Beauty in Wrestling: Too Cool to Boo

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TOO COOL TO BOO

It was the final Ring of Honor show of 2004. Earlier in the evening, Jimmy Jacobs defeated Trent Acid forcing the latter wrestler to leave the promotion. The Special K stable exploded as members fought each other in a tag team match. Homicide crushed Josh Daniels into a fine powder. It was time for one of my most anticipated matches of the card: The Embassy's Jimmy Rave vs. ROH Pure Champion "Hurricane" John Walters. The trumpets blared. The royal music sounded. Prince Nana appeared. Sovereign of Ghana and the wrestler who quite possibly has the most heat in the American independent wrestling scene. He led his disciples to the ring. The Outcast Killaz came first. Oman Tortuga and Diablo Santiago. They sprayed aerosol cans in the air in a pathetic and desperate attempt to make the arena look foggy and mysterious and dramatic. All leading to the entrance of The Embassy's crown jewel: Jimmy Rave. He marched to the ring in his ridiculously lavish purple and gold robe. Overly expensive and made through the hard labor of African subjects. He sneered at the crowd as he saw them and glared at us cockeyed as if to let us know we were beneath him. That we were scum. That they were better than us.

And the audience cheered.

Now, obviously, Prince Nana did not actually raise taxes in Ghana, and Jimmy Rave does not actually have great contempt for the common man. Yet, this was the storyline. These were the characters. This was the kayfabe. This was what they wanted. To make us jeer them. To swear at them and boo their lack of honor and morality. They were, and are, supposed to be villains. They simply were not being treated as such. I had seen this happening over the course of 2004 but it came to a new high (or low) at Final Battle 2004. The heels were being cheered. Not only cheered but the pops for the bad guys were louder than the reactions for the good guys. Even to the point of one fan bringing in a flag of Ghana and waving it during The Embassy's entrance. Not to mention cheering John Walters when he sold out and turned heel to join the Prince's stable. That was the loudest applause Walters has received in Ring of Honor to date. Why? I thought about it, scratched my chin, and came to the realization: The Embassy, much like many other Ring of Honor heels, had become too cool to boo.


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The audience began to love them. I admit it. I love the gimmick too. The spray cans, the dazzling robes, the music, Jimmy Rave's transformation into a big player, and Prince Nana's promo skills. I am a fan. I respect them. So, I give the wrestlers what they want. Boos. Thumbs down. Remarks about Nana's mother's promiscuity. It is what they want. They are heels. They live on it. That being said, why aren't a lot of the fans giving them what they want? I am not entirely certain. I hear lots of arguments for cheering heels, though. They range from the valid "It's my ticket and I can have fun as I please....and besides, I am not part of the show and am under no obligation to cheer as the promoters decided." to the more disturbing "Hey, I just love f***ing up the show!"

About the first comment, yes, wrestling fans are under no legal or honor-bound obligation to cheer solely for the wrestlers the promotion decides are popular. However, at this point in ROH, it is so out of control that it has become nearly impossible for there to be villains. Meaning storytelling has been thrown off. Shades are grey are all fine and good, but when it is clear the wrestlers are being heels, cheering them just comes off as bizarre. The Embassy is only the prime example for this column. Let's look at a couple others to show I am not exaggerating.

At the next Ring of Honor show, hardcore legend Mick Foley continued his feud with former Ring of Honor Champion Samoa Joe. Since coming to ROH, Foley had largely played the babyface. Joe, for the most part, has been a tweener with more face leanings. So, was ROH going to let this be a battle of two popular stars? Not quite. At the end of the first ROH show of 2005, Foley started to make fun of the indy fans. Saying that wrestling there would be beneath him considering his huge past contracts and paychecks. He gave ROH a hard time in a desperate attempt to play the heel and let Joe be the face. The good guy. The man who proudly wore the ROH World Championship for almost two years. The hero.

Foley tore into the crowd and then ripped into Joe himself. Comparing him to Rikishi and wrestlers of Samoan heritage with unusual gimmicks. That was it. The fight was on! Mick Foley had gone too far and insulted both the fans and Joe too much. The melee began.....and the fans cheered for Foley. They cheered as Foley towered over Joe. Mick Foley turned heel and it did not seem to register at all. On the home release of the show, Foley was seen backstage on the telephone talking about ROH's next show in New Jersey. To draw heat, he referred to the Rex Plex, ROH's top venue, as a dive.

A few weeks later, in said dive, Foley was cheered louder than anyone else on the card. Louder than Colt Cabana. Louder than Steve Corino. Louder than Samoa Joe. Foley came into the ring and said what I was thinking. "I guess that speech I gave last time didn't get me much heat, huh?" The heel turn did not work. For all intents and purposes, he was still a babyface. As he cheated and interfered in Joe's match against Ebessan, the fans were solidly behind Foley's actions. In the crowd's defense, it is certainly possibly that a good portion of them were not at the previous show or had yet to see the home release or did not read about it on the message boards or hear about it from friends. Yet, more than enough had seen it or heard about it garner some kind of heat. It was non-existent.

The next example involves Ring of Honor main eventer Homicide. In the first half of 2004, Homicide began to show signs of change. ROH seemed to have plans to turn him into the promotion's top heel. He burned Samoa Joe's face with a fireball, cheated in his matches, threw tantrums at ringside, and endangered fans. You would think that would be enough to get him the heat that a heel needs. It was not. The fans still chanted his name during his matches. Even against the supremely popular Samoa Joe during the champ's incredible title reign.

Homicide eventually reformed his stable: The Rottweilers. It comprised of himself, manager Julius Smokes, Ricky Reyes, Rocky Romero, and eventually Low Ki. All of whom were heels and all of whom were cheered anyway. Especially Low Ki and Homicide. The Rottweilers would get involved in matches behind the referee's back all the time. Yet, Homicide's name was still chanted. They flipped everyone off and told the fans that they sucked. The audience still went crazy over them. During the cheers, Homicide did his best to wave off the crowd, but it persisted. He couldn't stop it. He wasn't being treated as the heel that ROH wanted him to be.

After months of this, Homicide went to extreme lengths to get his heel heat. During a show last year on September the 11th, Homicide insulted the fans and made an unnecessary remark about the terrorist attacks. No need to repeat it. The fans were enraged. ROH issued an apology for going too far, and that was that. By the next show, Homicide was still being treated like a king. He could not quite turn completely, and as of the last show, he still gets his fair share of babyface pops. Even against "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson.

So, why is this happening? Why are there no true heels left? I think it is partly because of the quality of ROH shows. In that there is a very high quality. Indy fans follow ROH as if it were a cult. They love it. I love it. The enthusiasm in the crowds is both ROH's greatest asset and most difficult road block. How can we get over the hump? I do not know. I wish that I did, but it seems that the majority of the audience will only jeer uninteresting characters or matches. This a good gauge for the ROH staff to learn who the fans love, but it also cuts into the drama of the hero vs. villain conflicts. It even hurts the shades of grey. If we, as fans, want to voice our opinion on who we love regardless of face/heel status, can't we simply do that on ROH's internet forum? Head booker Gabe Sapolsky posts there all the time. He will know who we want and who we do not.

This is not a call to be "sheep" and simply cheer loudly for whichever babyface ROH sends our way. This is a suggestion, and that suggestion is that it would add a lot to the drama and the atmosphere if we would simply participate in the story they are trying to tell. ROH fans respect the wrestlers. We love them. Let's show them this by giving the heels what they want. They deserve it.

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Special thanks to ROH photographer Mary-Kate Grosso