Welcome, reader, to week 12 of my year-long WWE characterisation project. Quick recap – in this series, each week I read the characters of Seth Rollins and Jade Cargill. I offer ‘cold’ analysis based on what’s presented to us on-screen, plus any relevant paratexts, such as social media. In doing this, I try to avoid pro-wrestling fandom traits of fantasy booking and criticism of booking decisions. I am solely interested in the different ways character is presented to us, and how character arcs emerge. FYI from now on I will post this column every Monday morning, so it’s fresh in your mind for that night’s Raw.
Jade Cargill – Smackdown
I talked last week about patterns of repetition and a lack of narrative escalation, but this week the escalation arrived. Before we get to that, it’s important to trace another thread from week 4 – how the gap between words and actions has consequences for the character. Before her bout with Alexa Bliss, Cargill vows to “kick her [Charlotte Flair] friend Alexa’s face in”, and follows this up with, “I’m not responsible for what happens to Alexa”. Cargill closes the gap between her words and actions, by escalating the action compared to previous weeks. Sure, there’s the usual heel numbers-game shenanigans to help Cargill win. But afterwards, she traps Bliss’s arm in a steel chair and yanks the chair backwards, forcing the arm into an unnatural angle. This is a relatively distinctive visual, which adds to the feeling of steep escalation. Bliss is left crying out in pain as her friend Flair consoles her.
By following through on her threat to Bliss, Cargill reasserts her core character values of competition and dominance, after two damaging title defeats to Rhea Ripley, and another to Tiffany Stratton. Also, the escalation of violence, and associated sadism and lack of remorse (“For the streets! Who hotter than me?” Cargill yells) hint at deeper emotions at play in her budding rivalry with Charlotte Flair. This is no longer solely about competition and dominance, but also anger, humiliation and revenge. In turn, in the coming weeks, we can expect valiant babyface revenge from Flair, which should offer ground for the Cargill character to explore fear/courage and honour/dishonour.
Credit: WWE
Seth Rollins – Raw
This week, Seth Rollins reverts to traditional babyface values in his verbal battle with an absent Roman Reigns. Let’s explore what this might offer to the Rollins character. Firstly, what are traditional babyface values and how does Rollins display them?
During his in-ring promo, Rollins points out several young kids in the audience, asking them their ages. He does this to connect his own childhood dream of becoming a wrestler to theirs – “I was that boy”. In other words, he’s presenting himself as an everyman. Rollins then uses Reigns as a counterpoint to his own character. Reigns, he says, was always the “chosen one”, implying he didn’t have to work as hard for his professional opportunities. This allows Rollins to position himself as a symbol of hard work, “hustle” and “grind”, valuing this hard work over monetary rewards. Rollins says, “I need to prove through hard work, through sacrifice and dreams, you still can achieve greatness”. This is essentially the American Dream – values that WWE babyfaces have been espousing for decades now. So what does this offer the Rollins character?
These easily recognisable babyface tropes quickly suggest Rollins’s eagerness to be on the side of good. As I mentioned last week, they also allow Rollins to rewrite his previous acts of betrayal as simply gaining a competitive advantage. Furthermore, they offer a juxtaposition to LA Knight’s performance of passion, which interrupts Rollins. LA Knight offers clear evidence of Rollins’ hypocrisy, by pointing out Rollins not earning his own title shots and highlighting Rollins’ past heel group antics. Although Rollins shows respect for LA Knight, it appears this new, honourable, hustle-and-grind Rollins is not easily accepted. At this stage, the awkward fit of Rollins as traditional babyface is exactly how his character is defined.
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