Why WWE Need to Approach Babyface Title Reigns Differently
Recently in WWE we’ve seen longer title runs for most of the champions. For some this is a good thing but as WWE is about sports entertainment and more like a tv show, this isn’t really the right approach.
Many believe the appeal for a babyface is about the chase and when you look at other scripted tv shows, they have a different format which WWE could learn from. They tend to make this same mistake with all their babyfaces too and here’s how I think their booking should go.
The Emerging Hero
In shows that are focused on a good vs evil story such as The Flash or Arrow (back when they were on), they would always have a certain format to each season and rivalry.
We’ll use Bianca Belair as an example in this since she has been one of the top babyfaces in years and fans have been complaining online they want a change from her.
Bianca emerged as a new babyface challenger in the main roster, while the heel champ in Bayley was wreaking havoc and dominating for some time. Belair got her wins, built herself up then eventually beat Bayley.
Next up was Saha Banks, another multi time world champ that was also holding what Bianca was after, the SmackDown Women’s Title. Their feud was excellent to say the least and Belair ended up beating Banks for the title at WrestleMania.
Bianca had her several month reign and it seemed like she was on the top of the world, then entered the next big evil.
Becky appeared as a heel and squashed Belair which started a new formidable reign. The story then shifted to Belair having to redeem herself and improve in every way to be able to beat Lynch which was really well done. Belair had got to the point where she had got that over that the crowd didn’t even know how to react when she lost the title. Becky was a huge crowd favorite but so was Belair.
This went on all the way to WrestleMania 38 with Bianca coming out on top. This was honestly great booking for a babyface and something they should have been doing for every face they wanted to build up.
Where Things Go Wrong
Although Bianca Belair is one of the top female talents, after defeating Becky they didn’t really give her any meaningful feuds like in previous years.
Ideally, she should have lost the title to Bayley and Damage control which would have helped to get that group over, then you get to see Bianca grow further and improve again to be able to beat Bayley for the title.
You have a few months of Bianca as champ again, then you introduce Charlotte or another heel to take out Bianca. The problem is this didn’t happen and you just have the babyface dominating everyone without any real challenge. Hate it or love it, the whole being beat then overcoming the heel was done well for her under Vince but that ended when Triple H took over.
In shows like the Arrow or The Flash, no matter how good they were as heroes, there would always be a new big bad that would show them up and you’d have to see them improve in order to beat them. A season finale (much like WrestleMania) would have The Flash defeating the main big bad of that season. with the next season starting and teasing the rise of someone new.
In WWE you could debut a new heel or have someone that has been racking up wins without interacting with your champ come forth and make their challenge. Obviously, this can’t be done the exact same way each and every time, but it makes for a solid base.
Having long title reigns also with the same champion can get boring. Seeing them finally taken down can for sure be a great moment but if you make each and every match count with a deep, engaging story then this can still be achieved in a shorter period of time.
For every babyface there should be their main heel rival and many smaller heel challengers along time. By doing this you aren’t just building up your babyface, but also your heels. You don’t need to go over to get over after all.
Rinse and Repeat
This formula can be used regardless of what level on the card the babyface is and who they are. People want to see someone go up against the odds and come out on top, while being smart about it. Babyfaces often get booked to just accept any challenge and take any risk to prove themselves but to beat their toughest opponents, they need to be smart.
This format can be a bit predictable if not done well but they key to it is to make each rivalry different. It’s not always easy to find original stories in wrestling but if done right they can still find old stories and add new twists.
By doing this you’re building up both your babyfaces and heels. Even after the babyface defeats the heel, you can have the latter turn face to balance out a division or to please the crowd if they got over in the process.
In recent weeks with the Bloodline story we’ve seen ratings higher than they have been in a long time, all thanks to storytelling. WWE need to book their programs more like a TV show with great stories, rather than match after match relying on names to get views.
