The Problem with WWE Faces

[Bang Bang Bart]

There's been quite a few reasons why people think WWE can't book good babyfaces anymore, not the least of which include them being booked to be utter goobers most of the time, but I honestly think the big issue is that there really isn't any sense of camaraderie between faces (though there could be exceptions now on Raw with KO & Samoa Joe, and likely Rey Mysterio aligning). The Roman Reigns dog food thing kinda highlights it since we had nobody running in for the save for the guy who's supposedly the "locker room leader" of Smackdown, and the only time he gets help, it's from his cousins.

[Dr. Bolty, Disaster Enby]

Yup.

I think Vince forgets that the Attitude faces had this. Austin was invincible, but you could get at him through JR. The Rock was more standoffish, but he had family in Rikishi and was up for tagging with anyone.

Cena, in contrast, was supposedly beloved by all...but he rarely seemed to deign to be equals with anyone. He would always be a savior of undercard guys, who would act worshipful of him if they ever said a word, but there was never anyone that Cena seemed to actually just hang out with (excepr Cryme Tyme for a blip).

It's likely a big part of how over Kofi is, and why the only guys who get over unironically as faces do so off their real-life histories that are filled with complexity, friendship, and disappointments. If you don't give these guys friends, they aren't people.

[Tea & Crumpets]

Fresh off watching Wrestle Kingdom so I might be coloured by the different approach NJPW takes but they have some of the most sincerely likeable faces, including clean cut faces, in the world ATM and manage it for English speaking fans without English promos, so I have a slightly different thought on it that is- WWE faces have too many excuses. John Cena was the worst for it with his "Yeah you beat me BUT" routine that he even did when Kevin Owens beat him clean as a sheet, but it bleeds over to most of them because WWE is so insistent on heels being snivelly, cheaty, cowardly losers who have to break the rules or use numbers and interference and screwiness to win, that it means every loss a face takes has an asterisk, thus they always have an excuse for why they lost, and honestly even if those excuses are valid, over time (especially if they get screwed often enough) they start to just look dumb, whiny, or both. Hiroshi Tanahashi in NJPW- loses clean as a sheet to Okada to lose his title defence record, cuts a tearful post match promo making no excuses but saying he must get stronger....fast forward three months, he wins the G1 against beloved bayface Ibushi and the crowd love it, fast forward another 5 months and he regains the title for the first time in years against the odds and everybody loves it. Omega- loses clean in his first shot vs Okada, draw in the next match, wins a G1 match but hasn't yet beat him for the title, but those clean losses didn't hurt his appeal. Hell, Naito survived perhaps the biggest "Should have won but didn't" clean loss in history besides maybe Booker T/HHH and still rebounded to where he is now.

Screwy finishes can protect a guy by giving them an out to a loss, but if they ALWAYS get screwed, they look like fools for not wising up, and sound like crybabies for always having a "yeah but that didn't count" regardless of whether they have a point. You can lose clean and still be protected, not every clean loss has to be a Lesnar Squash. To me it's problems with WWE's systemic booking moreso than even character issues.