Cool heels.

[jindrak]

Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, The Rock, Austin, John Cena and many others, have all been cool heels. Although they are supposed to be the "bad guys", their personalities and charisma have turned them all into faces. Case in point- The Rock was portrayed as the top heel, when in essence his reaction from the crowd was mainly face pops that lagged only behind Austin. As wrestling fans, we like the superstars that buck authority, and those are typically the "bad guys". The attitude era made it acceptable to like the heels, and this changed the entire landscape of professional wrestling. Now, those that would have been classified as faces twenty, even ten years ago, would now be jeered. I do think that Randy Orton will be the next current heel that will be turned face by the audience. Orton bucks authority, backs up his claims (beat Foley in a hardcore match single-handedly), has model looks fans wish they had, and is just the kind of guy we all want to be (i.e a lady killer getting all the girls, and just being "cool").

I remember reading somewhere that Goldberg was extremely upset after Scott Hall cut a cool heel promo for their match at the WCW PPV Souled Out. Goldberg actually complained about Scott Hall cutting a "cool" heel promo because he felt it made him look bad. So, all of a sudden, just because Hall is a heel, he can't be cool? I mean what should be then? I guess Goldberg was too moronic to realize that at that time, things weren’t like the 80's.

Another "cool" heel promo that took place fairly recently was when HHH confronted SCSA about his sheriff gimmick. HHH was a heel, yet this promo was just too hilarious, and sadly for Austin, was true. The promo revealed the lameness of Austin's sheriff gimmick (an idea Austin personally thought would go over huge lolz). HHH, although a heel, was a "cool" heel at that moment. If he had berated Austin any longer, he would have become a face on the spot. Now, what if HHH never cut that cool heel promo? If he hadn't, then Austin would continue the lameness, and fans would be expected to take seriously the gimmick, and in effect Austin would’ve been booed.