Top 10 WWE faces of 2014

WWE is and has been a babyface driven promotion. Over the course of its history, the company has been built around the lights of Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, Rock and John Cena who were babyface for a majority of their career.The company is yet to find a superstar that belongs with these four names when it comes to exploding into the mainstream attention but even though they haven’t found one, this doesn’t mean there aren’t any good guys in the roster.2014 saw the rise and fall of a lot of baby faces in the company and most of them contributed big time to the weekly programming. Earlier we saw the top Superstars of the year and now, here is a look at who all were the top baby faces of 2014.

#10 John Cena

Yes, there are still people out there who love John Cena. He is clearly the ‘most’ polarizing superstar on the current roster but once again, it would be unfair to overlook the achievements that Cena had this year.

He had a good feud with Bray Wyatt and became a 15 time WWE Champion before ending the Authority’s run alongside his teammates at Survivor Series. Loving Cena as a character might be a big problem for many but that doesn’t mean the Cenation leader had a bad year.

He passed another year on top of the mountain and considering that the lights of Rock and Steve Austin only sat there for a maximum of 4-5 years, the decade long run of Cena actually deserves a lot of credit.

#9 Jack Swagger

Splitting up the Real Americans was supposed to make Swagger’s career take a big drop. It did happen but once the company decided to turn him a babyface, things brightened up for Zeb Colter’s student.

The fact that it came against the anti- American Rusev made it much more effective. The fans really rallied behind Swagger throughout that feud even though he was destined to lose out to the Bulgarian Brute. Swagger didn’t have any other success outside Rusev as he only got random bookings.

However, his single run down with Rusev was so impressive that the company has decided to give the angle another run and hopefully this would end up being much more equally contested than the previous outing.

#8 Sheamus

The WWE Universe wanted Sheamus to return as a heel earlier this year but instead, he came out as a babyface. There weren’t much complaints about that as well since the Celtic Warrior went on to establish himself as a credible midcard face.

Sheamus’ run saw him win the United States Championship from Dean Ambrose and also found a place in the Money in the Bank main event. As a champion, he had some hard-hitting matches with Cesaro before eventually dropping out to Rusev.

He was supposed to headline Survivor Series as well before the injury angle and if that actually happened, Sheamus could’ve climbed the list and end up in a much higher position.

#7 Ryback

Ryback had to sit out a major portion of the year due to injury. And Before that, he was having a botched tag team run with Curtis Axel. The tag team was apparently not going anywhere, so when the big guy returned from injury, he was the babyface that he once was.

WWE Universe met the change with some warm hands and all of a sudden, Ryback turned out to be the focal point of the Survivor Series plans. He was finally getting over as a monstrous babyface and the push helped as well.

His momentum seems to have watered down a bit right now but hopefully he can rally around after TLC and have a similar run throughout next year.

#6 The Usos

Whenever the company needed two baby faces that could have a solid match, they turned towards Usos. They have been the backbone of tag team division since their debut and this year was no different.

Rikishi’s sons have been part of almost all the major feuds that ran through the year even if those weren’t roles that had huge implications on the storyline.

When on their own, the Usos did win the Tag Team Championships while the matches they had with Wyatt Family and Dust Brothers were instant classics. The tag team division slowly became synonymous with the Usos and even if the company brings up superstar from the NXT, it would be hard to dethrone the Usos as top babyface tag team.

#5 Damien Mizdow

Mizdow is not technically supposed to be a babyface. He is a heel on the books but the comedy part in his character helps Mizdow to be over as a fan favorite. The gimmick that WWE gave him could’ve easily been a full stop to his career but it turned out the exact opposite.

From jobber Sandow to fan favorite Stunt Double Damien Sandow, he did have a great run this year. The fans would probably love seeing Mizdow pull out his charm more rather than seeing John Cena actually wrestling between the ropes.

It was his successful run with the fans that forced WWE to make him one half of the tag team champions. The tag team breaking up is obviously going to make him a bigger star and till then, he will remain as a superstar who is incredibly hard to hate.

#4 Roman Reigns

Roman Reigns won the Superstar of the year Slammy award for 2014 and he did deserve it to an extent. His matches weren’t as great as they were projected out to be and the push he got made clear about the intentions WWE had for his future.

After splitting up with the Shield, Reigns went on to headlines some pay-per-view and competed for the WWE Championship on various occasions as well. The flashy moves, looks and not so bad microphone skills were put to great use by the creative team.

The injury did take a lot out of Reigns’ precious time and he still hasn’t had that big break that will take his career to the next level but it will be here sooner or later.

#3 Dolph Ziggler

Ziggler didn’t probably get the push he deserved but that didn’t stop the fans from loving him. The WWE Universe was firmly behind him at every move he made throughout the year and this urged the company to put the Intercontinental championship on him.

Later the company gave Ziggler a moment to cherish throughout his career. Ziggler stole the show at Survivor Series despite the odds being stacked against him and ended the Authority’s reign.

All his matches have been solid to the core as well apart from few exceptions. And since he did all this without a proper regular push like a majority of other people on the list, Ziggler deserves a lot of appreciation.

#2 Dean Ambrose

Who would’ve imagined this? Ambrose was born to be a heel superstar and everyone expected him to be the catalyst for Shield breaking up. Of course it would’ve been a great angle but since that didn’t happen, we ended up with this.

Ambrose took up the anti- hero gimmick and was an immediate hit with the fans. His initial feud with Seth Rollins made Ambrose fill the void that was left open by Bryan’s injury. The angle with Bray Wyatt is also putting Ambrose over as a babyface that everyone wants to see.

The Lunatic fringe won hearts where ever he went and drew comparisons to the run that Steve Austin had back in the Attitude Era. You know how over Ambrose is when there were comparisons like that.

#1 Daniel Bryan

The point of WWE being driven by baby faces was already made earlier and Daniel Bryan was a classic example of that. It was his run as the hottest good guy in the wrestling business that sold tickets as everyone wanted to see the ultimate Underdog moment at the grand stage.

Bryan went on to achieve just that when he defeated both Batista and Randy Orton in the WrestleMania main event and became WWE World Heavyweight Champion. His run was nothing short of epic and it continued all the way till he got injured.

The flying goat had to sit out a majority of the year due to that injury but when Bryan was there, he was clearly the most over babyface in the company.