The babyface side right now

[Jindrak Mark]

The crowd reactions to these 5 were great. Then there's LA Knight. Punk now (at least until either he or Seth turns). Brock is likely face when he returns. Gable has been getting great reactions in recent months. Cena was just around. Becky. Bianca. KO. Even Miz was back to getting main event reactions last night. Shit, Roman will probably end up as the mega-face they always wanted him to be when he eventually turns back now too.

This has to be the most stacked group of super over faces since the late 2000s when there was Cena/Batista/HHH/HBK/Taker/Hardy/Mysterio. HHH's booking instead of Vince obviously plays a huge role but I'd guess the relief of getting back to live crowds post-Covid played a bit of a part too. Multiple people are getting reactions the likes of no one was getting not that long ago.

If someone was getting the reactions Jey Uso is getting right now 4-5 years ago they'd probably be the most popular face in the company but as it is now he maybe scrapes into the top 5. Wrestlemania 40 is hopefully trending towards another 35 with a bunch of these faces getting major wins.

[Nosnorb]

Remember in 2017 when Randy Orton was such a wretched face that there was a contingent of fans who actually wanted Jinder Mahal to win the WWE title, and Seth Rollins was not far removed from a 2004 Orton face turn? All the while Cody was undergoing serious growing pains on the indies, Sami Zayn was directionless in the midcard and Jey seemed to be destined to spend his career as a tag team wrestler in a neglected division?

How times change.

[Jindrak Mark]

Nov 26, 2023 16:06:56 GMT -5 Nosnorb said:

Remember in 2017 when Randy Orton was such a wretched face that there was a contingent of fans who actually wanted Jinder Mahal to win the WWE title, and Seth Rollins was not far removed from a 2004 Orton face turn? All the while Cody was undergoing serious growing pains on the indies, Sami Zayn was directionless in the midcard and Jey seemed to be destined to spend his career as a tag team wrestler in a neglected division?

How times change.

The Orton/Wyatt stuff in late 16-early 17 I thought was great, right up to the go-home show when Orton burned down the Wyatt compound and did his pose in the middle of the spooky woods. It was so over the top I loved it. Once the bell rang for their actual match at Mania though the magic was gone.

[EoE: Well There's Your Problem]

The odd thing is how this has happened largely without many massive championship wins and/or significantly strong booking (except for Rollins, Rhodes, Belair and, surprisingly enough, Knight, who has only lost like two matches since Money In The Bank). Maybe that’s the biggest sign of the shift in philosophy, that people are willing to stick with their guys even if they’re not unbeatable destroyers with all the gold, because the faith in them is starting to come back.

[ejm olmos]

Cody mentioned this during the scrum last night, and man is he right. The fact that there’s not one, but multiple babyfaces at the top of the card that are actually loved by fans is a welcome treat.

[Cvslfc123]

Nov 26, 2023 16:06:56 GMT -5 Nosnorb said:

Remember in 2017 when Randy Orton was such a wretched face that there was a contingent of fans who actually wanted Jinder Mahal to win the WWE title, and Seth Rollins was not far removed from a 2004 Orton face turn? All the while Cody was undergoing serious growing pains on the indies, Sami Zayn was directionless in the midcard and Jey seemed to be destined to spend his career as a tag team wrestler in a neglected division?

How times change.

To be fair The Usos where one of the most enjoyable parts of 2017 as they had just turned heel and had finally reinvented themselves with the street thug gimmick. Sami Zayn's heel turn was also much needed and it's crazy to think it only officially ended this year.

[The Rick Jericho]

Seth goes back to the dark side for sure. I see Owens going as well. We're going to eventually have a Owens vs. Zayn 1 on 1 title match somewhere down the road.

[BigPoppaNasty]

I'd say that the hierarchy for massively over male wrestlers would look like this currently: 

Main Event Babyfaces

Cody Rhodes
Seth Rollins
CM Punk
Randy Orton
LA Knight
Sami Zayn
Jey Uso
Kevin Owens

Main Event Heels

Roman Reigns
Drew McIntyre
Damien Priest/Finn Balor

Mid-Card Babyfaces

Rey Mysterio
The Miz
Chad Gable
Ricochet

Mid-Card Heels

Gunther
Logan Paul
Dirty Dom
Shinsuke Nakamura
Santos Escobar
Solo Sikoa
Jimmy Uso
Bronson Reed
Ivar

I mean, honestly, all of those characters are very over, and that's not even factoring in several of the female wrestlers, the tag teams, or what happens when Bron Breakker hits the scene in a few months. 

[Friday Night SmackOwn]

Nov 26, 2023 16:17:15 GMT -5 EoE: Well There's Your Problem said:

The odd thing is how this has happened largely without many massive championship wins and/or significantly strong booking (except for Rollins, Rhodes, Belair and, surprisingly enough, Knight, who has only lost like two matches since Money In The Bank). Maybe that’s the biggest sign of the shift in philosophy, that people are willing to stick with their guys even if they’re not unbeatable destroyers with all the gold, because the faith in them is starting to come back.

Cody’s probably the closest to an unbeatable destroyer face in that his only recent losses have been due to interference f***ery in tag matches. Heck, the one time he suffered a beatdown from Damian Priest, Cody still ran Priest and Judgment Day off to end the night.

[Jonathan Michaels]

Remember how few months ago Miz was the #2 heel on RAW?

A lot of things have shifted in those few months.

Weird how most of the heels are conglomerated into a few groups, Judgment Day, Imperium, Bloodline, Damage CTRL.

[Jonathan Michaels]

Nov 27, 2023 1:12:20 GMT -5 Jonathan Michaels said:

Remember how few months ago Miz was the #2 heel on RAW?

A lot of things have shifted in those few months.

Weird how most of the heels are conglomerated into a few groups, Judgment Day, Imperium, Bloodline, Damage CTRL.

Also, let’s not assume Punk is a face yet.

[City Duck]

We're literally not even 2 years removed from the 2022 Men's Who The f*** Is That Rumble. Absolutely insane.