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In Professional Wrestling , heat means getting a reaction from the crowd. This could either be cheers for a Babyface or boos for a Heel . When a wrestler draws a lot of heat, it usually means that he/she is Over with the fans. The Booker will almost always Push the wrestler who garners the most heat, as it means that he is popular (or unpopular, in the case of heels) with the crowd. CHEAP HEAT Cheap heat is drawn by heels who blatantly insult the fans and insult the city/town where they are, so that the crowd will boo them. This is an easy way for heels to receive heat. Faces will sometimes do the equivalent (referred to as a '''cheap pop'''), showing knowledge of the town and promising to "win one for them," etc. Mick Foley would notably incorporate both of the above into his stint as WWF Commissioner. After Triple H called attention to the fact that Foley would go after cheap pops, the Commissioner began exaggeratedly and comically reminding hometown fans that he was about to book a match "right here in (the home city)!" He would then pause to give the fans a thumbs-up and soak in the applause. This became such a trademark line that the DVD of Foley's career highlights from that era was titled ''Hard Knocks and Cheap Pops''. The Rock was also known for implementing cheap heat during his attitude persona. One of his more famous lines "Finally, The Rock, has come back..." would end with the name of the city he was currently in. This would often get the crowd pumped. Heel wrestlers can also draw cheap heat by referring to a mainstream news event as part of their Promo , especially if the event has strongly emotional or political ramifications (e.g., a natural disaster), although they sometimes do not mention it by name. For instance, World Heavyweight Champion Triple H drew upon heavy media coverage of Terri Schiavo in a promo for his '' WrestleMania 21 '' World Heavyweight Championship match against Batista when he contended that "no judge or jury" would be able to save Batista from an embarrassing pinfall loss in their title match. Even though Triple H never mentioned Schiavo's name, many fans knew that he was referring to the brain-damaged woman who was at the center of a bitter legal battle (over whether her feeding tube — which had been removed days earlier via court order — should be replaced or if she should be allowed to die), and as a result he was roundly booed. During the build up to '' Wrestlemania 22 '', Randy Orton was widely accused of attempting to draw cheap heat by making derogatory claims about Eddie Guerrero , who had died three months earlier, during his promos. During the often drew cheap heat as part of his Iraq i sympathizer traitor heel Gimmick . At '' Survivor Series 1990 '', Slaughter thoroughly insulted servicemen stationed in Iraq for Thanksgiving , at one point suggesting that the soldiers were served "hot turkey sandwich" as their Thanksgiving meal. Cheap heat can also be gained by insulting the local city or local sports team. A good example of this was in 2000 with Edge , Christian , and Kurt Angle 's "five-second poses" that usually insulted the local sports team or area itself. These included the three lampooning former Indiana University Head Coach Bobby Knight choking a player, insulting the state of Kentucky with a "jug band," and poking fun at Buffalo by re-enacting former Buffalo Bills kicker Scott Norwood 's missed field goal in their Super Bowl XXV loss to the New York Giants . Other methods of drawing cheap heat include blatantly breaking the rules, e.g. using the ropes to gain leverage on a Pin , bringing in foreign objects (sledgehammers, two-by-fours), or running away from an opponent in a show of cowardice. CANNED HEAT Canned heat is the sound of fans cheering or booing, played through the arena's sound system or added into a taped show. This is done to cover up "dead heat" for viewers watching the shows on TV , by making it seem like the fans in attendance were cheering/booing when in fact they were not. However, canned heat is sometimes added when a promoter wants to push a wrestler as a face or heel, especially when fans are perceived to be cheering or booing inappropriately (also, if a promoter is in the process of turning a face into heel and vice versa). For instance, at the '' 1992 Royal Rumble '', Sid Justice had eliminated fellow face wrestler Hulk Hogan , and on the original PPV broadcast, announcer Gorilla Monsoon had commented that Justice had played by the rules; a good share of the fans were cheering. However, on the WWF's syndicated programs that replayed the final moments of the main event a week later, canned heat was added to make it appear that Justice, who Turned heel weeks later, was being heavily booed; also, new comments were added with Monsoon portraying Justice as betraying Hogan and color commentator Bobby Heenan voicing his enthusiastic approval. A slight variation of canned heat was when Goldberg began his winning streak in WCW , and the sounds of fans chanting his name were played through the sound systems. DEAD HEAT Dead heat is the absence of heat during a match. It can be one of the worst things that can happen to a wrestler, as it often times means that the fans are bored with watching his or her matches. A wrestler who draws dead heat may be reduced to being a Jobber . Or if the booker sees potential in him, he is given a new gimmick with hopes that he will now be over with the crowd. Of course, dead heat may not always come from crowd disapproval. For example, when Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho wrestled a match during the WWE's trip to Japan, they received dead heat during much of the match. However, the roaring applause and cheering that occurred during breaks in the action indicated that the dead heat was due to the audience being intensely focused on the matchup itself; Benoit won the match and promptly received a loud standing ovation from the fans. This type of cheering is very common in Puroresu matches. X-PAC HEAT X-Pac heat is heat drawn by people with whom the fans are legitimately bored or annoyed. Boos are typically a desired reaction in pro wrestling, indicating that the crowd is interested. A wrestler that the crowd cares enough to hate is a wrestler who will draw strong Ratings and Buyrates . However, the audience will also sometimes boo wrestlers because they're bored and would rather be watching someone else. If they weren't at the show live, they might change the channel, or in the case of a pay-per-view, not bother to order the show at all. The difference can be subtle, and interpretations can vary. There's often no way to tell the difference between the reaction to a well-crafted Heel and a character the fans simply wish would go away. Some fans argue that the phenomenon doesn't even exist at all. Triple H and Jeff Jarrett are both pointed to as evidence - both are frequently accused of generating X-Pac heat, due to their massive amounts of screen time, repetitive performances and perceived arrogance. However, critics point out, this simply makes fans more eager to see them lose. Unlike Triple H and Jeff Jarrett, who have received this heat while playing heels and more importantly because of the perception that both use their backstage powers to put themselves over other wrestlers, for the win. Fans are also frustrated that the WWE continues to push Cena as a face. The most recent example of this failing is the April 3 , 2006 '' Monday Night RAW '' main event in which Cena lost to Triple H and Edge. The fans were cheering Edge and booing Cena, in stark contrast to earlier in the night when Edge's appearance was greeted with boos due to his recent feud with Mick Foley. Nothing happened in between to account for the fans supporting Edge—showing that despite Cena being pushed as a face, the fans are cheering ''anyone'' fighting him, and they want him to lose the title. The concept takes its name from Sean "X-Pac" Waltman , who became famous for this type of reaction. In the latter part of his WWE career, Waltman's entrances were often some of the loudest of the night, even though the reaction was typically nothing but disdain and mild annoyance. Booing and loudly chanting 'boring' until he went away became something of a running gag for audiences who had no interest in seeing the aging star in action. TRIBUTE HEAT Tribute Heat is heat generated for wrestlers who have a connection to a popular but absent superstar. For several months after the November 2005 death of Eddie Guerrero , his nephew Chavo Guerrero received tribute heat, as did close friend Rey Mysterio . Christian received tribute heat in 2003 when The Rock dubbed him "his new favorite superstar," and Christian co-opted and adapted some of the Rock's more popular catch phrases (The Rock's "the people" became Christian's "the peeps."). The Rock's movie career had already taken off at this point, and in his absence, heat for the Rock was directed towards Christian. Eugene received tribute heat during his matches due to his mimicking of legendary wrestlers' signature moves. Likewise, in the event of an injury, wrestlers involved in a mentor/protége angle can receive tribute heat; Team Angle , protegès of Kurt Angle , received tribute heat due to their association with him, though he was absent due to a neck injury during some of their popularity. A bizarre example of this was during an episode of '' SmackDown! ''. Supposed TV executive Palmer Cannon came down to the ring to absolutely no response. After he had entered, the Undertaker's music played throughout the arena, sending the crowd into a frenzy of cheers. However, when it became clear that The Undertaker was not involved with the segment, and his music stopped playing, the crowd started booing loudly. This gave the impression that they were booing Palmer Cannon. LEGIT HEAT Heat can also refer to two or more wrestlers or others in the wrestling business who have a legitimate disagreement with or dislike for one another. This is sometimes referred to as '''legit heat''' but just as often simply as heat. For example: " Linda Miles had heat with WWE management after repeatedly showing up late for OVW training sessions" or " Ric Flair and Bret Hart have had heat with one another for many years, most recently due to Flair writing negative statements about Hart in his Autobiography ." SEE ALSO |
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