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Cool Heels
POSTED: August 18, 2008 - 12:49 pm
CATEGORIES: Wrestling, International
I'm inspired this week by a question Claudio Castagnoli asked me at a ROH show in Detroit, Michigan. Claudio asked me several questions that night but there was one in particular that I thought was very interesting and at first I thought it would be hard to answer. I took a deep breath to contemplate this question and to my surprise the answer jumped right out at me.
The question was, "What's your biggest pet peeve in wrestling?" There are several things in this business that drive me crazy, which is why I thought pinning down my biggest pet peeve would be difficult, but it wasn't. My biggest pet peeve in the wrestling business is "Cool Heels".
I absolutely hate the concept of cool heels, because there is no such thing, despite so many people trying to be one. The term "Cool Heel" is the perfect oxymoron; these two words are completely mutually exclusive. If you are cool, you are not a heel, even if you profess to be one. When telling a story you need an antagonist and a protagonist; the antagonist is the heel and the protagonist is the baby face. The baby face is the person people like, or associate with and want to be like, the heel is the person who challenges the baby face and fans want to see lose in the end. The heels job is to be the foil to the baby face, and to make said baby face look good. The heels job is not to out shine or be more popular than the baby face. If a heel is being cool, he would be better described as a heel with no heat or an outright baby face that happens to break rules, either way his baby face opponent is finished.
If you go to a party and there are 2 people to hang out with and one of them is cool or at least cooler than the other, that is the guy you will hang out with (or at least want to hang out with), and therefore the baby face. By being cool he makes the other person less appealing to hang out with and thus the loser. You cannot be that cool person and be the heel.
It takes two to tango in this business and everyone needs to be willing to do their respective job. Heels need to be unselfish and be willing to be the lesser man. The heel job is to make fans think the baby face is cool, not the other way around. If you are unable or unwilling to do so, you either need to stick to being a baby face or better yet find a new profession.
Heels who try to be cool are, in my opinion, the most unprofessional workers out there. They are not only, not doing their job as a heel, they are actually getting over at their opponents expense, which as far as I'm concerned is the cardinal sin of wrestling. When this job is done properly both parties get over, and if you have to sacrifice one you always sacrifice the heel. Baby faces draw the money in this business and need to be protected the most. Once a crowd loses faith in a baby face he is dead in the water. A heel can always perform a dastardly deed to get his heat back but a baby face that has been labeled as un-cool or a loser is almost impossible to get over again.
That's my two cents for this week, I can't wait for all the email asking me about DX and the Clique, after this one.
Check out Lance Storm online at www.stormwrestling.com
COMMENTS (7): Submit A Comment
1. Andre Bibeau
August 18, 2008 - 5:01 pm
Sup, Got a question regarding your impact Players days 1st. how did the idea of putting you and justin together came trough ? 2nd.Did it work right off the bat or did it take a while for you and Justin to click ? thank you for your time , a fan from montreal
2. allan
August 18, 2008 - 6:13 pm
If i remember correctly, Lance trained PJ.
So it would've been a fairly comfortable team off the bat.
hope that helps.. sorry for stealing your thunder lance lol
3. David from Mississauga
August 19, 2008 - 9:52 pm
Actually, I'd say that the Clique, DX and the nWo were far from the first "cool heels". The first case that I'd suggest would be the Road Warriors. Remember that, when they started, they were brutal heels along the lines of the Wild Samoans, the Mongols or the Moondogs. However, with the hard rock music, the skiped collars and their utter domiance in the ring, the Road Warriors were simply so dominant that the fans began to have no choice but to appreciate them for what they were - then-masters of tag team wrestling. It was only after they reached their height of fan appreciation that the Four Horseman - both the Ole and the Lugar versions - dominated the NWA as a whole, which made them the prime example of a dominant stable.
4. bigDgribble
August 20, 2008 - 11:11 am
I get what you're saying about heels that try to be cool on purpose Lance, but what about heels that happen to get over despite how dasterdly they've been? For example, Stone Cold Steve Austin was the big heel against the Harts back in the day and they turned him face because fans just happend to love his nothings sacred attitude. Was he being unprofessional before they turned him face? It's not like he was pandering to the fans or anything like NWO or DX did, but he still seems to fit your cool heel description to a T.
5. John Landry
August 24, 2008 - 11:16 pm
I definitely won't dispute your logic,Lance.You wrestled,after all.In the case of Stone Cold Steve Austin,he happened to say a lot of funny things but I wouldn't say he played up to the fans knowingly.The fans had a new respect for the Stone Cold character after he refused to submit to the Sharpshooter at WrestleMania 13.Bret Hart just couldn't accept the fact that the audience was much more educated than when he had started out almost 20 years prior to that.
6. XSTYLES
September 10, 2008 - 11:15 am
With regards to "cool heels" in the wrestling industry today, superstars who fit this persona are Randy Orton, Edge and Chris Jericho. Even though they are comprising the role of heels, they are still liked as much and if not more than the "face" wrestlers in the industry.
Stone Cold Steve Austin, in my opinion ushered in the era of "cool heels". As management did everything to make him a major "heel", but he became a "cool heel" and the next step for a "cool heel" is a major "baby face". Just like how Austin evolved through late 1996 and into early 1997.
7. XSTYLES
September 10, 2008 - 11:16 am
With regards to "cool heels" in the wrestling industry today, superstars who fit this persona are Randy Orton, Edge and Chris Jericho. Even though they are comprising the role of heels, they are still liked as much and if not more than the "face" wrestlers in the industry.
Stone Cold Steve Austin, in my opinion ushered in the era of "cool heels". As management did everything to make him a major "heel", but he became a "cool heel" and the next step for a "cool heel" is a major "baby face". Just like how Austin evolved through late 1996 and into early 1997.
