Wile-e Coyote and a talent to be loathed

There are few if any great heels left in the wrestling business.

Today's heels like to be loved not loathed.

That leaves a huge space open for wrestlers with a talent to be loathed.

If Sylvain Grenier can overcome his desire to be loved, he can become a great heel.

Grenier is in the same space once occupied by fellow Quebecois Rick Martel, before the latter morphed from pretty boy to loathesome Model. But Martel was way past his prime and too locked into the WWF system to take the gimmick to the next level.

Grenier on the other hand is at exactly the right point, body-wise and career-wise, for a successful transition. He's on the indy scene with a good size following in a very active Quebec wrestling scene that Grenier could cut a swathe through as a top heel.

All that's lacking is intensity or work rate and the desire to be loathed.

So what should Grenier do now to take it to the next level? Here are a few suggestions -

(1) kick the tailored plastic ring-look for something SLY .... between CMPunk, Rick Martel and the early ECW Shane Douglas;

(2) skill up the ring psychology. Playing 'chickenshit heel' comes 'naturally' to Grenier; we all like to see him boast, lie, cheat, toady, secure in the knowledge that he's going to get his COME-UPPANCE later in the match;

(3) intensity - brass knucks, exposed turnbuckles, folding chairs, security barriers, hockey sticks - are all great tools for ramping up adrenaline. The golden rule is NEVER STOP when your opponent is down or tied up in the ring ropes - IT'S TIME to start laying in with chairs, sticks, etc... on the ref, as well as opponent, when the ref gets in the way. Who cares about winning so long as your opponent gets injured;

(4) the denoument/reversal - preferably a trap, laid for your opponent, that BLOWS UP IN YOUR OWN FACE - like Wile-E-Coyote, it never gets old.

For those with access to the video, here's a match worth reviewing as a clinic in classic heel spite and disdain .....

The Fabulous Ones vs. Chavo & Hector Guerrero (Mexican Death Match) (1/24/86) - reviewed by Lee Benaka

"Looking back on this match, one could argue that the Fabs didn’t even care about trying to win, they just wanted to seriously injure someone. Expectations are seriously raised here that this feud between the Guerreros and the Fabs would be settled once and for all. I mean, it’s a MEXICAN Death Match. The ref has to stay outside the ring, except to count falls. No DQ. This should indeed be a “feud-settler,” to quote one of the announcers. But it just raises this feud up to another hateful level in the end. So here’s 10 ways to be a great heel in wrestling:

1. Flip off the crowd and your opponents a few times.
2. Mockingly dance to your opponents’ entrance music, and then hold your nose as they approach the ring.
3. Grab the mic from the safety of the ring floor and shout, “I never heard of this kind of stupid Mexican match…you make all the Mexican rules you want, we’re gonna kick your butts.”
4. Gesture to your opponent and the crowd to kiss your butt.
5. Repeatedly bite your opponent’s head, and then repeatedly headbutt the cut on your opponent’s head.
6. During the 30-second rest period after you’ve pinned your opponent, instead of letting him rest, kick him in the head a few times.
7. Run your opponent’s head into a chair.
8. After you pin your opponent, lounge around on the mat next to your opponent and do goofy leg stretches.
9. Grab the mic and taunt your opponents as your partner beats one of them down.
10. Grab your opponent’s legs as he lays prone on the mat while your partner hits him about 20 times in the chest with a chair, and drives the chair into this throat several times.

Bonus heel technique: Just leave the ring after beating your bloody opponent repeatedly with a chair, and don’t return to the ring after you are counted out."