Today's Good Guys: What's The Problem?

[Serious Jones]

"He's so bland as a face!"

We hear this so often in today's PG era. More and more, fans are backing the heels, because all of the current faces are said to come off as contrived and boring. This is a huge problem, especially with the current youth movement. It's generally easier to get a young heel over than a young face, even more so today. The recent inability to develop new faces is a big reason why the same faces have been in the main event for years.

Whether you believe that it's bad booking, a lack of freedom, or a lack of convincing new faces, it's an issue that needs to be resolved, and soon.

Is there a problem with how the WWE is portraying their good guys in this era? How can this be resolved?

What's the most effective way to get a face over in the current PG climate?

 

[Alastor]

Good guys are always bland. Good guys usually do the right thing and won't go looking for trouble. Model citizens make for bland television. Interesting characters are those who do something out of the norm. Superman and the Fantastic four are boring, Batman and the x-men are more interesting.

I think the problem is the lack of a really badass heel for the faces to feed off on. WWE now has alot of Frodos but no Sauron for them to face. Right now they have a bunch of Sarumans heels in that they have shade of greys and not clearly hated by all. (except Vickie but she is no wrestler.)

 

[Cats Pajamas]

Its not just the faces, the heels aren't in such a great state either currently. Heels are actually getting things done, though. The heel climate right now lacks guys with credible wins (see Sheamus' last title run, Miz's current title run, Barrett/Nexus storyline). It takes a lot longer to build a credible face but they're working on it.

 

[The Saviour]

Good guys of today are all lacking one thing-VARIETY.You need to have different characters played by different wrestlers.Look at Orton,he still is the bad ass he was during his heel run.WWE do need a face or a heel turn every now and then,but why completely change their characters.Thats what they did with M.V.P and Morrison.I mean you need to have variety between the faces or they all become clones of one another.Werent Jeff Hardy and Cena playing huge babyfaces @ same time,but the reason ppl got hooked into Jeff was because of his entirely different character from Cena.In the Attitude era we had ppl like Austin,Rock,Mankind etc.turning either face or heel without altering their characters.That way nobody can say that wrestlers are getting bland or particularly faces.

 

[Tequila Dave]

I believe there is a problem. There seems to be very little differentiating the faces of today. Up-and-coming faces don't seem to have there own original or individual promos or characters, instead they are stuck with similar material and as a result become boring. The WWE needs to make more naturally charasmatic superstars face and only turn people heel when they are lacking a reaction. Also, WWE should give faces more unique characters; Kofi Kingston got over last year due to his Jamaican/African gimmick, R Truth was over when he rapped; faces just need something unique about themselves to make them stick out. The young heels of today all have their own gimmicks, the faces don't. Good thread.

 

[JDX]

Basically, there haven't been any new top guy introduced and everyone else is getting stale (Cena), can't the proper mic work (Orton, Rey, entire mid-card), or is a flip flopper (Edge) and most of the before mentioned are slightly too set into their current positions to be seen in a new light. If we look at the timeframe of 1990-2005, we see about 8 big guys in the torch's path (Hogan, Warrior, Hart, HBK, Austin, Rock, Brock, Cena). On average that's about 2 years as the top dog. Cena has no one new to pass it onto.

A way to fix it might to go the way of TNA: former heels turned anit-heroes. Anderson, Pope, Joe, Morgan. They do what they do and don't care who likes it or not so we cheer them. They don't placate the fans with a friendly act or a goofy relationship (Morgan kind of does and its getting a little too weepy for me). WWE needs a new brash hero that we'll love because he doesn't care what we think.

 

[Calderownz]

The thing that needs to be remembered when talking about bland faces is that the IWC generally hates good guys, period. They like guys that have this prickish aspect to them. Most people do have an affinity for the bad guy in movies. Even though they shouldn't.

However, the problem with generic face roles in general is that they need to be organic. They need to have that element of realism to them.

A good guy isn't someone who always does the right thing. No one does that. They need to have conflicting situations. Conflicting emotions. However, all in all, it needs to be organic.

A guy like Randy Orton is almost there. He does seem like a guy that hasn't changed, people just like him all of a sudden. He's unique in the sense that he looks out for himself.

Honestly, anyone can improve, but he's pretty much there. People that are not into his character, most likely just don't like face characters. Which is fine, but there's no real pleasing that group.

 

[Mr. Artistic guy]

No problem whatsoever, we are the IWC and the important thing is not to listen to the guys here religiously, because we are not the entire marketed demographic, just a sizeable portion. The IWC always finds face guys bland and heels more complex and interesting because they are. It's the difference between batman and people like the joker, batman as a man is boring as hell ans the joker is fun to watch, but when you sink beneath a certain age the roles are reversed. Kids love good guys beyond reason or rationale, the day you hear uninformed kids booing John Cena is the day you want to worry.

But right now whilst he and orton alike are still selling thousands of dollars of merchandise, expect to see more (and this only applies to the majority of IWC writers) dense people spouting the same old, randy orton should turn heel again, he was more interesting as a better heel. I personally like when they make threads, it allows us to put them in their place by showing them the place of faces. Yin and Yang, couldn't be simpler.

One fantastic piece of evidence for things being fine as they are is Miz girl. A large portion of the IWC loves the Miz and finds randy orton boring, but not that kid, she is a symbol as to how WWE did a good job getting heat on Miz and how orton is perfectly fine as a face.

 

[mdj2010]

The only problem for me is that the wrestling fans who remember the attitude era want to be responsible for creating another Stone Cold or another Rock, basically someone that they began to love before they turned face.
We have seen it done with Orton and once the crowd get what they want, the guy becomes stale, because there is nowhere for them to go. frankly i think Orton should be a heel anyway, he has heel written all over here, whereas I can totally understand Cena being the face of the company.
But I still hear the kids screaming like mad for the top faces every week on TV and everytime I can make it to a live show, so no it isn't really a problem. It's an IWC issue and no doubt we will bitch and complain like mad, because we all love wrestling.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

There is not much of a problem with the faces of today. They are doing a good job if you are to consider ratings and PPV buyrates. The thing is that they will always be compared to the likes of Hogan, Austin and Rock who were three insanically charismatic individuals. Not every wrestler can be as charismatic as these guys were and we should consider ourselves lucky that we got to live in an era where we say all three aforementioned guys in action.

So its not a problem of booking or the TV rating or anything else for that matter. Its just proof of how charismatic Hogan, Austin and Rock were as compared to any other wrestler that has stepped into the ring.

 

[Professor]

They lack natural charisma, and they are too vanilla, no originality, no x factor, no matter how hard they try, if they dont have it then they will be boring.

 

[Viola Moonlight]

Although it's not necessarily the good guys who get this, but the majority of the time the reason why people don't like half of the guys on the roster is because they either:

A) Have no character to them.
B) Don't have any distinct features to separate them from the rest of the pack.

The basic dynamic is that heels are the bad guys who bend the rules to take all advantages whilst the faces are the good guys who embrace the crowd, good competition and defeat the bad men. That's how it's went for a LONG time. Problem is that you can't rely on this dynamic for your characters. Look at guys like Drew McIntyre... what has he got to work with as a character other than the basic dynamic? How popular is he? Now take Randy Orton... what has he got to work with as his character other than the basic dynamic? How popular is he? Orton has a character that separates him from the rest with the entire viper thing, whilst McIntyre has nothing at all.

What I'm trying to say here is that the reason why most people find characters bland/boring is because they've got nothing we, as an audience, can relate too. Once the WWE gives people gimmicks you can revolve storylines, matches, feuds... etc. around them. Otherwise, they're just going to be another face (or heel) in the crowd.

 

[Professor]

WWE is too obsessed with style over substance these days. Like you said about Mcintyre, he is nicely built, handsome, nice hair, and smile, and looks good on a poster, but thats about it. They are pretty much all like that.

I think vince has to start hiring guys with natural charisma, and acting ability, not just cardboard cut out pretty boys.

 

[ABMorales787]

Wait. Just the faces? What about the heels? They are about as formulaic as it can be most of the time too. The issue isn't the character. It's the lack of development behind them. Exactly how many times a show do you hear most of these guys cut a promo that would actually help develop their character? As opposed to do something basic for their role like a face saving another face or a heel just casually backing out from a fight. Mid card storylines are basically comprised of staredowns and beatdowns offering no development for either character. In any other timeframe in WWE history, at the least, mid card character would get a backstage segment. Not these days. That hinders the connection the crowd has to establish with the character. Since a face needs to be more connected to the crowd, it's easier for the heel, because he doesn't require as much mic time or character development.

 

[Tech N9ne]

I could complain about the Heels and the Faces...

But to stick with the OP, I would say the problem with the Faces, to keep it simple, is the corniness.

I don't know if it should be called a problem. Because it is serving their purpose in appealing to the kids. So, to us people that do not like Cena or find him boring or corny. It doesn't matter to the WWE. It is about the kids to them, at least at this point.

I do not think much could be done to changed how they (Faces) are portrayed at this point. The PG rating can only really allow so much as far as things they can say or do.

I don't think there is a more effective way to get them (Faces) over in a PG climate. It may not be effective to you, or the next person that posts after me. But it is VERY effective in grasping the interest and cheers of children.