I begin to wonder if WWE sometimes equates the PG rating with simplicity. I know there are only seven stories, but I didn't think the same was true of characters.  I thought those were able to be utterly diverse, even to extremes (at least in ECW :-) ).  Yet so often, there are basically two options offered: complete heel or complete face.  With this polariztion of potential characters, we tend to get stuck with guys and gals portraying the same thing over and over.

Look at Brian Kendrick.  The guy is basically Randy Orton-lite-and-extra-crispy.  RKO is an awesome heel, but we don't need a fat-free version.  I'll take real cream please.  I love Kendrick too; he was always amazing to watch with Paul London.  That high-flying style totally turns on the crowd.  Besides people love to love Kendrick - he's just so d**n cute!  So why is he stuck in this gimmick? Who woke up one morning and told the WWE gods "We need a zero calorie heel on SD."  ("What?!").  Why couldn't BK be something a little more complicated: a basically good guy who is a bit out of touch due to going back to competing singles full time?  Why couldn't he be someone with a little more down-to-earth issue and a little less glitter?

  A similar lack of ingeniuty pervades Michelle McCool's heel turn.  It demonstrates perfectly one of the the things that drives me nuts about WWE: the irrational character change -visible a mile away, based on the slimmest of motivations and utterly incompatible with just about everything the character has done in the recent past.  These strange about-faces always challenge my suspension of disbelief and play havoc with my enjoyment of the product. Again, why couldn't Michelle take the grace-under-fire root, even with a heel turn, just more gradually.  Is it necessary that she be an immediate 100% heel? Couldn't she be a face with some heel tendencies? Or let her be the Animal of the divas and walk alone, not really be associated with either the face divas or the heel divas (who logically shouldn't welcome her to their ranks with open arms).  Oooh - a wild card! Just imagine the story possibilities!   This is even somewhat set up with her attack on Victoria.  That was good writing! And the best part of her SD performance.  That made sense. Tip of Stetson to whoever came up with it!

That was one of the things that made Vickie Guerrero's character work so well.  No one could dispute her heel-ness. Then, she did something praiseworthy by creating the Divas title. It was out-of-character, but that hiccough of inconsistency made the character more believable and more interesting.  It worked beautifully, adding depth to the perception of VG's character without marring her heel status.  That's exactly the kind of thing WWE needs more of - a little complexity within simplicity.

(c) BE 2009