Fans respecting wrestlers in the WWE

[Guest wildpegasus]

So I was just watching some Dynamite Kid towards the end of his run in All Japan and thoughts of respect came through my mind. DK was still an awesome striker (in fact; he was heads and shoulders above any of the other 5 guys in the match) but it was obvious he was hurt and not the same wrestler he used to be. However, the fans love him and I mean loved him. The pop he got here in this particular match and the pops he was getting against the Malenkos were unreal. In fact, the pops were as good as they ever had been during his career. To me, it came across as one thing and one thing only -- That is of course respect.

 

This in turn brought me back to thinking about the fans respecting wrestlers in the WWE which is something I've been doing a little bit over the last while or so. The WWE is an interesting place as far as seeing how the crowds as a collective group react to certain things.

The quality of the WWE booking is varied usually pandering to the horrible side, the WWE seemingly has its own way of thinking and from the looks of it like to do things out of spite or whatever else; the fans are now more unpredictable than ever before and it has seemingly caught on (Thank you Canada) that it's okay to rebel against what the WWE is doing. All of this brings us to the fact that the crowd is doing whatever it wants.

So it makes it all the more impressive whenever a wrestler truly gets over with the fans especially considering that the WWE crowds are the largest in North America. There are a certain group of wrestlers that from what I've seen have gained the respect from the crowd and no matter what they do are going to have a sizeable portion of the crowd cheering for him.

Now this isn't necissarily (I don't know how to spell that word) a list of an internet smark but a list of who I believe the overall crowd truly respects. They are:

 

The Undertaker -- Definitely more respected among the fans than the smark community where he's generally underrated. It's just not the locker room boys. Myself, who has been a Taker fan and a Taker disser(mostly during biker Taker) at times now loves the Taker. I respect his longevity, his toughness, his ring presence and his wrestling skill. I can't see myself ever turning my back against him as a fan

 

Shawn Michaels -- Definitely more respected by the crowd than the smark community he has gotten to a point where he's always cheered by the audience. Yes, he's a face but like I was talking about before the crowd today is more rebellious but yet they don't boo Michaels

 

Eddie Guerrero -- Perhaps the king of respect in the WWE. He was just too good at what he did for the crowd to hate. Face/heel/tweener or whatever. Eddie exuded charisma and talent in the WWE and the fans new it.

 

Chris Benoit -- There was a point not too long ago where Benoit had his name chanted in every single match for quite a long streak. Along with Eddie he may be the king of respect in the WWE thanks to his legit super work ethic in the ring and his no nonsense charactor which has and always will be seen as cool.

 

Rey Mysterio Jr. -- I think the fans recognise his hard work and his ability to be in top notch matches all the times. Plus he has the size thing going for him as it's difficult not to respect such a small wrestler who uses so much fighting spirit to climb even the largest mountains

 

 

Yes, there are others as well. Some wrestlers like HHH I believe have partial respect. Matt Hardy has the respect thing going for him too. I think a lot of it comes down to being a wrestler that is charasmatic and talented enough to reach to the audience. The other big thing is longevity. The 5 wrestlers I mentioned earlier have all been around for awhile and during that entire time they have delivered for the most part for their audience. Throw in a touch of notsgolia which comes with the longevity and you got a bunch of wrestlers that the fans no matter what the WWE does will probably never turn against.

 

Just a few thoughts to pass time before LOST comes on. What do you guys think?

[iliketurtles 0]

I think it comes to the point when a wrestler just gets cheered, no matter what.

 

They can't turn Hogan heel. Triple H isn't as good as a heel because people have loved him for the past few years and constantly cheer him. Taker will never be heel again. Benoit can't be heel anymore either. Angle will never be heel again. Eddie was like that as well before he died. They tried to make RVD a heel at the beginning of InVasion but that quckly didn't work.

 

I think with Michaels they had the perfect opportunity to make him a huge heel after he turned on Hogan but they didn't do anything with it cause he wants to be face.

 

It just comes to the point when the fans just realize certain guys are just so damn good it's hard to not cheer for them.

 

That's why Edge is the best heel in wrestling today. He doesn't get face heat, at all.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Another reason people like Undertaker and Hunter get cheered even when they're meant to be heels is that they very rarely come up short. It's hard not to get behind someone who ultimately wins all the time, even though they're heels. If all babyfaces were booked that well, you wouldn't get so many heels getting cheered.

[Hawk 34 0]

Another reason people like Undertaker and Hunter get cheered even when they're meant to be heels is that they very rarely come up short. It's hard not to get behind someone who ultimately wins all the time, even though they're heels. If all babyfaces were booked that well, you wouldn't get so many heels getting cheered.

 

A classic example of heels getting over because of excellent booking and imaged to be effective winners is The original NWO trio. They were depised at the start but when they continued to walk over the rest of the company in more ways then one, fans wanted to cheer for them.

 

Fans flock to a a guy who gets the job done. It's no different from any other sport or entertainment based industry. If you do you're job right (in the eyes of the fans, means winning), you'll get respect in return.

 

There's only a few occasions where a babyface can lose constantly and still be super-over. (Dreamer, for instance).

[Guest wildpegasus]

Another reason people like Undertaker and Hunter get cheered even when they're meant to be heels is that they very rarely come up short. It's hard not to get behind someone who ultimately wins all the time, even though they're heels. If all babyfaces were booked that well, you wouldn't get so many heels getting cheered.

 

Yes, that's partly true especially with the booking of the WWE when they always cut off the other wrestles once they start to get going but I also think there's partial backlash to that. Moreso with HHH though because the undestrutability thing goes right in hand with Undertaker's charactor.

 

The backlash is due to the wrestler always getting the duke. There are also a lot of apathetic feelings to HHH which I have seen because of that. Though at times that's partly due to his wrestling style as well.

 

With the fans "being smarter" now I think some of them actually respect Benoit/Eddie/Rey and Angle because they can lose but at the same time they are more often succesful than not. They're fighters sctraching and clawing their way to the top. That's what life's all about. If there's no struggle at all for the wrestler than you can't quite feel for him as much. It's the same dilemna Superman faces in popularity polls against Batman.

[Guest wildpegasus]

Another reason people like Undertaker and Hunter get cheered even when they're meant to be heels is that they very rarely come up short. It's hard not to get behind someone who ultimately wins all the time, even though they're heels. If all babyfaces were booked that well, you wouldn't get so many heels getting cheered.

 

A classic example of heels getting over because of excellent booking and imaged to be effective winners is The original NWO trio. They were depised at the start but when they continued to walk over the rest of the company in more ways then one, fans wanted to cheer for them.

 

Fans flock to a a guy who gets the job done. It's no different from any other sport or entertainment based industry. If you do you're job right (in the eyes of the fans, means winning), you'll get respect in return.

 

There's only a few occasions where a babyface can lose constantly and still be super-over. (Dreamer, for instance).

 

I think a big reason the NWO got so over was because when they were succeeding they were acting cool while doing it.

[chaosrage 0]

I think with Michaels they had the perfect opportunity to make him a huge heel after he turned on Hogan but they didn't do anything with it cause he wants to be face.

 

Weird thing is in his book he says he prefers to be a heel.

[spman 0]

Undertaker is actually a weird example of someone who has improved with age. He's still a terrible worker who has never been able to grasp the concept of selling moves, but he's been leaps and bounds better from 1998-now then he was 1990-1997, where he would consistantly be involved in the worst match on any given show.

[razazteca 0]

I think some of them actually respect Benoit/Eddie/Rey and Angle because they can lose but at the same time they are more often succesful than not. They're fighters sctraching and clawing their way to the top. That's what life's all about. If there's no struggle at all for the wrestler than you can't quite feel for him as much.

If they put on their workboots and have the match of the night then it does not matter who wins or loses both wrestlers will be respected.

[LivingLegendGaryColeman 0]

Undertaker is actually a weird example of someone who has improved with age. He's still a terrible worker who has never been able to grasp the concept of selling moves, but he's been leaps and bounds better from 1998-now then he was 1990-1997, where he would consistantly be involved in the worst match on any given show.

 

Some of that I think had to do with who he was working with partially. I mean, he had to sell the dead man gimmick more than, but he was also working with the likes of Mabel and Giant Gonzales for the most part, whereas 1998-Present he's faced Angle, Austin, Flair, among others.

[Si82 0]

Undertaker is actually a weird example of someone who has improved with age. He's still a terrible worker who has never been able to grasp the concept of selling moves, but he's been leaps and bounds better from 1998-now then he was 1990-1997, where he would consistantly be involved in the worst match on any given show.

 

Some of that I think had to do with who he was working with partially. I mean, he had to sell the dead man gimmick more than, but he was also working with the likes of Mabel and Giant Gonzales for the most part, whereas 1998-Present he's faced Angle, Austin, Flair, among others.

I'd have to agree.

 

I don't like Undertaker but against the right worker he can pull off a good match. The first time I really took notice was his match against Diesel at Wrestlemania XII. Going into the match I didn't think it would be any good but it surprised me and, even more surprising, it still holds up today. Then came his matches with Mankind followed by his second title run when he was facing guys like Steve Austin, Bret Hart, and, post title reign, Shawn Micheals.

 

True, he's been paired off with hosses on and off since then but he still manages to surprise me on occasion.

[Guest Arnold_OldSchool]

Undertaker is actually a weird example of someone who has improved with age. He's still a terrible worker who has never been able to grasp the concept of selling moves, but he's been leaps and bounds better from 1998-now then he was 1990-1997, where he would consistantly be involved in the worst match on any given show.

 

To be fair Taker was working through back and foot injuries semi often at that point

 

It lead to him leaving for a while to set up Biker Taker

[King Cucaracha 0]

The crowd respects the guys you've mentioned because they've earnt it through time. HHH and Taker have been in the company for years, Benoit, Eddie and Rey in the business for years.

 

The lack of respect for guys like Cena and Orton is because they've been thrown into positions they're not ready for, in time periods that never would have been so short a few years ago. Victims of being pushed too hard, too fast. There's not enough backstory, not enough time to get a vested interest. I hate to use the terms 'paying your dues', but I guess that might have something to do with it. You earn the respect over time and HBK and Taker are the perfect examples.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Part of the whole respect thing is being booked to look strong over a long period of time as well. You can do jobs, but not be booked to look weak.

 

Take a look at someone like Matt Hardy. He's been in the WWE for almost 10 years but I don't think the fans really respect him because he's been made to look like a loser for the most part, at least as a singles wrestler.

[Wrestlefreak 0]

The respect for Taker stems from a well executed gimmick, his longevity and his good workrate.

 

I really don't now where this taker hate comes from. He clearly still has the ability to work great matches E.G with Kurt Angle and is overall still a great performer.

[Masked Man of Mystery 0]

Taker in the mid 90s looked like one of the best brawlers not in ECW from the Tombstone DVD, he was going crazy stuff for a man his size with planchas, diving over the guard rail, etc. He slowed down a lot as Biker Taker, and kinda just worked a formula match until just recently it sounds like

[hyperchord24 0]

I've been doing some thinking about this subject. Wrestling evolves. We all know that. Wrestling had to change when it was discovered it was a work. Then in the early 90's, mic work became more and more important to a wrestlers overness. In the mid to late 90's, gimmicks had to be clever and not so black and white. Now, to gain the fans' respect if you're a wrestler, you have to put on a good show. That explains the crowd reactions to every major star in either TNA or WWE.