underneath the professional exterior he was, and is, com

The Getting Over series aims to detail the psychological rules that the world of pro wrestling has developed over the past 100 years to draw the biggest houses and biggest fan reactions possible.Rule No. 1 - Its all about the money Rule No. 2 - Fans will hate a heel more if he can make them respect him Rule No. 3 - A baby face should be billed as a believable underdog Rule No. 4 - Always exaggerate, even when the truth is impressiveNature Boy Buddy Rogers was arguably the greatest heel in the history of professional wrestling. He drew huge audiences for nearly 20 years, including a then-record crowd of 38,622 fans for his 1961 National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) title match against Pat OConnor. Sam Muchnick, the legendary NWA promoter, once said Rogers was one of only three people in the history of the business who could draw an audience simply by having his name on the marquee. The battles between promoters over Rogers booking rights were so intense that it was a primary factor in Vince McMahon, Sr. seceding from the NWA and starting the WWWF (the predecessor to todays WWE) in 1963.So what made Rogers so successful in his heel role? It was his complete dedication to the next rule in the Getting Over series, which is:Rule No. 5: A heel should have no redeemable qualitiesWhy it worksPeople want to believe in the goodness of humanity, and therefore they will look for any redeemable trait in a heel that can foster that belief. If a heel can convince the audience that those redeeming traits dont exist, the audience will eventually stop looking for them and become convinced that theyre dealing with a truly bad person worthy of their unfiltered hate.Getting unfiltered hate certainly wasnt an issue for Rogers, as he didnt just follow this rule -- he actually lived it. Decorum does not allow for a verbatim quote of Rogers actual stated life philosophy, but the family friendly version is that he wanted to screw his friends over and be nice to his enemies, so his enemies would become his friends and he could screw them over, too.This was not lost on his contemporaries. The historical tome The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Heels quoted many wrestlers from Rogers era as saying he was a back-stabbing con man who wouldnt hesitate to actually hurt someone he was working with. Lou Thesz, the longest-reigning champion in NWA history and a real-life shooter (someone who could actually fight if the situation called for it) hated Rogers so much that he vowed never to lose to him, just out of principle.Crowds could sense this hatred and knew that Rogers, maybe more than any heel in the business, was someone they actually would hate in real life. It made the audience want to see Rogers get soundly beaten in the ring -- and it led to his awe-inspiring drawing power at the gate.Rescinding good deedsSometimes a heel has to convince the crowd that the redeeming qualities that used to define his character no longer exist.This was the case with Roddy Piper when he left the NWA for the WWF in 1984. Piper joined the NWA as a heel announcer opposite Gordon Solie, who was the most respected play-by-play man in the business. Solie was also as beloved by fans as most of the top in-ring stars, so when Piper rescued Solie from an attack by Don Muraco, it immediately showed fans a redeeming quality that pushed Piper to top babyface status.Since Piper was slated to be a heel in the WWF, it was imperative to convince viewers that the sympathetic trait Pipers character showed in saving Solie was an anomaly. Piper achieved this by doing every bad deed he could think of, a list that included forcibly cutting The Haiti Kids hair, using ethnic slurs to insult Bruno Sammartino, teaming with Bob Orton Jr. to bully Salvatore Bellomo, and kicking pop star Cyndi Lauper in the head after sneak-attacking Captain Lou Albano by smashing a framed gold record over his head.These acts drove home the idea that, even though Pipers character had redeemed himself by saving Solie, he was now rejecting that redemption and thus was worthy of the kind of pure contempt that draws huge audiences.A modern-day Buddy RogersRic Flair may be thought of as the modern-day version of Buddy Rogers because he adopted the Nature Boy moniker, and used Rogers strut to incite crowds, but Flair only copied Rogers mannerisms and didnt incite the same level of pure, unadulterated hatred that Rogers did.The modern-day wrestler who best fit the Rogers mold would have to be Shawn Michaels. His character started down the heel path by double-crossing his tag-team partner Marty Jannetty, but the crowd really turned on Michaels after he lost my smile, which was obviously an excuse to use his knee injury to get out of doing a job that would give the title to Bret Hart. This was not the only time Michaels was adamant about not doing a job, as The Undertaker indicated in a shoot interview that he had almost considered defeating Michaels in a real-life battle when Michaels pushed back about losing a match at WrestleMania.Add these incidents to The Montreal Screwjob, the most infamous double-cross in pro wrestling history, along with Michaels drug use, his repeated on-air use of profanity, crotch chops and occasional nudity (when he mooned the camera), and it shows Michaels wanted nothing to do with being redeemed. That isnt the case now, as Michaels has turned his life completely around, but at that time WWE announcer Jim Ross was right when he said Michaels was the most hated man both inside the ring and in the locker room.Even one redeeming quality is too manyWhen Kevin Owens won the WWE Universal title in a fatal four-way match in September, he by all rights should have received a heels reaction. After all, his character has been a heel in the WWE since sneak-attacking John Cena in his Raw debut ?and he only won the Universal title with the help of multiple Pedigrees delivered by an interfering Triple H. The crowd didnt see it this way, however, as they chanted, YOU DESERVE IT! after Triple H raised Owens hand in victory.So what accounts for the disconnect? A lot of it probably has to do with the person Owens portrays off-air. Owens comes across a very likable person on social media and its very clear he is a great family man. The crowd pays attention to these redeemable traits, and its why Owens got the babyface reaction with the title win; its also why he will almost certainly be making a very popular babyface turn at some point in the future. Juan Soto Jersey . Numbers Game looks into the Canadiens securing the services of Thomas Vanek in a trade with the New York Islanders. The Canadiens Get: LW Thomas Vanek and a conditional fifth-round pick. Matt Adams Nationals Jersey . Pirlo limped out of Sundays 1-0 win over Udinese after just 13 minutes. Juventus says Pirlo underwent tests on Monday which revealed he has "a second-degree lesion to the collateral medial ligament in his right knee. https://www.cheapnationals.com/1717r-anthony-rendon-jersey-nationals.html . He just needed to be his best twisting, turning acrobatic self. "I didnt need to be anybody else, I just needed to be myself and be aggressive," said Burks, who scored a career-high 34 points to spark the Utah Jazz to a 118-103 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. Wander Suero Nationals Jersey . -- If Henry Burris has his way, he will be the starting quarterback to lead the Hamilton Tiger-Cats back to the Grey Cup next year. Jayson Werth Nationals Jersey . Anthony Calvillo, through 20 CFL seasons, was frequently invincible and largely stoic in the heat of competition. But underneath the professional exterior he was, and is, compellingly human. MILWAUKEE -- Andrew Rowsey hit six 3-pointers and scored 22 points, Jaquan Johnson had a double-double, and Marquette pulled away from St. Francis 78-65 on Monday night, exactly 60 years since their last meeting in 1956.Haanif Cheatham contributed 18 points for the Golden Eagles (8-3). Johnson, Sam Hauser and Luke Fischer had 11 points apiece with Johnson grabbing 11 rebounds and delivering six assists, both career-highs.Marquette opened an 18-point lead in the first half and led 44-33 at the half as Rowsey had four 3s and 14 points..ddddddddddddThe Golden Eagles, who were shooting 49.9 percent coming in, went cold in missing nine straight shots and the Red Flash were within six after two Isaiah Blackmon free throws with 3:44 to go. But Hauser delivered two 3s and Rowsey hit another and the lead was 15 with 1:21 to play.Blackmon and Jamaal King had 18 points apiece for the Red Flash (3-7), who won that last meeting in Milwaukee 79-72. ' ' '