Raw vs. Smackdown vs. TNA vs. RoH: A fan's perspective

My sincere apologies to the readers here at wwi.com for disappearing for about a month. I needed some time off to put my house in order. I’m very glad to be back. Now let’s go to work......

• Round Four : The Major Heels

WWE Raw -  - HHH, Edge, and The McMahons

Trips : The KoK is to modern day WWE heels what Hogan was to babyfaces in the mid 80s, a massive career obstacle which you will NEVER get past. The major storylines on Raw will always revolve around him; he will always be involved in the title picture; he will always be the featured bad guy. I absolutely believe him when he says that he will dominate Raw for many years to come (and so should you). I could go on about how he’s not a particularly good heel (he’s not) but it doesn’t matter. He doesn't have to be, and he’s never going anywhere. If you don’t like seeing and/or listening to this guy, then stop watching Raw. It’s that simple. As it was in the beginning, is now, and forever shall be, Hunter without end. Amen................ *yawn*.

Edge : A sort of anti-Hunter. Edge is compelling, interesting, and his character actually possesses elements of the classic "heel" persona (cowardice, hubris, obsessive selfishness). Edge is excellent in the ring, and has gotten very good on the mic as well. He’s at the peak of his career, and can do it all right now. He’s breathing life into a somewhat boring feud with a lackluster version of Cactus Jack, and remains a compelling heel even as he is clearly kept from achieving his full potential. Unfortunately (as long as he stays on Raw) he’ll always be a second or third string heel. People like to talk about the "glass ceiling" on Raw, but there’s nothing translucent or ethereal about the ceiling above Adam Copeland’s head. It is quite palpable and easy to see. It is made up of the unchecked McMahon-Helmsley ego, and it’s not going anywhere. Edge is a fantastic talent, and is arguably the best heel in wrestling right now...... but it’s totally irrelevant.

McMahons : At one time, Vince McMahon was an awesome heel. The original program with Steve Austin ranks amongst the most entertaining stuff I’ve ever seen produced by the world of wrestling. The innovative work that evil Vince did with the Rock and Mic Foley was also incredible and compelling to watch. That Vince was one of the best heels of all time. - That was then, and this is now - The present day McMahon storylines with the likes of Shawn Michaels, and even Hulk Hogan, have been sure fire cures for your wrestling addiction. At some point Vince went from an intimidating and power mad dictator, to a puerile and perverted clown. These days he inspires confusion and pity, not hatred or fear.

The other McMahons have proven to be god awful as on screen characters over and over again ad nauseam. Yet there they are, every week on Raw, and if you stop watching now and accidentally flip by Raw in 2009, they will still be there . The only question is whether there will be anyone still watching.

To sum up - I was all set to give Raw an excellent score for having a very deep heel roster.... But then I actually watched the show for a few weeks. The vast majority of the featured heels on Raw are stale, boring, and/or pathetic. Are you moved to hatred or anger by a smug Triple H with his feet up on a desk? Are you even slightly interested in Vince and Shane’s urine problems with HBK? The only heel on Raw who gets my attention at all is Edge, and he’s being moved further and further down the card by The McMahon-Helmsley Empire.

Current rating - 6 (out of ten)

WWE - Smackdown - Randy Orton, and uh....... Mark Henry, and uh........ MnM...... I guess.

Randy Orton - Randy Orton has gotten mixed reactions for most of his career. Many fans have labeled him perpetually boring and over rated. In an effort to spice up his character a bit, the E saddled him with all of that ugly "spitting on the memory of Eddie Guerrero" crap, which hurt him far more than it helped. The Legend Killer himself has actually been steadily getting better and better. He’s gotten strong in the ring, passable on the mic, and is becoming all around more compelling to watch. He has finally found the right mix of cockiness and cowardice that is essential in the major league heel. Unfortunately the writers on that terrible show that he’s on clearly have no idea how to write compelling wrestling storylines. So it continues to be hard to get into Randy, because there is nothing interesting about what he does. He insults Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio. So? Does he inspire hatred or fear in you? No. Despite his recent growth as an all around performer Randal remains a cookie cutter character with no depth (like much of the Smackdown roster), and as such, is indeed boring..... However I do feel safe saying that it's not totally his fault.

Mark Henry - Yep. You read that right. Sexual Chocolate is one of the top heels on the Smackdown brand. Uh-huh. Mark Henry. You remember him from a number of the dumbest angles and worst matches in the history of Raw. Well, on Smackdown, he’s apparently a huge star. Programmed against the Undertaker (arguably Smackdown’s number one face) at the biggest show of the year : Wrestlemania. What more is there to say than that? I don’t need to tell you that Mark Henry sucks in the ring. I don’t need to tell you that he sucks on the mic. You already know all that. Hell anyone who’s seen the guy even one time knows that. There’s no one in the span of the wrestling world that is prepared to make the argument that Mark Henry deserves to be near any main event, anywhere, at anytime. The only real question is - How come the people who run Smackdown don’t know that? Or is that they just don’t care?

MnM - I am a huge fan of this team as I made clear in round three (if you haven’t read it.... go back and do so.... I’ll wait.......). However their position here as part of the major Smackdown heels speaks volumes about the lack of depth on the Smackdown roster. Some folks will no doubt argue that I should have listed JBL here instead. Or perhaps Fit Finly, Gregory Helms, or even Booker T. Use any of them that you wish, they all prove my point. Smackdown has a plenty of interchangeable mid card heels, but next to nothing going on at the top of the roster. It’s one of the reasons why Smackdown continues to feel like a "B" (or more accurately a "C" or "D") show.

To sum up - Terrible. Just awful. Randy Orton (the man who couldn’t "carry the ball" on Raw) is by far the top heel on this show (really the only "major" heel) and that alone speaks volumes. I would say that the E desperately needs to interject some top heel names to the Smackdown roster, but I suspect that they just don’t care about this show. I don’t know who’s watching Smackdown anymore, but I feel a kind of pity for them.

Current rating - 3 (out of ten)

TNA - The Jarrett Gang, Joe, and Abyss

The Jarrett Gang - The Dozen (or so) Horsemen. Heel "gangs" are most effective when it is a small number of elite guys working together to dominate those around them (early nWo, Horsemen, Evolution, DX). When the gang grows to a dozen members, the individual personalities of it’s members begin to disappear. TNA has taken what is essentially every heel on their roster and made them part of Team Jarrett. As fans we are asked to accept the ridiculous idea that these guys all get along simply because they are all heels. The fact is that guys like Scott Steiner and Abyss shouldn’t be paling around with the Tennessee Cowboy or Team Canada. The most believable heels have a hard time getting along with anyone, including other heels. Having said that, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Jarrett's "Army" continues to surprise me. The group segments featuring these guys (the Dudley’s Funeral and The Paparazzi Cam Productions) have been shockingly entertaining..... But there’s still about ten too many of them.

Abyss - The Big Man holds the slot that Monty Brown might have had if I had written this column last month. TNA gets a much better score for moving (the comically bad) Monty Brown out of this spot and Abyss into it. Abyss is a classic wrestling monster who desperately needs some character background and development. He has worlds of potential but we need to know more about the guy in order to understand why it is that we should fear him. Most fans just see him as a larger version of Mankind. To erase that notion, TNA needs to tell us some things about Abyss. Where did he come from? Why does he wear a mask? Why doesn’t he speak? We know that he is a dominate force that has crushed a number of guys who have gotten in his way. We know that he can have crazy brawls with Rhino and Sabu, and better than average wrestling matches with guys like AJ Styles. But we want to know more about exactly who (and/or what) he is. It is also important that Abyss be separated from Team Jarrett as soon as possible. He doesn't belong hanging around with guys like Jarrett and AMW. It hurts his status as an unpredictable monster.

Samoa Joe - "Sloppy Joe" is finally getting over as a heel in Orlando. The TNA fans clearly wanted to cheer for him, but he has worked to turn them, and it’s starting to pay off. Joe is another TNA monster heel, but of a more unique variety. The standard heel tenancies (cowardice, hubris, fear) won’t work for him. Joe is a heel because he is unbeatable, shows no pain, respects nothing, and most importantly, because everyone is scared s**tless of him. He's a Vader-esque heel, who so far he has been phenomenal as the unstoppable juggernaught who rolled over the X division without breaking a sweat. It remains to be seen how things will play out now that he is moving into matches with guys closer to his size. I expect that Joe will continue to decimate opponents in the ring, which is a good thing. However this is a tricky character they are building, and it is important that they present him very carefully. Things are still up in the air with Joe. If things play out well, then TNA will have a big deal on their hands. We will see.

To sum up - TNA has a number of strong heels at their disposal, however they are hurting some of them by grouping them up in large armies, and not allowing them to develop as individuals. Other TNA heels have near unlimited potential but desperately need more character development in order to become stars. There is a real question of whether or not the heels at the top of the TNA card will make room for these other characters to move up. Time well tell.

Current rating - 7 (of ten)

Ring of Honor- The Embassy, Rottweilers, and Nigel McGuiness

The Embassy - Nana’s troops have grown from a mid-card comedy group, to a dominate heel force in RoH. Jimmy Rave and Alex Shelly have the ability to get it done in the ring in spades (a necessity for successful heels in RoH). What they lack is a strong presence on the mic and in promos. Fortunately they have Nana to do much of that work for them. No one in RoH right now is better on the stick than Nana, and the credit for most of the Embassy’s success has to go directly to him. However, The Embassy needs to be booked stronger. They continue to get beat up by whomever they feud with. They got Punked by the "Common Man", destroyed by Generation Next, and have failed in their efforts against Bryan Danielson. The Embassy desperately need to have some in ring success if they are going to continue to be a force worth fearing and/or respecting.

The Rottweilers - The RoH street thugs were booked strong from their very beginnings. They stormed around RoH, doing what they wanted, when they wanted and refusing to show any respect to anyone. They successfully blurred the line between wrestling and reality, and became the guys you really did not want to bump into out on the street. It was beautiful. But in RoH things change quickly. These days the Rottweilers are more like a pack of lost strays, and the loss of Low-Ki was possibly the death blow. To return the RoH hellhounds to their former glory, they needs to acquire some name talent. It has to be someone important..... Someone dominate...... Someone like Joe. Joe has been drifting a bit since he lost the title. He needs the focus, and they need the muscle. It’s a perfect match, and maybe the only move that can keep the Rottweilers alive.

Nigel McGuiness : Yes, I was hard on Nigel as Pure Champion in Round Two (haven’t read it? go back and read it now) but as a heel McGuiness is pure gold. In fact, it’s the same traits that compromise him as Pure Champion, that make him a fantastic heel. He wears a title that is supposed to represent wrestling excellence, but can’t win a match without clobbering someone with an iron. He defends his Pure Title only occasionally, involving himself as often as possible in non-title matches, tag team matches, and even disappearing for weeks at a time, during which he doesn’t defend the title at all. He’s the classic cowardly heel champion who would rather not have to defend his title at all. Yet he can still get it done in the ring when he needs to. I would like to see him take on more of the RoH roster, however it’s part of his character to try and avoid those whom he thinks might be able to beat him..... which is pretty much everyone. So as a Pure Champion I still think Nigel is weak, but as a Heel Champion, I give him the full credit he deserves. McGuiness is the man.

To Sum Up - In the early years of RoH, lack of character development was one of their biggest flaws. However they have corrected this problem. Now they have a number of heels up and down the card who are capable of evoking an emotional response from their fans. They have bullies, thugs, cowards, and egoists, and the best part is - they can all wrestle. That’s right, the RoH heels are wresters with engaging personalities who can also get in the ring and put on an excellent wrestling match...... Imagine that.

Current rating - 8 (of ten)

Result of Round Four : Advantage to Ring of Honor

Re-cap :

• Round One : World Champions - Advantage to Ring of Honor

• Round Two : Secondary Champions - Advantage to Total Nonstop Action

• Round Three : Tag Team Champions - Advantage to Total Nonstop Action

• Round Four : Major Heels - Advantage to Ring of Honor

I’ll be back with another look at these four promotions soon.

Until then, thanks for reading and send questions, comments, threats, or bribes to - abarnowski@comcast.net - or visit the Insanity Message Boards and voice your opinion there.

 ~ ajb.......ajb........ajb.........ajb........ajb.....