The world of pro wrestling has slowly been changing over the years, with things like the WWE regime shakeup, the indie-style becoming more popular and bleeding over into the bigger promotions, and most notably kayfabe slowly being peeled away. During the latest "Busted OpenRadio," WWE Hall OfFamer, Bully Ray, expressed his concern over the lack of believable heels in the industry today.
"It's actually a bigger picture conversation in all of pro wrestling which is very discouraging to me- that there are no more true, real heels who understand what their jobs is," Bully explained, adding that Logan Paul is the only name who comes close based on how the crowd always seems to boo him and that fans simply want to see him get beat. "But as far as heels who have real heat, based on stories that are being told? No, it's like okay, we plugged in whatever bad guy we need for this."
Bully went on to list how, in the case of Cody Rhodes' championship run, he was simply given "bad guys" to be his opposition, and how these "villains" only ever seemed to serve his story, but went as far as to note that it's the same thing in AEW too, except for the Christian Cage and Don Callis. "As far as times are changing, has times changed? Is it a different business so much? That we don't have one of the cornerstones of what this business needs?" Bully added. "Where have all the bad guys gone? It's because most of these wrestlers today are afraid of heat; real heat."
When it came to his own experience as a heel in ECW, Bully Ray explained how he always approached getting into character as a bad guy. "There is not one thing that I want to do that puts a smile on your face, not one word said, not one action done that elicits the emotion of joy," he explained. Bully added that he wishes heels today would apply this principle to their characters instead, and noted how there is definitely love for characters nowadays, but that hate is important too. "We love Cody; he got booed out of the building for a guy that for twenty-five years, we loved more. At the end of the day, even the people that chant 'Cena Sucks' love John Cena."
"[The Dudley Boyz] as an example: there was nothing entertaining about the Dudleyz [as heels]. We went out there and we said and did the most horrible, nasty, vile things you could do and say," he recalled. "And we did them to the most beloved babyfaces: Sandman, Tommy Dreamer, New Jack." Bully noted how they once even broke Beulah McGillicutty's neck, resulting in a long absence, and that they often severely beat Tommy Dreamer, Sandman, and New Jack, before belittling the crowd before they could even think of cheering them.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Busted OpenRadio" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
