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It’s often said by WWE Superstars that they much prefer playing heel characters because there is a lot more freedom in the role compared to when they’re asked to portray babyfaces.
Right now, it feels like there are more heels on the main roster than ever before and, despite the recent returns of Daniel Bryan and Bobby Lashley, there is still a serious lack of upper-card good guys on both Raw and SmackDown Live.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at five current heels who WWE should consider turning into babyfaces before SummerSlam 2018.
#5 Kevin Owens
Despite some questionable booking over the last year, Kevin Owens remains one of WWE’s top heel Superstars and he is one of the few bad guys on the main roster who can make fans genuinely believe every word he says.
It cannot be denied, however, that his career has stagnated from a storyline perspective ever since he lost the Universal Championship in early 2017, with the AJ Styles and Shane McMahon feuds on SmackDown Live both going on for far too long.
Unless WWE plans to have KO win the Money In The Bank contract, they could do a lot worse than make him turn babyface for the first time since he debuted with the company in December 2014.
Deep down, Owens is a bad guy and always will be, so the long-term plan would be to turn him heel again, but it would make for a refreshing change to see him in a storyline where he tries to earn the respect and support of the WWE Universe.
#4 Alexa Bliss
Alexa Bliss remains as popular as ever despite playing the same character for the best part of two years on the main roster, so it could be argued that there’s no need to turn her babyface by the time SummerSlam 2018 comes around.
However, when you consider that she held the Raw Women’s Championship for 48 weeks between April 2017 and April 2018, it’s extremely unlikely that she’ll re-enter the title picture again as a heel any time soon.
To keep “Little Miss Bliss” relevant on Raw while she’s away from the title storyline, it wouldn’t be the worst idea for WWE to refresh her character by having her fully embrace the support of the audience for the first time since her early days in NXT.
After all, fans are willing to cheer for her – just look at the reaction after her win at Elimination Chamber!
#3 Elias
Judging by Elias’ continued crowd reactions over the last 14 months, the guitar-playing Raw Superstar is perfectly capable of carving out a lengthy career for himself in WWE without even reinventing his character too much.
When he wants a crowd to boo him, he insults them and it works; and when he wants a crowd to cheer him, which happens more frequently at live events, he says nice things about them and it works.
Either way, whether he’s getting positive or negative reactions, Elias is getting loud responses from audiences on a weekly basis – something that would surely continue even if he turned babyface.
Besides, once his current rivalry with Seth Rollins is over, the Pittsburgh native doesn’t have many top faces to feud with – he’s already battled with the likes of Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman, Finn Balor and Bobby Roode – so he would have a bunch of new opponents to take on if he became a good guy.
#2 Rusev
It’s crazy to think that the ‘Rusev Day’ phenomenon began in late 2017 but, almost eight months after we first heard the phrase on our screens, Rusev is still largely being portrayed as a heel on SmackDown Live.
There are times when he’s looked like fully turning into a good guy, such as at Clash of Champions 2017 when he soaked in the adulation of the crowd, but you only have to hear Aiden English’s derogatory comments towards audiences to know that WWE still sees “The Bulgarian Brute” and his sidekick as bad guys.
There have been reports recently suggesting that Lana will soon begin to manage a heel Rusev again, just like when they first debuted on the main roster in 2014, but it would feel like a missed opportunity if WWE failed to capitalise on the two-time United States champion’s momentum by not turning him into a babyface.
#1 Cesaro
Cesaro has been one of WWE’s best in-ring talents over the last six years, yet multiple attempts to push him as a babyface singles competitor during that time have proved unsuccessful.
It was claimed in late 2014 by Vince McMahon that the five-time Tag Team champion struggles to “connect” with fans and that’s why he hasn’t achieved as much, at least from a storyline perspective, as what was initially expected of him.
However, following the best run of his WWE career as one half of The Bar, “The Swiss Cyborg” has connected more than ever with fans over the last year and he would be the perfect addition to the babyface side of the SmackDown Live roster if he splits from Sheamus.
Fans would instantly support him as a good guy and there’s a whole host of new opponents he could face in one-on-one matches, including Samoa Joe, Shinsuke Nakamura and Daniel Bryan.
