There are any number of examples in popular culture of a square, un-cool dude getting his comeuppance at the hands of the more hip heroes or anti-heroes — think of the police officer in “Any Which Way You Can” or the snob in a college comedy, authority figures or outsiders who get their expected punishment by the end of the final reel to the cheers and delight of most of the audience.
There’s a similar dynamic in some Doughboy matches, an arrogant jobber who thinks he’s “hot stuff” only to be shown otherwise in violent fashion by the end of the bout.
Most audience members cheer on the heroes or heels doling out the whoop-ass.
But what if the jobber being humiliated is your type, is the guy you empathize with and are attracted to?
The die has been cast, the challenge made and from this point forward the Doughboy doesn’t stand a chance against Harlem Heat.
J.R. has paid for his arrogance by literally having his ass kicked to the cheers and approval of the crowd.
“But the guy’s pathetic, a loser, a clown,” someone may say! “What’s hot about that?”
Just take the buff, toned, muscled jobber featured in any number of great matches recounted on this site and consider your own emotions toward a wrestler like that. For those of us who claim a Doughboy like J.R. as “just our kind of guy,” the feelings and empathy are the same.