WWE Capitol Punishment 2011: Comparing the Heel Turns of R-Truth and Christian

The co-main events of WWE Capitol Punishment in Washington, D.C. will feature two of WWE's newest (and hottest) heels. 

While the two veteran renegade superstars couldn't be more opposite to the naked eye, the recent booking of each character is both simple and effective. 

In a time where most heel characters wear suits and speak eloquently, both R-Truth and Christian have opted to take a more dressed down, sadistic route in their respective decisions to flip the fans, and their favorite superstars, the bird. 

R-Truth has quickly developed into the most refreshing character on the RAW brand.  Following the WWE draft, one of the tricky motifs that stood out was the amount of top echelon heels saddled with the RAW brand.  Alberto Del Rio, CM Punk and the Miz were all to be featured on RAW following a draft necessitated by top babyface Edge's sudden retirement. 

Of all the top flight heel characters on RAW, R-Truth, then entrenched in a familiar role as a midcard babyface, was the last name one would figure to emerge from the crowded crop of stars to become a top contender for the WWE Championship.

But following a costly loss on the April 18th edition of RAW from the O2 Arena, R-Truth was booked to attack John Morrison following a match for Truth's WWE Title shot.

Since one of the more unique heel turns in recent memory, a turn capped off by R-Truth smoking a cigarette, R-Truth has not looked back. 

Truth has complemented a common street thug persona with just the right amount of delusion.  Truth's rants, that became the source of a metaphorically hilarious "Lil' Jimmy" character who just wants to see R-Truth sing and dance and put a smile on his face, only added to the entertainment value of his attention-grabbing rebirth. 

Some nit-pick at Truth's at-times over-the-top wackiness, fearing he won't be taken seriously as an antagonist who could defeat John Cena when push finally comes to shove. 

Yet I would argue that Truth's delusion, coupled with a mean streak that has resulted in the (storyline) long-term injury to John Morrison, makes him more dangerous than any conformist slow-talking heel that RAW has to offer. 

One minute he's lampooning the South by animatedly marching to the ring in a Confederacy uniform, the next he's accosting members of the live crowd before malignantly turning his ire to WWE Champion and consummate hero John Cena.

Nobody knows what R-Truth going to do next, and it makes for compelling television.  Whether or not such an act could save WWE's dismal pay-per-view business, however, is an entirely different story. 

Christian did his best to add value to the championship, and did an honorable job, yet real life sentiments of Vince McMahon being down on Christian as a main eventer had created an almost impenetrable glass ceiling for WWE veteran. 

Fan support, hard work and the untimely retirement of Edge, gave way to an unlikely opportunity for Christian to finally capture the World Championship.  Following Christian's feel-good win over Alberto Del Rio for the vacant World Championship at WWE Extreme Rules, in perhaps the most babyface way one can win a major championship, Christian was booked to drop the championship to Randy Orton just five days later.

While the controversial decision created real-life outrage amongst longtime Christian fans, the Christian character would eventually ostracize himself from the WWE Universe as he paid off a long awaited heel turn by attacking Randy Orton. 

The Christian heel character is not as far along in his development as R-Truth's character, but he shows equal promise if not more.  Christian has already been to the top of the heap before, albeit for five days, and should his character effectively evolve through the strong mic work and good matches and antics one has come to expect from Christian, another unlikely run with the championship could be in Christian's future. 

This would be a mistake, as it would just dilute the most intriguing personality on the SmackDown brand—next to Todd Grisham of course—reducing Christian to just another slow-talking heel in a suit .

With WWE's pay-per-view buys doing their impression of Anthony Weiner's career, WWE has reached out to veteran talents, and longtime babyfaces, for something new to get them from point A to point B. 

The elephant in the room speaks of both Christian and R-Truth being placement holders for Randy Orton and John Cena, respectively, as each awaits a younger, potential breakout challenger. 

While the future is now for WWE, it certainly is refreshing to see a pair of veteran talents carry the load as WWE still tries to figure out this whole youth movement thing. 

Big Nasty is a contributor to FightLife Magazine.  Follow him on Twitter @ThisIsNasty.