Could wrestling exist without the face/heel divide?

[Juan]

I think it could. It would have to be a gradual change though. I think it would give wrestling a more "legit" feel because you could choose who you cheer for instead of who the writing team wants you to cheer for.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Originally Posted by Juan I think it could. It would have to be a gradual change though. I think it would give wrestling a more "legit" feel because you could choose who you cheer for instead of who the writing team wants you to cheer for.

This is what I think. It would also let the program seem less "cartoony." In real life, there are more likable personalities than some, but the best drama comes from characters that are fully developed. They have qualities that you like, but they also have their vices and weaknesses.

For example: Triple H is a completely different character as a face and as a heel. As a heel, he is obsessed with the World Title, and will step on his best friend and even start nailing the boss' daughter to do it. As a face, he pretty much loses sight of the World Championship, and instead makes poop and fart jokes. I think he pretty much forgot that the reason he and Shawn Michaels went after Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase was because they wanted to weaken Orton.

Triple H could work as a face obsessed with the title. If things had been switched in 2004, and Evolution had kicked Triple H out of Evolution, Triple H would have suddenly become the protagonist of his own story, and would have had a reason to avenge himself against Evolution, but also something to prove to himself. That wouldn't mean he'd suddenly be buddy-buddy with Chris Benoit or Shawn Michaels, whom absolutely hated him at the time, and he still could have wrestled them; and they very well could have said that Triple H got what was coming to him.

Meanwhile, Orton was getting cheers at this point in time, and when he makes points like "I beat Chris Benoit when Triple H couldn't; I am no longer the future...I am the present," there would be truth to it. Orton's goals don't make him a bad guy, per se. He's essentially the same as Triple H -- they just both want the World Heavyweight Title, and only one can have it.

I guess basically what I'm suggesting isn't so much that the protagonist/antagonist effect of wrestling would be completely stripped away; but the characters would be deeper, more personal, and real human beings trying to achieve what they want to achieve, and not cartoon characters serving as stock.