Wednesdaymania 2

Yesterday, news that the WWE has released pro wrestler “Big Cass” hit the internet. Release is, of course, a fancy corporate term for “fired”, but since wrestlers operate under contracts, firing is not really a thing in the WWE (unless it’s for a storyline, then they’re fired). Rumor has it that the reason Cass was let go was that he had “major heat” backstage. That’s as good a topic for a post as any, am I right?

So what is “heat,” in a pro-wrestling context?

There’s a few different meanings to heat, and they’re all related to where it’s happening. When you’re a bad-guy character (a heel), and you’re in front of the crowd, getting heat is the thing to do. That means you’re making the crowd not like you and cheer for your opponent. It’s possible to go too far, though. Look at the crowd’s reaction to Jinder Mahal – that’s an example of “shut up and go home” heat. If you look at a masterful heel, like Ric Flair (he was absolutely a heel back in the day before he was everyone’s tipsy grandpa), you’d see crowds that hated him and loved him in equal measure. That’s good heat. You want that kind of heat. You want the crowd to buy tickets to see you, even if it’s to see you get beaten to a pulp by whoever the good guy (or face) is.

There are levels of heat, like with a chili pepper. There’s no definitive unit by which to measure the heat, but there are names for the threshholds.

Good Heat gets a heel “over” - it means that the crowd loves watching them. Some masters of good heat have been Ric Flair, Rick Rude, and the Rock.

Bad Heat gets a heel dumped on by the crowd. They don’t want to see them. They’re still going to watch the match if they like the face/good guy, though. Bad Heat is what Jinder Mahal brings to the table. Weirdly enough, it’s also what Roman Reins has, so… that takes us to our next level.

Shut Up and Go Home Heat is what happens when the crowd loathes the match or the wrestler in question. I’d argue that a Jinder/Reins match has that heat. Prince Iaukea had this kind of heat with me – I do not like watching his matches at all, regardless of who else is in the ring.

Nuclear Heat is what happens when things either go to far (like if the wrestler has legitimately injured another person or if they’ve done something heinous in real life or if they’re so terrible in the ring/on the microphone that people want them gone). For me, the Nuclear Heat guy today is Taichi from New Japan, who I wish would stop wrestling. Seriously, the only things I like about him are his valet Miho Abe and he pimp ass opening. And then you realize he’s going to wrestle. Ugh.

None of these levels of heat are what get people fired. That’s the other kind of heat – backstage heat.

Backstage Heat is what people call the tension and dislike that surround any particular person when they’re not in the ring. Basically, it’s interpersonal problems that any other company would either try to resolve or just fire the problem. In wrestling, it’s more complicated because sometimes the guy with the worst heat backstage is the guy who’s making you the most money – Shawn Michaels and Hulk Hogan were notorious in the heat they got backstage. Sometimes, though, the heat is too strong, and out a guy goes. This is what’s happened to Big Cass, from what I hear.

It would explain why the cameras would always make it seem like his entrance video said “Big Ass” instead of Big Cass…

That’s been Wednesdaymania for this week, folks.

Go Out There And Enjoy Something!

(Maybe NJPW Dominion 2018… that is a very enjoyable show)

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