7 Ways WWE Get Their Best Characters All Wrong
2. The Cowardly Heel
The chickensh*t heel is a classic wrestling character type that, when done well, creates exorbitant amounts of heat for a suitably weaselly antagonist. Gorgeous George, Ric Flair, The Miz, Ted DiBiase: they all fall into the category, and all found tremendous success because of it, but repeating their glory isn't as simple as copy/pasting any old goober into the formula and hoping for the best.
WWE's overuse of cowardly villains is maddening. Almost every bad guy in this company is a wimp, including Kevin Owens, whose actions regularly make a mockery of the "FIGHT ANYONE" t-shirt he's taken to strolling around in. As the borderline sociopathic 'Prizefighter,' KO was a cold, ruthless killer, and he got over huge because of it. Now, he's a yellow-bellied dork who flees at the first sign of trouble.
Owens is the most egregious example, but the roster is full of such characters.
Not every heel need to look strong all the time, and cowardice remains a valuable heat-drawing trait. Still, it'd be nice to see some of these wrestlers show a little backbone every now and then, particularly Owens, who suffers greatly through his presentation.