I think it's about time to get rid of "Face/Heel" dynamic

[reigun]

Stories need a protagonist and an antagonist. In pro wrestling, where you're not going to be telling super complex, nuanced stories, having a simple good guy/bad guy dynamic is for the best. You can have some shades of grey, obviously. Especially if you want to make the story more compelling. That said, there's nothing wrong with faces/heels as a framing device.

The problem with WWE, as ever, is the quality of their storytelling. First, let's dispell this notion that WWE crowds are indignant smarks who only cheer heels. Off the top of my head, you got Naomi, Becky Lynch, The New Day, Shane McMahon, Daniel Bryan, Dean Ambrose, AJ Styles, Sasha Banks, Chris Jericho, Breezango, and Finn Balor as people currently playing babyface who get proper babyface reactions. Yes, the audience will start to cheer heels they find entertaining (The Miz and Kevin Owens are two big examples), but that's because they're entertained and appreciate good work.

The bigger problem is that so many modern babyfaces suck. They're all the same bland, Superman-lite character. Half the time, the reason the heels get cheered is that they're the one in the feud that has an actual personality the audience can grasp onto. Like, look at this feud between Apollo Crews and Elias Samson. What reason would I have to cheer for Apollo's bland ass over The Drifter? Because he's a face so I'm "supposed" to? fukk that.

 

[The Girl From Innsmouth]

The problem isn't heels and faces. The problem is that a guy who used to take great delight in pushing messengers and couriers and unprepared office guys in his pool during booking committee meetings is the guy who decides the 'alignment' to use an RPG term of the protagonists and antagonists. Vince's idea of who's cool, who the crowd wants to cheer for, is filtered through his own goon tendencies.

 

[cartierhoe]

Actually the opposite, we need heels/faces now more than ever. Floyd/McGregor just crushed the game, WWE is just terrible at execution with their characters nowadays.

 

[The Intergalactic Koala]

I hear what yall are saying, but I'm wondering why kayfabe is pretty much non-existent, while heel/face is the key element to wrestling? In a way it should be a organic experience similar to sports. Since the WWE wants to go above and beyond trying to get recognition on ESPN, they should just let the audience dictate the face and the heel. While this is a catch 22 for the bookers, it makes the audience feel like they are apart of the show instead of the side attraction

 

[DaylitoJames]

I'm torn on the dynamic in 2017....

On one hand you do need to have wrestlers to be established as bayfaces and heels to book programs and feuds. Plus if you need to make a wrestler act differently they need to switch from one alignment to the other for the turn.

On the other hand the fans have shown they are gonna cheer and boo a person no matter what they are supposed to be. New Japan is more traditional than WWE but guys like Okada, Omega and Naito are supposed to be the biggest heels of the company.... but the crowd cheers each one of them as the biggest babyfaces in the world. And you have Lucha Underground where guys like Pentagon and Dario who are the biggest scumbags get cheered like heroes when they make their appearance... plus add the fact that each person inside the Temple gets tweener like reactions because the crowd cheers the workrate of the wrestlers.

My point is that the babyface/heel dynamic is needed because the business was build on that dynamic.... but they need to change what constitutes as a "babyface" and a "heel" in this current era

 

[ALTRUISM]

-Heels need to consistently be Heels
-Faces need to either be compelling, entertaining, or relatable (or all three, if possible)
-Compelling stories that don't make either one or the feud itself look pointless
-Listen to how the crowd feels or changes

Brehs, I think I've figured it out.

Yet somehow even the simplest things can be complicated with this company.

 

[R=G]

We did that in 99

 

[Playaz Eyez]

Stories need a protagonist and an antagonist. In pro wrestling, where you're not going to be telling super complex, nuanced stories, having a simple good guy/bad guy dynamic is for the best. You can have some shades of grey, obviously. Especially if you want to make the story more compelling. That said, there's nothing wrong with faces/heels as a framing device.

The problem with WWE, as ever, is the quality of their storytelling. First, let's dispell this notion that WWE crowds are indignant smarks who only cheer heels. Off the top of my head, you got Naomi, Becky Lynch, The New Day, Shane McMahon, Daniel Bryan, Dean Ambrose, AJ Styles, Sasha Banks, Chris Jericho, Breezango, and Finn Balor as people currently playing babyface who get proper babyface reactions. Yes, the audience will start to cheer heels they find entertaining (The Miz and Kevin Owens are two big examples), but that's because they're entertained and appreciate good work.

The bigger problem is that so many modern babyfaces suck. They're all the same bland, Superman-lite character. Half the time, the reason the heels get cheered is that they're the one in the feud that has an actual personality the audience can grasp onto. Like, look at this feud between Apollo Crews and Elias Samson. What reason would I have to cheer for Apollo's bland ass over The Drifter? Because he's a face so I'm "supposed" to? fukk that.

This 100%. The WWE is terrible at booking most faces other than the people you mentioned in the beginning of that post. I don't have a single reason to cheer for Crews and Kalisto, yet I have every reason to get behind Elias and Enzo. Crazy.

 

[Cartier Murphy]

Matches will always revolve around a face and heel dynamic. Characters and storytelling outside of the ring are different, but you really just follow the audiences lead on that. This was a non issue in previous eras, but WWE is stubborn and like to try and dictate audience participation.

 

[FunkDoc1112]

Nah, WWE's just really awful at booking babyfaces. These motherfukkers could get you to cheer Apollo Creed over Rocky through ineptitude.

Fans will boo heels if they have strong babyfaces opposing them. The problem is WWE books their babyfaces like fukking dweebs. Your average WWE storyline these days consist of the heel repeatedly running down the babyface for being weak, etc....and then the babyface inevitably proving that he's right. And that's it.

And then they book their main event babyface (Roman Reigns, Cena, Hogan, etc.) like complete douchebags who you eventually get sick off.

 

[FunkDoc1112]

No matter the name you put it, people need a reason to watch people wrestle each other. When the booking is abysmal, no matter if it's a face, heel, tweener, troll, shyt is not gonna work.

The Attitude Era was filled with "shades of grey" and tweeners. And still had Vince being the most traditional heel possible leading the biggest drawing angle for years.

Yeah, and Even with guys not acting like traditional faces in the Attitude era, there was still a clear line in the sand defining who ought to be cheered and who ought to be booed.

 

[FRIED MASON]

Heels (villains) and Faces (heroes) is a dynamic that is still being used for movies, why not for pro wrestling?

 

[Berniewood Hogan]

The bigger problem is that so many modern babyfaces suck. They're all the same bland, Superman-lite character. Half the time, the reason the heels get cheered is that they're the one in the feud that has an actual personality the audience can grasp onto.

The babyfaces are all jobbers!

They should already be in the ring when the commercials end.

 

[prophecypro]

I mean they kinda got rid of it in the attitude era really with Austin and DX but I guess in every story there is still that compass of good and evil

I think sometimes pundits like Meltzer make a big deal about heel/face but then you look at when Enzo turned heel and how confused the audience was and I guess it still needs to be there on a basic level for audiences to buy into characters emotionally? idk I think people overemphaisize a little even if its essential

 

[dh86]

Many of the big matches they have doesn’t have a face/heel dynamic. Reigns/Taker had none. Cena/Reigns had none. Brock/Braun had very little. I doubt Roman/Brock will have any.