wrestling show) I'll see something like Cena putting Sheamus through a table, and I'll just think "ha-ha, sucks to be you, Sheamus". Now, I like Sheamus, and that was kind of a jerk move on Cena's part, but at the time it just didn't bother me. Am I losing my edge or something?

[The Tank]

Yea, you're clearly becoming senile.

Please hand in your IWC Membership Card and T-Shirt and vacate the premises by next year.

[AriadosMan]

No, because WWE tends to have a very limited concept of what makes a successful face.
For the longest amount of time, every WWE top face (even Lashley!) was pitched as an anti-authority rebel through some variant of the Austin v. McMahon storyline.
Now, every WWE top face (or intended top face) is given some variant of John Cena's "Never Give Up" character. It seems really awkward on some characters that beg for an edgier approach (John Morrison).

[mrjl]

Dec 31, 2009 11:54:37 GMT -5 AriadosMan said:

No, because WWE tends to have a very limited concept of what makes a successful face.
For the longest amount of time, every WWE top face (even Lashley!) was pitched as an anti-authority rebel through some variant of the Austin v. McMahon storyline.
Now, every WWE top face (or intended top face) is given some variant of John Cena's "Never Give Up" character. It seems really awkward on some characters that beg for an edgier approach (John Morrison).

I don't see Morrison doing a never give up character, though that should be madatory for wrestling faces since in wrestling the bad guys do alliances a lot more than the good guys.

[wrestlecrapcrap]

I think we all go through a bit of a change, as long as we don't obsess over it too much.

I would be a total mark for Rock and Austin back in the day, and hate HHH. I hated The Alliance, I hated Steph, I hated Heyman, and I hated Lesnar when I was supposed to.

Then I fell out of wrestling, but not before I started thinking the heels were quite cool. I remember thinking Hollywood Rock was hilarious although that may be because he was a very special case. When I got back into it in 07 I liked Kennedy instantly.

Now I like the faces again, but appreciate heels. I'm basically now appreciative of logical storytelling which, within the realms of wrestling, I find WWE does extremely well. So when I see a face do something that makes him look awesome, or gets the crowd to go nuts, I'll love it. When I see a heel do something that makes the crowd hate him, I'll appreciate it, and get involved in the story.

Occasionally WWE can be too predictable, which verges on boring when they are enforced to do 'placeholder' feuds when the roster is weak (e.g. Big Show/Cena) this year, and then even though the story was logical, we had seen it before so it was tough to care. But for the massive majority of the time, as long as we haven't seen something exactly the same before, I will get involved in the story WWE is trying to tell, and for me rather than marking for faces and hating heels, it's rather appreciating both side's contribution in putting it together.

It's why I'm really excited for WWE in 2010. There's so many guys on the roster that they can do something with. They are barely stratching the surface with Kofi, and it's already really interesting. They have Morrison who they haven't started to anything with yet, but it's going to happen soon. There's Miz, Swagger, Drew, Sheamus, Yoshi, Ryder, Ziggler, Evan, MVP, Masters etc who have all barely had the surfaces of their characters scratched when it comes to being involved in storylines. The roster is packed full of younger talent ready to enter a new era, rather than being left overs from one just gone.

[Magician under the moonlight]

I always marked for Kane even when he was a heel. Other heels I marked for were Al Snow, New Age Outlaws and the big show. I was always 50/50 on the heel/face thing.

[Deleted]

I've always marked for some faces. I don't think it's very much of a matter of their allignment, but whether I just like them as wrestlers either way. Even if they turn or do storylines that I don't like, I'll probably mark for them just as much.

For example, I was always a big fan of Melina, the Great Khali and John Morrison, during the period in which all three of them were heels. As each turned, I've remained a fan of theirs.

On the other hand, I didn't like...say, Triple H or Candice when they were heels, or when they were faces.

That's the thing. It doesn't really matter what their allignment is or what they do as characters, it's really more of a matter of whether I--at the core--am a fan of theirs or not.

[Johnny Danger (Godz)]

The only "pure" faces I like are Goldust, Yoshi, and Dreamer when he was around. Beyond that, I prefer edgy characters.

[Mozenrath]

It's a mix. I like Kofi and Cena, but some faces are such kissasses I can't get past it. MVP for instance with his sucking up to Timbaland made me a little embarrassed for him.

[Crazy Diamond]

I've always like faces but it depended on how they acted. I liked guys like Sting, Rock, Eddie, and Stone Cold but you would have had to pay me to get me to cheer Hulk Hogan or HHH. On the other hand I like Yokozuna, Vader, and Great Muta even though they were heels but I could not stand Hollywood Hogan, HHH, or Big Poppa Pump.

[The F'N Captain]

With the exception of being a supermark when I was a kid, I've generally liked who I like in wrestling, heel or face nonwithstanding.

Right now I love Jericho, Punk, Christian, Yoshi, MVP, Shelton, Beth, and Sheamus. Some are heels some are faces.

[Allie Kitsune]

I've pretty much always liked faces better. When I first got into wrestling, the only heel I really liked was Yokozuna. When I started watching WCW in the late 90s, it was more a mix of faces and heels, I liked who I liked, regardless, and if they turned, I still liked them. But I never liked anyone better because they were a face or because they were a heel. It's just that usually the people I really got into happened to be faces at the time.

These days, I still just like who I like, and they're mostly faces (Kofi, Yoshi, Goldust, Christian, MVP, Masters, HBK, JoMo), but there are a couple of heels out there I still like (Miz, McIntyre).

[Mayonnaise]

As I have gotten older, I find myself sticking with the same guys face or heel (Punk, Jericho, Taker, Orton, DX, Batista) or liking heels more (Sheamus, Miz, Zeke, McIntyre). There are a few faces I like (J.Hardy, Kofi, Christian) but, most seem so bland that I just cannot get behind them.

[Jason]

To be honest, heels or faces don't matter to me. I'll like them even when they turn so yeah. But most of my favourites are heels, some faces I'm a fan of - MVP (Current fave, liked him since 2006), Evan Bourne, Chris Masters, Shawn Michaels, Shelton Benjamin and Gail Kim.

[Bang Bang Bart]

I've gotten past the point of cheering solely faces against the heels, and just cheer for my favorites.

The last genuine time of me cheering a face going up against a heel was Stone Cold back in '98-99.