Four WWE Heel & Face Turns that Need to Happen

With Survivor Series looming, the WWE is at its annual fall crossroads.

The time for Wrestlemania planning in earnest begins now. The events that transpire at Royal Rumble in January will go along way to determine the main event(s) at Wrestlemania, but to make the angles feel natural and dynamic, creative needs to begin carving out paths for most of its major superstars.

Like, maybe say, this guy?

In 2009, shortly after Sheamus brutalized Jerry Lawler (the WWE’s go-to heat-garnering heel move), I told my friend Brian that Sheamus would make a great babyface. At the time, it seemed like an outlandish concept. All we knew was that Sheamus was a fearless irish hellraiser who loved to fight.

For some reason, he reminded me of Triple H. Perhaps it was the whole “he’s HHH’s boy- HHH trained him!” smark banter; regardless, I saw him as a big time future face of the WWE. No one else in my selectively secret inner circle of fellow WWE fans bought into my idea, and after time I stopped beating that drum. Today, WWE sees Sheamus as it’s top non-jorts wearing face.

Bad guys turn good, and good guys go bad- it’s the nature of the business since its inception. So what current wrestlers could benefit most from a turn?

4. Randy Orton

The third-generation superstar has alternated between face and heel since his WWE debut in 2002. Some guys are just destined to (and more suited for) changing back and forth periodically. Orton plays both face and heel well, but he has said he prefers the heel role. Between his boyish good looks and his finishing move being the only current thing close to a Stone Cold Stunner (which as I’ve said before, is the best finisher in history), the WWE wants him to be a top face so badly.

The WWE appears hesitant to allow for the change, as he sells merchandise and he’s one of the few superstars female fans can gravitate to based on looks (what wrong ladies, Brodus Clay’s not doin’ it for you?). Regardless, he’ll never be John Cena, and creative should capitalize on that. Have Orton attack Cena out of jealousy and set up the feud that would propel Orton back to main event status.

3. The Miz

This one appears to be in the works, as Miz was selected (by the fans) to Mick Foley’s team at Survivor Series. The WWE likes to informally poll the WWE Universe regularly, and it seems as if they are allowing the Twitterverse to plot creative course corrections via the hashtag (see #TeamHellNo) lately.

Miz has always worked very hard behind the scenes and on the road promoting WWE. He is atop the list of stars that the WWE sends to run the media circuit at “crossover” events. They clearly feel his is well equipped to promote the WWE brand in non-wrestling situations.

The tricky thing with these events is, at them, he’s more Ryan Seacrest than Iron Shiek, and it undermines his on screen persona. The younger fan (who may know Santa’s little secret but not Vince McMahon’s yet) probably can’t reconcile why this “asshole” is such a cool guy when he’s onstage at the Nickelodeon Awards. Let him go face for a while. If people don’t buy it, he can always heel again.

2. Dolph Ziggler

Simply put, he works too hard to be a heel. No one sells their opponents’ moves like Ziggler. He’s far too entertaining and athletic a wrestler to be the bad guy forever.

People who disagree with this one are probably citing Curt Hennig’s career-long run as a heel. I agree, the similarities between Ziggler and Mr. Perfect are striking, but that’s because Dolph is a student of the game. He knows his strengths, and he knows and respects pro wrestling history.

If Chris Jericho (whom wrestling fans love unconditionally) can garner heel heat by disrespecting and disregarding the legends, shouldn’t the opposite hold true for Ziggler? Shouldn’t a reverence for the pioneers be a mark in the face column? To me it is. Shawn Michaels earned fans’ respect by being a “Showstopper” even when his persona was tooled to be a heel. Dolph, who says he “steals the show” (and your girlfriend), has the talent to work legendary matches like Michaels once did.

The contingency for a face turn is built into his character’s relationship with Vicki Guerrero. He publicly dumps her and stands up for whoever Vicki is berating that night? Instant face.

1. Ryback

Yep, already. Everyone knows about Vince McMahon’s soft spot for bodybuilders. To Vince, trapezius muscles are like Doozer sticks to Fraggles.

Look at this picture for 5 seconds without laughing. Go.

WWE eventually won the Monday Night Wars with WCW. While both companies had highlights during that golden age of wrestling, the WCW had one thing that Vince always wanted. They had a Goldberg.

Ryback is a poor man’s Goldberg, and it’s gotten boring already. In this age of anti-bullying, and the WWE tirelessly promoting it, it seems hypocritical to have a monster continuously beat on helplessly overmatched smaller guys.. and supposedly be the good guy. I know I wasn’t the only one rooting for Brad Maddox on Monday night. What was the point of him secretly conferring with Paul Heyman backstage before the match, anyway?

If Ryback has a world title run in him, it needs to be as a heel. The only face that the “unbeatable monster” thing has ever worked for was Hogan. He was a once in a lifetime talent as far as connecting with the fans, and it was a much different era.

Howie Decker (@HowardtheDeck) is the co-creator and editor of UnderScoopFire. He likes fantasy baseball & taco night. You can read his Letter from the Editor here.