Hell turns, Hogan, Cena, WWE!!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:16):
Welcome into the Sideline Shuffle. Thanks for listening. Today we're
gonna talk heel turns. Step into the world of wrestling again.
It'll be an interesting conversation. We'll keep it short, we'll
keep it sweet. Thanks for listening to your boy, KP.
This is the Sideline Shuffle. So heel turns. We do

(00:41):
need to separate the conversation of heel turns and the
storylines where you're becoming a sellout right, Like certain times
throughout the history of professional wrestling WWF, WCW, you know,
n w A, there's these times where characters just sell

(01:03):
out right, they take the price, they join the bad guy,
they go with the boss, and they sell out for
the opportunity and it, yes, technically it's a heel turn,
but it's not the same as just going from always
the heel or always the babyface and then randomly a

(01:23):
match comes and you've switched over or randomly this occurrence
takes place and something changes for the character. And the
reason I'm talking heel turns today won't be exposed until
the end of the show because I think it's the
greatest heel turn in the history of professional wrestling, and
frankly it's quite sad. But when you look at some

(01:46):
of the sellout heel turns that there have been, right,
the Rock joining the Vince McMahon and the what did
they call themselves, the Corporation or whatever it was, Triple
H basically doing the same thing, Tefanie basically doing the
same thing, Stone Cold doing the same thing to get
his title run, joining Vince McMahon. Right, those were more

(02:09):
sellout heel turns than they were these moments where all
of the sudden, this one character goes from being this
positive light this negative light and then all of a
sudden doing something that the fans love or the fans
extremely hate. Right, And the things that come with these
heel turns are things like match dynamics. Right, you might
have a change in your style. Right, you might become

(02:31):
more aggressive, You might become more physical, you might become
more ruthless, more cheating tactics in your performance. You might
change the way you interact with the audience. Right, maybe
it was all handshakes and bubbliness and now it's you know,
f u's and stand off and angry looks. Obviously, the

(02:54):
storytelling changes that you shift in the narrative. There's some
pro that comes out of it. That gives you this
opportunity to now speak to the audience what your new
focus is and why these changes are coming about who's
to blame, and then you get to explore this new

(03:14):
character because it's all new. Let's see what works, let's
see what's not working, right, So that character development piece
and then the match out comes. Maybe you've been booked
as this babyface who always wins, and now you're taking
this heel turn and you're gonna go through a series
of losses. Right. Look at like the Drew MacIntyre. He's

(03:35):
gone through this series of losses after basically being the
babyface through COVID. Now for the last couple of years,
all he does as a heel is kind of be
in these positions but continue to lose. You want to
see the heel change if you're becoming a heel. You
want to see that generate some heat, right instead of
that loud pop and cheering, an emotion that comes from

(03:58):
fans when the music hits or when they see you
hit the ring. You want to hear the boo and
the anger and the yelling and the disdain coming from
the fans. To know that you're really getting over as
that heel and heel changes aren't something new to the
industry by any means. Right, You can go back to
what in the in the seventies, Jerry Lawler was involved

(04:19):
in a heel change where he got his butt kicked
by a group. Rick Flair turned on Dusty Rhoades, right,
and and that helped form the Four Horsemen. Originally that
was you know, forty fifty years ago ones that I
can I mean, even around that time you had you

(04:43):
had Larry's Obisco turning on Bruno San Martino, right, protege
and mentor the earliest ones I can remember would have
been Andre joining Heenan, right when Andre joined Bobby Heenan's
stable and turned on Hulk Hogan. Or when Macho Man

(05:05):
first became the jealous Macho Man and the Mega Powers
broke up because he couldn't stand Hogan and Miss Elizabeth
and didn't know what was going on there and all
the tension that started. Look, I was a kid at
that time. I was impressionable. These guys were superhero like, right,
These were comic book characters come to life. You were

(05:26):
taking soap operas and comic books and making a TV
show with these larger than life figures as they were
projected to me as a young child. So in the eighties,
seeing the Mega Powers break up and knowing this is
a misunderstanding. You guys are getting it all wrong. It

(05:49):
sucked me in, right, It brought me in as the audience.
When Andre turned, it was like it was confusing, right.
Hogan portrayed the confusion so well. But none of those
really are the biggest surprises, right, Like, yes, they were
impressable for me, the Megapowers and Andre. Yes, the formation

(06:13):
of the Four Horsemen was huge and forever changed the
landscape of professional wrestling as far as what the Four
Horsemen were bringing to the industry, what Dusty Rhodes continued
to meet to the industry after that. But the biggest
surprises some of the biggest heel turns right that we
saw on screen, that we saw in matches, And some

(06:37):
of it might be recency bias, right, you could argue
the Four Horsemen forming was pretty freaking big. You could
argue that Andre, you know, becoming a heel was pretty big.
I would have to say the biggest for me personally,
and this has been redone. So maybe one of the

(07:01):
better ones in the industry. Is liked. Was watching Sean
Michaels and Marty Jeannetti on the barbershop and watching Seawan
Michaels put Marty Jeannetti through the glass window. It had

(07:22):
built up for a couple of weeks. You could see
they were having trouble the Rockers and a few matches.
They weren't getting along. Didn't really know as a kid,
why what was going on? And then all of the sudden,
out of nowhere, this perfectly planned Seawn Michaels comes out
in a different outfit. They're not in their rockers gear.

(07:47):
He's got, you know, a different look to him. He's
trying to look hardcore or edgy or something. Marty Jeannette's
coming out looking like just like a guy. Let's figure
this out, let's work it out, and then boom, he's
through the window. It's over. Tag team's done, entertainment's over. Right,

(08:08):
We've got that new change in style for Shawn Michaels.
We've got the shift in the narrative. We've got this
character development. He's now the sexy boy right. The ring
gear changes, the music changes, the attitude changes, and Marty
Jeannette honestly never really recovered from that. His career never

(08:32):
really was what it was at the peak of the
Rockers when he was teeming with Seawn Michaels personal issues,
personal character traits aside, Marty Jeannetti's career pretty much died
that day. I know he came back, he got an
icy title run a couple of years after that, whatever,

(08:52):
it was not the same, and Sewn Michaels took off
as one of the all time greats from that point forward.
So for me, and for the industry, and for Shawn Michaels,
easily one of the biggest surprise heel turns in the
history of the business. And I said it had been redone,
and it had. Jericho and Shawn Michaels basically recreated the

(09:14):
same damn thing years later, twenty years later. I want
to say, with Jericho doing to Shawn Michaels what Shawn
Michaels did to Marty Jennetty, so it was good enough
to repeat it, I'd have to say. Then. Obviously, one
of the more entertaining, one of the more welcoming, one

(09:36):
of the more triggering and business propelling surprise heel changes
was Hogan becoming in WO, being the third guy, being
National Hall's third guy in the back. They had been
talking about for weeks as they were doing the takeover
of WCW. Now we know there was contract issues. They

(10:00):
weren't actually representing the WWF or Vince McMahon at the
time they had signed with WCW. But the way it
played out, the way the writers did the early nWo
stuff was great. It propelled the industry. It propelled them
Monday Net Wars, it propelled ratings, It brought the companies,

(10:21):
the sports entertainment world back right. It propelled us into
the attitude era. That was a big era for professional wrestling.
The hate, the vitriol, the changing character, the change in narratives.
Now he's Hollywood Hogan. He's going dark, spray painting people.
Fans hate him. Right, you ruined us again. Personal character

(10:45):
issues aside. You take this all American, say your prayers,
take your vitamins, and turn it into Hollywood Hogan. You
had adults and kids alike that up. I would say
some of the other ones that were pretty big that

(11:06):
I can remember, Rollin's turning on the Shield. More recency
bias to that one, obviously, as that helpened in the
two thousands. And then one that I didn't see coming
at all that was kind of big was Paul Barret
turning on the Undertaker and going with Mankind. Paul, Bear
and Undertaker were synonymous with one another, longtime manager, longtime

(11:32):
guy walking him to the ring since Brother Love first
walked him to the ring all those years ago. That
one was surprising. I can't say that any other time
one of the manager type characters turning or changing or
betraying their person was really that shocking. But for whatever reason,

(11:55):
Paul Barret turning on the Undertaker and joining man Kind
and stealing the urn, that was a big one to me.
I don't know how you guys feel about it, but
that one was a big one to me. Some that
needed to happen right that just you had these moments

(12:17):
in time where you just needed a character to do
something else, just to give it a try. Let's see,
like Bailey ditching the nicey nice babyface and becoming Bailey
that propelled her to be one of the greatest women
in women's wrestling. She's done it all. She's been the
company person, she's been the announcer, she's been the side

(12:38):
she's been the main thing. She's been the champion at
every level. Bailey has gone out there and been the business.
I have mad respect for Bailey as a character, and
it was one hundred percent time for her to ditch
the nice ponytail willer wearing, high fiving, smiling Bailey. She
needed something else to get the career with vigor rated

(13:00):
back on track, put some life into it. Unfortunately, she's
had some injuries over the last few years, but she
needed that and it was great. That turn was great,
and we kind of see her coming back a little
bit from the heel piece now to becoming more of
the baby face again. But she's on the line and
she could go either way. And that's what's great about

(13:21):
the niche Bailey has now carved out in her career
is she can go either way now. If she needs
to portray the babyface and be that for the company,
she can. If she needs to be the heel, she
has mastered being the heel, and that is not something
all babyfaces or heels can do, is navigate both worlds.

(13:42):
Bailey definitely figured that out. Some of the anti American
ones right we've seen over the years, like Sergeant Slaughter
back in the in the Gulf War, right, all of
a sudden being this anti American guy Hexa Jim Duggan

(14:04):
taking on the Canadian flag at one point. Both of
those were nice, they were good storylines, but not like
oh my goodness moments U KO Right, Kevin Owens, Sammy Zain.
That's all they do is flip on each other, right,
somebody's becoming a heel, somebody's becoming a baby face, somebody's
turning on somebody. No, really, it's Kevin Owen's turning on

(14:26):
Sammy Zain. But they've had a number of heel changes
just in their matches and then obviously most recently. And
the reason I'm sure many people think I decided to
talk a little bit about heel changes today is John Cena.
John Cena turning heel was not a surprise. Everybody knew

(14:51):
he wanted to do that at some point in his career.
Everybody knew this is his goodbye song, so we were
gonna save it for his last TV appearance. We weren't
gonna say anything until what his very last Okay, I'm
a heel on the way out. No, at some point
during this run he was gonna be a heel. The

(15:14):
only thing surprising about it is that he's not good
at it, Like he was a better heel that first
day he walked out twenty five years ago or whatever
it was, had the angry face. Nobody knew who he was,
and they wanted to boo it. He had a better
chance of becoming a heel then waiting this long into

(15:34):
his career till it's done, till it's just a gimmick.
It wasn't a surprise, it wasn't funny. It was this tantrum,
whiny thing that like Kevin Owens is doing the poor
me route. That's the surprise is they didn't have a
real good way of bringing about the John Cena heel turn.

(15:54):
And people want to say, oh, it's on the same
level as Hogan joining the the nWo, because you had
this all American good guy becoming this bad guy telling
the fans to f off. No, not for me, not
through my lens. Unfortunately for sina I laughed through his

(16:15):
whole segment of him whining, wondering why they were giving
him so many so much time to stand out there
like he was feeling out the fans for thirty minutes
of what direction to take this monologue, which we now
know impacted other matches throughout the night. It wasn't good.

(16:37):
Maybe it gets better. Maybe Cody and the inn ring
worker get it figured out. If he wins the seventeenth
title to overtake brick Flair for the record, which whatever
the record bar keeps changing. Was it seventeen, was it
twenty one? It depends on who you ask and what
you count as a title run, I guess. But if

(16:59):
he gets it as this weird version of himself that's
not a heel and not a babyface, I'm just a human, eh,
it's kind of less interesting. It would have been more
interesting to see Sena and Cody go through this WrestleMania thing.
Sena get it, then get a big head and an
attitude is part of a heel change, then get his

(17:22):
butt kicked and lose the title. That would have been
more interesting to watch, honestly, And you could have still
tied into the rock at the end as is becoming
part of the John Cena heel turn the way they
did it. Not a fan but whatever, We'll see where
it goes. But still not the reason I decided to

(17:45):
talk about heel changes. Yes, Low hanging fruit. Easy to
take what's going on, tie into some of the past,
put in some of the characteristics of you know, the
storytelling and outcomes and dynamics. Blah blah blah. No, the
reason I just to talk about heel changing today is
because WWE has done something that really shouldn't be surprising.

(18:08):
I guess because it is about the money for them.
But WWE has done a major heel change on kids.
On education. We saw Linda McMahon sit there and be
confirmed as the Secretary of Education for this country. We
now see them trying to dismantle the Department of Education

(18:29):
for this country. We saw Hunter and Stephanie, who are
prominent figures, whether tied to currently through TV shows or
being the top dog members of the WWE, who depend
on children for their product to stay viable. They have
to continue to circle back and gain that younger audience.

(18:53):
Sit there behind Stephanie at I mean Linda McMahon at
the confirmation hearing. You are representing that company wherever you go,
like it or not. So in that moment, WWE is
sitting there behind Linda McMahon, throwing their support behind her
as Secretary of Education for the United States of America

(19:18):
and then she instantly goes in and as part of
the agenda of the current administration, fires half the staff
supports the executive order that was signed to dismantle the
Department of Education, saying it should be in the hands
of the states. Look that all sounds good on paper,

(19:42):
but in reality, what it does is it takes funds
away from students, It takes opportunities away from students. It
puts opportunities only in the hands of those who can
afford them. And if you're not educated, you can't better
your position. If you can't better your position, and you're
nothing more than a workforce for the oligarchs that they

(20:03):
want to set up. So in the ultimate heel change,
the WWE is telling the very people that it needs
for its product to survive, You're not good enough and
don't deserve the opportunity. If that's not worse than Marty

(20:25):
Jannetti going through a glass window is part of the
soap opera, comic book world that is professional wrestling. If
that's not worse than Hogan becoming the nWo, then guess
what wrestling has passed me by? And I'm fine with that.
And they could have Honestly, here's the kicker. Hunter and

(20:49):
Stephanie could have had the same viewpoints and the same
support of Linda McMahon and Vince McMahon and the trial.
He's got out there and not been visibly present, and
it honestly would have made a difference in how it's perceived.
But the fact that they were there, the fact that

(21:12):
their name is synonymous with the industry, I hope everybody
is paying attention. I hope this helps aw. They have
a great product. You don't see them getting tied up
into this area of the political spectrum. And really, right now,

(21:33):
the WWE is a heel and AEW is the babyface.
So do with that what you will, think about it
what you would, but very disappointing that we see the
WWE turning heel on the fans.