On the Heels of Success

by Jack Windham
November 29, 2008

Don't look now, but WWE currently has three of the best heels that this business has ever seen before.

Heels of Success

Years before the brand split had occurred, WWE was a company that was focused on building up one top level heel to challenge babyface champions such as Hulk Hogan, the Ultimate Warrior, and Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Then, along came the brand split, which caused WWE to separate their wrestling roster into three different squads.

Since ECW isn't viewed as a priority within the company, WWE needed to have at least two top level heels (one on Raw and one on Smackdown).

Well, three performers have stepped up over the last year and now WWE has three top level heels at their arsenal.

Trio of Terror

The three wrestlers that have stepped up as heels are Chris Jericho, Randy Orton, and Edge.

If you've followed Smackdown over the past 12 months or so, you should already know just how vital Edge is to that brand.

It's almost as if every single week, Smackdown is being carried by the performance of Edge as the top heel on the brand.

Often time, Smackdown fans would be forced to watch 100 minutes of lackluster performances only to be saved by a superb 20 minute segment from Edge.

When Chris Jericho made his return to wrestling after a 2 year hiatus, he was brought back as a babyface.

After that run failed to generate much excitement from the fans, Chris Jericho was allowed to become a heel again.

Much like he has been in the past, Chris Jericho was such a natural at being a heel. His promos have struck a nerve with wrestling fans, and he's now easily one of the most hated characters around.

Randy Orton was the top heel on Raw for quite a while now. He was sidelined briefly by an injury.

Now that he's back, he's regain his spot as the top heel on Raw.

Too Much?

The problem WWE has right now is that their top characters are on the heel side of things.

The babyfaces (John Cena, Batista, Rey Mysterio, Triple H, Jeff Hardy, and the Undertaker) are still performing well, but they're not on the same level as the heels right now, in terms of connecting with the audience.

Shawn Michaels was on that level when he was involved in that terrific feud with Chris Jericho a few months back, but since dropping down to a feud with JBL, he hasn't had the same momentum.

Normally, when you have great heels, the babyfaces should be able to benefit from the heat and make themselves even more popular.

However, that hasn't been the case. The babyfaces listed above are simply riding on the reputation that they already built through the years.

Closing Thoughts

WWE needs to figure out how to capitalize on the heel heat that Chris Jericho, Randy Orton, and Edge have right now and create a brand new babyface superstar.