Can the WWE build top faces just as well as they build top heels?

[Tattooed Jesus]

Being a heel/bad guy is much easier than being a face/good. You go out in front of a large group of people and talk shit about their hometown, their sports team, the mama, their grandmamas, etc that large group of people is going to boo the hell outta you, it natural. In wrestling if you come out and pander to the crowd, all smiling, and kissing babies, the crowd is shit all over you. Not since the early 80's has the pure white meat baby face been overly popular. To become a heel is easy, you do bad things and people will dislike you until you do so many bad things to the right people that those same people that shit all over you are now singing your praises. This is what happened with guys like John Cena, Stone Cold, The Rock, DX, etc. They were all bad guys originally that the crowd hated with a passion, they kept doing all the things a bad guy would do but the crowd loved them anyways and thats how they became the super popular characters they are and were. The audience has to want to like you to make you become a superstar face character. There are very few exceptions where guys came in right off the bat as superstar face character and we accepted immediately by the fans. Most of the top stars in the business over the last two decades started out as bad guys that became to popular with the audience to remain bad guys. Like I said the days of guys like your Hulk Hogans and Ricky Steamboats and the pure white meat baby faces I think are long dead and buried. So to answer the main question no the WWE can't build a top baby face, the fans of the WWE Universe and the WWE wrestlers themselves are the ones that have to do that.

[XXJJ]

Cena got over as a heel too. Mysterio is the guy that comes to mind that basically played the same babyface character for his entire career and remained popular. That is very tough to do, but Rey was never a top 3 superstar for the company at any time.

Like another poster said, your not going to get a new top babyface with Cena around. Its Cena spot and he is not ready to give it up. Orton and Punk both were the hottest thing going in wrestling when they turned babyface, but the WWE machine was never behind them to actually try to replace Cena. No one is ever going to become the face of the company without the WWE's full support. Nexus debuts and attacks Cena not Orton. Brock returns and attacks Cena not the current WWE champ Punk. Those angles would of been happening to Orton or Punk if the company was trying to see if they could take over as the top babyface. Orton moved to Smackdown and Punk ended up turning heel basically only after a year.

Punk is a great top heel and so is Orton. Barrett has potential to be a top heel. Most of the other heels currently in the WWE are nothing more than midcarders. That hurts trying to create a new babyface. A top heel can help get a babyface over. Punk has helped Ryback get over and Kofi looked like a star working with Orton. No other current heel can do that.

[CasualNinja]

They have 3 potential guys who can turn into mega faces.

Daniel Bryan - They originally tried Daniel Bryan as the pure babyface, but he remained in the midcard forever. Since Wrestlemania 28, he has become the most over guy in the company, even as a heel. The key is when Team Hell No splits, you have to Kane snap and completely demolish Daniel Bryan. The crowd could then sympathize with him. He hated everything and everyone originally, and right as he was at peace, Kane snaps. Bryan is obviously talented enough in the ring and on the mic to run with the push. I'd say he has the best chance of being the face of the future.

Dolph Ziggler - He has potential. He clearly would have to break away from Vickie, as she is a perfect heel. You could still keep the cocky gimmick, he just wouldn't be able to criticize the fans anymore. He is very talented in the ring, and slowly is becoming better on the mic. I'm not sure if I'd want him to have a heel run as Champ first, or turn his face beforehand. There are many ways to go with his character.

The Miz - He was a WM main eventer not too long ago, but he fell into mid card hell. He has potential just like the other 2 guys. It is hard to guess whether the Miz will remain heel after Survivor Series or go full on face. If you think back to WM28, he saved Johnny's job where there was talk he could turn face. I think the WWE had plans back then to do it, but wanted to give him 1 more shot as a heel. He got a nice run with the IC Title after his return, and now I think they are gonna pull the trigger on his face turn. I don't know how the fans will react. If you want a turn to mean something, the fans have to be heavily invested into a character. Just look at Hogan's turn in 96, and even Punk's turn this year. They came at the perfect time. The Miz has talent, whether some people want to believe it or not.

These 3 guys are some of the best stars of the future, now the WWE has to make the right decisions which turn these guys in mega stars.