DISCUSSION - Which Wrestlers on RAW can potentially draw as FACES?
 

DISCUSSION - Which Wrestlers on RAW can potentially draw as FACES?

Ok,

So it's obvious that on Smackdown, guys like Eddie Guerrero and John Cena have POTENTIAL to draw. Actually, if I'm not mistaken, House Show attendence and ratings have been up since Eddie was made champ......but I digress. I think one can make a very good argument that Cena and Guerrero are the two biggest and most promising faces right now.....both of which are on Smackdown.

Who on RAW do you think has that same potential to draw?

-Austin is passed his prime
-As is Shawn Michaels

-Can Chris Benoit draw as a face?.......based PURELY on his wrestling and consistenly putting on 5 star matches?

-How will Edge be able to draw as a face? Will he have to have a few more TLC matches?

-The fans always love 'big names'. Will the fans get behind Triple H if he is pushed properly as a face?

-Will the fans 'mark out' and support the re-unification of Matt Hardy and Lita? Can he develop a strong enough following?

-If someone like Kane REALLY raised hell and started beating the sh</>it out of random heels (Bischoff included), could THAT get an Austin-like pop?

-If Batista developed a "Goldberg-like" gimmick in the future, could this help his cause as a potential face?


If you ask me, the biggest face on Raw needs to be none other than Chris Jericho. In my view - Jericho has the most potential as a face out of ANYBODY on Raw. In my view, it will be a HUGE mistake if the WWE push Edge ahead of Jericho as a face (and hold Jericho down in the process). To be honest - I think Matt Hardy has more potential as a face than Edge (or even Chris Benoit).

I am intrigued to see how 'over' Kane would be as a pissed off face that randomly slaughtered heels.

What's your opinion?

I say

Jericho
Benoit
Edge
Shelton
HBK
Austin
I also think Johnny Nitro could work well.

We already know who can draw (Shawn Mcihaels, Steve Austin). But you need to add Shelton Benjamin, Edge and DEFINITELY Chris Jericho to that liust pretty soon.

I'm so happy with Jericho's face turn, he has so much ability as a face, and at getting the crowd behind him. 2000 was an amazing year for him, he was ready to be in the main event and be the next big draw back then but they let it pass until late 01, and made him a heel first, which was a mistake, then focused his title reign around HHH/Stephanie, and him being cheap.
But now with a huge face turn I think its awsome to take his character back in the right direction, and hopefully up for a big push to the main event.
I like giving Shelton and Edge face pushes, and making HBK a heel.

In my view, the 3 potentially biggest faces on Raw would be as follows.


1) Chris Jericho
1a) Kane
3) Matt Hardy


I think Chris Jericho could resemble The Rock (i.e. a cocky guy who entertains the fans with his mic skills, only to back it up in the ring).

I'd also like to see Kane as a pyschotic face. We have seen Kane play a pyschotic heel and a borderline homosexual face, but we've never really seen Kane play a pyschotic face..........except for one time.

Think back to late 1998. Remember when Kane kept interrupting that one show to chokeslam people? That got a HUGE ovation. I think Kane would be way over if he did that again. The key however - is to not make Kane look weak. That means - he should hardly get beat down (only on rare occassions).

In a lot of ways, Kane can resemble Stone Cold Steve Austin (i.e. a badass that defies authority and does things on his own terms).

As I've mentioned a few times lately, I think the fans would fully support a Matt Hardy face turn. With the coolest entrance music and one of the most over women in the WWE, how can Matt NOT be over?

IDEALLY Speaking
 

Here would be my top faces for Raw

1) Chris Jericho
1a) Kane
3) Shelton Benjamin
4) Matt Hardy (if Matt works as well as I think he would, then move him up to #3)


Here would be my top heels for Raw

1) Chris Benoit
2) Triple H
2a) Randy Orton
4) Edge
4a) Christian

I wouldn't have put Shelton on that list until this past Monday night, but he could definitely do it now.

lol I thought this title said "DISCUSSION - Who on RAW could draw as FECES?" I was gonna say Mark Henry.

But anyway, Jericho, Michaels, and possibly Edge.

I don't know if Edge will draw as a face. He's pretty good in the ring, but his style lacks a certain flair to it. He's got a great personality outside of the ring and he can cut a great promo every now and then, but when he steps into the ring he turns into "generic wrestler boy." Besides the spear and that full nelson face buster he does, everything is pretty generic. With a little tweaking, Edge could be a great main event face on RAW.

Kane
Have him destroy everyone. Like he used to do, but not actually turn him face, but have him just get ovations from the crowd becauses he never even gets touched in the ring.

Chris Jericho
Chris always made a better face than he did a heel in the WWE, IMO. Push him as RAW's John Cena.

Randy Orton
He will make a great face, trust me.

Rhyno
I remember when Paul Heyman led an Alliance promo, in which he was interrogating the Alliance members about their loses (it also marked the day Chuck Palumbo turned face and were the seeds to Billy & Chuck). Paul Heyman would talk about a member then the entire Alliance would beat them up. Paul Heyman did that two or three times before eventually saying "Rhyno...", and the whole place exploded as Rhyno was ready to fight the whole Alliance. An intesne face gimmick would suit Rhyno perfectly.

Matt Hardy
Mattitude.

Val Venis
He's already a face, but anyway, this guy rules.

Edge & Christian
Two of the most entertaining guys in the WWE period.

Batista
Push him as the Leviathan. He was over huge in OVW.

The Disciples of Synn
Push them as a babyface tag team. It could work.

Paul Heyman
This guy is really entertaining.

Shelton Benjamin & Redd Dogg
They would make a great face team.

Totally agree with you Heyman. Jericho has ALL the tools, he's just never been giiving the push that would of truly put him on top. Whether he ever will is another big question.

Jericho should've been the crossover star that Stone Cold, Rock, and Triple H have become two years ago. He wasn't given the right push then, but its obvious he still has the potential to be the biggest face on the active roster.

Matt Hardy can easily be pushed as one of the top faces on RAW. Mattitude is an excellent gimmick that hasn't been given lift-off yet, just like John Cena early last year when he was a heel. All the writers for RAW need to do is realize that Matt Hardy isn't getting any heel heat because he's too charismatic, and give him a face turn and put him in real feuds, i.e. Heyman mentioned in a previous thread about a feud with X-tian, which would be perfect to put both superstars over.

I think if Jericho was pushed right, yeah he could probably draw. The problem is that well for starters the company would never get behind him as the top guy. Also, I believe he's been damaged too much to actually draw people to live events.

HBK/Austin are dead as draws.

However, I do think a reunion between HHH and HBK down the line might do some business if they were paired up against Orton and another heel, say Batista.

Edge, meh I'm not sold on him, and he should never do any TLC matches. Main eventers shouldn't work those type of matches. But I do think there is a good chance he could draw, its just that I dont think it will happen for a variety of reasons.

Benoit? Doubtful that he would add new fans or bring them back, but he is a good guy to carry the comapny while they are struggling because he's going to put on great matches and wont turn people away like a guy like Kane or Batista might.

Its too early to mention Shelton because he hasn't realld one anything. Yeah he got a big win, but we haven't seen much in the way of a gimmick and how the fans will react to him. But obviously he 'could' be a draw in the future.

Matt Hardy, again I think he would be over, but I feel he's also been too damaged to actually draw. Plus, even more than Jericho I cant see the WWE getting behind him 100%.

Kane was doing big numbers on TV when he was being pushed right, then Shane got involved and well now Kane is a jobber to the stars. Perhaps if they threw the mask back on Kane, and then gave him a huge push, it might work a little. But again we run into that problem where fans have seen him be weak for so long that they likely wouldn't take him seriously.

Well down the road after a heel run as champ, I could see Orton doing some business for the company, but like I said that would be down the road.

Thats about it I think. I really think that for a guy to actually draw new fans they will have to be a new star (like Cena on Smackdown) that fans haven't seen get beatdown week after week. So the best guess on RAW would be a guy who is new to the main event scene like a Shelton Bejamin a Randy Orton or somebody new.

Well I've been saying it for a while now that HHH would do great as a face if he and Shawn reunite after Orton and Batista turn on him. It would have to be way down the line though. Orton has to be at the same level as Trips, so the fans can see Orton as a legitimate threat to Hunter. Once that happens, then Orton can start to SLOWLY (I think that's key) show that he wants to be leader of Evolution. I say by Survivor Series or maybe a little earlier this starts to take place. Then on a Raw Evolution turns on Trips and Flair. A few new guys like Maven would help Orton and Batista with the beatdown. Shawn comes in with a chair. Evolution bails. Shawn helps Flair up, they shake hands and then Hunter gets up by himself. Then he and Shawn hug. That would definately get Trips over as a face is he's paired with Michaels. Then they do tag matches with Evolution which for a few months which would lead to Orton/Hunter at Mania 21.

As for Edge, I am not to high on him. I only like Edge as a heel anyway. I think Edge needs to be built up a lot more, kind of like how Guerrero was back in October when he had the tag titles and the Tag Title. I think Edge should work a program with Orton and he and Edge could have a back and forth fued with the title. I don't know about him winning a tag title though because the teams on Raw SUCK. So they should not be rushing him into any main event feuds right now. He'll go over KANE at Backlash, then maybe he can work with Orton after that for a while. I woulnd't mind seeing Chrstian go over Jericho at some point which would bring Christian to the level of Edge and they can work a match. Because back when Christian turned on Edge, it just seemed like Christian was definately the underdog of the two.

Batista as Leviathan would make a great face and it would help with his character

I want to see shelton pushed as a face but not in a tag team. Then people will just complain he's being buried in tag team hell.That would be a bad move. But slowly make him rise to the top and i hope they don't rush it like they did with lesnar and overuse him.ofcourse they probably wont do that considering he's a face.But if he continues a winning streak im sure he could draw hugely as a face.
I'm reallyhopeful jericho will be pushed as he will draw massively as a face. He has always been under used though when the fans are behind him. That's what's really pissed me off about the wwe.I remember in his feud with benoit i knew he would come out second best and no matter what he kept on loosing.Talk about being under-used.Then when he turns heel wow all of a sudden he becomes the no.1 guy? I always thought that was abit f-ucked.I hope they don't under-use him this time round and that he can somehow move on to better things after this feud with christian.
As for edge i hope he ain't pushed as a face, i ain't a really big fan of his and never have been plus he'll be abit rusty especially considering that spear on Bischoff when he cameback, that was a god awful spear-nowher enear as good as Rhyno's Gore.