Are the fans bored of babyfaces?

[Guest the HiTman]

A member made a good point in another thread. In a passing comment he mentioned that the fans are bored of babyfaces.

 

I had never realised it myself, but thinking about it I have to agree.

 

Babyfaces are generally boring these days and you just need to look at the two 'biggest' faces in the WWE at the moment and see what how the fans view them...That is with boo's and jeers.

 

But why?

[Guest rawiswar]

People were bored of babyfaces back at the start of the Attitude era in 96/97 when they started cheering for the bad guy, Austin.

 

I guess babyfaces are getting boring with the general way of doing everything for the good, no real substance etc, and when you think about it, the start of Attitude is happening all over again. They started to cheer the heel back then and boo the face, now the same thing is happening with Cena and Triple H. Though I guess things are different this time with Triple H being the ten time champion.

 

And people are booing Rey most probably because it's quite unbelievable him being a champ and WWE are booking his run quite horribly.

Edited May 11, 2006 by rawiswar

[Nightfox 11]

Babyfaces suck, I prefer the bad guys

[Guest Jack]

I don't think there has been one true babyface, in the last 5-10 years for the fans to get bored of. The only wrestling in WWE right now, who is close to that character, is Rey Mysterio, but even he hasn't been used like a proper babyface should be, so he can't be counted.

 

You have John Cena, or Steve Austin who are the faces, but they arn't a true babyface. They use heel tactis, they swear, which I have no problem with by the way, they had that, edge to their character, and this can be applied to pretty much every 'good guy' since the Attitude Era. Benoit, The Rock, Kurt Angle, Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, Eddie Guerrero and so on - none of these have been a true babyface, like Bret Hart or Hulk Hogan.

 

Just like how the days of 'face vs. heel', 'good vs. evil' died out in 1997ish, the fans no onger care for the anti-hero face, and it's that simple. Wrestling needs to scrap the modern day face, and bring back the Hogan like character. The adults get behind him, because he is a great role model, and the kids aspire to him. I don't think there will ever be a wrestler who can compare to Hogan, but that's not to say if someone copied his character, ti wouldn't be a bigger success than any gimmick in the past 5 years. I think it would work.

 

The interest in characters like Austin, and Cena has died out. The fans don't really care anymore, and I think it's time for wrestling to go back to the days of heels and faces. None of the bullshit in between. Black vs white. It's that simple.

 

So no, I don't think the fans are bored of babyfaces, and they never will be (Permanently). As long as wrestling is around, there will be a space for the ulmitate good-guy, but there hasn't been one, for years. I think wrestling altogether would benefit from doing things the old-school way again, aswell.

[Guest Danny Styles]

well i don't think fans tire of babyfaces.. look at TNA christian gets great ovations each time

 

but i think fans are tired of the cliched, cheesy babyface like Cena is, the whole 'real recognising real' crap and 'doing it for his fans' is so boring and has been done before people get bored of it

[Guest rawiswar]

well i don't think fans tire of babyfaces.. look at TNA christian gets great ovations each time

 

but i think fans are tired of the cliched, cheesy babyface like Cena is, the whole 'real recognising real' crap and 'doing it for his fans' is so boring and has been done before people get bored of it

 

I also suppose fans boo the babyfaces in the WWE as a protest for some of the **** WWE put out.

[Guest Anime Otaku]

This may sounda bit weird but bare with me.

I don't think fans are bored of Babyfaces but rather that the Babyfaces are boring. Look at guys like Foley and The Rock, maybe even Hogan. Those guys have bags of charisma, were booked well atleast on their first runs and they had no problems getting people into their matches even though none of them were great at actually wrestling as far as flashy move. Where as Cena and Rey are poorly booked and alot of the other faces have very little charisma even though they are good in the ring

[Guest remi MPW]

babyfaces when booker right they work but the WWE booking has gone downhill plus all the Heel's are very accomplished guy that people respect so they get the Cheers

[Guest MrFill]

It depends on who you're talking about.

 

Take Benoit - whenever he comes out he gets a pop.

Until he won the strap, Rey was always getting cheered.

RVD gets a good reaction.

During the first part of his reign, Cena was getting cheers - it's only since he's become "unbeatable" that the fans have turned on him.

 

I think that they'll choose who they want to cheer, and if there's something bogus (Rey being booked as a "lucky" champ, Cena being Superman, Trish and her horribly setup moves), then they'll get booed.

[Guest horsemansmiler]

The babyface isnt dead and burried yet. Look at TNA as mentioned if babyfaces are booked right it can work. Christian Sting Aj Styles and so on

 

 

It can work it just needs the booking to match

[Guest the HiTman]

It depends on who you're talking about.

 

Take Benoit - whenever he comes out he gets a pop.

Until he won the strap, Rey was always getting cheered.

RVD gets a good reaction.

During the first part of his reign, Cena was getting cheers - it's only since he's become "unbeatable" that the fans have turned on him.

 

I think that they'll choose who they want to cheer, and if there's something bogus (Rey being booked as a "lucky" champ, Cena being Superman, Trish and her horribly setup moves), then they'll get booed.

 

Fill mate. I see people like Benoit and RVD as characterless. They are not faces nor heel's, just popular wrestlers. They do nothing that characterises a face or a heel..especially Benoit.

[Guest MrFill]

Benoit might not play to the crowd with promos, but he's not a classic face, but he certainly falls into that range - the crowds cheer for him on his entrance, not to mention him fighting mostly heels.

 

RVD is definitely a face.

[Dead Crow 370]

I don't think fans are tired of babyfaces, but rather of being told who they should like and dislike and why. Cena was a heel who was turned babyface by the fans, but WWE changed his character to suit the babyface role which eliminated the reasons why they cheered him in the first place - then they expected him to stay over despite this, and pushed hard the notion that we will cheer Cena despite his 'coolness' having been eradicated. Fans backlashed, and we have what we see today.

 

Similar case with Rey: an over babyface who we liked because he was a small, marketable guy with a unique look and moveset. As soon as the Eddie stuff was added, people started backlashing because they wanted behind him because of whatb he could do, not because he's an Eddie tribute act. His subsequent burial has helped none.

 

Now look at a guy like RVD. His character has never been tweaked since he first got turned babyface by the fans except that he now says a few more words than before. And guess what - fans love him just as much now as they did back then.

 

Ditto Eddie. Bar the 2005 heel turn with Rey, there was no difference between his heel and face character. Hence, no backlash. Fans never lost a reason to love him, so there was no reason not to.

[Guest the HiTman]

DraVen..your right and I think THE perfect example of a fans-face (new term?) is Austin. And what we want are more non-forced faces.

 

I © 'fans-face' :P

[Guest MrFill]

Actually, Austin was an Anti-Face. It's an existing term (can't remember where I first saw it), but it describes a face who is anti the normal face roles.

[Guest Keith Would]

It just depends on the individual person, I don't think fans are bored of faces per se, just there aren't many good ones around at the moment.

 

Rey got loads of cheers as a face. He gets booed because a midget champion is ridiculous.

 

Batista always got good face pops throughout his reign and is still getting them

[Guest Ed_666]

Fans aren't tired of babyfaces, they're just not impressed by the babyfaces they currently have, mainly because there are better options (HHH on Raw, Angle/Orton on SD), who they'd rather see as champ.

 

Rey is unrealistic, because there's no real way he could beat someone like Henry in a normal match, unless Henry did something silly like get himself counted out, or attempt a move from the top rope and knocks himself out or something. The 619 and "dropping the dime" don't look enough to pin me, never mind someone like Henry.

 

HHH is (as he has been for years) one of the most over guys on Raw, even when he's a heel, and not just because he's been fighting Cena, as the fans didn't pop anywhere near as much for Edge when he faced Cena, and generally booed Cena and Edge and cheered HHH in their triple-threat matches.

 

If Batista returns and wins the title, or HHH or RVD takes the belt off Cena, you'll see faces being cheered again, just as much as they ever have.

 

Ed

[Guest Thirteen]

Are the fans bored of babyfaces?

 

No, just ****, pointless booking and scripts.

[Murph 93]

Are the fans bored of babyfaces?

 

No, just ****, pointless booking and scripts.

 

Which explains the recent large boost of popularity-HOW?

[Guest Thirteen]

Which explains the recent large boost of popularity-HOW?

Lets just see how long it lasts for shall we Murph?:xyx :D

[Murph 93]

I think we shall.

[Guest Thirteen]

I think we shall.

So Murph would you say fans are bored with the Babyfaces?

[Murph 93]

The fans seemed interested up until the babyface wins the Title, then the rush is gone. It can only go down once they get to the top. Edited May 12, 2006 by Murph

[Guest Thirteen]

The fans seemed bored up until the babyface wins the Title' date=' then the rush is gone. It cn only go down once you get to the top.[/quote']

 

I hear what your saying, basically that once you hit the top theres only one way to go, but staying at the top can be elongated if the gimmick, character, personality, booking and angles are strong enough.

Wouldn't you agree?

 

In my opinion the reason people get so fed up with the champs so quickly is because none of the champs over the last couple of years(in my opinion) have been bonafide 'superstars.' The belt seems to have been almost shoved upon them in some cases.

 

But that's because the WWF hasnt had any true star power in a long time. I know everyone is going to start hollering Triple H but in my opinion he's at the top of the food chain as far as WWE Stars but he's no Hogan, Rock, Sting, or to a lesser extent even a Goldberg in their hey day. He just stand out as a personality in my opinion.

Although I do respect the hell out of what he has acheived.

 

I could see someone like Lashley(if he works on the mic work or gets a manager), Harry Smith(if he lives up to the hype), Kennedy(if he works on his ring work), etc possibly filling the shoes in say five years time but for right now in my opinion the roster on both brands is pretty stale. Which is why Is why I think they're bringing back old stables and federations because they've been running on empty for quite a while.

 

I loved Kurt(thought he'd be the future) but he is a shadow of his former self and the way he has deteriorated so rapidly in the last three/four years is quite alarming. Batista is okay in small doses I guess, HBK really needs to think about unwinding soon or going back on the roids because he just doesn't have that in-ring presence that he had before his back injury.

Rock and Jericho have gone, Mick is overweight which really affects his work although again is nice to see in small doses. Booker T... Lets leave it at that.

JBL is great as a mid/upper-mid carder, I actually like Cena(if he was a true anti-hero), Edge shouldn't be in the main event in my opinion, the little bit of credibility that Rey had is non-existent, and so on and so forth.

 

I love the WWF and will probably always love it but you can't deny that they are seriously missing some Star Drawing Power on both of their rosters.

Edited May 12, 2006 by Thirteen

[Murph 93]

I sure can't deny it, but I think, somehow, they're pulling through in a good way...well, Raw for the minute, but Smackdown has too many injuries/a suspension for it to be showing what it's got.

 

The thing I did disagree with, however, was the HBK comment, as he has had some amazing matches since his back injury, his best since, and ever, in my opinion, being his WM21 versus Kurt Angle.