Heels in japan.....

[Guest The Mighty Damaramu]

You know I noticed something after watching my Misawa/Kawada tape that I got today and then looking back on the other Japanese tapes I own.

Do they ever have clearly defined faces or heels in most Puro contests? Or is it just like a real sport where it's 2 men(or teams) going for it and you just cheer your favorite. Like Kawada and Misawa were getting cheered and most of the time I didn't see anyone get actively booed.

Except Kai En Tai DX. As a matter of fact do they even run angles or storylines in Japan?

 

I still have a lot to learn about Puro......oh well nobody learns over night.

[Guest wolverine]

There were certain guys in All Japan who had heel tendencies, like Masa Fuchi and Danny Kroffat, in that they would either stand on their opponent's face (Fuchi) or act like a prick (Kroffat).  But aside from a few minor things like that, there isn't really a clear cut face/heel structure in 90's AJ.

 

Aja Kong, my favorite HEEL!

[Guest Dangerous A]

All Japan kind of has that "shades of gray" thing in that the heel/face lines are not always there. Sometimes you might see someone who is kind of percieved as a face do some heelish stuff and vice versa.

 

New Japan has better heel/face lines drawn. It is obvious when seeing Chono and Team 2000 or Naoya Ogawa post Tokyo Dome 99.

[Guest PlatypusFool]

Yeah, AJPW is very blurred when it comes to heel / face dynamic, and it is the one very small thing I have against that company at times.

 

NJPW is slightly more clear cut, but not all the way. That seems to be reserved for the indies, who have taken the USA style of heel and transposed them for a Japanese audience. These are exemplified by KDX, who took the US heel tactic of controlling the faces, and had them use moves which humiliate the faces as well as hurt them, making them more over with the Japanese audience because honour, and saving face, is so important to them.

[Guest wolverine]

"Yeah, AJPW is very blurred when it comes to heel / face dynamic, and it is the one very small thing I have against that company at times."

 

Believe me, the reason AJPW is my favorite promotion ever is because it *wasn't* Americanized like that.  I never saw St. Louis wrestling, but AJPW was the last promotion doing that style--a style that was ultra successful from 1990-1996, in that it led to 250 straight sellouts in Tokyo and eight $1 million houses per year.  The inability to create new stars was its downfall, and ultimately Misawa's departure killed it for good.

[Guest zergdude]

"Yeah, AJPW is very blurred when it comes to heel / face dynamic, and it is the one very small thing I have against that company at times."

 

I actually think this is what makes it so great.  Because actions are what get you on the crowd's bad side, not because you're generally accepted as the heel.  Everyone comes in equal (in theory), first guy to do something dirty gets booed.  Sounds fair.