10 Reasons Why WWE Needs To Implement A Clean Win Only Policy
7. A Universe Of Cleverer Heels
The greatest heels in wrestling are either intelligent, sociopathic, or both.
Ric Flair never walked out of a PPV title match with his title in tow, like a chickensh*t. He was a man. He was The Man. He cheated, sure, but he did it with a level of skill - and wit - the likes of which are extinct. To use a modern example, Brock Lesnar might get the hell out of dodge in a beatdown segment before the pay-per-view, but on the main stage itself, he annihilates his opponents in matches of high danger.
Cheating, subtly, in the context of a match is fundamental to wrestling's interactive appeal. Doing so in full view of the referee or as a means to a dismal end is an openly hostile method of almost daring the audience to watch the next chapter of a programme. WWE, in the Network Era, operates on a promise. It is a dangled carrot of a wrestling promotion. Your favourite is going to lose now, to an unimaginative tactic, but tune back in next week. We charge significantly less than we used to, so really, what's stopping you?
The chickensh*t heel trope was once a midcard fixture, the business of japes before we sank our teeth into the meat of a card. Ostensibly, the tactic exists to "protect" the babyface loser. In reality, this absolutely does not work. At all.