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The 8-Ball 03.22.13: Top 8 WWE Antiheroes

March 22, 2013 | Posted by Ken Hill

Dia duit, lads and lassies! Hope you all had a kick-ass St. Patty’s day like this Bostonian did! YOUR *hic* “Kennection to All Things Wrestling” Ken Hill here with another rip-roaring edition of the 8-Ball!

Keeping the train rolling after “The Top 8 TV Antiheroes”, I’m here to present you with the Top 8 list of wrestlers from WWE’s present and past who are, to paraphrase James Gordon, “the heroes we deserve, but not the ones we need.” Men who, unlike your cookie-cutter faces, don’t possess the same “do-gooder” traits or are considered the proverbial “white knights in shining armor.” Rather, they are those who are portrayed as heroes, yet have shade-of-grey qualities ranging from selfish and pragmatic to the downright amoral and unfettered.

This week’s topic is…

TOP 8 WWE ANTI-HEROES

8. John Cena

While Cena at times comes off as the unabashed proverbial “white knight” of the modern-day WWE and is no doubt a great real-life contributor to society in and out of the wrestling industry, his character’s qualities have quite a few grey spots here and there. Calling Eve “Hoeski” and making STD references, rapping against the Rock saying that “Dwayne ain’t got no Johnson”…hardly the calling cards of a squeaky clean hero that some haters make Cena out to be. Some tend to forget that Cena based the foundation of his career as a street-smart, raucous, rappin’ “Doctor of Thuganomics”, an anti-hero who would spit rhymes and rebel against authorities such as Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff in their heyday as general managers. While remnants of that aspect of his character remain to this, Cena’s main detraction is that until 2012, he’s never truly lost a fight with any wrestler or faction that he’s faced, always finding a way (sometimes LITERALLY one way) to win. It’s his seeming “Super Cena” inability to afford a minor loss that has diminished him in recent years as an effective anti-hero in the eyes of many a fan.


7. Randy Orton

“I would RKO my own grandmother if it meant keeping this title. And then I’d RKO your grandmother just to see the look on her face!”

What “Stone Cold” was to the Attitude Era, Orton is to WWE’s PG era, and the company’s gone out of their way to drive the point home with his character’s shift in the last 5 years. Gone is the pretty boy “Legend Killer” who more often than not didn’t realize when he crossed the line with veterans and would pay the price. Now as “The Viper”, he draws his own line in the sand and dares opponents to cross it without getting a RKO or a punt to the skull. Like Austin, he has rebelled against the McMahons. Like Austin hands out Stunners like candy on Halloween, Orton RKOs anyone and everyone in his way, friend or foe. And more like Austin than anything else, he is cheered for his hostile, temperamental, almost sociopathic nature because fans just think it’s so damn cool.


6. “Macho Man” Randy Savage

Ultimate Warrior vs Randy Savage – WrestleMania 7 by 1BadboyMMA

He certainly set the stage for anti-heroism in the WWE during his time in the 1980s and early 1990s. He was considered by the fans to be just as entertaining and charismatic as Hulk Hogan in his heyday, if not more. Unlike how Hogan was the All-American, “say your prayers and take your vitamins” prototypical face, Savage was a man on the edge, more often than not immersed in his own world of “Macho Madness” and constantly on the lunatic fringe. His manager, Miss Elizabeth, served as his lone focus. While he would not always treat her nicely, Savage looked out for Elizabeth as only he could, defending her against an unsavory suitor in George “The Animal” Steele at one point. She would end up the catalyst for his critical heel and face turns, as his feud with Hogan was borne of her managing the both of them and his jealousy towards the Hulkster.

Following that, Savage would try and leave Elizabeth behind, becoming immersed in the egomania of the “Macho King” with “Sensational Queen” Sherri at his side until his “retirement match” at Wrestlemania VII, where Sherri would kick him while he was down and Elizabeth would come to the rescue, reuniting with her nearly-lost love by protecting him like he once protected her. It served to remind Savage that he indeed had someone worth looking out for and helped to establish him as one of wrestling’s prototypical anti-heroes.


5. Triple H

Triple H attacked Randy Orton inside his house by JohnCenaWweFan

“I’m not a good person, Randy.”

“The Game’s” anti-heroic qualities haven’t always been highlighted properly; not because of how effective he is or isn’t as one, but rather what KIND of anti-hero he’s been throughout his career. His runs with D-Generation X have shown Hunter to be the “rebellious, anti-establishment” type who would constantly disobey Sgt. Slaughter and Vince McMahon’s edicts, pull pranks, moon the audience and parody the Corporation and Nation of Domination. On another end, you have “rule-breaking, weapon-toting, mind games” type in “The Cerebral Assassin” who would do anything and everything to see his personal goals, his “justice”, reach fruition, that meaning being on top, being a world champion, or even defending the McMahon family. The man once broke into Randy Orton’s “home” and risked “public arrest” just to goad Orton into a match at Wrestlemania 25, and HHH was the FACE in the feud getting vengeance for his wife and father-in-law. Safe to say, even as a face, Triple H is the furthest thing from the squeaky-clean “good Christian son” HBK was in his later years.


4. CM Punk

The Anti-hero is the one individual that no matter whether he’s a full-on face or heel, fans accept them and want to see them on a regular basis. Punk is a dazzler in the ring and on the mic, so it’s no surprise that from the moment he dropped his first “pipe bomb”, and even before that, CM Punk has been on the lips of wrestling fans for years. The things he’s said and done have alienated him from the fans, the company and the wrestling industry and yet he is STILL cheered. Call Vince out on his hypocritical stance of anti-bullying? Cheer. Admit that he was always a bad guy during his title reign and never cared about “the people”? Cheer. Interrupt Undertaker’s solemn tribute to Paul Bearer? There were still some “CM PUNK” chants despite the pure audacity of the situation! Despite all that he’s done, despite all the effort Punk, Heyman and the WWE in general have put into turning him into a full-on self-righteous, respect-obsessed, disrespectful heel beyond reproach, portions of the crowd still pop for Punk big time when he appears.


3. Eddie Guerrero

“I lie, I cheat and I steal, but hey…at least I’m honest about it.”

That line sums up the legendary Eddie Guerrero in so many ways. The Guerrero family name itself is deeply ingrained in the annals of wrestling history, and Eddie certainty showed to be the greatest among his family, not just as the consummate professional in the styles of lucha libre and as a grappling and submission-style specialist, but he also showed to be one of the most devious and cunning minds in its history. Using the tag ropes to choke an opponent, playing hurt to lull even seasoned opponents like Kurt Angle into a false sense of security, and the classic “bait-and-switch” with a steel chair behind the ref’s back were just a few tricks in Eddie Guerrero’s vast playbook.

The crowd loved every minute of it, the hilarious antics Eddie would pull off in and out of the ring, his expressions when getting away with said antics, and even when he would get caught on occasion. The fact that he used these various heel tactics was never lost on the crowd, but seeing them turned around on other heels was just too good to resist. While an oxymoron, you could not find a more “honest liar” in wrestling than Eddie Guerrero.


2. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin

Corporate ass-kicking? Beer-swilling? Finger-flipping? Boss-bashing? Wanton destruction and mayhem? Those were Austin’s calling cards of the Attitude Era, and the fans LOVED him for it. From his iconic blood-laden Submission match with Bret Hart to his “Austin 3:16” speech at King of the Ring and beyond, Austin firmly established himself as the ultimate Anti-hero in the 1990s, rebelling against Vince McMahon and the Corporation in every conceivable way, from public beer baths to driving Zambonis to the ring and going toe-to-toe with “Iron” Mike Tyson and not even blinking! Austin was the ultimate wild card and called the “Rattlesnake” for a damn good reason; it didn’t matter if you toasted beer with him or tried to have him run down, Austin would flip you off, Stun your ass, and pour you a fresh cold Steveweiser over your carcass before tossing two or twenty back for himself.


1. The Undertaker


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As far as I’m concerned, there’s really no argument here. While Randy Savage served as a prototype of the wrestling anti-hero, Taker is by all means the first, fully-established anti-hero in professional wrestling. When I mean Taker, I’m mostly ignoring his “break” as the American Badass and referring to his early days under Paul Bearer, leading the Ministry, and returning to his original “Dead Man” gimmick.

Taker is not a hero in any sense of the word. He doesn’t fight for anybody, he doesn’t try to protect anybody (except for his ex-wife and his demented brother once in a while but that’s family and doesn’t fully qualify as being a hero; Taker fights Kane about as often as he helps him anyway), he doesn’t try to right wrongs (except when he feels HE’S been wronged), and he doesn’t do anything just because it’s the right thing to do and will help other people. Even when he saved Elizabeth from Jake “The Snake” Roberts, who asked Taker whose side he was on, Taker said, “NOT YOURS.” It wasn’t that he cared for Elizabeth, rather it was Roberts’ lower standards and poor choice of targets didn’t fit the brand of “justice” Taker had in mind.

Taker doesn’t care about tyrant bosses and corporate authority, he doesn’t care about championships, or helping anybody but himself. His only purpose has seemed to be proving he’s the greatest in WWE’s lore and he’ll take any kind of match against any opponent to prove it. He didn’t challenge Vince McMahon, HHH, HBK, JBL, Edge, etc because they were bad guys, he didn’t challenge them because they had a championship he wanted; they implied that THEY were the greatest. Taker has fought them throughout the last 20+ years to prove those notions wrong. Despite those selfish inclinations, the fans see fit to cheer Taker simply because of attrition; he has seen and fought the best of two to three generations of wrestling and has earned their respect in spades.

In a lot of ways the Undertaker is a lot like Clint Eastwood’s character in The Man With No Name series (The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, etc). Clint’s character was a violent and dangerous man, he lied and stole, he didn’t seem to have any conscience, and he hurt and/or killed a lot of people (bad guys, but still killing them rather than capturing them to bring them to justice). But even though his methods and goals were violent and selfish, he always ended up leaving the place better off than what it was before he arrived. The Man With No Name (Eastwood) is arguably the greatest anti-hero in movie history. So by comparing Taker to that character, Taker can be considered an anti-hero because while the majority of his methods and goals in his career are violent and occasionally selfish, he generally makes the wrestling industry better off than what it was before. And most people like that. He’s truly “The Last Outlaw” of the WWE.


Thank you all for reading on my post of the 8-Ball, and I certainly promise to bring you more exciting, unique topics in professional wrestling to count down. However, don’t be afraid to suggest your own topics in the comments section. In the wacky, wild world of professional wrestling, there’s a multitude of ideas to explore and you never know when you might stumble on a fresh idea no one’s considered before. Ciao for now, boys and girls!

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