Why labeling wrestlers ‘babyface’ or ‘heel’ is no longer necessary

The lines of good versus evil in wrestling have been blurred making the labels of “babyface” and “heel” no longer necessary.

When pro wrestling was in its infancy, the model they used to book their matches included the archetype of any good story: a good guy faced a bad guy. The fans had someone to root for as their hero went against the vile villain. This model went on for years and is best exemplified by Hulk Hogan’s impact on the industry.

The blonde, tanned, muscular hero told kids to “train, say your prayers, and eat your vitamins” while waving an American flag and entering the ring to his “Real American” theme song. You can’t get much more babyface than that. But even Hogan knew this model wouldn’t last forever.

Crowds were changing and so Hogan dropped the red and yellow for black and white and a bad attitude. “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan is a creation some never thought they’d see: Hogan became a heel. It worked to reignite Hogan’s career and fans rallied behind Hogan and the nWo as one of the most notorious groups in wrestling history, regardless of the fact that they were supposed to be heels.

The same can be said of the WWE faction D-Generation X. In fact, The Attitude Era of the WWE ushered in many anti-hero types. As the mold shifted to the more rebellious, gritty guys on top like “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, traditional babyfaces like Bret “Hitman” Hart started to lose their place. A flip happened where fans embraced heels and booed the good guys.

That flip remains to this day. It’s evident in moments such as when Becky Lynch slapped Charlotte Flair at SummerSlam and was supposed to become a heel. Instead, fans just cheered louder. Ditto for Bayley’s recent “attitude change” where she cut her hair, her Bayley Buddies and a scathing promo against the fans. It seems the more the talent tells the crowd to “screw themselves” the more they endear themselves to a ride-or-die fan-base.

Bray Wyatt’s character, The Fiend, for all intents and purposes is supposed to be a very dark heel terrorizing the babyface talent, but fans love The Fiend so much that they’ll boo perennial hero Seth Rollins out of the building for going against him.

Then on the flip side, there’s Alexa Bliss, who has portrayed an excellent heel since debuting on SmackDown. Now Bliss has quietly become a babyface alongside her tag partner Nikki Cross, and who routinely get some of the biggest pops during their matches. Another tag team in question are The Kabuki Warriors. After a slow start they’ve adopted a more aggressive nature that even sees them using questionable tactics for the win. Does this make them heels now? Does it matter?

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Perhaps the best example of this is Charlotte Flair. She turned heel embracing the arrogance that comes with being called “Queen” but soon she found herself tagging with fan favorite Becky Lynch going against supposed heels Sasha Banks and Bayley. Did that mean Flair was a face again? Nope, she just continued with her regal persona making the ref hold the ropes and staking claim to being “genetically superior.” The only thing altered was her move set, as she sprinkled back in her trademark moonsault usually reserved for her time spent as a face.

We don’t need labels anymore. Sticking to the “heel vs. face” formula creates a divide that won’t allow for certain matches to take place unless they’re hyped or scripted in a certain way. The fans are going to side with whoever they want, so why not consider the rosters are comprised of all shades of gray battling for the top spot and find a new way to tell these stories.