Hulk Hogan's Brother
Stop asking me what I'm gonna do!!!
The badass antihero is a type of face that the IWC just cannot get enough of. While stereotypical heroes like Hulk Hogan and John Cena are looked down upon, the likes of Stone Cold and to a lesser extent Randy Orton are revered. A badass antihero is someone who has none of the characteristics of a perfect hero, though he might have some villanous traits. He is mostly a flawed individual who's generally a tough guy and does not take shit from anyone lying down, especially shit from authority figures. Since they lack the charactersitics that define a hero, their lovers say that they are more realistic as compared to a perfect hero.
But a badass antihero comes along with a problem. There comes a time in the careers of most wrestlers that they become stale as face characters and it becomes important to turn them heel both for their own good as well as for good business. In the case of an ideal hero it is very easy to turn them heel. They just need to turn their back on the ideals that they hold on sso dearly to and presto...we have ourselves a new heel. But you cannot do that to a badass antihero as he posesses heelish characteristics and so if he acts heelish it could be passed off by the fans as the badass just being himself, even if the badass happens to do heelish things to a face.
The other way to turn a hero into a heel is by making him appear cowardly. However this does not work very well in the case of a badass either. One of the major traits that a badass posesses is courage and how a heel turn might cause that courage to disappear overnight is a bit unbelievable.
I really do feel that having a badass antihero is a two edged sword because badass antiheroes have never been turned successfully. Look as Steve Austin. The only times he got a bit of heat was against Rock, who was a bigger babyface at that point, and against Angle when the US was in a state of nationalistic fervour due to the 9/11 attacks. On a smaller scale Samoa Joe was a popular badass faace in TNA but when he inexplicably turned heel by joining the Main Event Mafia, the fans just did not buy it how Joe could be okay with occupying an inferior position in a stable. The turn might have had an effect on Joe's career as well as he seems a bit directionless lately.
So the questions that I want to ask are:
Can a badass antihero be turned into a heel?
If so how would you turn him heel and explain why you think that the turn that you plan for him would be successful?
But a badass antihero comes along with a problem. There comes a time in the careers of most wrestlers that they become stale as face characters and it becomes important to turn them heel both for their own good as well as for good business. In the case of an ideal hero it is very easy to turn them heel. They just need to turn their back on the ideals that they hold on sso dearly to and presto...we have ourselves a new heel. But you cannot do that to a badass antihero as he posesses heelish characteristics and so if he acts heelish it could be passed off by the fans as the badass just being himself, even if the badass happens to do heelish things to a face.
The other way to turn a hero into a heel is by making him appear cowardly. However this does not work very well in the case of a badass either. One of the major traits that a badass posesses is courage and how a heel turn might cause that courage to disappear overnight is a bit unbelievable.
I really do feel that having a badass antihero is a two edged sword because badass antiheroes have never been turned successfully. Look as Steve Austin. The only times he got a bit of heat was against Rock, who was a bigger babyface at that point, and against Angle when the US was in a state of nationalistic fervour due to the 9/11 attacks. On a smaller scale Samoa Joe was a popular badass faace in TNA but when he inexplicably turned heel by joining the Main Event Mafia, the fans just did not buy it how Joe could be okay with occupying an inferior position in a stable. The turn might have had an effect on Joe's career as well as he seems a bit directionless lately.
So the questions that I want to ask are:
Can a badass antihero be turned into a heel?
If so how would you turn him heel and explain why you think that the turn that you plan for him would be successful?