The heels need to use more underhanded in-ring tactics

[Mercury]

Is it just me, or are the heels in the WWE not using underhanded tactics as much as heels from past generations did? It just seems like a lot of today's heels are winning their matches clean. The only exceptions I can really think of are when heels are going up against guys like Cena and Ryback. I want to see more eye gauges and low blows while the ref is not looking; these elements can go a long way in successfully telling a good versus evil story.

Now don't get me wrong, not all heels, such as a monster like Mark Henry, need to use such tactics. But guys like Cody Rhodes, Damian Sandow and Dolph Ziggler need to get a bit dirtier with their in-ring work.

[Zeki]

To a certain degree. The outside interference is used a lot. I'd like to see more low blows, holding the tights, eye gouges and all that stuff though. More variation I guess. I don't think heels are winning clean that often at all though.

[Mercury]

To a certain degree. The outside interference is used a lot. I'd like to see more low blows, holding the tights, eye gouges and all that stuff though. More variation I guess. I don't think heels are winning clean that often at all though.

I don't know. Just seems to be when Rhodes, Ziggs, and Sandow pick up wins they tend to be clean. Sandow has gotten plenty of clean wins, especially during his first few months. A couple weeks ago Rhodes won over Kofi clean, which I had seen a few times before in the past. And I know Ziggler has AJ and Big E around to distract the competition, but I've seen plenty of clean Ziggy wins.

[BestInThe205]

I miss whenever these were actually used frequently. It would help put over the fact that we're not supposed to cheer for these guys. (I mean come on.. they're no good cheaters!)

[UltimateSavior]

I enjoy the fact they're downplaying those characteristics (at least from what I've seen). In my view, it makes the opposition just as creditable or more so than the opponent.

It seems to give more of a grey aspect to things, and I'm not talking about Attitude Era's version of grey; steps toward allowing folks to cheer and boo who they want instead of Creative and The Old Man telling you who to root for and boo.

[Summer of Punk]

Dolph needs to win clean LESS than he already does? What?

[The Champ]

What product are you watching where you think the heels win clean too much? Clean wins for heels are pretty rare these days.

[Old School Coco]

Are you being ironic to make a point about wrestling fans? Because I think I get it...

[spladle125]

Heels need to take notes from ric flair. Remember when he would always have brass knuckles in his shorts, beg off the face and poke them in the eye or hit a low blow and grabing the rope while doing the figure 4

[Mercury]

What product are you watching where you think the heels win clean too much? Clean wins for heels are pretty rare these days.

I've seen all the names I've mentioned win clean on multiple occasions. But with so much WWE programming on the airwaves, I guess it's hard to notice. Yes, a lot of finishes end up as smozzes (however you spell that), but plenty of matches these days have the sneaky heel pulling off the clean win. As I cited early, Cody over Kofi. Ziggs has hit the Zig Zag plenty of times and picked up the clean victory, but he does lose more than he wins. My problem, however, is not with the NUMBER of wins heels have, but HOW they win. I want to see heels use more underhanded tactics, such as eye gauges, face rakes, and low blows. I hope we call all at least agree on that.

[Doc Wallaby]

I'm actually going to agree with Mercury on this one, to an extent. The way WWE has tiered its superstars, it's pretty clear to see that there are a lot of heels who are just "above" a lot of the faces on the roster (Barrett, Cesaro, etc.) in terms of ability, and so the heels are rarely seen needing to cheat to get the win. Of course, when you get to the top-tier faces like Cena, Hunter, and Undertaker, the heels are so outclassed that even with their cheating they rarely stand a chance.

If WWE had a more level playing field across the roster (or knew how to book anymore, period), this wouldn't be an issue. Heels should, more often than not, cheat because they're heels--that way, midcard faces can save face when they lose and not look like failures. But that's never going to happen, so ... yeah.

[Michinokudriver]

One big problem is that I don't think fans would respond to cheating like they would in the past. The modern fan would respond better to someone who does whatever it takes, versus someone who sticks to the rules.

Another problem is that the 'E either goes full-out one way or the other; the heel is unstoppable like HHH or a chickenshit heel like JBL who couldn't beat Spike Dudley without help. Ideally, I'd like to see heels who are about as talented as their face counterparts, it's just that the heels wouldn't hesitate to cheat if things are not going their way.