The Better Face: Chris Jericho or Edge

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

I thought that this would be an interesting discussion as both guys have made great heels but rather mediocre faces.

If it were ever to come up as to who was the greatest heel of the 2000's, I am sure that both Chris Jericho and Edge would feature prominently in the discussion. However the point of this thread is to compare them in their roles as faces and decide who was better as a face.

Without further ado, here is a summary of their careers as faces only.

Chris Jericho

Chris Jericho played a face for the first time in his career when he debuted in the WWF in 1999. He debuted by interrupting The Rock's promo and got a pretty nice face reaction considering who he had interrupted. He had several short feuds as a midcard face with the likes of Road Dogg, Ken Shamrock and most notably Chyna. As odd as it may sound, it was his allaince with Chyna that effectively cemented his face turn. His other notable feuds that followed were against Kurt Angle and a short one with Eddie Guerrero which led to Chyna turning on Jericho.

Thereafter Jericho went on to feud with Triple H as a face. This was the zenith of his popularity and it also led to him winning the WWE Championship for a while. His insulting of Stephanie McMahon was a real highlight during this time. All this lead to a Last Man Standing match against Triple H at Fully Loaded 2000 which Jericho lost.

Thereafter Jericho had several feuds as a face with the likes of Kane, Benoit and William Regal. Among those feuds the Benoit one was the most notable for its matches but the story is nothing worth remembering. He also feuded for a brief while against The Two Man Power Trip consisting of Austin and HHH. He was face for a brief while in his feud versus The Rock but then he eventually turned heel.

Jericho then turned face in late 2003 after saving Trish Stratus from Kane. This led to a feud with Christian, his former tag team partner. This also led to Trish eventually turning on Jericho and siding with Christian. The feud was a really good one but once the feud ended Jericho got stuck in the midcard until he turned heel once again in 2005 by siding with Bischoff against John Cena.

After losing his feud against Cena in 2005, Jericho took a two year break. He returned as a face to save the WWE Universe from Randy Orton who was the heel champion during that time. His face turn was unsuccessful though as his feud with Orton as well as JBL was pretty boring and he had to eventually turn heel following WrestleMania 24.

Edge

Edge debuted as a mysterious face who used to enter through the crowd in 1998. In fact it is not clear what he debuted as but he turned heel soon enough by siding with Gangrel and ultimately Undertaker's ministry. He then turned face for a short while when the Brood rebelled against the Ministry when they saved Christian from being punished by The Undertaker. Edge also won his first Intercontinental title from Jarrett as a face but he turned heel once again soon after the formation of E&C.

Edge then turned face soon after he won the KOTR. Christian grew jealous of Edge's success and turned against him. They feuded over the IC title. Edge then had a feuds with the likes of William Regal and Booker T before moving on to a feud with Kurt Angle which ultimately caused Angle to lose his hair. This was the peak of Edge's popularity as a face and he was also rumored to win the Elimination Chamber that year. Unfortunately Edge suffered a neck injury and missed a year of competition.

Edge returned of Raw in 2004 as a face and challenged Evolution that he would take them all out one by one. However Edge suffered a groin injury shortly after winning the IC title from Randy Orton.

Edge then went on to cement himself as a heel after returning in 2005. He had to wait till 2010 to turn face again. He turned face against Chris Jericho with whom he had been tag team champions with prior to getting injured. He won his feud but was unable to win the World Heavyweight Championship. He then got drafted over to Raw and turned heel soon.

Edge then went on a crusade against stupidity and his first target was the anonymous Raw GM who operated by sending e-mails through a computer. Edge turned face by destroying the computer and got drafted to Smackdown. He is a face currently and has had feuds with Kane and Dolph Ziggler and seems to be heading towards a feud against Del Rio.

My Opinion

It is really tough to decide between the two as they have never really set the world on fire as faces but I would have to go with Chris Jericho. I chose him because he has had two very good feuds as a face against Triple H and against Christian. Edge, in my opinion, has only had one very good feud as a face and that was against Kurt Angle in 2002. Edge probably had more potential to play a better face than Jericho but that is something that we would never know due to him getting injured at critical points in 2002 and again in 2004. He was really very hot in 2002 and hotter than Jericho has ever been as a face. But as far as their careers go, I will have to give the nod to Jericho.

 

[Tech N9ne]

I think Jericho has always played Face well. I think he eventually always resorts to being a Heel because people like him better. It's kind of funny to say it like that, but it is true. I think fans know he is at his best when he is antagonizing people and being a cocky, arrogant prick.

Even still, his time as a Face, most notably in WWE from 99 to late 01, was more compelling and exciting than anything Edge has ever done, Heel OR Face in his entire career. Taking nothing away from Edge really, I just think Jericho was that great.

Jericho's feuds with Triple H, Stephanie, Benoit, Chyna and his back & forths with The Rock were all truly epic. He was able to carry a moment, match or feud, just as well while Face, than he did as a Heel.

 

[The Eighties]

I'd give the edge to Jericho no pun intended. He was red hot as a face in 2000, and got over strong with his segments ripping on Stephanie, Had The Rock not been around who knows how far his feud with Triple H might have gone. He had natural babyface offence and his mic style was the very popular catchphrase laden style of the time, I wasn't a fan but the majority were.

Edge's current face character is over but not massively, he's a popular remnant of the Attitude Era and his current character is an amalgamation of his heel persona and his lighter E&C persona. His prior run as face never quite took off and I never saw him as WWE champion material in that period. To me he feels like a guy coming to the end of his run and is merely a face now because SD was so devoid of them and they needed a main event one to put Del Rio over.

 

[MizterColemine]

rattlesnake4eva It is really tough to decide between the two as they have never really set the world on fire as faces

Chris Jericho never set the world on fire as a face??? When he debuted in WWE as a face, up til his face momentum started to fizzle a bit in the mid card before he went heel... Jericho was golden! IMO he was the best thing going aside from the Rock and Angle with Stone Cold gone and in his best moments would come in a very close second to The Rock's performance level. Being such a biased Jericho fan (with good reason, I think) I hate to seem him job to faces, and so I almost prefer him as a face with the exception of his epic and stellar Undisputed championship run leading to WrestleMania vs Triple Hache (in the words of Regal) or Tripowache (Angle), and even though he's a better heel, he still came in fresh against Orton with the 'save us' angle.

I don't think Edge is very effective as a face at all. I'm drawing a blank at his best face moments... maybe it's because he was always pitted against my favorites and never went over with me as a face versus Jericho or Angle. In the attitude era he was very cool with his 'through the crowd' mysterious -you-think-you-know-me- persona, but the heel Edge and Christian team was ingenious and from there he just throws in a mean streak and some opportunism to become one of the best heels of the past decade.

I vote Jericho. Because we'd love to see Jericho as a face again, but we're tired of face Edge, and I think that answers our question.

 

[crippler]

Even though When Jericho first entered WWE he was a heal but wasn't long til the face turn anyways i think Jericho was the better face then Edge this might be due to last few face turns he always has a storyline involving Viki sorry but this was old long ago and with someone that doesn't wrestle is a storyline you want shorter than this has been.

 

[fenfool]

Edge plays the ultimate opportunist role incredibly well...so well, I can't buy him as a face in the least. Every time I see him, I think of him sneaking back into battle royals after hiding under the ring until only one guy was left, having "Rated R" relations with Lita to rub it in Matt Hardy's head, being Vickie Guerrero's boyfriend/husband to further his career (dare I say the original Dolph Ziggler?)...he has been such a good heel, he can't be a face in my eyes.

So I give this one to Jericho. When he came back with the "Save Us" gimmick...something was just off. I don't know, maybe it was the wallet chain he wore during that stretch, but it all felt very weak. He turned heel and became the Jericho we all know and love. But his previous face turns I felt were very successful...everyone was behind him when he came to WWE, stories of Goldberg dissing him and getting stretched in the back by Jericho further cemented his connection with fans.

So while I feel they both are better as heels...and HOF-level heels...I think Jericho was more believable, and had an easier time getting fans behind him, than Edge.

 

[AxAs]

I actually stared at this for a while wondering if this was a serious question? Jericho or Edge better as a face... sorry but that really is a no contest. Y2J is hands down better as a face than Edge, as others have mentioned numerous reasons. I do think Edge can actually pull off being a face well (better than Orton) and still easily go back to being a heel which he is best at. Y2J is pure gold as both a heel and a face.

 

[classicviolence]

Corrections: Jericho was a bland face in ECW and WCW.

On topic: Jericho as a face was WWF's major backup face after Rock and Austin. Austin became a heel after WM 17, and Jericho became the major face of WWF (after Rock getting beatdown by the 2 man power trip) along with Benoit. Even before that Jericho was one of WWF major faces during his mid card run against Chyna and Hardcore Holly.

Edge as a major face blows chunks. He has always been a great heel character back during his tag team all the way up to the Rated R era. His biggest face accomplishment was shaving Angle bald and fans still didn't care. Hell, they teamed him with Hogan and fans still didn't care. He wins the 2010 rumble and fans still didn't care.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

I never liked Jericho as a face. I always thought his character tried too hard and I could never get into it as a result. Edge was getting over as a face in 2001 with his feud with Christian but it was after WM 18 when I most liked Edge. He had great matches with Kurt Angle and Eddie Guerrero and was one of the most popular wrestlers on Smackdown. I'll take Edge as a better face than Jericho.

 

[JGlass]

It's hard to beat Chris Jericho during his early face runs in the WWF. He was a riot, and even though he had a lot of heel aspects to his personality the fans still loved him. He came up with a lot of the phrases we all know and love today like Jerichoholics, the Ayatollah of Rock n Rolla, and of course NEVER... EVER... AGAIN! Quite simply, he was one of the best at getting the fans behind him and keeping them entertained.

Edge is a decent face. He'll probably be remembered for his heel work when all is said and done, but he's a good face too. He was a lot of fun during his goofy face run when he feuded with Kurt Angle, but he's also entertaining to watch now with a more serious face role. He definitely can get the crowd on his side, but he doesn't have the ability to captivate them and make them go crazy like Jericho did.

 

[BigDaddyCool]

I think that Chris Jericho was a better face all because his character screamed face more than heel, What I'm saying is Jericho is a better Face and Edge is better as a badass heel

 

[WWE.IS.AWESOME]

Easily Chris Jericho.

Both men are amazing heels, but Jericho can play a face well, too. Edge is rather stale as a face and is WAY more interesting as the bad guy. Chris Jericho has always been a good face to me.

Nice thread, but there's an easy answer to your question

 

[Nate DaMac]

So was I the only person who actually saw Jericho's debut in the WWE? Apparently so, because he did NOT debut as a face. Sure he got a nice pop, as just about anyone would in that situation, but he was a heel.

Well back to the topic at hand, I'm going Edge. I know everyone gargles Jericho's ball bag. But frankly, he was shit as a face. His catch phrases were really lame. He relied solely on ripping on Stephanie McMahon, calling her a ****e and whatnot. I just never thought he was all that good. By the way, I will never forgive him for introducing the word "Assclown" to the world. What a fucking stupid word.

I don't really have a solid reason to back up Edge, he just wins by default based on my hatred for Jericho's 4th grade face persona.

 

[Xemmy]

Heel or Face, I love both of these guys, and I think they make good Faces and even Better Heels.

However you've got to give this to the Best in the World at What He Does- Chris Jericho.
Edge's face roles have never really been able to get him over until recently, and even then he's not nearly as popular as the Raw top faces. Chris Jericho's face run in 2000, 2001 was hot, and he was able to take off much more easily (No PG restrictions).

From owning Rhyno and Stephanie, to his rivalry with the Rock- Jericho wins it.

 

[Teddy Irving]

Have to go with Jericho in this one. The guy can play both face and heel really well and as a face the crowd just loved him from his catchphrases to his in ring style. It was easy to see how much everyone wanted him to face when the fued with Nexus happened, he acted like a face for all of about 10 seconds and got a pop from the crowd before switching straight back to heel.
Edge's face runs have not been that great his run with angle was good but just didn't captivate the crowd as much as jericho's fued with steph/hunter or steph/alliance. That being said as part of e&c although they were a heel team if they had done the same stuff as faces they would have been loved. The whole time machine bit was great and got loads of heat but imagine that they had been the faces at that time, the crowd would have loved that.

Overall i think both are good a both i just feel that jericho is the better face.
Oh and jericho came in wwf as a heel interupting the rock not a face