Cactus Jack is Going Away for a While – Mick Foley
Mick Foley will always be one of my favorites. He has proven himself to be a very thoughtful and intellectual performer, one of the best thinkers in the business. His autobiographies show a wealth of knowledge and an aptitude for ring psychology. In 1998, Foley was in the midst of The Three Faces of Foley. He was cycling between three personas Mankind, Dude Love, and Cactus Jack. He had just had a run as Cactus Jack, battling for, winning, and losing the tag titles with Terry Funk. This promo was about how he felt betrayed by the fans. Cactus Jack was Foley’s most resilient persona, capable of taking the most physical abuse. However, the point of the promo was that the fans had turned their back on Cactus by ignoring the effort he and Funk had put in, in favor of flashier stars like Steve Austin and Degeneration X. It was part of Foley’s turn toward darkness and his eventual alliance with Vince McMahon. Foley delivered his promos with the gravitas he had learned from studying greats like Jake the Snake, Robert Fuller, and so many others. Foley had a natural ability to embody the character he was playing, practically believing that it was real. This is the style of acting taught at the college I went to, first popularized by Sanford Meisner. “To live truthfully under given imaginary circumstances.” The promo was delivered with appropriate gravitas and mentioned a lot of the roster which opened up a lot of possibilities going forward. It also blurred that line between reality and fantasy as Mick dropped a lot of his real life once again into one of his promos. It was sad and furious at the same time and it showed that the character meant business while others were just playing around. It hit hard and told a great story.
No More Divas – AJ Lee
Recently, Women’s wrestling in the WWE has been getting better and better thanks to an influx of new talent and a general change in philosophy. Stars like Moolah and other women put the brakes on talent in the division in exchange for flash and comedy. That was carried into the 2000s where the women’s division became the “Diva” division, further shifting away from athleticism and skill. Meanwhile, in Japan and in the independents, women were wrestling the same style as the guys and people loved it. Something had to be done. AJ Lee was a breath of fresh air. She had grown up as a huge fan of the business and she knew in her heart that she could do everything the guys did. When she finally got her chance, she was not that great but she worked at it and she got better and better until she was awesome. While others were fine with stagnation and mediocrity, AJ called for equality. The current WWE women’s division is called the “Women’s Revolution” then this promo was the equivalent of the Boston Massacre. This was the first event on the main roster that made people sit up and realize that they deserved better. It made people realize that women’s division matches did not have to be bathroom breaks where plastic little princesses pulled each other’s hair and slapped each other’s faces. The reaction to this promo would eventually be a call to arms for the NXT superstars who would revitalize the division and raise the bar.
15 – Favorite Feud/Rivalry
Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart
A lot of WWE fans of my generation fall into one of two camps: Bret Hart fans and Shawn Michaels fans. I was part of the latter group as I liked the younger, flashier star who was small like I was and he was funny too. When Stone Cold Steve Austin came onto the scene, everybody sat up and took notice. He was a cold-blooded sociopath who spoke his mind and stood up to everybody and anything in his way. He was billed as a good guy but he was plowing through people I had no passion for. At the same time, Bret was whining about being screwed by Austin at the 1997 Royal Rumble. Austin had been eliminated from the match but the referees had not seen it so Austin took advantage and won the match. Bret had a point, he had been screwed but instead of doing something about it, he just whined and threatened to walk out. This eventually set up the perfect feud between the two. On one side was Stone Cold Steve Austin who was a sociopath but he was proactive and always did exactly what he promised. He was vicious but America was ready to get behind that aggression. On the other side was Bret “The Hitman” Hart, who was good but had failed to back up his boasting for too long at the time. He was finally ready to actually do something about his complaints and vent his frustration in a big Wrestlemania match against Austin. The two were set for a submission match which was Bret’s specialty but Austin had that never-say-die spirit. In the end, Austin did not give up and passed out from pain and blood loss, allowing for Bret Hart to become a villain and Austin to become a hero of the people.
Becky vs. Charlotte
As I mentioned above, the women’s division has been great lately, delivering more good content than bad. As I type this, Becky Lynch has become one of the hottest and brightest stars in the WWE. She has even eclipsed many in the men’s division which has led to her labeling herself “The Man”. Leading up to Summerslam 2018, she had decided that enough was enough. She was through being nice and letting people pass her by. She had been the first Smackdown Women’s champion and she vowed to win it back by any means necessary. This led to a confrontation with her former best friend Charlotte Flair. Charlotte is a second generation pro-wrestler and therefore is wrestling royalty. She had previously lorded this over the division, letting her success and fame darken her soul as she held onto her belt. She seemingly left that all behind and turned over a new leaf but everybody knew that it was still inside of her. Becky had enough of the facade and obliterated her so-called best friend, choosing the championship over friendship. Becky stood victorious, finally beating her friend and earning her place in the sun. Then Becky was briefly injured, putting her career on hold for a little bit. In the meantime, Ronda Rousey had a match with Charlotte and finally beat the facade away, revealing the old Charlotte once again. Now, Becky and Charlotte are set to face each other once again, both of them have embraced their dark side in order to be at the top of their game. The crowd is behind Becky but Charlotte has a great big match record. It will be really fun to see what happens next.
16 – Favorite Manager
Paul Heyman
Paul Heyman has been in the professional wrestling bit for a long time. He first snuck into the nightclub business in New York City, becoming a publicity photographer. He then got into the wrestling business by once again leveraging his photography skills. But more than that, he always had the gift of gab. He has apparently always had great skill in running his mouth both inside and outside of the business. In World Championship Wrestling he turned himself into an obnoxious “Hollywood agent”-type manager who formed The Dangerous Alliance. He then helped created Extreme Championship Wrestling and became basically a cult leader of this underground company, a sort of CBGB for pro-wrestling. In these latter days, he has often acted as a mouthpiece or stand-in for his clients in the WWE. Instead of calling himself a “manager” he calls himself an “advocate”. He finds loopholes and argues for clients like CM Punk, Cesaro, The Shield, and Brock Lesnar. He gives spellbinding promos which are especially good to have when other people in a feud are not as good at talking. Brock Lesnar has especially benefitted as he has never been the greatest on the microphone. Also, Heyman has some of the best skills at getting fans to want to punch his face while still cheering his appearances.
Vickie Guerrero
Vickie was the wife of Eddie Guerrero, a guy that delighted fans for decades. When Eddie died at a fairly young age, Vickie showed up once again on television and she gained a bit of a following. It is a testament to her skills as an actress that she was able to get fans to hate her. If somebody had told me that fans would boo the widow of one of professional wrestling’s greatest, I would have questioned it. She made herself into a vain and shrill character who basically did everything wrong. She threw tantrums, she ogled younger men, she interrupted everyone’s good time, she disrespected the legacy of her own husband and cheated liberally. When the spotlight was not on her, she used sheer personality to put it back on her. The only mistake they made with her was that they had good guys start bullying her based on her appearance instead of her personality but there was a lot of that going on during that time period. Even today, fans recognize her catchphrase of “Excuse Me!” and it still puts a shiver in my spine. I am so glad that she could help to carry on the Guerrero legacy.
Heels or “bad guys” are one essential half of any professional wrestling storyline. You cannot have the light without the dark. In the real world, perfectly morally acceptable athletes face each other all the time but in the fictional world, we want to see good go up against evil. The stakes are higher and things get a little more personal if you hate one of the characters in the fight. So, let us start to explore some of the types of heel in professional wrestling.
The Annoying Heel
This is the bad guy who will most likely get legitimate, blinding hate from the fans. He or she does everything they can to piss off the fans and their opponents. They ramp up their personality or a personality trait to make the fans salivate for them to be destroyed. Think of the annoying guy at the bar or at work who just will not shut up and everything out of their mouth is utter horribleness. That is what this heel usually is.
The first heel like this that caught on for me was actually a referee. In ECW in the nineties, rules were only used when they were convenient. Weapons were used liberally and referees whistled and looked the other way. It was a novel new direction for quasi-mainstream wrestling and bloodthirsty fans reveled in the violence and spectacle. Referee Bill Alfonso rejected that and had the audacity to do his job and enforce the rules, even citing them on the mic to rile the fans up. The combination of his stickler attitude with his grating voice drove people crazy.
Another great example is Vickie Guerrero. She was the wife of the dearly departed Eddie Guerrero who was a great heel in his own right. When Eddie died, she was given an opportunity to work for the company and she ran with it. Her voice was always a little high-pitched but she turned it up to eleven by yelling everything she said. She became an authority figure and used her power to stomp on babyfaces left and right while sunning herself in the spotlight. With an ear-splitting “EXCUSE ME!” and a truckload of smug smiles, she easily earned the hate of fans who wanted her evil plans wrecked at every opportunity.
Hands down, probably the best example I can think of off the top of my head is Michael Cole. Cole has been with the WWE for a long time now. He worked his way up the ranks until he became an announcer and a firmly entrenched voice of the product. Some liked him and some did not. I thought he was alright as a middle of the road, competent announcer more or less. Then he suddenly became the biggest heel in the WWE. He would not stop talking. Not only that but he became smug and taunted those who would oppose him. He always escaped bodily harm and every week I just wanted to see somebody obliterate him but laying a hand on an announcer was kind of a firing offense. Eventually, he became a good guy again due to backstage happenings but for a while there he was the biggest bad guy in the business and he did not even wrestle (much).
The Cool Heel
There will alway be that person who everybody likes but you cannot stand. Everybody knows he or she is trouble but you have to admit that they are so cool. Everything they do is just so well done and exactly what would make a good guy the most-loved person in the world. He says all the right things and does all the popular things but he still gets under your skin. You may even admit that you like them a bit.
The nineties gave rise to this but another big example that springs to mind is Edge when he became the Rated R Superstar. He was in great shape, said all the right things, wore cool trench coats and always seemed to be one step ahead of everybody he faced. More than that, he had stolen another man’s girlfriend and flaunted it every chance he got. He french kissed Lita every chance they got. How often do people get absolutely livid at a little PDA? Edge was good at being on top of the game, capitalizing on opportunities and just being a cool guy.
There are a lot more examples that I could pull out that everybody is familiar with but instead I will talk about Sasha Banks. In NXT, Banks was a talented performer who often came out on top. Not only that but she had poise and style and determination. She walked to the ring wearing sunglasses and not giving a crap if people loved her or hated her. There is a tremendous cool factor in that attitude, something a lot of us wish we could actually achieve. She eventually got rid of a lot of her allies as she decided that there was one and only one Legit Boss.
The ultimate example was probably Ric Flair. Starting near the beginning of his career, Ric was great at coming up with a gimmick that drove people crazy. He would drive around in limousines, wear tailored suits, hang out with beautiful women, party all night and then he would brag about it. He would brag about being the best and then he would cheat to win. He also had possibly the greatest silver tongue in the history of the business. He was often a champion and although fans wanted to see him lose, they had to admit that he had what a lot of people want. Money, fame, and talent.
Wolf of Words 