There's a reason why heels grab so many chinlocks, do so many bodyslams, and oftentimes don't have finishers. It's because these maneuvers, in being intentionally boring, defeat any desire for a fan to potentially want to cheer the heel like a babyface. Yes, the idea that Bray Wyatt crab walks across the ring, and perpetually stares at his opponent upside down, are both oddly entertaining highspots (in a positive, yet intriguing sense), and thus (if WWE wishes for him to continue portraying a heel) should be immediately eliminated from his arsenal. If you're thinking, wait, isn't a highspot like a moonsault or a Kofi Kingston legdrop or an Uso dive to the outside? Yes, but no. ANY maneuver used to pop the crowd is a highspot. That's why they're called highspots, because you can call for them at any point in the match to engender a positive response from the crowd. Babyfaces have highspots. Heels have spots too, but the idea is that their spots are used to cut off the hope that the babyface has been building by yes, using highspots to entertain the crowd.
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.
