Bad Is Better

[Guest ligerbomb03]

TSN.ca Staff

http://www.tsn.ca/wrestling

12/9/2003

 

Whether it's in novels, comic books, television shows or movies, everyone loves a good villain.

 

Its the character who steps into the story and automatically gives off that special aura that deep feeling - that he or she is the person that you really want to hate.

 

Who could forget the opening sequence of Star Wars (the first trilogy, not the bastardization of Sci-Fi/Fantasy in the so-called prequel trilogy), when a dark and ominous Darth Vader stepped out for his first appearance? When that film debuted back in 1977, people in the movie theatres were so convinced that Vader was the evil villain, some audiences booed out loud at the screen.

 

In the infamous Harry Potter series, author J.K. Rowling succeeds in telling kids and adults alike that certain characters aren't good from the get go. Readers hated Harrys cousin Dudley and classmate/rival Draco Malfoy before they even spoke a word of dialogue in the first book.

 

And when you watch American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken sing the national anthem at the first game of the World Series, do you not want to pick up a rock and...oh wait, too much wishful thinking mixed in here.

 

Lets get back to the point. All of these meanies had presence from the first moment you saw them, and such character development in professional wrestling is no different.

 

Case in point, The Rock and Chris Jericho.

 

Mondays RAW was certainly entertaining, but a couple of plot developments left this part-time wrestling columnist scratching his head a bit. Why, oh why is WWE teasing us with these great villains seeing the light and going 'face'?

 

Now when it comes to the creative, WWE is entitled to do whatever they want, and maybe the guys in the back are on to something by letting Y2J and The Peoples Champ run as protagonists. Maybe the fans want it. But in a time of the year when people are supposed to be giving with one another, I for one have take the selfish route and say that I for one, don't like it and don't want it.

 

The Rock was getting popular as a 'good guy' again just before his departure at the Backlash pay-per-view. For a guy who was once out-cheered by the likes of Hulk Hogan and Brock Lesnar, the WWE veteran was the one getting the good pops against Old Whisker Biscuit.

 

Remember folks, we hated him. We booed him during his promos. We called him a sell out for making movies in Hollywood. We grew tired of the catch phrases and grew tired of HIM. But taking that hate and turning it into something creative and original was something we never expected.

 

His new ring introduction featured the skyline of Los Angeles, referring to his new Hollywood roots. Playing that intro alone generated fantastic heat. Then he slammed the fans in Toronto for booing him at WrestleMania. He knocked on Long Island fans for not being classy enough to live in Manhattan. His first-ever 'Rock Concert' in Sacramento drew great heat as he portrayed himself as an L.A. man.

 

Long story short, The Rock was a perfect heel. He portrayed his heel status flawlessly from the moment you saw him enter the ring, and his stint with WWE this past spring only confirmed to us that fans love-hate him the most when hes on the dark side.

 

But then, another turn took place. In June, the Peoples Champ returned for a one-night only appearance in San Diego, and much to my chagrin, decided to make an example of two of the shows biggest heels Jericho and Christian. After four short months of the best heel performance Ive ever seen, The Rock was back on track as a face.

 

That being said, a small part of me was begging for that bad-guy Rock to re-emerge on Monday night. I wanted him to come out and beat on his old friend Mick Foley. I wanted him to back up Le Resistance by saying how much he loved the cinematic works of stars like Brigitte Bardot and Jerry Lewis.

 

I wanted to see The People's Heel.

 

The same thing went for Chris Jericho, a guy who has kept me watching RAW this long on his evil antics alone.

 

Since turning heel just over two years ago, Jericho has been perfect as the companys 'Snidely Whiplash.' The 'evil' character he displays isnt as hard-nosed and straight-faced as say, Triple H or Evolution, but is laced with just enough dark humour to make you love this role he plays. From the moment you see the Countdown Clock on the TitanTron signalling his entrance, you know that it's time to start booing.

 

He's another perfect heel.

 

The perfect example of this has been the great storyline hes been in with fellow Canuck Trish Stratus. For weeks, we've been seeing hints of a caring, sensitive Jericho that we've never seen. He was courteous, polite and downright nice. But we were wise enough to figure out that Y2J was up to something, because most of us are pulling that same caring and sensitivity crap when we're trying to score in reality, right fellas?

 

Now back to the fantasy world. Trish is crushed when she overhears Jericho and Christian discussing their loonie bet, and the payoff to solidify Jericho's heel status was to take place this week. As expected, Trish and Lita had a hand in beating the daylights out of the pranksters. And what was the end result? Eric Bischoff books a battle of the sexes match with Y2J and Christian facing Lita and Trish. Anyone who was keen enough would have noticed that look of uncertainty on Jericho's face from that moment on.

 

Please, oh please don't let 'love conquer all' on Sunday night.

 

The loonie bet-plot embodies the very reason we fans love Chris Jericho as a heel. This isn't just any 'tormented woman' storyline where a lady has to serve as a mindless valet or get helplessly squashed by a wrestler in the ring. This storyline involved a little bit more sophistication in the sense that only a heel like Jericho could pull it off. The biggest challenge for him will be that once this storyline ends, what does he do for an encore?

 

Therein lies the perfect challenge for Y2J, which should be enough incentive to keep his character entrenched as a heel. Or so we think.

 

We could very well be dealing with the reality that Jericho will turn on Christian on Sunday and run off into the sunset with Trish, ad nauseam. Some people will want to see that (note some of the cheers two weeks ago when they kissed backstage), but I for one don't. I want to see him squash Christian, run away into the sunset with Trish and come back on RAW Monday looking for that loonie. Now that is evil!

 

That being said, watching these two perfect heels The Rock and Chris Jericho running as faces again will have the same effect on me as seeing Hannibal Lecter become an FBI agent, Darth Vader joining the Rebel Alliance, or watching the Joker take up residence in the Batcave. Somehow, it just doesn't feel right.

 

 

For TSN.ca/wrestling, Im K-Dogg from the Spanish Announce Table.