The Rundown: Hair, Beards, and…Evil?

The Rundown is a bi-weekly opinion column about the WWE’s SmackDown program.

Take a look at the man on the right. It doesn’t take a Star Trek fan to know that we are looking at a twisted, diabolical doppelganger. This ladies and gentlemen is “evil” Spock and how do we know that he’s the bad Spock.

Source: amazingben.com

He has facial hair.

Using facial hair has always been a popular way wrestling has told a story and enforced a personalities turn towards evil. After all, there are only so many ways someone can make a heel turn, the most convincing being the classic physical betrayal. This happens between friends or tag team partners and irrevocably changes their relationship forever. Prominent examples of this include: Shawn Michaels throwing his tag team partner Marty Jannetty through a glass window and Larry Zbyszko hitting his mentor Bruno Sammartino with a chair.

But after you make the face to heel to switch, how do you enforce it? Changing your attire works, but doesn’t everyone change their attire a dozen times in a career? Having a manager or gang that you run with also works, but often times it leads a wrestler down the path of not being able to win on their own, therefore hurting the wrestlers credibility and creating matches that are often predictable. Last, you can change your name. This leads me to a certain Hulk Hogan.

Source: phillysportsphan.blogspot.com

I think “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan set the true facial hair heel turn precedent. After betraying his long time friend and rival Randy Savage at WCW’s 1996 Bash at the Beach, Hogan allied himself with the Outsiders Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. The next week he appeared on the Monday Night Nitro program to new music, a new name, and new attire. To top it all off, and to truly set the tone for this monumental heel turn; Hogan grew out a fine five o’clock shadow and dyed it black. Alongside his trademark blonde handlebar mustache, this created a stark and shocking image. Hogan had gone to the dark side.

In the past few months SmackDown has returned to the use of facial hair to reinforce the heel turns of some their most beloved wrestlers. Let’s take a look.

Batista

I have always found Batista a very likable guy, but as a wrestler he can be bit of bore. The WWE creative team found it time for him to make the heel turn and what better way then to attack his friend, Rey Mysterio. At Bragging Rights, Batista appeared with a beard, commonly referred to as a “klingon” (a beard with no mustache) and just went absolutely wild on Mysterio throwing him all over the ring. Although after the event Batista’s beard has come and gone, it seems to be hanging around.

Since Batista has not made any changes to his wardrobe and his entrance theme (although he has no longer come out to his pyrotechnics) it appears that the beard is what the creative team is relying to help reinforce the switch. But lately his dialogue and promos have helped him more in this switch even going as far to speak ill of the late Eddie Guerrero.

Rey Mysterio

Although Rey is far from a heel, when I came back to wrestling I noticed that he had this bizarre, tied up mini-goatee. Going into his match at Survivor Series with the bearded Batista, Rey has shaved his goatee, and has truly returned to his baby face status. I believe this came about because of the recent rating switch of the WWE to a PG rating. It just shows the WWE taking an extra step in showing who is bad and who is good.

CM Punk

In the past few weeks CM Punk has been filling in his goatee and mutton chops with a full beard. This was when I noticed the return of the heel with a beard in the WWE modern era (also the return of a wrestler with chest hair). Punk, of course, is coming out currently as the most hated of the WWE’s superstars with a strong straightedge gimmick that often has him putting down the crowd for their abuse of drugs. In the past Punk grew a beard when he was ECW champion but it was short lived.

Chris Jericho

Source: about.com

Well known in his career for his long locks and wild facial hair, Jericho cut his hair and shaved a few years back upon his second return to the WWE. The change in appearance was extreme but worked well for Jericho. Since his return, Jericho is as beloved as ever, regardless if he is performing as a heel or a face and this will continue until the end of his career. Jericho is just that good of a performer and although he gets booed now, people still love him and will be happy to pay money to see him in the ring. Hair or not.

As we can see, SmackDown has seen a resurgence of the use or hair, both on the head, body, and face to help sell a story. Now, when CM Punk returns to face status will he shave and cut his hair? Will Jericho take an extended break and let his hair grow back? When Batista is done being mean will he shave and let his hair grow back in? Who knows? But if things stay the course, I say it’s pretty likely.

Check out the TWD 50 and see where CM Punk, Chris Jericho, Batista, and Rey Mysterio end up in the Internets best professional wrestling talent countdown!

Make sure to check out World of SmackDown every week for the best in recaps, results, and analysis.