Stotty
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This is what happens when you don't give Taker the hot tag
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Post by Stotty on Jan 21, 2010 17:27:55 GMT -5
After doing some thinking I've decided that JBL was the last truly great heel that the WWE produced. He was the last guy to receive a huge amount of genuine heel heat from the audience.
Remember his promo at One Night Stand? They wanted to rip him apart.
And when you think about it, JBL was the sort of guy they should have loved. A beer swilling patriot who loves to fight. (He was basically Stone Cold in a suit). Yet he always managed to produce a ton of heel heat.
I know there are some other candidates for 'greatest heel', like Edge, Orton, Jericho and Vicki, but I don't think any of them are able to so easily get people to hate them. Those guys usually rely on cheap heat to get them over, whereas JBL was able to create a character that fans truly wanted to see get ripped to shreds, and he played it perfectly.
I know there
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Post by playoldgames on Jan 21, 2010 17:32:06 GMT -5
Gotta say, I think that title goes to Vickie. She got the sort of heat using two words that any other heel would kill to have. People HATED her.
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Post by Lance Uppercut on Jan 21, 2010 17:33:33 GMT -5
After doing some thinking I've decided that JBL was the last truly great heel that the WWE produced. He was the last guy to receive a huge amount of genuine heel heat from the audience. Remember his promo at One Night Stand? They wanted to rip him apart. And when you think about it, JBL was the sort of guy they should have loved. A beer swilling patriot who loves to fight. (He was basically Stone Cold in a suit). Yet he always managed to produce a ton of heel heat. well if he wasn't so damn political all the time, and those few times out of kayfabe (even as bradshaw) he called George W. the Greatest president of all time, people might have gotten behind him. But to be fair, that was genius on his part, and he did what few heels were able to do. Get the jaded internet/wrestling fan to hate the bad guy, only to realize how good he was after he left. |
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Post by kingbookermark on Jan 21, 2010 17:38:26 GMT -5
I truly love the creation of JBL from Bradshaw. I remember becoming a mark for him the Smackdown he returned as the pompous cowboy from Texas. He was brilliant talker, and a decent worker though he didn't have a great physique. He was tough as hell, and did what he did in the ring and on the microphone very well. Everytime he picked up the mic he got heat like some of the best of all time.
I still believe he's one of the best color commentators in the business, too bad he didn't stick with it.
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Tapout
Hank Scorpio
WWE Creative(TM)
W.W.W.Y.K.I.
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Post by Tapout on Jan 21, 2010 17:40:36 GMT -5
Gotta say, I think that title goes to Vickie. She got the sort of heat using two words that any other heel would kill to have. People HATED her. Vickie and Edge are both outstanding heels, so no, JBL isn't the last great one. Though he was absolutely tremendous. |
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Stotty
Unicron
This is what happens when you don't give Taker the hot tag
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Post by Stotty on Jan 21, 2010 17:47:10 GMT -5
Gotta say, I think that title goes to Vickie. She got the sort of heat using two words that any other heel would kill to have. People HATED her. Vickie and Edge are both outstanding heels, so no, JBL isn't the last great one. Though he was absolutely tremendous. Thing is, I don't think Vicki is that great a heel. She attracts all of her heat through "Excuse me!" which is really just a catchphrase designed to trigger a reaction. It's cheap heat. Edge is awesome, but fans are dying to cheer him. Fans can't wait for the inevitable face turn. Whereas JBL produced genuine heel heat with every move he made. He didn't rely on catchphrases or cheap heat, he was a pure heel in every sense of the word. |
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Tombi
Team Rocket
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Post by Tombi on Jan 21, 2010 19:29:37 GMT -5
Vickie and Edge are both outstanding heels, so no, JBL isn't the last great one. Though he was absolutely tremendous. Thing is, I don't think Vicki is that great a heel. She attracts all of her heat through "Excuse me!" which is really just a catchphrase designed to trigger a reaction. It's cheap heat. I don't think you've watched enough of her, mate. She could stand in the ring for ten minutes; say excuse me once at the beginning and maintain and amplify the heat right until she was done. That takes more than a catchphrase, and with every word she said she knew exactly what she was doing. Not that I disagree with you, mind; JBL tops this list easily. Someone in Vickie's position can only get so much heat without wrestling, whilst JBL could brawl like a maniac and have the fans hanging on to everything he did in hopes the face could get one over on him - no doubt thanks to JBL's also excellent in-ring charisma. ("Less is more" is definitely relevant) I don't know if we're ever going to see a heel just as downright evil and hateable as Bradshaw again, not a "cool heel", not a "chickencrap heel", just someone who is bad to the bone and has the fans hating him for it. I just really hope he passed on some knowledge before he left, as it doesn't look like he's coming back. |
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Post by kennerado on Jan 21, 2010 19:30:29 GMT -5
the fruit booty line always makes me laugh
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Post by DASH 243✅ on Jan 21, 2010 19:50:26 GMT -5
The thing I loved about JBL was his slow maniacal promo just riping the face and the audience would just be booing the hell out of him.
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Post by machomadness on Jan 21, 2010 21:42:44 GMT -5
JBL looked like he'd had a few when he took that promo.
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Post by SenorCrest on Jan 21, 2010 23:19:52 GMT -5
Weird enough. I never liked heel JBL. I don't know I guess I was just being a mark.
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agent817
Fry's dog Seymour
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Post by agent817 on Jan 22, 2010 0:55:14 GMT -5
I will say that he was one of the better heel, if not one of the best heels, that we've seen in recent memory. Like Triple H on RAW, JBL pretty much had Smackdown at its knees, kayfabe-wise. Though I will say that Evolution will always be the better the faction in comparison to The Cabinet, but The Cabinet wasn't a bad faction, but it seemed like Evolution had more charisma in the heel sense, whereas with The Cabinet, nobody really cared for Orlando Jordan and The Bashams, they were a good tag team, but I don't know what else to say about them.
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@TenaciousBe
Hank Scorpio
Guess who's back... back again
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Post by @TenaciousBe on Jan 22, 2010 1:07:25 GMT -5
Ugh, not for my money. JBL was the kind of guy who, as soon as his music hit, I couldn't find the remote fast enough to change the channel. Same with Jillian and her stupid singing gimmick. Give me Orton, Edge, Jericho, even Miz, any day. Entertaining heels.
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Post by playoldgames on Jan 22, 2010 4:13:03 GMT -5
Whereas JBL produced genuine heel heat with every move he made. He didn't rely on catchphrases or cheap heat, he was a pure heel in every sense of the word. That's true. The Wrestling God didn't rely on cheap heat or catchphrases. Ballgame. |
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Stotty
Unicron
This is what happens when you don't give Taker the hot tag
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Post by Stotty on Jan 22, 2010 5:04:51 GMT -5
Whereas JBL produced genuine heel heat with every move he made. He didn't rely on catchphrases or cheap heat, he was a pure heel in every sense of the word. That's true. The Wrestling God didn't rely on cheap heat or catchphrases. Ballgame. He didn't rely on cheap catchphrases, he used em, but was awesome even without them. 90% of Vickie's promos are 'excuse me'. |
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Post by Natalya's Ass Fanboy on Jan 22, 2010 6:08:20 GMT -5
There's no question J.B.L. was the best heel of the past decade. Vickie Guerrero is X-Pac heat. People boo her, not because she's good (read: talented), but because she's so horrible. Edge is ok, but a bit on the generic side. What made J.B.L. so great was that he oozed intelligence (making his arrogance all the better) and that much of what he said was true. Neither Edge nor Vickie G. can compare.
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mainsupreme
Unicron
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Post by mainsupreme on Jan 22, 2010 7:07:28 GMT -5
I really miss him, I agree with the OP
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default
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
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Post by default on Jan 22, 2010 7:31:45 GMT -5
I'll agree JBL was a great heel, but I don't think he was the last one.
Orton, imo, is a great heel. I know there will be tons of arguments, but the man gets a great crowd reaction without catchphrases. He can also switch very convincingly from methodic to "monster" to even chickencrap without really losing a step. He doesn't rely on catchphrases and I don't really buy that he relies on cheap heat. Your average WWE fan really wants to see him get his ass kicked by Cena or DX or Kofi or whoever. That's the making of a great heel, imo.
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Post by baerrtt on Jan 22, 2010 7:42:57 GMT -5
The difference between JBL and Orton(even now) is that the latter clearly has always had some fans cheering for him whenever he's been a heel.
Layfield put me in mind of Dibiase's Million Dollar Man gimmick as in other words the kind of heel who NOBODY cheered. With the exception of Srs Jericho probably the best heel in the old-school sense we had this past decade.
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clifford
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Post by clifford on Jan 22, 2010 8:03:21 GMT -5
JBL's promos were, hand down, the best heel work in the WWE from about 2005 to 2008ish. Its a shame he couldn't back it up in the ring. He gelled with some, and was good in hardcore/gimmick matches, but man, he stunk up the joint with SHAWN MICHAELS last No Way Out.
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