QUESTION - In your opinion, what makes a great FACE in today's Wrestling Era?

**Heyman** · 01-28-2009, 07:57 PM

QUESTION - In your opinion, what makes a great FACE in today's Wrestling Era?

Just off the top of your head, who are you current FIVE (5) favorite wrestlers in Wrestling? Here are mine:

1) Randy Orton
2) Santino Marella
3) Chris Jericho
4) Christian (when he makes his comeback to the WWE)
5) CM Punk

Honorable mention: Edge

So basically, that's 5 out 6 HEELS that make up my favorite wrestlers in the WWE. I'm also assuming that there are many others out there that have an abundance of heels as their favorite WWE characters. Here's my question:

What can the WWE (or the Wrestling Industry in general) do to make their faces more.....accepted? (if that's the right term).

Right now? I would argue that the WWE does a tremendous job of pushing heels, but does a very POOR job of pushing faces.

At the end of 2007 - I proposed an idea that perhaps EVERY wrestler should start acting heelish (which would then naturally bring out the personalities of all wrestlers since it's easier to do this as a heel), and then have the fans basically decide who they want to cheer for. As good as that sounds in theory however, it is not very realistic....and hence fast forward to 2009, I no longer have that train of thought. However - there are certain things which I still believe from that time period....which I now want to share with you today.

Hunter Heyman Hindu's solutions into creating better faces:

Do NOT have faces kiss the asses of the fans at all. This was one of the main reasons why guys like Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton, Dave Batista, Eddie Guerrero, John Cena,.....and even The Rock, all started to lose major steam as faces (although in The Rock's case, it probably had more to do with the fact that his 'act' simply got stale)

Since 1997, all/most great faces have always had an 'attitude' about them...and were very successful in portraying to the fans that, while they respected them, they weren't going to kiss their ass. Steve Austin, The Rock, Chris Jericho, Undertaker, Goldberg, RVD, and even John Cena (initially) were very good at this.

When you look at the WWE today, is it any coincidence that Undertaker STILL garners the largest one of the largest face reactions today?

Is it any coincidence that guys like John Cena, Dave Batista, Kurt Angle, Eddie Guerrero, Randy Orton (2004), Brock Lesnar (2002), Chris Jericho (1999-2000), Triple H (1999-2001), Steve Austin (1997), The Rock (1998-1999), all started to garner HUGE face pops (and a huge following) during their initial heel runs?

Sadly enough, is it any coincidence that a LOT of these above wrestlers "lost their steam" once they turned face?......and started sucking up to the fans? John Cena, Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar, Eddie Guerrero, and Kurt Angle were the worst 'victims' of this in my opinion.

Even Chris Jericho, after all of his post 2001 face runs, could never re-capture his initial popularity due to the fact that he was kissing the fans' asses. After his 2001 heel run, Steve Austin also struggled to re-capture his old face pops....largely due to the fact that he was kissing ass and being overly predictable.

Notice how in 2003, it took The Rock less than FIVE (5) weeks to recapture all of his old face pops and fan base? (due to the awesomeness of his heel turn....where his personality shined and he didn't kiss the fans' ass).

An argument can be made that guys like CM Punk, Jeff Hardy, and Dave Batista enjoy success as faces today, because their lack of mic skills actually PREVENTS them from kissing the fans' ass (which prevents the fans from turning on them). Heck - remember last year around this time when Batista was starting to get boo'd? (he was kissing the fans' ass). Notice how when he came to RAW and started acting more 'badass', he reclaimed a lot of his pops?

Perhaps a large reason why Ken Kennedy has fallen so far off the map (other than the fact that he's injury prone), is due to the fact that he COMPLETELY lost his charisma upon turning face.

Having said all this - I have high hopes for this current personna of Randy Orton. I truly believe that the WWE has struck gold with Orton....and that Orton will keep his current personna....which will garner more and more gradual face pops. At this point, I don't see the WWE screwing up Orton as they did in 2004 (i.e. making him kiss the fans' ass).

Maybe not now...but sometime in the future, I think a Face Orton vs. Heel John Cena will be a feud for the ages....as both men, amazingly enough, will get popped huge.

01-28-2009, 07:57 PM	#1
Heyman Father of Hinduship Posts: 21,083	QUESTION - In your opinion, what makes a great FACE in today's Wrestling Era? QUESTION - In your opinion, what makes a great FACE in today's Wrestling Era? Just off the top of your head, who are you current FIVE (5) favorite wrestlers in Wrestling? Here are mine: 1) Randy Orton 2) Santino Marella 3) Chris Jericho 4) Christian (when he makes his comeback to the WWE) 5) CM Punk Honorable mention: Edge So basically, that's 5 out 6 HEELS that make up my favorite wrestlers in the WWE. I'm also assuming that there are many others out there that have an abundance of heels as their favorite WWE characters. Here's my question: What can the WWE (or the Wrestling Industry in general) do to make their faces more.....accepted? (if that's the right term). Right now? I would argue that the WWE does a tremendous job of pushing heels, but does a very POOR job of pushing faces. At the end of 2007 - I proposed an idea that perhaps EVERY wrestler should start acting heelish (which would then naturally bring out the personalities of all wrestlers since it's easier to do this as a heel), and then have the fans basically decide who they want to cheer for. As good as that sounds in theory however, it is not very realistic....and hence fast forward to 2009, I no longer have that train of thought. However - there are certain things which I still believe from that time period....which I now want to share with you today. Hunter Heyman Hindu's solutions into creating better faces: Do NOT have faces kiss the asses of the fans at all. This was one of the main reasons why guys like Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton, Dave Batista, Eddie Guerrero, John Cena,.....and even The Rock, all started to lose major steam as faces (although in The Rock's case, it probably had more to do with the fact that his 'act' simply got stale) Since 1997, all/most great faces have always had an 'attitude' about them...and were very successful in portraying to the fans that, while they respected them, they weren't going to kiss their ass. Steve Austin, The Rock, Chris Jericho, Undertaker, Goldberg, RVD, and even John Cena (initially) were very good at this. When you look at the WWE today, is it any coincidence that Undertaker STILL garners the largest one of the largest face reactions today? Is it any coincidence that guys like John Cena, Dave Batista, Kurt Angle, Eddie Guerrero, Randy Orton (2004), Brock Lesnar (2002), Chris Jericho (1999-2000), Triple H (1999-2001), Steve Austin (1997), The Rock (1998-1999), all started to garner HUGE face pops (and a huge following) during their initial heel runs? Sadly enough, is it any coincidence that a LOT of these above wrestlers "lost their steam" once they turned face?......and started sucking up to the fans? John Cena, Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar, Eddie Guerrero, and Kurt Angle were the worst 'victims' of this in my opinion. Even Chris Jericho, after all of his post 2001 face runs, could never re-capture his initial popularity due to the fact that he was kissing the fans' asses. After his 2001 heel run, Steve Austin also struggled to re-capture his old face pops....largely due to the fact that he was kissing ass and being overly predictable. Notice how in 2003, it took The Rock less than FIVE (5) weeks to recapture all of his old face pops and fan base? (due to the awesomeness of his heel turn....where his personality shined and he didn't kiss the fans' ass). An argument can be made that guys like CM Punk, Jeff Hardy, and Dave Batista enjoy success as faces today, because their lack of mic skills actually PREVENTS them from kissing the fans' ass (which prevents the fans from turning on them). Heck - remember last year around this time when Batista was starting to get boo'd? (he was kissing the fans' ass). Notice how when he came to RAW and started acting more 'badass', he reclaimed a lot of his pops? Perhaps a large reason why Ken Kennedy has fallen so far off the map (other than the fact that he's injury prone), is due to the fact that he COMPLETELY lost his charisma upon turning face. Having said all this - I have high hopes for this current personna of Randy Orton. I truly believe that the WWE has struck gold with Orton....and that Orton will keep his current personna....which will garner more and more gradual face pops. At this point, I don't see the WWE screwing up Orton as they did in 2004 (i.e. making him kiss the fans' ass). Maybe not now...but sometime in the future, I think a Face Orton vs. Heel John Cena will be a feud for the ages....as both men, amazingly enough, will get popped huge.