JR Confirms That “X-Pac Heat” Is Real?
By Scott Keith on July 21, 2018
Hi Scott,
Curious about your feelings on "X-Pac Heat", specifically whether or not it actually exists. Personally, I think that it's a real thing, but there are those that feel that it is impossible to differentiate between a crowd booing a heel because they're *good* at playing a villain, and a crowd booing a heel because they're *bad* at playing a villain (or, alternatively, that any "type" of booing is what a heel should be looking for). And I'm not talking about faces that get booed, it's obvious that Roman Reigns has "X-Pac Heat", I'm talking about heels.
Take Elias or "Undisputed Era" for example; those guys get big, positive ovations upon entering the arena, but then get booed once they start wrestling or cutting a promo. Or the original recipe "nWo", who were cheered during entrances, but booed once they started to wrestle/talk. To me, a good heel isn't necessarily someone that always gets booed, just one that is entertaining and engages the audience; IMO, you can cheer the performer for doing a good job, and then "play along" by booing them once they start wrestling/talking. According to some, Elias and "Undisputed" are bad at being heels, since they get cheered.
Going further, isn't the most important factor for any wrestler that they be entertaining? Is anyone going to say that Elias, "Undisputed", "nWo", NXT-era Sasha Banks, 2005 Kurt Angle, 2000 Triple H, 2010 Batista, 2003 Rock, or any other number of cool/funny/badass heels were bad at being heels? Why can't we find bad guys in wrestling fun and entertaining? That's not the case in other media, where villains such as Darth Vader, Walter White, and Hannibal Lecter are loved by the audience, so why does wrestling have to stick to the old formula of "bad guys shouldn't get cheered"? Why would it matter if a heel gets cheered, as long as the audience understands that the character isn't meant to be a good person (and move tickets/merchandise)?
Getting back to my original point, JR recently commented on Carmella having "Go-Away Heat":
http://www.mandatory.com/wrestlezone/news/977709-wwe- hall-of-famer-accuses- carmella-of-going-into- business-for-herself#/slide/1
While I don't completely agree with JR's assessment of Carmella in this particular case, as I think that she's actually somewhat underrated in the ring and always tries her best, I do agree that sacrificing both Charlotte and Asuka to her is ridiculous, and that she may have some "X-Pac Heat" because of being overpushed (and not because of anything that she herself is doing). My go-to example over the last few years is Randy Orton repeatedly beating Daniel Bryan for the title in 2013/2014; maybe this is just my opinion, but people weren't booing the results because Orton is a good heel, it's because Vince kept pushing Blandy Boreton over the guy that fans actually wanted to see. Orton made his entrance at "WM30" to crickets and tumbleweeds.
Anyway, does this end the argument about whether "X-Pac/BossMan/Go-Away Heat" actually exists? And is the idea that "faces get cheered, heels get booed" out-dated?
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