Jim Ross Explains Why Wrestling Needs Heels and Babyfaces

WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross recently criticized the current use of heels and babyfaces in the current WWE product. He presented his position on the subject Tuesday morning in the form of a blog post on his website, JRsBarBQ.com. Thursday, Ross went back to his website to further explain why, in his opinion, professional wrestling needs clearly defined babyfaces and heels to work.

Ross begins by saying,

“Been asked a great deal of why I feel that it’s imperative for pro wrestling to have heroes and villians….protagonists and antagonists…babyfaces and heels. How many great movies or TV shows have you seen or how many books have you read to where there wasn’t a definitive hero or villain. Villains can take many shapes and forms whether it be war, disease, a bully, a coward, a cheat, etc. Great villains in the sports entertainment genre are people that a fan will  pay to see them get their ass beat. It’s a simple formula that is timeless.

Obviously, today’s pro wrestling villains come in different presentations, more often than not ill planned, but nonetheless having antagonists who people want to see get their mouth shut and ass whipped still sells. In real life there is a fine line, in many cases, between good and evil. However, TV wrestling isn’t real life. It’s show biz and most every show biz presentation that you or I have ever enjoyed had a hero and a villain component.

He concludes his thoughts on the subject by saying,

“These two entities, the good guy and the bad guy, both from opposite sides of their own exclusive fences come together to eventually compete for championships while along the way they have a clearly established personal issue with which the average viewer can relate. Question….when San Antonio visits OKC to play the Thunder what team are the ‘villains?’ Easy, right? Plus, it happens every game day in football. The home team play the role of the fan favorites while the visitors are generally the overwhelming antagonists.”