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

[123NewChamp]

Greetings everyone,

I have an interesting question. I was just here reading the article on Randy Orton's Heel Turn expecting to come during the Survivor Series, and how he prefer and work better as a heel and to get him back to being one of the top stars in WWE.

Well I have a Question, Do you beleive that there's anyway WWE Can build a Superstar Up besides turning them Heel. I have seen many Superstars Built up to be Heel and Very Few Faces. For Example: Heel(Jericho, Daniel Bryan, Ziggler, Rhodes, Orton, Kane, Wade Barrett, David Otunga, and The Miz.) All were made into big Heels b4 being big time faces or always remained Heel. As far as the faces (Kofi Kingston, Rey Mysterio, and Ryback.) There may be one or 2 more, but these guys basically remained face all their career. And not to anyone surprise they haven't had as big of a career as The heels had.

But my Question is, Do you Beleive the WWE can build some Superstars up to have incredible careers without always going the Heel Route? I know it's either to play a heel and plan for a Heel, but is their anyway that WWE can build more awesome face pushes to get us out of this pattern of folks turning heel to get back to the top of the company? I hope I didn't confuse nobody. But it was just something I noticed and it came to my mind. So help me out.

 

[King_of_Swing1520]

easy answer is no. when was the last time a wrestler entered a big push as a face, maintained that push, and successfully established themselves as a main event face? that person would be Cena. yes CM Punk did this but they turned him back heel as he was still playing second fiddle face to Cena.

Now im not sure the WWE actually meant for this to happen but when team hell no splits Daniel Bryan should be and easily could be a top face. he's so over with the crowd its insane. BUT Daniel Bryan doesn't really act like a face towards the crowd.

To your original question i really don't see anyone making it as a face their entire career and being able to become that top face the WWE so desperately needs more of. Jeff Hardy did it but that was really had nothing to do with his mic skills or charisma. hell he has no charisma, hes just a bit off and doesn't mind taking the big risks. and people loved him for it. i loved him for it. but i really don't see the WWE ever being able to pull off keeping some one face their entire career AND becoming a top draw. the only person who is even close to that right now is Kofi or Rey like you mentioned. although rey is older now and he was never a full time main-eventer. I think Kofi has the talent to make it to the top but to stay their and be the wwe's number two or three face for an extended period of time idk.

but you thread does bring up a great point. the wwe needs to find a next top face, and quickly. once cena stops showing up regularly, hes 35 yrs old, they will be screwed.

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

I don't necessarily blame WWE every single time a guy gets over, or fails to, whether it be as a heel or a face. It's a hell of a lot easier to be a heel and to draw heat, than it is to get the crowd to genuinely like you. WHy do you think WWE relies so heavily on comedy characters like Santino and Brodus Clay? It all comes down to how good the individual Superstars are. If the talent isn't there in the first place, WWE can only milk so much out of them.

Let's take a look at any character in WWE worth a damn:

-Alberto del Rio: Hit or miss, and a lot of people just don't like him, but he does know how to draw heat. He's also a good wrestler, and a natural heel.

-Big Show: One of the best "monster heels" in the business. He's awful when he's a good guy.

-Brodus Clay: Somebody call yo face!

-CM Punk: Heel. Even when he was super popular and over in 2011, he was technically a heel. People just really liked him.

-Cody Rhodes: Heel.

-Damien Sandow: Intelligent heel.

-Daniel Bryan: Fan favorite, but technically not a heel or a face. Acts more like a heel, but as part of Kane's tag team, I suppose you could make a case either way.

-Prime Time Players: Millions of heels.

-Dolph ZIggler: Hashtag Heel.

-Heath Slater: One Man Heel

-Jerry "the King" Lawler: FACE! But...he's a commentator who just had a heart attack. So, at most I'll give you half a point in the face column.

-John Cena: Super face. Except he's boo'd more than the best heels.

-Kane: See: Daniel Bryan

-Kofi Kingston: Face. One of the few pure faces that gets cheered.

-Mark Henry: Somebody's gonna get their heel kicked.

-Miz: Awesome heel. Maybe soon an awesome face. Yet to be determined.

-R-Truth: Great talent, technically a face, but hasn't done anything relevant in almost a year.

-Randy Orton: Face. Bland as hell. Doesn't even want to be a face.

-Rey Mysterio: Face. ALways has been, always will be.

-Ryback: Face? He's a man of very simple motivations. I'm not sure if it much matters whose team he plays for.

-Santino: Comedy Face

-Sheamus: Great white face. Some say he's bland. I say he's the best they've got in terms of straight-up good guy brawlers that doesn't get boo'd

-Wade Barrett: Heeeeeeeeeeel

-Zack Ryder: Woo Woo Woo...I don't give a fuck.

So to sum things up, out of all the good talent WWE has, there are 12 solid heels. There are 13 faces, but one is a commentator, three are comedy acts that don't matter in the grand scheme, two are tweener tag champs who just get a good reaction, two (or more) are completely bland, and the rest...well, apart from John Cena, they've barely done anything worth watching all year long.

So yes, I'd say the favor easily leans towards the heels. The faces outnumber them in quantity, but certainly not quality.

 

[a member of wwe universe]

Just to clarify something. The WWE does not have many top heel. The only "Top heel" i see on TV is Cm Punk. Big show is big show, nobody cares. Daniel Bryan is a face i guess, so no.

Wade barrette, cody rhodes , damiem sandow, ziggler (until he does more other than being involved in the love affair storyline, hes not at the top), alberto del rio, Miz

These guys are not TOP heel. They are average midcard heel, atleast based on the way they are being presented on TV. Im saying how i see it.


Forget about if wwe can build a top face. Can wwe even build a star at all?

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Can WWE build top babyfaces as easy as top heels? Not at all, and neither can any other wrestling company I've seen.

Like HGR said, it's much easier to build heat on a heel than for a crowd to accept you & cheer for you as a face. I remember reading an interview many years ago Denzel Washington gave after winning the Academy Award for Best Lead Actor for his role in the movie Training Day. He said it was really the first time that he'd ever played a bad guy and that it was not only the best role he'd ever done but it was also the easiest.

Society as a whole, and that especially includes internet wrestling fans, is pretty damn jaded these days. Whenever we see someone rise to the top no matter what it is, we immediately start salivating at the prospect of seeing that same someone fall flat on their ass. To know that's true, all you have to do is look at all the hate guys like John Cena, Randy Orton & Sheamus get on these forums. Take John Cena especially. Cena's character is very much a nice guy. His character is someone that advocates tolerance towards those that are different, respecting those who have earned respect and generally just someone that's an overall good influence on kids. When we were young, we'd have very much cheered for John Cena. Cena is the Hulk Hogan of this generation and has been for close to a decade. A lot of net fans will often say stuff like "only women and kids cheer for Cena". Not only is it inaccurate, but it's like they're saying "women & kids" in an extremely negative light.

In all honesty, internet fans sometimes get the impression that we represent the view of the vast majority of pro wrestling fans. It's an impression that we ultimately create for ourselves. It's extremely difficult for wrestling companies in general to build a top face in the eyes of the IWC because all that many of the IWC does is bitch and moan about anything under the sun, especially when it's something WWE does. Whenever WWE starts pushing someone toward the main event of gives them a main event run, here come the haters with negative comments abound. We've seen it with Cena, Orton, Sheamus, Punk, Bryan, Ziggler, Ryback and we'll see it with whoever gets the next big push. We'll especially see it if that next big push turns out to be a babyface.

 

[xavyer]

Well, they really need to start building a top face asap, because John Cena will not be in the WWE forever, Sheamus and Kofi are good faces, but they are not there just yet, maybe Sheamus is almost there, the Miz face turn is an attempt at another top face, but is too early to tell, and that's about it at top, or attempt at top face besides Cena, and i read an article about randy Orton turning Heel, maybe he can help build some credible faces, at the moment CM Punk is feuding with Ryback, but to be honest, i really don't see Ryback as a top face, he's hot right now, but as soon as that feud is over what will be next for him? Not much, so if they really want to build another top face, they should do it carefully, build him slowly but surely, take their time and let him sink in with the crowd, don't give him main event feuds right away, but give him some decent feuds so he can build credibility, that would be better than pushing him to the moon right away like they are doing with Ryback, in my opinion, Kofi has a much better chance at being a top face than Ryback.........

 

[mojmass]

Wwe is screwing himself i'm totally against this rule of a heel vs face why shouldn't we have a face vs face or vice versa. have you ever thought why we never saw santino vs zack ryder for the united states championship while everybody agrees that the title was ryder right. and something else why don't we have someone who is beyond being heel or face one that reject everyone and trust on one this is one of the so many foolish problem that wwe have so the answer to your question is i don't care until they focus more on wrestling rather than solely entertainment

 

[stonecoldstv86]

As long as Cena is there, there will not be another Top Face. Well in WWE's eyes atleast. CM Punk and Randy Orton last year were getting better pops then Cena but Cena was still the face of WWE. Which as it was reported, that is the reason Punk desided to go back to being a Heel. He knew there is that wall you hit with being a face.

Now the problem is when Cena is gone they will still have a little problem with building another Top Face. WWE has the habit that once someone starts getting over as a face they will start pushing that aspect of them. They push it to the point that the fans get tired and sick of it and end up truning agenst the wrestler making them go back to heel. Or just not caring about them anymore, pushing them to a mid carder or a jobber.

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

Do you Beleive the WWE can build some Superstars up to have incredible careers without always going the Heel Route?

Well, Ryback is in a good way to prove you wrong. It's too soon to tell but he could be very good face based on crowds reaction on him right now. But I doubt that they would never turn him heel...

If your question is wheather somebody can be over as face and not even once going to heel route, the answer is yes. Look at todays Mysterio or Cena or even Kofi. Yes, Cena was heel at the beggining but he is over as face. IWC wants him heel because they think that his character is stale but he is monster face for now..

 

[BaconBits]

It's not up to the WWE to create the "top face", it's up to the superstar when they are given the ball. The best ones.. the Hogans, the Austins, The Rocks, the Cenas... took the ball all the way to the end zone when they were given it. The E can only do so much and give you the opportunity, if it doesn't work, they'll give that chance to somebody else.

That's why it always kills me when people whine and cry about how the WWE "buried" their favorite talent, or mishandled the push or whatever. It's not on the E, it's on their favorite talent's lack of something. Remember Rocky Maiva? Remember the Ringmaster? How about Thuganomics? All shit gimmicks, and yet, those guys still attained superstardom because they put their stamp on it when given the chance.

 

[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.