10:24 AM
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When was the last time you saw the WWE do a slow burn babyface turn?
I thought about this the other day. I tried to think of the last time the WWE really gave time and effort into turning someone babyface. You see, this is important. The company tends to just decide to pull the trigger and get it done in a single show, at most a few shows. Take Sheamus for example. Do you recall how Sheamus turned babyface? He simply answered the challenge to Mark Henry one night. Mark Henry actually turned babyface this same way by not laying down for Randy Orton. While these turns were successful, they didn’t really change where the wrestler was. Sheamus isn’t any more popular as a babyface than he was as a heel. That’s the problem with a quick turn. Fans might be happy about it but they certainly won’t feel any more connection to the character.
The last slow burn babyface turn I can even think of is Dave Batista. In 2004, Batista started to get some character beyond being the musclehead in Evolution. First they did a tease for Batista to leave Evolution to see how the crowd would react. They then had Batista listening in on secret conversations HHH and Ric Flair but playing cool about it. Batista would also show disgust for some of the usual Evolution tactics. In 2005, Triple H told Batista not to enter the Rumble… and Batista won. Triple H then had Batista run over by a JBL limo to push Batista into challenging JBL for the WWE Championship instead of the World Heavyweight Championship. By this time, it was clear that Batista was a fan favourite… but he hadn’t actually turned yet. He was still a member of Evolution. He was still in the shadow of Triple H. It was when he had to sign the contract to choose who to face that Batista made his turn. And the reaction was huge.
Contract Signing Part I: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx07Wl5_07Y
Contract Signing Part II: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOFyrJhYEbY
The importance of this is it made Dave Batista into a headliner. Not just a main eventer, not just a number one contender at Wrestlemania. It made him a marquee name who the company could make money on. While Batista never broke any box office records, Batista was second only to John Cena for drawing for many years and was a brand new name instead of an old Attitude era name. Since 2004, the only wrestlers coming out of the WWE system who have actually become “headliners” are John Cena, Randy Orton and Dave Batista (Punk as well, but he really wasn’t a WWE system guy). Everyone else, from JBL to Edge were Attitude era names getting a push in their prime. It took three months to turn Batista babyface. It was a process and it was calculated. By doing that, they made a star.
How many stars are really made any more with a babyface turn that way?
The answer is none. Not since Batista, and there’s very little reason as to why. Too often we’ve seen the WWE now rely on the Money in the Bank to make Champions, but the wins don’t really get the wrestler over. Take Jack Swagger’s cash in. Everyone popped huge when he cashed in that briefcase, but was it for Jack Swagger? Nope, it was for a title change. Due to this, Swagger faltered as a main event wrestler and eventually fell back down into the midcard where he has been since. This has been the WWE’s new way of creating main eventers and it just doesn’t work. Someone needs to watch that Batista footage again and say, “Who could we do something like this for today?”
The man I’m thinking of is The Miz. Sure, he doesn’t have the relationship that Batista had with Triple H and Ric Flair and he’s already been in the main event of Wrestlemania. However, Miz doesn’t make anyone a believer with such a shoddy run with the WWE Championship that had him nearly failing to defend against Jerry Lawler and getting his and Alex Riley’s ass kicked against John Cena (Riley is another who had a few weeks to turn face and got the big moment of being the first face to punch Cole since Bryan but his heat fizzled in weeks). If the WWE wants another headliner, a guy that can sell, especially a young talent they can use as a media promoter similar to what they do with Cena (and Miz babyface gives them room to turn Cena into a traditional heel, which many are clamouring for) it’s going to be Miz. After playing heel for most of his career, it’s going to take the right program to turn him face. If they do it too quickly, Miz won’t move from where he is. If they do it right and give it a slow burn? The WWE might actually be able to make a new household name that sticks and not a guy who is, “sort of in the main event but nobody cares for like Orton, Taker, Cena and Punk”.
Or they’ll just re-sign Batista and not care to make any new headliners.
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