[FrankGrimes]

The only decent attempts at a face push were Kofis in 2009 and Morrisons recently. The last succesful one was Jeff Hardys. Looking at the current young heels being pushed, they have all been feuding with the top faces in the company and WWE can rely on the face to draw. e.g Ziggler had Edge, Sheamus had HHH/Cena, Barret had Orton/Cena, Miz had Orton/Cena and Del Rio had Mysterio and now Edge. If a upcoming face like Morrison/Kofi/Bryan is to make it into the main event as a permanent fixture they have to feud with a real top level heel and to be honest, its hard to say if there are any heels like that in the WWE anymore.

 

[Bogey]

It's the nature of the wrestling business. It's usually easier to get over as a heel than as a face. Just look at the Rock at the beginning of his career or the reaction to Triple H whenever he's a face now.

 

[mcc4374]

I suppose you make a good point. It is very difficult to be a face and get a reaction these days. Many other greats from the past like Austin, Rock, HHH where the same. I suppose if you have an extreme character to start that's pretty out of this world like Shawn Michaels "Sexy boy" gimmick you'll certainly get some attention. Then as time goes on begin to transition into a more believable character possibly.

 

[AZwrestle]

It's just a lot easier to get over as a heel.
1. In order to get over, you usually have to face a veteran or a big time player. Pretty much all the veteran big time players are face, and it is very difficult to get a new face over by beating another bigger face. The last time it worked was with HHH and Hardy.
2. Your talking and mannerisms are a lot easier as a heel. All heels can say that they hate this and that, but not all faces can say that they love everything.
3. Heel gimmicks are a lot easier than face gimmicks. A heel can have a gimmick that people hate, but it is pretty difficult for a face to get over purely because of his gimmick. I'm looking at you Kizarny!
4. Heels don't have to all that good in the ring. They don't need the fans support, so they can have whatever moveset they want really. Faces need cheering during matches, so they need to have some cool moves.

 

[Ph3n0m]

Nope, you have to have character - which currently only the young heels seem to get. That's why the young heels are gaining so much ground and the young faces are still stuck where they were months ago.

 

[exile123]

New talent in the WWE only ever seems to get a decent push if the superstar is a heel. Sure, I know Del Rio is old and the WWE have wanted him for some time now, but he's headlining WM after less than a year in the WWE, and I doubt that would ever have happened had he been written as a face character.

Sheamus, The Miz, Punk and Barrett have all risen to their current statuses on the back of successful heel pushes, whilst superstars such as Morrison and Kingston just can't seem to make the jump to real main event. Other potentially good superstars such as MVP have fizzled out after becoming face and I think if the rumoured face turn of Miz happens after WM the same will happen to him.

Anybody else agree that to have any chance of making it in the WWE your character has to be heel?

wtf are you serious??? No one gets more pushes than Cena and Orton.

 

[777]

You don't need to be, but it sure helps. It is difficult to get ahead or develop a personality when limited by facedom. Most great 'hero' types had heel runs early in their career. Hogan, Cena, Austin, Rock.

 

[NoGimmicksNeeded]

Once the crowd's emotionally invested in a heel, they'll find it much easier to cheer them as a face, on the whole. It's almost like redemption in a way. I really think that post-Mania, we'll get a few big face turns throughout 2011.

 

[SPCDRI]

Its a fallacy that its more easy to get over as a heel nowadays. I truly believe that.

Look at all the bungled heel runs the WWE has forced in the past two years. Almost everybody sent back down to developmental or future endeavored was a heel flop.

The reason it seems heels are more over is the younger ones and the newer ones to the company got big pushes because WWE wants to get them established and then turn them once all their older top faces retire.

 

[BigriderCZ]

Look at Cena, started as a badass heel feuding with Angle, Lesnar likes and now is the face of company.

 

[vG-MONEYv]

i dont think its necessary, but it sure speeds up the process

 

[dave 1981]

I remember watching a shoot interview with Raven a couple of years and he said something that has always stuck with me when watching how over wrestler's become and where their career goes. What Raven said was that in order to be a top face you have to have been a good heel first because the fans have to become emotionally invested in your character and it is much easier to do that as a heel first.

Of course there can be exceptions to the rule like Sting who has in reality been a career face, i don't except the poor and very short attempts at a heel turn which never even worked anyway, and has been HUGELY popular throughout his whole career. Another example of an exception would be Hulk Hogan but that happened really on the back of his involvement in Rocky 3 in which he recieved a lot of mainstream exposure and which Verne Gagne took advantage of when Hulk Hogan was in AWA and pushed him as his top face.

When you look at Stone Cold Steve Austin he got over on the back of being a great heel that people had become emotionally invested in and who entertained the fans as did The Rock a couple of years later. When The Undertaker first came on the scene in WWE he was a monster heel for the first year and a half of his career but then managed to become a top face and it was the same for Shawn Michaels who after playing a heel for the first three years of his singles career entertained the fans and made them buy into him emotionally that he was turned face, Triple H and Kurt Angle are now in the same position.

Of the current or latest era you only have to look at John Cena and Batista who were hated heels that made you care about them or entertained you enough that you cheered for them as heels and which led to them being turned face before going on to dominate WWE through to present day as face's. Of the current crop it may be harder because of how the product is and how the show is produced but i could see The Miz as a top face eventually because he entertains people and was even being cheered when teaming up with John Cena the other week on Raw so i believe much like Raven said that in order to be a top face you have to have been a good heel so that people will become emotionally invested in your character.

 

[ToddTheBod]

It's hard to say. I'd like to agree with the original statement but look at where Sheamus is heading now. He's jobbing to Mark Henry. Even take Barrett for example, he was well on his way to getting the biggest reaction as a heel in the WWE. Then they pulled him from Nexus and he's really not that over anymore.

 

[cainkopeland]

I think the problem is the main eventers who are always at the top of the card are Undertaker, John Cena and Randy Orton and they are all faces so the only way to be in main event with them is to be a heel.

 

[Riddle101]

Personally I find, that people on here take it the wrong way. A lot of people in the IWC say that faces aren't getting over, or aren't getting a reaction when clearly they are. Kofi Kingston is over, so is Daniel Bryan and even John Morrison, they all get reactions as face. The problem is, WWE just dosen't expand on them. WWE still stick to their old school way of booking a face, which in this time is not what they should be doing. They need a new way of pushing a face, or need to freshen up the faces a bit more, and most of all, and I think this is the most important aspect making a face. WWE NEEDS TO GIVE THEIR WRESTLERS MIC TIME!!!!!!

 

[Vin Ghostal]

Personally I find, that people on here take it the wrong way. A lot of people in the IWC say that faces aren't getting over, or aren't getting a reaction when clearly they are. Kofi Kingston is over, so is Daniel Bryan and even John Morrison, they all get reactions as face. The problem is, WWE just dosen't expand on them. WWE still stick to their old school way of booking a face, which in this time is not what they should be doing. They need a new way of pushing a face, or need to freshen up the faces a bit more, and most of all, and I think this is the most important aspect making a face. WWE NEEDS TO GIVE THEIR WRESTLERS MIC TIME!!!!!!

Um, I agree that WWE needs to get creative with their good guys, but when you demand mic time and Kofi Kingston is actually the BEST one on the mic from your list of people, you've got problems.

Its a fallacy that its more easy to get over as a heel nowadays. I truly believe that.

Look at all the bungled heel runs the WWE has forced in the past two years. Almost everybody sent back down to developmental or future endeavored was a heel flop.

That logic is backwards. Yes, plenty of new heels have failed to get over. So have plenty of new faces. They cancel each other out.

Overall, the new stars who have gotten over have been heels. There's not much that can be said to dispute that. Besides, if you look at WWE's biggest names, just about all of them (HHH, Austin, Rock, Flair, Undertaker, Kane, Lesnar, Cena, Orton, Angle, Jericho, Big Show, Mankind, DiBiase, Hennig, etc.) got over as heels first. Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, Jeff Hardy, and Rey Mysterio are notable exceptions to this trend, but they are in the distinct minority.

 

[NJ88]

I think the answer is probably yes.

If you look at the last three or four years or so, and you look at the number of heels created for the main event, as opposed to faces in the main event, it's quite obvious. So for the heel count, the past four years you've had CM Punk, Sheamus, Wade Barrett, The Miz, Alberto Del Rio, Jack Swagger etc. I think of the last four years, and the only face I can remember being created...was Jeff Hardy...and he's gone. ALL the face main evneters right now have been faces for a very long time and are near retiring (HHH/Rey/Undertaker/Edge) have been face for a while anyways (Cena) or have been turned face after becoming a main evneter (Orton). They have literally created NO new face main evneter in the past four years.

It seems as a heel it's easier to get a main event push, it's eaiser for the crowd to boo you. Heels are more prone to the 'push to the moon' tactic as soon as they debut, something which a face just isn't allowed. Then when a face does actually get close to the main event (Kofi in 09, Morrison in 10/11) the ball is well and truely dropped every single time. It seems like they get shocked someone is picking up momentum, getting the crowd behind them so they pull the rug from under them. It's just very strange to see. Faces who get over are deserving of a main event spot because it's FAR harder to get the crowd to cheer you than it is to boo you, ESPECIALLY if you aren't a main event star already, those who manage it should get some kind of recognition for it.

Unfortunately they don't seem to be, as the WWE is making no strides to create these guys as future main event faces.

 

[Scandall]

wtf are you serious??? No one gets more pushes than Cena and Orton.

Who both only got to the heights they're at on heel runs.

Personally I find, that people on here take it the wrong way. A lot of people in the IWC say that faces aren't getting over, or aren't getting a reaction when clearly they are. Kofi Kingston is over, so is Daniel Bryan and even John Morrison, they all get reactions as face. The problem is, WWE just dosen't expand on them. WWE still stick to their old school way of booking a face, which in this time is not what they should be doing. They need a new way of pushing a face, or need to freshen up the faces a bit more, and most of all, and I think this is the most important aspect making a face. WWE NEEDS TO GIVE THEIR WRESTLERS MIC TIME!!!!!!

Not saying faces aren't over at all. Just the WWE doesn't want to give them Main Event matches.

 

[dinkibass]

The faces are all vanilla and siposable so I guess you have to be heel to be memorable nowadays