10 Wrestlers Who Became Unexpectedly Popular Babyfaces In 2020
The most unexpected yet fulfilling babyface runs of 2020, all of these stand out as big surprises.
In wrestling, few things are harder to build than a successful babyface. It’s easy to get people to hate you, but to inspire devotion from an often cynical fanbase - to get them to cheer for your success and invest sincerely in your angles - that’s one of the most beautiful and difficult tasks in wrestling.
Over the years, we’ve seen fans turn on established wrestlers during their face runs, lash out against the chosen heroes of the company and force wrestlers to turn heel because of the heat they were getting as good guys. The intense reactions from crowds against the unconvincing protagonists makes those beloved faces stand out even more, particularly when they come from unexpected places.
Some of these wrestlers were good guys before this year but exploded in popularity, some were heels who crossed over the moral spectrum, and others were outside of the realm of possibility for a singles babyface push entirely. All of them have made the most of their runs so far, and should hopefully be over with their audiences for a long time to come. Few could have expected that all of these wrestlers would be babyface sensations at the start of the year.
10. Shayna Baszler
Nobody was predicting a Shayna Baszler face turn in 2020. Baszler has been respected by the fans of NXT for years due to her reigns with the NXT Women's Championship, but no one thought she would be a babyface on the main roster less than a year after making her debut.
But after months of aimlessness following her loss to Becky Lynch at WrestleMania, she united with brief rival Nia Jax to challenge the dominating Women's Tag Team Champions Sasha Banks and Bayley.
On commentary during their first title match together, she was framed as a courageous talented babyface, and her unique submission on both women to end their title match was praised for its skill by the commentators instead of being lambasted for her sadism. Her presentation over the last few weeks have continued that momentum, and it seems likely that she's going to be the babyface against Jax in their inevitable feud after losing the titles.
Baszler will never be the conventional WWE hero, yet there’s a natural charisma and likability to her that could cement her as a phenomenal antihero going forward. A truly unexpected yet potentially rewarding development.