Heath Slater Is the Greatest WWE Superstar in the History

[cero2k]

Source: bleacher report

Facetious title aside, nobody has taken an inch and made a mile as of late like Heath Slater has during his entertaining segments with WWE legends.

Slater is virtually being positioned to flop, singing his so-bad-it's-good "One Man Band" tune, while obnoxiously making his presence felt in a segment where he is destined to compete with the referee as the least most important superstar in the ring.

It's easy to dismiss Slater's consistent losses as bad booking that will hurt him in the long run, given the quick and one-sided nature of his losses.

However, Slater's status as a relative unknown, despite his stint with the once high-profile Nexus stable, makes weekly exposure on WWE TV alongside popular stars from the past invaluable.

In spite of taking a series of losses, Slater has done what has become increasingly difficult in today's jaded WWE landscape by becoming a heel who consistently draws boos as opposed to antihero cheers from the ubiquitous and defiant pocket of smart fans.

Slater's heel heat from calling out WWE legends could easily carry momentum into other programs once Slater is done losing and if the WWE ever decides to take him seriously.

As a former FCW Heavyweight Champion, Slater has been around the WWE system for years now, working in WWE developmental since 2006.

Slater's stamp as a WWE guy will only help him politically amidst a suddenly changing landscape where WWE has welcomed an influx of talent who cut their teeth on the independent scene.

Heath Slater is on to something, as he is finally getting time to develop what has always been a promising character. It may be only a matter of time before this one-man rock band goes platinum.

[Big Red Machine]

I'm calling utter BS here. In no way will constantly getting squashed by guys who- main eventers or not- have not wrestled in 10 years.

[badnewzxl]

What they're doing with him now is keeping him relevant and giving him a chance to build his character. He's still pretty new to the WWE Universe, so I don't think losing to older guys hurts him that much, esp when the fans eat it up.

I didn't know he'd been there since 06, tho....

[Big Red Machine]

What they're doing with him now is keeping him relevant and giving him a chance to build his character. He's still pretty new to the WWE Universe, so I don't think losing to older guys hurts him that much, esp when the fans eat it up.

I didn't know he'd been there since 06, tho....

What they are doing now... that's not character building. Character building involves an exploration of your motivations and your mindset. Helping us understand why you will react in a certain way in a certain situation. Character-building is stuff that CHIKARA does in its blogs. Character building is Cena's promo on the Rock from early this year where he says that he loves being a pro wrestler. Character building is Michael Shane telling us that he loves the Code of Honor because he loves the fact that it humiliates his opponents to force them to shake his hand after he beats them. Character building is Dolph Ziggler being a show-off.

Character building is not TV time. We have learned nothing about Heath Slater's character through these squashes and segments. All we have learned is that he can't even last a few minutes against a bunch of old guys.

[badnewzxl]

What they're doing with him now is keeping him relevant and giving him a chance to build his character. He's still pretty new to the WWE Universe, so I don't think losing to older guys hurts him that much, esp when the fans eat it up.

I didn't know he'd been there since 06, tho....

What they are doing now... that's not character building. Character building involves an exploration of your motivations and your mindset. Helping us understand why you will react in a certain way in a certain situation. Character-building is stuff that CHIKARA does in its blogs. Character building is Cena's promo on the Rock from early this year where he says that he loves being a pro wrestler. Character building is Michael Shane telling us that he loves the Code of Honor because he loves the fact that it humiliates his opponents to force them to shake his hand after he beats them. Character building is Dolph Ziggler being a show-off.

Character building is not TV time. We have learned nothing about Heath Slater's character through these squashes and segments. All we have learned is that he can't even last a few minutes against a bunch of old guys.

what I'VE learned from the past few weeks is that Slater is a big goof. I LIKE seeing him get beat up just like I use to like seeing Disco Inferno and Alex Wright in WCW. I enjoy seeing him lose and that makes him PERFECT as a character in the WWE. Koko B. Ware, Brooklyn Brawler, Scotty 2 Hotty, Santino; guys I associate with constantly losing and remaining relevant despite (and some times because of) it. I feel like Slater getting punked by Flo Rida and squashed by past superstars is entertaining now AND can easily be turned into a major push for the guy. They've put the guy in segments over the past few weeks that a LOT of people wanted to see; everyone wanted to see who was the next "cameo" on the build towards episode 1000 and Slater got tv time AND mic time every single week. Whenever you get that much and that kind of exposure, people remember those events and associate you with them. Getting squashed, punked, and disrespected is the PERFECT groundwork for a major jump. Slater is getting over as a jobber; if you can get over losing, you can get over winning as well, imo....

[Verdun]

Whenever I see Heath Slater I ask myself why I'm not seeing Antonio Cesaro.

On a side note, I'm siding with BRM on this one.

[Big Red Machine]

What they're doing with him now is keeping him relevant and giving him a chance to build his character. He's still pretty new to the WWE Universe, so I don't think losing to older guys hurts him that much, esp when the fans eat it up.

I didn't know he'd been there since 06, tho....

What they are doing now... that's not character building. Character building involves an exploration of your motivations and your mindset. Helping us understand why you will react in a certain way in a certain situation. Character-building is stuff that CHIKARA does in its blogs. Character building is Cena's promo on the Rock from early this year where he says that he loves being a pro wrestler. Character building is Michael Shane telling us that he loves the Code of Honor because he loves the fact that it humiliates his opponents to force them to shake his hand after he beats them. Character building is Dolph Ziggler being a show-off.

Character building is not TV time. We have learned nothing about Heath Slater's character through these squashes and segments. All we have learned is that he can't even last a few minutes against a bunch of old guys.

what I'VE learned from the past few weeks is that Slater is a big goof. I LIKE seeing him get beat up just like I use to like seeing Disco Inferno and Alex Wright in WCW. I enjoy seeing him lose and that makes him PERFECT as a character in the WWE. Koko B. Ware, Brooklyn Brawler, Scotty 2 Hotty, Santino; guys I associate with constantly losing and remaining relevant despite (and some times because of) it. I feel like Slater getting punked by Flo Rida and squashed by past superstars is entertaining now AND can easily be turned into a major push for the guy. They've put the guy in segments over the past few weeks that a LOT of people wanted to see; everyone wanted to see who was the next "cameo" on the build towards episode 1000 and Slater got tv time AND mic time every single week. Whenever you get that much and that kind of exposure, people remember those events and associate you with them. Getting squashed, punked, and disrespected is the PERFECT groundwork for a major jump. Slater is getting over as a jobber; if you can get over losing, you can get over winning as well, imo....

I don't know much about Koko so I can't speak about him, but of the other guys you mentioned, aside from Brawler (who comes from an era where there was such thing as a professional jobber, rather than companies bringing in random local indy guys to do jobs), all of them didn't stay relevant because they lost. They had something else that kept them relevant. With Scottie, it was his his dancing, with Santino it was his comedy. Heath Slater has none of those. As you said people are tuning in to see who the returning legend will be. But they are not tuning in to see Heath Slater. If they had put a different person in Heath's spot every week, the reaction would have been the same.

I will agree with you that getting punked can lay the groundwork for a big push, but not getting squashed. After the 1000th Raw is over, Heath will go back to being a nobody.

[badnewzxl]

See, I believe the reason people aren't tuning in to see Heath Slater is bc they haven't been exposed to him enough. I think people are starting to get an idea of who he is, what he's about, and how he operates. Me and my friends LOVE seeing him come out bc he looks good losing. I find it entertaining to see him get his ass kicked and say his stupid catchphrase.

Scotty 2 Hotty got over bc of the worm, but IN SPITE of losing most of the time. Santino got over (originally) by constantly making fun of Steve Austin, but he STILL lost all the time when he wrestled. Both guys were entertaining in their loses and I feel Slater is very much the same. I'm not saying he's def gonna break out, but I see opportunity for him to receive as much of a boost as Scotty 2 Hotty got. It's a lot harder for a heel to progress this way, but Disco Inferno moved up the card and he started off as a total goof, too. He didn't become a major player, but he became popular enough to MAINTAIN his spot. That's what I mean; I think Slater is very close to solidifying a spot on the main roster for years to come.

[Big Red Machine]

See, I believe the reason people aren't tuning in to see Heath Slater is bc they haven't been exposed to him enough. I think people are starting to get an idea of who he is, what he's about, and how he operates. Me and my friends LOVE seeing him come out bc he looks good losing. I find it entertaining to see him get his a** kicked and say his stupid catchphrase.

Scotty 2 Hotty got over bc of the worm, but IN SPITE of losing most of the time. Santino got over (originally) by constantly making fun of Steve Austin, but he STILL lost all the time when he wrestled. Both guys were entertaining in their loses and I feel Slater is very much the same. I'm not saying he's def gonna break out, but I see opportunity for him to receive as much of a boost as Scotty 2 Hotty got. It's a lot harder for a heel to progress this way, but Disco Inferno moved up the card and he started off as a total goof, too. He didn't become a major player, but he became popular enough to MAINTAIN his spot. That's what I mean; I think Slater is very close to solidifying a spot on the main roster for years to come.

I see what you are saying, and I agree, but I doubt that it is professionally satisfying for Heath and his fans that he is going to be a jobber forever.

[yourcrapsweak]

Two words: Barry Horowitz.