Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.
Kamehamehaaaaa!!
So, I've been on a posting frenzy the past week, mainly because it's post-exams season and Wrestlemania is also on the horizon. I've been looking at the Wrestlemania card and I realized that the rumored top 3 matches of the card (Taker vs Cena, Lesnar vs Reigns and Nakamura vs Styles) are all babyface vs babyface matches! If I'm not mistaken, this is the first time a PPV has so many babyface vs babyface matches and in addition, they are the top 3 matches of Wrestlemania.
Taking a closer look at the roster I realized that WWE's top heels right now are Owens, Zayn, Miz, Samoa Joe and Bray Wyatt, with the latter being pushed down the card more and more. Joe on the other hand also gets pops and is currently injured. (HHH is obviously a heel but competes once/twice per year).
Which of course brings me to the conclusion that WWE really lacks top main event heels at the moment! And what sucks is that, even though those four I listed are heels, they are struggling to generate heat!
The writers and of course the crowds are to blame for this.
The Roman Reigns curse
I don't know if Roman is doing a terrible job as a babyface, but every heel he starts feuding with, the heel turns into a mega babyface. John Cena used to be a polarizing figure, but the heels Cena faced remained heels after their feud and some of them actually gathered some real heat. Heels like Edge, Orton, Miz in 2011, Punk in 2012, Khali, Umaga, Jericho. Those guys were never cheered against Cena. However, put anybody against Reigns and they become and instant babyface and the crowd then never views them as a heel again.
This also made me conclude that Roman Reigns is a much different case than what Cena was. A much larger percentage of the crowd dislikes Roman in comparison to Cena.
Now this creates problems, because no heel can get over and generate heat. Long gone are the days were heels were getting booed out of the building. When was the last time you heard a heel get heat? I don't quite remember.
And out of all the heels, only HHH, Owens and The Miz are trying really hard to get heat, but the crowd most of the time just doesn't want to boo them anymore.
Now I'm going to turn this thread into a "turn Roman heel" thread, but hear me out. I think this plays a major role. Cena's opponents always managed to get heat on themselves, thus proving that Cena was someone fans could get behind as a babyface and in Cena's feuds, the line between good and evil was there.
However with Roman, nobody can get heat when they're feuding with him. Noone. Fans will cheer anybody that Roman faces. It doesn't even matter if that person kicks babies every morning and shoots dogs. Fans will cheer them.
So, in conclusion, I think Roman Reigns as a babyface hurts the wrestling industry and the art of the wrestling storytelling.
Examples of people that turned face because they feuded with Reigns:
Lesnar
Strowman
Miz has also started getting cheers
Owens was getting cheers
Triple H was getting cheers
And this will just continue. I think turning Roman heel can bring balance back to the face/heel dynamic in the WWE. They guy is a natural heat magnet.
And after this happens, the remaining faces will be faces that the crowd cheers, meaning that their opponents will be able to get real heel heat.
Taking a closer look at the roster I realized that WWE's top heels right now are Owens, Zayn, Miz, Samoa Joe and Bray Wyatt, with the latter being pushed down the card more and more. Joe on the other hand also gets pops and is currently injured. (HHH is obviously a heel but competes once/twice per year).
Which of course brings me to the conclusion that WWE really lacks top main event heels at the moment! And what sucks is that, even though those four I listed are heels, they are struggling to generate heat!
The writers and of course the crowds are to blame for this.
The Roman Reigns curse
I don't know if Roman is doing a terrible job as a babyface, but every heel he starts feuding with, the heel turns into a mega babyface. John Cena used to be a polarizing figure, but the heels Cena faced remained heels after their feud and some of them actually gathered some real heat. Heels like Edge, Orton, Miz in 2011, Punk in 2012, Khali, Umaga, Jericho. Those guys were never cheered against Cena. However, put anybody against Reigns and they become and instant babyface and the crowd then never views them as a heel again.
This also made me conclude that Roman Reigns is a much different case than what Cena was. A much larger percentage of the crowd dislikes Roman in comparison to Cena.
Now this creates problems, because no heel can get over and generate heat. Long gone are the days were heels were getting booed out of the building. When was the last time you heard a heel get heat? I don't quite remember.
And out of all the heels, only HHH, Owens and The Miz are trying really hard to get heat, but the crowd most of the time just doesn't want to boo them anymore.
Now I'm going to turn this thread into a "turn Roman heel" thread, but hear me out. I think this plays a major role. Cena's opponents always managed to get heat on themselves, thus proving that Cena was someone fans could get behind as a babyface and in Cena's feuds, the line between good and evil was there.
However with Roman, nobody can get heat when they're feuding with him. Noone. Fans will cheer anybody that Roman faces. It doesn't even matter if that person kicks babies every morning and shoots dogs. Fans will cheer them.
So, in conclusion, I think Roman Reigns as a babyface hurts the wrestling industry and the art of the wrestling storytelling.
Examples of people that turned face because they feuded with Reigns:
Lesnar
Strowman
Miz has also started getting cheers
Owens was getting cheers
Triple H was getting cheers
And this will just continue. I think turning Roman heel can bring balance back to the face/heel dynamic in the WWE. They guy is a natural heat magnet.
And after this happens, the remaining faces will be faces that the crowd cheers, meaning that their opponents will be able to get real heel heat.