Line #12 Wrestling/HeathSlater


1	->[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/heath_slater_2015.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:"...But I'm a ''one man BAAAAAAAANNNNNDDDD!''"]]
3	->''[[TheRockStar "I'm just one man..."]]''
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5	Heath Wallace Miller (born July 13, 1983) is an American {{professional wrestl\|ing}}er from Pineville, West Virginia, best known for his time in Wrestling/{{WWE}} as '''Heath Slater'''. He debuted in 2004 in the Georgia wrestling scene. In 2006, he signed a developmental deal with WWE and was assigned to their short-lived Deep South Wrestling promotion. When [=DSW=] was abandoned in 2007, Miller was sent down to Florida Championship Wrestling. In 2010, he was introduced to WWE audiences as Heath Slater as part of the first class of "rookies" on ''Wrestling/{{WWE NXT}}'', which, of course, led to the debut of Wrestling/TheNexus. After that group broke up, he spent time in Wrestling/WadeBarrett's group the Corre. He was the leader of [[Wrestling/ThreeMB 3MB]] until the group was disbanded by the release of his stablemates Wrestling/JinderMahal and Wrestling/DrewMcIntyre. He was, for a time, part of a Tag Team with Wrestling/TitusONeil called Slater Gator. Following that, he formed a four-man stable with Wrestling/BoDallas, Wrestling/CurtisAxel and Wrestling/AdamRose called the Social Outcasts, only to be the sole member of the active roster to not be drafted to either show. This began a "free agent" storyline that saw him make appearances on both brands until he earned himself a ''[=SmackDown=]'' contract at ''Backlash''. He was released from WWE in 2020, and has surfaced in Wrestling/ImpactWrestling dropping the Slater last name.
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7	Among his in-ring achievements, he is a former [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/fl/fcw/fcw-s-h.html FCW Southern Heavyweight Champion]], a former [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/fl/fcw/fcw-fl-h.html FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion]], a former [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/fl/fcw/fcw-fl-t.html FCW Florida Tag Team Champion]] with [[Wrestling/CurtisAxel Joe Hennig (Michael McGillicutty/Curtis Axel)]], a 3x [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-t.html WWE Tag Team Champion]] with Wrestling/JustinGabriel and the first ever WWE Smackdown Tag Team Champion also 1x Impact Tag Team champion with Wrestling/{{Rhyno}}.
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9	He is in no way connected to 1980s-1990s wrestler Dick Slater.
10	----
11	!! He's got tropes, he needs this job:
12	* ActionDad: To daughter Snow. His "I've Got a Family" gimmick mentions that he needs the WWE job to support his daughter and wife.
13	* TheArtifact: His current theme, More Than One Man, was made for the 3MB stable.
14	* ButtMonkey: Pretty much full time - his career got off to a decent start, but he's been at the bottom of the card since 2011. Status cemented by being the '''only''' active full-time Superstar to not be drafted to either brand in the 2016 draft. The latter was actually a [[SubvertedTrope subversion]] outside of {{Kayfabe}}, though, as it heralded the start of Heath's "free agent" storyline, a major and unexpected push that ended with him becoming ''one of the inaugural Smackdown Tag Team Champions'' together with Rhyno.
15	* CharacterCatchphrase:
16	** "I'm the one man Southern rock band, baby!"
17	** "I got kids, I ''need'' this job!"
18	* TheChewToy: His main purpose leading up to ''Raw'''s 1000th episode was to get destroyed by legends/veterans. In fact, most of the references to him on the Awesome/[Insert name of wrestler/promotion/show] pages are about him getting beaten up or losing, with the only exception being the mention on the ''Raw'' page about his participation in the Nexus Riot. Heck, just based on that, he's a heel Wrestling/JohnCena without a push.
19	* DeepSouth: Tries to imitate a lot of the stereotypes. Problem is, he's from West Virginia, which isn't really "south" at all.[[note]]When the south decided to seceded from the rest of the United States of America, West Virginia seceded from Virginia and rejoined the Northern states.[[/note]]
20	** His Clem Layfield character from ''The JBL and Cole Show'' is a straighter example.
21	** Ever since his Free Agent storyline, Heath has been milking the hell out of this. He's using every comical stereotype in the book, including [[KissingCousins meeting his first wife at the family reunion]], having a hell of a lot of kids from at least two wives, living in a trailer, and only being able to afford dinners of crackers and cheese whiz.
22	* DefectorFromDecadence: Twice with Justin Gabriel.
23	* {{Determinator}} While he's still significantly weaker than most other wrestlers, since being left a free agent in the June 2016 WWE Draft, Heath has been nothing short of a determinator in trying to win a contract to feed his family. He's gotten his ass kicked a lot, but his guts have increased tremendously, including going toe-to-toe with Brock Lesnar and Randy Orton prior to Summerslam. This also isn't a case of his usual SuicidalOverconfidence. He knows ''full well'' he's going to get his ass kicked, but for his family's sake he has to fight to secure a WWE contract.
24	* DumbassHasAPoint: After losing their rematch for the tag team titles on the 12/6/16 edition of Smackdown Live, Rhyno pointed out how he'd always do the brunt of the work with Heath taking the win (which Heath pointed out, in a meta sense, that it was kinda the whole point of their team) and that Heath's heart hadn't really been in it for their rematch; Heath retorted that, as long as they were "keeping score", Rhyno ''lost'' the titles for them at TLC, which Rhyno responded to by walking off without a word.
25	* EarnYourHappyEnding: With his and Rhyno's victory at ''Backlash 2016,'' Slater finally gained a contract with Smackdown after being overlooked for the Draft, in addition to being one of the two first Smackdown Tag Team Champions.
26	* EpicFail: Attempted to body slam [[Wrestling/{{Vader}} Big Van Vader]] during their match in the lead-up to RAW 1000. [[SquashedFlat "Attempted"]] being the operative word there.
27	* EvilRedhead[=/=]CelebrityResemblance: Cena infamously labeled him "The chick from Wendy's".
28	* FinishingMove: Sweetness.
29	** MusicalThemeNaming: Smash Hit, E Minor
30	* HeelFaceTurn: In middle 2016
31	* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Justin Gabriel. Well, at least until he proclaimed that their tag team was over.
32	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: On the 1000th episode of Raw, he challenged any Legend to a no DQ, no count out match. Wrestling/{{Lita}} answered the challenge. Although she did hire herself some protection. Enter the [[Wrestling/JohnBradshawLayfield AP]][[Wrestling/RonSimmons A!]] Heath decided to bail, but was stopped by all the other Legends he'd gone up against, who promptly threw him back in the ring and one Twist of Fate and a Clothesline from Hell later, Lita was victorious.
33	** Also his aforementioned attempt to body slam Vader meant he basically Crossbodied himself.
34	* HumiliationConga: The entire RunningGag below; week after week Slater would talk himself up only to get [[SquashMatch squashed]] by a WWE Legend. He suffered (among other things) a [[Wrestling/{{Vader}} Vader Bomb]], a [[Wrestling/SidEudy Powerbomb]], a ''[[Wrestling/{{Rikishi}} Stinkface]],'' and even when he picked up [[Wrestling/DoinkTheClown his solitary win]] he copped a [[Wrestling/DiamondDallasPage Diamond Cutter]] for his trouble.
35	* IHaveManyNames: He has also used [[AlliterativeName Sebastian Slater]] and [[FullNameBasis Heath Wallace Miller Esq.]], the latter as the manager for Shawn Osbourne in FCW.
36	* InformedAbility: We're consistently informed by Michael Cole that he's a talented musician. We have yet to see any evidence of this.
37	* {{Jobber}}: [=3MB=] rarely win, to the degree that, when their matches are posted on WWE's Website/YouTube channel, the commenters inevitably ask, "Does 3MB ever win?"
38	** Averted on the first Raw of 2016, where he managed to get a win over ''Wrestling/DolphZiggler.''
39	** Now he's headed for a shot at becoming the first [=SmackDown=] Live tag team champions with Rhyno after beating the Headbangers and the Hype Bros. Perhaps his jobbing days are over....
40	** And now he's a Smackdown Tag Team Champion. Outside of some cruel twist of fate, Slater has finally put his jobbing days behind him, at least for a little while.
41	* OlderHeroVersusYoungerVillain: His feud with WWE Legends.
42	* OnlySaneMan: Amazingly, of the Social Outcasts. While all of them are very quirky, Heath seems to be shaping up as this. Between [[Wrestling/BoDallas Bo's]] constant spewing positive things, [[Wrestling/CurtisAxel Axel's]] constant edginess, and nobody knowing what the hell [[Wrestling/AdamRose Rose]] is saying, Heath sometimes looks like he's wondering what he got himself into by teaming up with these guys.
43	* {{Permastubble}}: Ginger Permastubble, to boot.
44	* PopularityPower: Unexpectedly placed #8 In WWE’s Superstar Of The Year Slammy Award, alongside the likes of other top ten finalists such as Seth Rollins, John Cena and Roman Reigns. This arguably led to the first push he (along with other low rankers) have had in a long time.
45	* PowerStable: The Nexus and the Corre.
46	** Later in one as The Social Outcasts.
47	* RedBaron: When he was in FCW he was "Handsome" Heath Miller.
48	** "The One-man Rock Band." Despite his comparatively low importance, this is mentioned on any occasion he's competing in the ring.
49	** Recently christened "The One-Man Southern Rock Band".
50	* TheReliableOne: Something easy to overlook is that, while Slater may appear to just be another no-respect {{jobber}} on the WWE roster, they're apparently willing to put a lot of faith in him. During his initial run on Wrestling/TheNexus, it was Slater who WWE trusted to work with the aging and worn-out Wrestling/BretHart during the Team Nexus vs Team WWE match at Wrestling/SummerSlam. 2 years later, during the build-up to the 1000th episode of RAW when WWE wanted to bring back a lot of former legends, it was again Slater who was selected to work with and sell for the likes of Wrestling/{{Vader}}, [[Wrestling/SidEudy Sycho Sid]], [[Wrestling/TheRoadWarriors Road Warrior Animal]] and Wrestling/BobBacklund (who was ''62'' at the time). He's apparently regarded backstage as both a very safe worker and an excellent seller, an unglamorous position but a very valued one.
51	* RunningGag: He picked up a gimmick during RAW, for the upcoming 1000th episode, by cutting promos, only to have a legend come out and kick his ass or otherwise humiliate him. (At least early on, he seemed to be TemptingFate by [[BorrowedCatchphrase repurposing said legends' catchphrases as his own]].) His only victory was against Wrestling/DoinkTheClown [[note]]Who, according to inside sources, was played by [[Wrestling/SteveLombardi the Brooklyn Brawler.]][[/note]] ...even ''that'' didn't end well, though. See YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle below.
52	* TagTeam: [=3MB=] with Jinder Mahal and Wrestling/DrewMcIntyre, Slater Gator with Titus O'Neil.
53	** Then he formed the Social Outcasts with Bo Dallas, Adam Rose and Curtis Axel.
54	** He's partnered with Rhyno to enter and eventually win the ''[=SmackDown=]'' Live Tag Team Tournament. They would reform said partnership in Impact.
55	* TalkShowWithFists: "The Happy Hour," briefly in FCW. It was where he started his first feud, with Wrestling/BillyKidman who was retired and working as a trainer/agent.
56	* UnderwearOfPower: He now wears pants.
57	* TheVillainSucksSong: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIB8G7NEvms I hate you, Heath Slater!]]
58	* VillainTeamUp: With Jinder Mahal and Drew [=McIntyre=] as the 3 Man Band. Now, with Curtis Axel, Adam Rose, and Bo Dallas as the Social Outcasts.
59	* VillainousUnderdog: One of the biggest examples in the WWE.
60	* WrestlingDoesntPay: A wrestling rock band as [=3MB=].
61	* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: Slater (who had endured a run of getting embarrassed by several weeks worth of over-the-hill returning legends) finally got a win against Doink the Clown. Then an audio cue hit... '''[[Wrestling/DiamondDallasPage "BANG!!"]]''' Out comes DDP, ostensibly to congratulate Slater on finally winning a match. Instead, Slater eats a Diamond Cutter.

Context Wrestling / HeathSlater