Kayfabe! – Wrestling’s Most . . . Over Babyface and Effective Heel

KAYFABE!
WRESTLING’S MOST . . . . . . OVER BABYFACE AND EFFECTIVE HEEL

Kayfabe Commentaries kicks off their 2012 DVD releases with a 2-in-1 DVD, the final two editions of the first season of Wrestling’s Most . . . . combined onto a single DVD. It makes sense for several reasons, the Wrestling’s Most discs weren’t too long in the first place, and even two of them combined still only takes up a single disc. Not to mention that the two subjects this time around are correlated in the first place.

I usually dive right into the program itself, but I’ve got to take a minute to compliment them for the cover art, they really went all out this time. The letters for “OVER BABYFACE” are in yellow, complete with a halo. The letters for “EFFECTIVE HEEL” are in red, complete with horns. There’s also a nice pair of graphics in the style of old school comics. Very well done.

The production is the same as the first volume of the series. Sean gives us a quick intro from the studio, then it cuts to an animated gif, this time featuring the wrestler, and then the panel gives their take on it. We’ll start with the babyface side of things.

5. STING
The panel is pretty split here. The longtime vets like Superstar, Dillon, Bourne, and Darsow don’t deny that he was over, but are surprised that he’s ranked so highly. While younger people like Chyna, Maria, Billy Gunn, and Danny Doring are in agreement. Nobody denies that he got over, especially in his younger days with the blonde buzz cut. Dillon tells a funny story, saying that he was the one who’d told Sting to beat on his chest and yell to the fans. One of the big heels was telling the babyface how to be a babyface. But everyone agrees that he’s a good person, even if he might be ranked too highly in some people’s opinion.

4. THE ROCK
Here’s one that nobody can disagree on . . . . except Masked Superstar. He thinks that Rock isn’t top 5, but more in the top 10 to top 12. Everyone else is in solid agreement though, he belongs on the list and is maybe even ranked too low. He’s full of charisma and cuts awesome promos. Maria also throws in that he’s hot, so that it gives the women fans something to look at. It says a lot that his comeback promo killed practically every promo from everybody else in the company since his last appearance in 2004. Even Superstar acquiesces that he was looking at things from a solid heel point of view, so he may not be the best person to ask about Rock as a babyface.

3. RICKY “THE DRAGON” STEAMBOAT
This is another case where it’s somewhat split. They all agree he was a great worker, but some of the old timers think he’s ranked too highly. Both Superstar and Honky Tonk Man think Tommy Rich was a much better babyface. Billy Gunn admits that he hasn’t really seen that much of him. Everyone has very fond memories of him, both as a person and as a worker. Dillon recalls that all the boys would gather at the curtain to watch Flair vs. Steamboat matches. Animal contrasts Steamboat to the Road Warriors as to the type of babyface he was. You never saw too many schoolgirls with pigtails wearing Road Warrior facepaint trying to chase them down.

2. “STONE COLD” STEVE AUSTIN
Austin is only #2? What? The animated gif is really funny here. It’s just Austin dishing out the stunner to various people. Superstar and Darsow, again, think that he’s ranked too highly. Darsow does bring up a point that most people are from the more recent era. While he’s thinking about names like Jimmy Snuka, who were crazy over in their day. Austin got over so much because he was someone that the fans could easily relate to. Everyone has an ass kicker inside of them, and Austin was their way of bringing it out. Steve had his share of fans before that, but once he really brought it out, he just exploded. HTM doesn’t think that Stunning Steve fit him at all, Stone Cold was who he really was. Austin is a real rags to riches story in the business. He used to ride with Sunny, since she didn’t have to pay for her rental cars, and Bourne remembers that he wasn’t making enough money to eat at one point, he was living off raw potatoes.

1. HULK HOGAN
Everyone agrees on this one. Hogan was the man who brought legions of fans to the business. There’s some debate as to whether Vince made Hogan or Hogan made Vince. It winds up being settled up as the combo of them made each other. Matt Bourne isn’t fond of Hogan, since Hogan refused to work with him at WrestleMania IX (Hogan vs. Doink?). Apter remembers seeing him in Memphis before he made it, and he was a pretty bland guy. Animal is the first person to press slam Hogan over his head. Billy Gunn credits Hogan for not only making wrestling what it is, but opening the door for a whole lot of guys to get into the business.

OK, now that we’ve got those pansy goody-two-shoes babyfaces out of the way, it’s time to have some fun and talk about the bad guys!

5. THE SHEIK
Everyone seems to be genuinely surprised by his placement, but nobody can really argue that he was an effective heel. HTM makes a good point that people feared him, as opposed to hated him. People feared Brody because he looked like a caveman, barked, and swung the chain. They hated Andre because he turned on Hogan. Danny Doring sheepishly admits that he knows who he is, but doesn’t really know anything about him, despite him being Sabu’s uncle. Both Apter and Tammy relate stories about dealing with him outside of the ring and him staying in character.

4. RAVEN
The panel is surprised by this to say the least. Danny Doring at least gives him credit for being ahead of the curve on doing controversial things versus the WWF doing things like Mae Young giving birth to a hand. J.J. Dillon comments that for Raven to be #4 and The Sheik to be #5, that the voters obviously were missing some of the early portions of their wrestling history books. Everyone, except Billy Gunn, gives him credit for being a good worker and finding his niche in the business. Billy Gunn states that in Raven’s mind, he’s probably in the top two for heels, but in his mind he’s not even in the top ten.

3. RIC FLAIR
There’s no argument this time around, everyone agrees that Flair is one of the top heels of all time. It’s not hard to see why, he was the world champion and living the life that everyone wished they could. All the money, the limos, the hot women, etc. At the same time, he was one of the best workers in the world inside the ring. He could go in the ring night in and night out and make it seem like the local hero was a hair away from winning the world title. They all agree that it’s a shame that Flair still has to wrestle today based on the choices he made in his personal life. Like with Hogan, Matt Bourne isn’t fond of Flair. He compares him to Jose Gonzales. Gonzales literally stuck in the knife, but Flair only verbally does it.

2. RODDY PIPER
One of the best talkers of all time. But just his mere presence could make people hate him. Sunny hated him so much, as a young fan, that she tore a picture of him from a magazine and put it on a dart board. Danny Doring recalls funny interviews like Frankie Williams on Piper’s Pit and Piper interviewing himself and talking about getting horse’s pregnant, “Old Clint shoots them guns, brother. When I shoot a gun, someone gets pregnant. I’ve got a pregnant horse at home!” It’s agreed that a reason Hogan was as over and popular as he was due to Piper. Not that Piper made Hogan, but Piper helped bring Hogan up a few notches. The Piper/Snuka coconut angle cemented Piper as being the top heel in the company at the time, long before he ever got in the ring with Hogan.

1. MR. McMAHON
Honestly, could it be anyone else? Who doesn’t hate their boss at some point or another? It’s even that much more impressive because he wasn’t a wrestler by trade, he came from the promoting end of things, and he was the hottest heel in the business during the attitude era. HTM recalls that Vince used to tell heels how to get heat, specifically Rick Rude. Vince was the perfect person to do it too, since people hated him on a daily basis, he knew what to do to make people hate him. In actuality Mr. McMahon was just Vince with the volume turned way up. Bourne credits Vince for giving him his biggest break in the business, but then again, he was also the person who took it away from him. Billy Gunn finishes with some brown on his nose, complimenting Vince for being willing to do anything he’d ask the boys to do. Superstar isn’t so gracious, restating that Vince owned the company and should have stayed behind the scenes.

The 411: If you can get past a few minor annoyances, like Eadie constantly harping that Tommy Rich should have made the list, then this is yet another fun entry in the KC library. The concept itself is lots of fun, and the production is up to KC's usual high standards. The only real knock on it is that it doesn't lend itself to repeated viewings.
Final Score:  7.5   [ Good ]