>>12954381That's a valid and interesting point in regards to what constitutes go-away heat these days. The intended meaning of heat is the kind that makes you want to stick around just to see how much of a beating this bad guy is going to take, which is partially motivated by how much you're buying into the babyface as a hero, and therein lies the whole problem. The majority does not believe in the faces anymore, they're seen as mere tropes or platitudes, since the guys in the ring don't mean what they say, and they have been booked horribly for a long time now. Cena, at the very least, represented certain core values that are easily identifiable and regarded as somewhat noble. He rarely betrayed the outlines set by those values. Same with Tanahashi on the other side of the pacific. Can you really say the same thing about Seth or Drew or MJF or any one of those milquetoast excuses of a babyface?
Basic Hero vs Villain storytelling has been eschewed for the sake of more meta bullshit, and for what? No wonder the fans don't want to stick around when their senses are being treated as a nothing more than a joke.
