Yo-Yo's Roomie Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Also AJ was talking about herself too with that talent is not sexually transmitted line correct? AJ is apparently the least self-aware person ever. Calling Brie a skank? Erm... Bryan, Punk, Kane, Cena, Dolph, Primo, Hornswoggle, am I forgetting anyone (of course, this doesn't make her a skank, but she's not exactly in a position to be calling anyone else that). I don't think she meant to call her a skank (she was more insinuating that just because she's sleeping with Bryan doesn't mean she can wrestle like Bryan), the choice of words made it seem that way. And there's a ton of irony in that statement anyways. I was referring to the (paraphrasing) "last night you proved that you're an even bigger skank than Nikki" line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greggulator Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Also, skank is defined as a "person, usually a woman, of low and sleazy character." Brie's that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sydneybrown Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Also, I think the GM thing has become such a staple of WWE television in part because of how much more visible GM's/Commissioners have become in other sports. Roger Goodell's crooked ass is on tv every other day making shit up as he goes along. Bud Selig grows more senile by the year before our very eyes. Sports fans are more accustomed to authority figures onscreen. The Heel GM is just a crutch, and the writers seemingly have no other way to write a three-hour show anymore. If anything, Goodell is more of a Jack Tunney-type: pop in three-four times a year to say something stupid. It's not like Goodell is coming out before every Sunday Night Football game and cutting a twenty minute promo or booking teams to do random bullshit to get heat: "Pittsburgh...tonight you're facing Baltimore...AND Cleveland in a HANDICAP GAME!!!" 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Here's why they use the evil authority figure character. 1) Heroes need odds stacked against them to conquer. The heel authority figure essentially serves as the person/alliance that sets the tension of the storyline in place -- i.e., "Austin, you have to beat Foley and I'll be the guest ref, with Brisco and Patterson as timekeeper and announcer" and the like. That makes stacking the odds so much easier to write from a narrative perspective. There are other ways to stack the deck. The Horsemen stacked the deck because they had strength in numbers. Vader stacked the deck because he was a monster with no regard for human life AND had a manager. The Honkey Tonk Man stacked the deck because he would do absolutely anything whatsoever to keep the title, no matter how cowardly. So the authority figure stuff gets stale. But it's really easy to see why that happens. You want Daniel Bryan to have sympathy? But him in a 3-on-2 match against The Shield, all because he lipped off to the boss. That makes it so simple. 2) Wrestling's an exaggerated version of actual life. But we've all worked for awful bosses at some point in time -- people who make autocratic decisions at some whim, incompetent buffoons, people who got to a position of power because of who their daddy is. It's one of the most universal truths we have, and we get to see that story acted out in wrestling. Sometimes it's performed well -- Austin vs. McMahon, Bryan vs. The Authority. Sometimes it's performed poorly done. But it's a story we all can relate to. I'm not defending the anonymous GM. That got really tiring, especially when there was no payoff. But maybe it's a one week thing. BROCK LESNAR is your reigning and defending champion. Odds don't get more stacked against you than that. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cristobal Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 And since he's off wrestling moose or something, they can't use him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Fresh Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 AJ called Brie, a devoted and faithfully married woman that she sneak attacked, a "skank". She's the heel. Brie also sexually assaulted AJ on Sunday night... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyJ Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 And lets not get started with what the "bunny" did to Adam Rose last week on Raw. That's textbook sexual assault. Is the bunny the heel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yo-Yo's Roomie Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Also, skank is defined as a "person, usually a woman, of low and sleazy character." Brie's that. Yeah, that's what AJ meant when she said it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirSmUgly Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Well, now we're getting into a discussion of what audiences see as improper behavior. The problem is that when wrestling was in the '50s, '60s, up through the '80s, there was a pretty widely accepted cultural set of standards for how to act that defined the fanbases of each company. WWWF/WWF was about working class/patriotic heroes with a lot of cross-class clashes and angles based on nationalism, NWA was (paraphrased from how someone here put it) a perpetual re-telling of the Civil War with the faces taking the perspective of the South mixed with an emphasis on the Southern concepts of honor and chivalry, etc. Now, WWE has this very modern, very fragmented audience that feels culturally free to take a number of positions on what components make up ethical behavior with a dash of twenty-something nihilists and misanthropes that cheer for anybody who sneers at everything and everyone (which I think fully explains why CM Punk became such a big deal there for awhile). That's why you get so many different ideas here about who is the heel and who isn't in any given thread. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirFozzie Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 I find it funny that a couple years after his heel role, the fans still want to see Michael Cole abused.. apparently after Raw went off the air, they did some Sting moves in the ring to placate the We Want Sting Chants, tried to get Daniel Bryan involved, and when told he wasn't medically cleared... brought Cole in the ring to eat a Ziggler Superkick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilwaldo Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Not that hard to see the character or the motivations or why she's the face in this situation. Except that slut shaming the Bellas comes off as petty and mean spirited for a face, especially given her character's past. Turn on any Housewives of and she is just a typical reality show female character. It does not matter what you or I think it is what the greater fanbase thinks of her. AJ's character is the MTV Jersey Shore, Housewives of whatever city character and that character appeals to a greater fanbase. So, like...am I the only one who totally took the Anonymous GM bit to be a one-week thing in keeping with the post-Authority Guest GM stuff they're doing/a self-deprecating past reference (like when they occasionally bring up Mae Young's hand baby)/a rib on Michael Cole? We can only hope that this is a one week thing. If it is HHH and Steph it kills their character and just makes them look petty in a bad way. I actually didn't know that AJ was supposed to be a babyface. Nor should she be surprised that Brie distracted her in the match...a week after AJ kicked her in the stomach & hit her with a DDT. But when has AJ been rational with her emotions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebbie Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Where I come from, it's not what you say, but how you say it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Wilson Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Wait, faces can't use personal insults? Rock and Austin are two of the most popular 'faces' of all time and half their promos were insulting other people. Was Jericho a heel when he called Stephanie a bottom feeding trash bag ho? Now wrestling fans are so moral that if someone utters an insult that makes them bad? This place is weird sometimes. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear Wyatt Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Brie hates her sister more than she hates AJ. However, the best way to get revenge is to beat Nikki for the title so she screwed AJ to insure Nikki has the belt. Austin did the same thing in the Farooq vs Owen match at Bad Blood 97. He hated Owen but he helped him win the IC title so he could have the ultimate revenge. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick B. Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 I just thought this show was REALLY dull, honestly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirSmUgly Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Wait, faces can't use personal insults? Rock and Austin are two of the most popular 'faces' of all time and half their promos were insulting other people. Was Jericho a heel when he called Stephanie a bottom feeding trash bag ho? Now wrestling fans are so moral that if someone utters an insult that makes them bad? This place is weird sometimes. People into gender politics will argue that this constitutes slut-shaming and sexist rhetoric, so those people sure would think so. I don't have a problem with it because it's wrestling and pro wrestling at its best reflects what people who watch it might really be thinking, but I also get why others would see Jericho as a heel as well as Stephanie for insulting her over her body and her sex life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worldcupfever Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Sgt. Slaughter looks like a turtle. And why did Swagger make the save? Rusev's already dealt with him pretty decisively. That would've been the perfect opportunity to set up Rusev's next program. I'm starting to think that the Swagger/Rusev thing is an ongoing rib by the other guys in the back. Like every time Rusev does something dastardly, Fandango or Slater says, "hey Swagger, you should go put a stop to this" and Swagger grabs Zeb and a miniature flag and rushes to the ring and all of the guys LOL heartily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Wilson Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Wait, faces can't use personal insults? Rock and Austin are two of the most popular 'faces' of all time and half their promos were insulting other people. Was Jericho a heel when he called Stephanie a bottom feeding trash bag ho? Now wrestling fans are so moral that if someone utters an insult that makes them bad? This place is weird sometimes. People into gender politics will argue that this constitutes slut-shaming and sexist rhetoric, so those people sure would think so. I don't have a problem with it because it's wrestling and pro wrestling at its best reflects what people who watch it might really be thinking, but I also get why others would see Jericho as a heel as well as Stephanie for insulting her over her body and her sex life. My point was more Jericho wasn't the heel, I can't recall any wrestling fans back then saying he was because he used bad words. Maybe Nancy Grace wouldn't have been a big Jericho fan but to wrestling fans, he was the good guy. So was the Rock. Austin did a promo implying Stephanie had testicles, I recall loud cheering and no complaints. It just seems like a new thing where society in general is trying to be more PC and now it is bleeding into wrestling, which makes me a sad panda. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirSmUgly Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 I agree in most cases. I know people will ardently disagree, but I really enjoy some gimmicks or promos or angles or what-have-you with racial, gendered, or social portrayals that aren't one hundred percent positive. Other times, those gimmicks can be hard to watch. I take them one at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Overly Critical Man Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 And lets not get started with what the "bunny" did to Adam Rose last week on Raw. That's textbook sexual assault. Is the bunny the heel? The bunny is a selfish glory hog that doesn't know it's place in the pecking order. It is absolutely the heel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranesi Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 And lets not get started with what the "bunny" did to Adam Rose last week on Raw. That's textbook sexual assault. Is the bunny the heel? The bunny is a selfish glory hog that doesn't know it's place in the pecking order. It is absolutely the heel. A bunny hog that pecks? THIS IS MADNESS!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebbie Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Wait, faces can't use personal insults? Rock and Austin are two of the most popular 'faces' of all time and half their promos were insulting other people. Was Jericho a heel when he called Stephanie a bottom feeding trash bag ho? Now wrestling fans are so moral that if someone utters an insult that makes them bad? This place is weird sometimes. Jericho did it to be funny. AJ is sarcastic, unlikeble and clearly doesn't want to be there. The fact her fans will eat this shit up, especially against the Bellas, is going to hurt more than help. If AJ does leave, none of the divas have cred because the top diva buried the shit out of them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Mann Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Basically, Steph was Margaret Dumont to Jericho's Groucho Marx. That isn't the case here. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamal Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 I actually didn't know that AJ was supposed to be a babyface. Nor should she be surprised that Brie distracted her in the match...a week after AJ kicked her in the stomach & hit her with a DDT. AJ hasn't felt like a face since before she turned on Kaitlyn. Leaving Emma hanging is not something that a face should do. The AJ character is incredibly unlikeable and makes you root against her and not for her. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 Just because the faces often act like heels doesn't mean the heels don't also act like heels. It means that the writers are incapable of creating characters that are decent human beings. I don't think it's their fault, though. After all, their main goal is to win the approval of a man who is by all accounts a sociopath. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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