Examining When Hearing Boos Is Best for Business for WWE

Traditionally, good guys are cheered, and bad guys are booed. But when it comes to pro wrestling, it's not always that simple.

If you are a member of the WWE Universe, you fall into one of three categories:

• You always cheer for babyfaces and boo heels.
• You always cheer for heels and boo babyfaces.
• You choose who you boo and cheer for based on personal preference.

WWE management loves the first group because those people help the company tell stories more effectively, but over time, more people have shifted into one of the other two.

When wrestling first became popular in mainstream culture during the '80s, it was almost unheard of for a bad guy to be cheered. It was an unwritten agreement between wrestlers and fans. If Superstars worked hard to sell their characters, the audience would respond accordingly.

As the internet became more accessible, fans became more informed, which changed the experience of being a wrestling fan forever.

Should We Boo Heels We Like?

WWE officials want fans to engage with the product no matter how they choose, but if Vince McMahon had his way, people would go back to simply liking the heroes and hating the villains.

After all, nobody who reads Batman is hoping The Joker will finally kill The Dark Knight. Well, maybe some people do, but they are few and far between.

Having the ability to choose how to react to specific wrestlers is our right as fans, but it doesn't mean it's always the best thing for the men and women in the ring.

When someone like Seth Rollins, who is one of the best heels in the company, is getting more cheers than John Cena, it becomes harder for WWE to tell a good story.

Rollins tries his best to be as despicable as possible and can often make the crowd hate him with a few simple lines of dialogue, but many fans will always be on his side because he's so talented.

If you think about it, booing Rollins would be a better way to show our appreciation, because we'd be giving him the reaction he is looking for.

He most likely appreciates when we show our love with a standing ovation, but as someone who is trying to be a villain, surely he would rather be booed out of an arena. It's one of those cases where booing is best for business.

We're not supposed to like heels, but some of them are so entertaining, it becomes impossible to hate them. Take Kevin Owens, for example.

Owens is intelligent and funny, and when he has a mic in his hand, few in the industry can touch him. His insults are always some of the most entertaining moments of any show he appears on, especially when he is talking to Renee Young.

If you think about it, booing those who are trying their best to be antagonists not only helps the story move forward but also lets those Superstars know they are doing a good job in their roles.

Any Reaction Is a Good Reaction

We have already discussed fans cheering bad guys, but the bigger issue is fans booing good guys.

Cena and Roman Reigns are supposed to be the two biggest babyfaces in WWE, but when they enter any arena in the country, it's practically a guarantee they will receive more heat than whichever heel they are facing.

You would think management would hear these reactions and think, "Maybe these guys don't deserve the push we are giving them." But you would be wrong. As long as Superstars get a loud response, WWE will continue to feature them.

There's no doubt that people boo these guys because they don't like them, but if those fans really want Cena and Reigns to go away, being loud isn't going to get it done.

The only way for the WWE Universe to stop someone from being used is to be completely silent. No reaction is the worst possible reaction for a Superstar.

Look at Primo and Epico. WWE spent several weeks hyping their return with video packages, but when they finally made their first appearance after being repackaged, the arena was as quiet as a library.

That's why we haven't seen them in action on Raw or SmackDown since. They are gifted wrestlers, but their gimmick didn't connect with the crowd because nobody knew if they were heels or babyfaces. All we knew about them was how much they love Puerto Rico.

Cena has been getting mixed-to-negative reactions for years but is still one of the most featured Superstars on the roster because the audience is so loud when he makes his entrance.

It might not seem logical to think booing babyfaces would keep them in heavy rotation, but that is exactly how it works when it comes to the top stars in the company.

Conclusion

The WWE Universe is the most vocal group of fans in the world, but we might want to think about how our reactions sometimes have the opposite effect we intend them to have.

If we like certain heels, it's actually better to boo them, and if we dislike certain faces, being silent is worse for them than any amount of heckling.

Nobody is saying you should be a mindless drone who only reacts the way WWE management wants you to, but sometimes it's better for the story if we play along, especially if we want those involved in said story to succeed.

Thanks for reading, and follow me on Twitter: @BR_Doctor.