Heel/Face Versatility

[Guest J0bber]

Wrestlers that come to my mind as being superb heel acts, but below subpar faces are:

 

-Kane

-Ric Flair

-Sid

-Kurt Angle

-Brock Lesnar

-JBL

-Kevin Nash

-Curt Henning

-Randy Savage

-And how could I forget, HHH

 

Wrestlers that come to my mind as being superb face acts, but below subpar heels are:

 

-Bill Goldberg

-Sting (I think he had a short heel run)

-Hulk Hogan

-Ultimate Warrior

-Sgt. Slaughter

-Rey Mysterio Jr.

 

Wrestlers that come to my mind as being superb at both heel and face roles:

 

-Steve Austin

-Bret Hart

-Shawn Michaels

-Undertaker

-Eddie Guerrero

-Big Show (He's switched roles so many times that he has become a pro at it.)

-Jericho

-Foley

 

That's all I can think of for now.

 

EDIT: Thanks for bringing up Jericho and Foley. I totally forgot about them.

[Guest Brian]

You missed the Rock under guys who can play both, and heel so well that they eventually become insanely popular as faces again.

[DMann2003]

Which was Lex Lugar truly suited for.

[Hunter's Torn Quad]

Rick Rude was a tremendous heel, but he sucked as a babyface.

[CanadianChick]

Jericho's switched so many times, that he's an expert by now (three stints as a heel, and two stints as a face in WWE, one stint as each in WCW). I enjoy him as either or.

[Guest *KNK*]

How can you exclude Mick Foley from the superb heel/face list?

[Silence]

Jericho's very over as a face in WWE and isn't cowardly, but he also gets stale easily as a face in WWE with the goofy nature of his face character.

 

However, despite Jericho being more tolerable and funnier as a heel, he gets booked like a chickenshit in WWE quite easily by having authority figures like Bischoff and Vince helping him get WWE title shots/wins instead of Jericho being able to do it on his own. WWE also has had Jericho cheat just to beat no-name low mid-carders like Faarooq and Mark Henry.

 

Don't forget WWE having Jericho clean up dog shit as the heel Undisputed Champion, either.

[LooseCannon25]

I'd put Scott Hall as both....when he was a heel he was fantastic, but also when he was a face as Razor Ramon he was tremendously popular.

[Guest *KNK*]

Jerry Lawler is another name for the heel and face list.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Wrestlers that come to my mind as being superb face acts, but below subpar heels are:

 

-Hulk Hogan

Did you not watch WCW during the nWo era?

[Richard]

When the hell was Warrior a heel?

[Guest Fook]

I'd say Jake Roberts played both face and heel quite well. I preferred his heel act (hell, who didn't?), but he played a good face too as he used his smarts to win against bigger, stronger opponents.

[Jericholic82]

When the hell was Warrior a heel?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think when he teamed with sting as the blade runnners early in his career he was a heel right? Perhaps he meant that UW would make a bad heel considering his gimmick as a face. I dont know.

[Kahran Ramsus]

-Randy Savage

 

He was a great face, especially when he got to work with heels like Dibiase & Flair.

[Guest J0bber]

-Randy Savage

 

He was a great face, especially when he got to work with heels like Dibiase & Flair.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

In my opinion, he would have been a good face if they wouldn't have turned him heel in early 1989. As for his later face runs, they were decent both nothing special. I can't recall a good promo Savage conducted while being a face.

[Quit Calling My Mama]

Add Randy Orton to the 'Wrestlers that come to my mind as being superb heel acts, but below subpar faces' list.

[Guest L_O_Adam]

E)

[Team Angle Pusher]

The Rock is good as both but I prefer his Heel act. Uhm...Road Dogg/BG James is a far more better as a Face then as a Heel. Chris Benoit IMO is at his best as a Face, I can't remember how Benoit was as a Heel but I think you just can't not like the guy. Oh and what about Kurt Angle? His Face run wasn't really good for me

[TheFranchise]

Angle as a face was good with the comedy skits with Austin, and the All American Angle from 2001 was good, but as a whole, Angle is 95% must as a heel.

[Papacita]

Gotta disagree on Kane. His monster gimmick makes him a bit more natural in the heel role, but he's proven to be a good enough face when booked right (like his tag title run with X-Pac, for instance).

 

I'm on the fence with Jericho, because I hate his face character.

[cabbageboy]

Pretty sure Angle was still technically heel during the Austin skits in 2001. It wasn't until after Austin betrayed the WWF by siding with the Alliance that he went full fledged face. Then he was heel again by Nov.

 

Angle is too smarmy to be a face. Just one of those guys that you can't cheer for when he's TRYING to get cheers.

[Silence]

and the All American Angle from 2001 was good

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Face Angle in 2001 was fucking annoying to me most of the time.

 

In his matches, he'd be almost invincible ala The Rock as a face, he was WALKING on Smackdown with a neckbrace after heel Stone Cold gave him a piledriver on Raw that week, and his character was a shitty cross between Ken Shamrock ("Aaaaaahh! Tap you son of a bitch!!" at Summerslam 2001 against Austin) and The Patriot (the All-American Hero for WWE, except in dorky fashion).

 

As for Milk-O-Mania, as hilarious as it was, I still found it to be goofy and a rip-off of Austin's beerbath on The Corportation in 1999.

 

Angle's face run in 2002 consisted of him being a BUTT-buddy to Brock Lesnar. Hell, they even kissed that year.

[Team Angle Pusher]

What about John Cena

[Guest Fook]

Cena sucks as a face.

[Guest jm29195]

Hulk Hogan was tremendous as a heel from 96-98, totally freshened his character, many believed he couldn't do it, and drew tons of money.....

[pochorenella]

Can anyone point out when Rey Misterio was a heel? I didn't follow WCW that much so I'm not sure.

[Epic Reine]

In 2000, he was a heel in the Filthy Animals stable but he sucked as a heel so...

[Steve J. Rogers]

Easily one the worse is Triple H's "The Game" as a face, which is funny because alot of buzz on the net through his 2000 run was "turn him face" and they had plenty of opportunities to do so but Hunter actually turned them down (he knew the character was a better heel)

 

I'll give them credit for trying in 2002, but "The Game" just doesn't come off as smoothly as other gimmicks can (Stone Cold, Rock, Undertaker, ect) in the versatility department

 

"The Game" is a whiner, complainer, guy that has it all but still has massive chips on his shoulder, plus way to old to be this much of a "its MY TIME NOW DAMN IT!" guy, hence it doesn't come off well as a guy fans should be cheering

 

Good tweener though to be fair

 

Steve

[Guest Ransome]

I don't know that I'd consider Flair to be a below subpar face. In fact, I'd say he had an almost uncanny ability to transition seamlessly between cheering and booing him. Agreed on Triple H's poor 2002 face run though, and Angle's 2001 face run also felt forced and unconvincing.

[Guest jm29195]

Can anyone point out when Rey Misterio was a heel? I didn't follow WCW that much so I'm not sure.

 

 

Rey was an excellent heel before he ever wrestled in America, check out some of his AAA (?) stuff he was great!

 

 

 

I know it was pretty much a different charcter but the DX HHH was probably WWF's 3rd most popular babyface behind Austin and Taker in the summer of 98....