The Importance Of Having Strong Heel Opponents

[Mist]

By James Caldwell


Thursday night on Smackdown, WWE introduced a "WWE 24/7" nostalgia segment with a video recap of Sting's victory over Ric Flair to capture the NWA Title at the Great American Bash on July 7, 1990. Certainly, that was a great moment in Sting's career as Ric Flair passed the torch to signify the start of the Sting era.

However, things didn't turn out as planned following that night in Baltimore, Maryland as Sting's title reign took an instant downturn. The problem wasn't so much Sting as it was the opponents lined up to face Sting following his title victory. In promoting the Ric Flair vs. Sting feud, WCW failed to build up credible heel opponents for Sting to feud with following Flair. Subsequently, his drawing power took a hit without Flair helping him along the way.

"Once Sting became Champion, he was out there by himself," Ric Flair wrote in his autobiography, To Be The Man. "With a limited range of adversaries, Sting wasn't drawing money."

Despite the torch being passed to Sting that July night, Sting lost momentum as a headline act without an opponent to accentuate his strengths and hide his weaknesses in the ring. WCW went so far as to create a "Black Scorpion" character to torment and haunt Sting. When the character was revealed as Ric Flair at Starrcade 1990, the decision flopped and a title change was made just one month later. WCW pulled the plug on the "Sting era" without helping Sting develop as Champion.

The lesson from that ill-fated title reign is the importance of credible heel opponents for a new babyface champion to work against.

For a more recent example, there's Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit. Eddie Guerrero captured the WWE Championship in February 2004 and feuded briefly with Kurt Angle before Angle went down with a neck injury that put him on the sidelines for the next several months. With Brock Lesnar testing the NFL waters, Eddie was left without a credible heel opponent to work with. In response, WWE created the "JBL" character, but business did not improve with Eddie as champion.

As the headline act, Eddie took struggling houseshow and PPV buyrate business personally, causing him health and emotional problems. However, without a credible heel opponent to work with, Eddie's sole title reign was in trouble from the start.

Chris Benoit took the World Heavyweight Title from Triple H at WrestleMania XX in a historically significant move for WWE because a smaller wrestler was given the torch on WWE's grandest stage. In the four-month title reign that followed, Benoit continued his feud with Triple H, but WWE did not line up credible opponents for Benoit to work with after Triple H.

For one PPV and one Raw main event title match, there was Kane, who was in a weakened state unbefitting of when he was an actual headline act in years prior. Following Kane, Triple H re-entered the picture because there was no other alternative at the time. Finally, Benoit feuded with Randy Orton, but the program was not meant to elevate Benoit as Champion, but to benefit Orton in pushing him as the youngest champion in WWE history.

The three lessons of Sting, Eddie Guerrero, and Chris Benoit indicate the importance of having opponents lined up for a newly christened babyface champion.

Currently, WWE has produced two new champions in the form of Batista and John Cena. Both are first-time champions similar to Sting, Guerrero, and Benoit, but there's something different about this set of fresh champions. The difference is the existence of several credible opponents awaiting a run with the champions.

After Batista won the World Heavyweight Title from Triple H at WrestleMania 21, the feud continued through last month's Vengeance PPV where Batista went over for the third straight time. Similar to the story of Benoit's run in 2004, Batista looked strong following the program with Triple H. Fortunately for Batista, WWE has made an effort to change the story ending from 2004. After moving to Smackdown, Batista has been placed in a feud with a strong opponent, JBL. The current feud allows Batista to work with a different opponent who can bring something else out of him that Triple H may have been unable to. We'll see for sure at the Bash next Sunday.

Following the program with JBL, Batista has a series of opponents lined up to feud with. Eddie Guerrero is one name who could work with Batista to deliver compelling television. During his program with Rey Mysterio, Eddie has consistently delivered in a reputable manner with strong acting, strong promos, and solid matches. In the process of trying to build up Rey's character, WWE has made Eddie seem that much stronger and that much more ready to be a credible headline heel.

There's also Randy Orton, who has a built in feud with Batista in light of Batista being the last opponent Orton faced before going under the knife for shoulder surgery. Orton is prime for a feud with Undertaker to follow up on his WrestleMania loss, but Orton could certainly work a strong program with Batista before or after Undertaker.

On the Raw side, John Cena has a bevy of opponents lined up. Cena's feud with Chris Jericho has seen mixed reviews, but Jericho comes across as strong enough of an opponent because he's hung around the top of the second tier and bottom of the first tier on a consistent basis.

However, life after Jericho looks better where Cena is in position to feud with a string of opponents who can elevate him. Triple H - if he returns as a heel - is the obvious opponent for Cena based on being the face of Raw for the last several years. Optimistically speaking, Triple H can help elevate Cena in the ring by accentuating Cena's positives while also working with him to improve his workrate.

Kurt Angle is also lined up to face Cena with a built in storyline of Cena representing the "anti-hero" rebel babyface, while Angle represents the "traditional value" heel. When the two wrestled a hot-shot match to bolster the No Way Out PPV line up in February, Angle and Cena put together a decent match, but not in a way to elevate Cena with a break out performance. A fresh program on Raw leading to a well-promoted match on PPV could better serve Cena as champion.

There's also Shawn Michaels, who could work a strong program with Cena to help the champion improve as an in-ring performer if he completes a heel turn without reverting to his babyface persona.

Batista and Cena both stand to benefit from having two or three credible opponents lined up to feud with over the next several months. In this way, WWE has addressed the concerns over last year's title runs involving Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero. Certainly, WWE has placed the two current champions in a position where there are many options and no Black Scorpions.

[i Luv Da Cock]

Basically, the Dragon Ball Z effect.

New, stronger, harder-to-kill villain every month.