by Matt Freeman
Exclusive to OnlineOnslaught.com

As a newly inspired Chris Jericho gets jobbed into oblivion, and Kurt Angle’s name is below Vince McMahon’s ass on the booking sheets, it becomes clear that the WWF is missing an obvious and essential element in their storytelling.

Heels?

Let’s call them what they are: Villains. Few characters in any dramatic form are as distinctive as the villain. Iago in Othello, Edmund in King Lear, Lucifer in Paradise Lost, even Darth Vader; each define the journey of the hero and create the conflict. Right now, despite arguably having the "right" guys in the "right" spots (Jericho and Angle have great heel personas), there’s seemingly little that sets them apart from any other wrestler, other than being sort of obnoxious and hitting the Rock with a chair. A villain is more than just what the fans boo. A villain is a unique character in a drama, with an important role to play.

Arguably, each hero has the same story, but each villain’s story is unique. The reasons for villainy are myriad, and almost all contribute to the method in which the villainy plays itself out. Villains contribute that kind of creativity to the hero’s journey…the type of obstacles they overcome, and the skills they will need to overcome them.

The reasons behind the villainy are often of deeper interest to any audience than the hero’s desire to do well. Lucifer in Paradise Lost, for example, is a character with motivations and issues. God, though, seems to float distantly above it all…nearly impossible to truly understand. I’m sure John Milton wasn’t implying that we should love one more than the other, but it is telling and insightful: we are imperfect and fascinated by imperfection. The villain is just a bit more human than the hero is.

Claims are made often that the "heel-face" distinction is getting stale or even falling away entirely. ECW’s faces and heels would often be determined entirely on the fly – who the crowd liked more by sheer charisma was the "face." While booking around crowd response will never die, neither should an insistence on strong storytelling.

You don’t have to look to far to find wrestling’s paradigm of villainy: Triple H. While his "face" turn seems inevitable, his work as a heel from 1999-2000 resulted in the most compelling and consistent WWF PPVs and weekly shows that I can remember. His build-up was all about a hungry wrestler, well known even then, looking for his shot at the top. When he won the Title, it was met with resounding doubts which actually worked well with his story: Triple H had something to prove and it was against seemingly insurmountable foes: Austin, The Rock, and the beloved Mankind.

The Championship meant everything to Triple H, and his title reigns were filled with boastful claims backed up by victories. As heart-breaking as each victory was to watch (ending Mick Foley’s career, for example), they built the mythology of a villain that could, when the chips were down, defeat our heroes. Further evidence was his victory at WrestleMania 2000, a previously unheard of feat for a "heel." Triple H was a true threat to The Rock’s successes, and he could win important matches.

He would also challenge a face on his own terms and come out ahead. Foley was bested in Hell in a Cell, Austin defeated in Street Fights and Cage Matches, the Rock overcome at the face-friendly WrestleMania. When he took on the Undertaker at WrestleMania X-7 in Houston to "end the streak"…there was a real feeling that only Triple H could pull it off.

Am I saying that all heels should be booked this way? Of course not. It’s impossible. Not all heels can be booked to win all the time…faces would seem overly weak. But if the WWF is going to insist on telling soap-opera style stories…at least it could take a few cues from the best of writing as opposed to the worst.

A fine example of a famous villain who has been untapped by wrestling is Iago. The villain of Shakespeare’s Othello has been proposed as one of the greatest villain characters in English Literature. The reason: brilliant, brutal and strangely oblique. Iago is never completely clear on why he hates Othello so much, though he gives several different and incomplete reasons. For those of you unfamiliar with the story: Iago turns the war hero Othello against his true love Desdemona. By orchestrating a series of coincidences into "evidence," of her unfaithfulness, Iago uses Othello’s jealousy to turn a great man into a murderous, petty lunatic. And all for what? Something only Iago truly understands. It’s a story about jealousy ("the green-eyed monster"). Have we ever truly seen this story played out effectively in wrestling?

Well…we have seen jealousy. Randy Savage was his own Iago, as he convinced himself way back in 1988 to hate Hulk Hogan for stealing Elizabeth. While the Megapowers Break-Up was overly staged and terribly acted by Hogan and Elizabeth…go watch a tape. Savage’s motivations and acting are fabulous. His best intentions and heroism had been eclipsed by his jealousy of Hogan’s success and his feelings for Elizabeth. It was, while it lasted, one of Savage’s best moments in the WWF: an utterly motivated and completely justified implosion of a beloved character.

What’s missing from the current storylines are moments of this kind of clarity: a defining moment or character flaw that makes the "bad guy" bad. Our closest is the Undertaker’s apparent desire to prove he is the WWF’s ultimate ass kisser. I mean, is there any other way to describe his current actions? Is that really a strong and interesting justification for his feud with RVD? Now that he doesn’t shout "Old School" before walking on the ropes…has he turned against the fans?

And what about Jericho? His turn was caused by, apparently, jealousy. But hating the Rock is like hating a popular jock in junior high; it’s perfectly reasonable if you think about it. The character’s frustration with losing big matches could be a great motivation for a sudden change of focus, viciousness, but currently, he’s just the old Jericho with a red ponytail.

Wrestling rehashes bad sitcom plotlines each week, performing them with only passing moments of adequacy. If Vince McMahon insists on making his show look like bad community theater each week…he might as well put on classics. I’d prefer watching Othello played out with a tag team to the "kiss my ass" story, and I’m sure anyone would. Spike and Molly was popular, and it was only Romeo and Juliet, with the Dudleyz and Hollys as the Montegue’s and Caplets. Why not take the best of literary villainy and put it to good use? As far as I’ve heard, Shakespeare is still public domain.

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