"To be a great babyface, first you have to be a great heel"

[Dark One]

Originally Posted by XL I guess what I'm trying to get at is; To be a top, top guy (Austin, Rock, Cena) you almost have to be a heel, one who eventually gets over on in-ring credentials or an interesting character (or both), a guy that the crowd get behind and the company then push. A heel who the fans get behind, turns face and the company then push > a face that the company strap a rocket to.

I think it's really a question of which option lets you build character depth that people can invest it. Austin's said it a hundred times in his podcasts when he's not talking about deer or Ted Fowler: you have more creative freedom as a heel.

Most faces are pretty much there to smile and fight for the fans, any more. Very few have much in the way of depth. Heels are generally the ones driving the action and doing things rather than reacting to things. People are going to gravitate to a performer with more character depth, because there's more to latch on to and relate to.

That's not to say that you can't have depth as a face. Daniel Bryan got decently over as a heel after a relatively mediocre initial run as a face, but it was everything after his face turn last year that really made him (even if he hasn't been booked like it a majority of the time) a top guy, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that there was actual character development going on for him as he fought and struggled against the Authority. There was something to emotionally invest in.

You don't have that with a guy like Roman Reigns, or New Day, or most of the faces on the roster. Roman Reigns is a guy that wins a lot and smiles and comes in through the crowd. There's no character to him.

Edge went from being a loner with a grin and some great performances to being a conniving manipulator who had sex with someone on live TV because fuck you that's why. That's something the crowd can get invested into hating, which makes them care about him, and gives him characteristics to carry on into his face runs that he probably couldn't have easily gotten ingrained into the gimmick if he had stayed face.

It's the same for a lot of big names.

Being a heel makes it easier to develop a character because you can theoretically do a lot more. Faces generally have to fit into a finite set of rules. It's really just a matter of how traditionally you faces get booked as reactionary foils rather than a driving force.

So, it's not 100% necessary, but it can help a hell of a lot.