Better as Face or Heel (Part 2)?

[JaymeFuture]

For this week's podcast, we're doing a follow-up on a previous show and taking a look at six wrestlers, discussing whether or not they were better in their role as a babyface or a heel over the course of their career, considering their work in the ring, as well as analysing their characters/personalities/runs, and would love to get your thoughts and feedback on the following individuals and whether you prefer them as faces or heels, and most importantly, why:

 

1. Jerry Lawler

 

2. Hulk Hogan

 

3. Sgt. Slaughter

 

4. Steve Austin

 

5. Brock Lesnar

 

6. Eddie Guerrero

 

As always the best contributions will be read on the podcast and you'll be credited accordingly. So what do you think?

 

EDIT - The show discussing whether these guys were Better Faces or Heels and taking your feedback, is now online and available to listen to at the following link: http://squaredcirclegazette.podbean.com/mf/play/98g74q/SCGRadio63-BetterAsFaceOrHeelPartDeux.mp3

[thebrainfollower]

1 - Jerry Lawler - I like the in ring work of face Lawler better and also would say the character works better as a face. The WWF heel Lawler seems like a parody to be honest.

 

2 - Hulk Hogan - One of the greatest drawing faces in the history of anything. Most important wrestler in the business as a face. Fond love some people have for Hollywood Hogan, his best work was as a face. To me that's beyond dispute.

 

3 - Felt his in ring work as a heel was better but it's close. The character works far better as a face though, call it a narrow win for heel.

 

4 - Austin - Again, how much did he draw as a face? VS the heel character that helped decimate the biggest run in wrestling history it was so unpopular? This seems almost silly to me. Sure in ring as a heel but that's unfair as most of that was before the Owen injury and was was after that was against far superior workers to his 98 and 99 runs. Face all the way.

 

5 - Answer is heel in every way. Not even close

 

6 - See #5

[mprice]

1. Jerry Lawler is one of those that would draw as either a face or a heel simply because he WAS Memphis, and still is honestly. The pop he receives every time WWF/WWE has been there has been quite astounding, and the TLC match he had with The Miz actually had many people thinking that they might pull something off. Personally I loved Lawler as a heel when he first entered WWF because his excuses about the traffic accident prior to Summerslam, the entire Bret Hart feud and lasting commentaries...all great stuff.

 

2. Hulk Hogan- Very polarizing because one can see it from either side. Some believe that Hogan was a better face as he continued to get the loudest pops for about 8 years straight. However when he turned heel, it was somewhat the story of legend. The lasting effects of nWo Hogan were felt for a long time however, as he didn't defend the title, barely was on TV during this time, and always seemed to put himself and his friends in prime positioning. I would much prefer the Hogan face run of 84-92 myself as it became much of what a stereotypical babyface would be for years to come.

 

3. Sgt. Slaughter- I loved Slaughter's face run, as his heel run was very bland even with the topic of the Gulf War in 91. Watching Slaughter versus Patterson and Iron Sheik in the alley fight/boot camp matches are an absolute delight.

 

4. Steve Austin- Was face Austin a bigger draw? Absolutely. You won't get an argument from me with that. However my preference was definitely heel Austin, especially post Undertaker/Kane feud in April and May of 01. He went on an absolute tear with Benoit, Jericho, Angle, Regal, Booker, and basically anyone else who would interact with him. With the Angle Summerslam match being one of my favorites and Austin doing his best cowardly heel shtick, that continues to be one of my favorite things to watch.

 

5. Brock Lesnar- Heel to face Lesnar in 2002 was perfectly booked as a monster who let his actions speak louder than anything. Heel Lesnar in 03 was an utter bore. However heel Lesnar in 2012 and on has been such a fun watch. The Cena Extreme Rules 2012 match continues to be one of my go-to matches when I just want to watch two guys beat the crap out of each other. Plus add in the CM Punk match (let's forget Summerslam 2012-Extreme Rules 2013 ever existed) along with the Cena, Rollins, Reigns, and Taker matches he has had since then, and Brock has been on a tear over the last 2 years. He is just a monster heel that everyone has been forced to respect with dire consequences otherwise.

 

6. Eddie Guerrero- Always a much more fun heel, though the title win at No Way Out 2004 is a great memory along with his two PPV matches against JBL and his matches with Angle that same year. Eddie is just the epitome of the smarmy type heel that you feel you can't even walk around without feeling like a grease ball yourself. His merciless takedowns of Rey in 97 and his manipulation of Chyna in 2000 were both really interesting character developments. Plus there was the Rey feud in 2005 that showed how dirty Guerrero could be.

[Al]

Slaughter was the heel in the Patterson match and lost. Face Slaughter was great against the right opponent, like the Iron Sheik. But overall I feel he had a much better gimmick, matches and shelf life as a heel.

[goc]

Some people think of Slaughter as a heel and just automatically think of Iraqi sympathizer Slaughter. He had a really long heel run before that and it was much better. He didn't need to "turn on his country" to be an effective heel. Dickhead drill sergeant is a pretty good character on it's own.

[JerryvonKramer]

1. Lawler - I have had trouble connecting with him as a babyface, despite his objective greatness in the role, personally I am not sure if I buy it, I struggle to invest in him. He feels much more natural to me as a heel, especially out of the ring cutting his promos -- I watched a good chunk of his heel run in 1990 USWA. So heel.

 

2. Hogan - I recognise objectively that he is one of the all-time great babyfaces, but again personally I never connected with him and spent most of my childhood HATING him. As Hollywood Hogan he was a real snivelling Memphis-y chickenshit coward dipshit of a heel, and excelled in that role. So heel.

 

3. Slaughter - I am not sure if Slaughter was ever more over than in his 1981 run as a heel in WWF. See Titans for more. Heel.

 

4. Austin - Again, objectively the answer is face, but my personal answer is heel, especially that 2001 run, not sure if I've ever had more fun watching wrestling than during that. Heel.

 

5. Brock - No brainer, heel.

 

6. Eddie - Heel.

 

Heel fan in preferring heels shocker.

[thebrainfollower]

JVK - master of the all heel promotion - So have you been secretly booking the Divas' division for the last few years?

[Slasher]

Answer is the same for all of them- heel. It is just that those guys clearly had more fun with their characters when they got to just be heels. And for guys like Austin and Eddy, their babyface characters were essentially heels by moral definition anyways. Although in Hogan's case, I think it is a situation where it depends on the era that he was part of. Hogan as a heel in the 80s wasn't really as interesting I think as his superhero babyface act but that same hero act wouldn't and didn't work in the 90s because of how wrestling was moving towards a more grittier pulp fiction type storytelling. But Hogan as the bitter formerly revered babyface star who decided "Screw it Im just gonna look out for myself" heel worked so well and he was able to extend his career quite a bit. In the 2000s though they were moving towards this feeling of "These guys arent stars like the good old days" so Hogan's nostalgia act worked well in small doses. Austin was a guy who felt really outdated by the time he was the sheriff of Raw, so I think that was a good case of where trying to be a babyface didn't work for him because he lost his edge that he used to have as a heel playing hero in the late 90s that was so popular. One instance where being a heel almost felt like a waste was Eddy in 2005. He was still producing good storylines, mind you, but I think his failed title run and heel turn kinda felt like people were disappointed that they didn't have as much of an opportunity to be given permission to love and cheer for him. And it did seem like he was about to rediscover that spark in the fall of 2005 when he was the crafty heel playacting as Batista's buddy. It was definitely something where he was headed back to becoming a top level babyface but then he dropped dead.

[mprice]

Thanks for the correction, Al. I haven't watched that match in a while.

[JaymeFuture]

I want to thank everybody for the contributions, we got to read many of them on the show, which is now available at the following link:

http://squaredcirclegazette.podbean.com/mf/play/98g74q/SCGRadio63-BetterAsFaceOrHeelPartDeux.mp3

Join us as we talk about these six tremendous personalities in wrestling history and debate whether they were better as faces or heels! Talking in depth about the talents of Jerry "The King" Lawler, Hulk Hogan, Sgt. Slaughter, Steve Austin, Brock Lesnar and Eddie Guerrero, we discuss which side of the fence they were best sitting on. A fun show talking promos, feuds, bumps, turns, career highlights, great matches and more, check it out and let us know what you think!