10 Big Turns WWE Must Make In 2017
Wrestling's heroes and villains have never been so miscast.
For all its complexities, professional wrestling is built around the classic concept of good vs. evil. The sport's heroes and villains clash in a number of big and bold ways, before eventually settling their differences in the ring. Wherever the storyline goes, it almost always comes down to an altruistic protagonist doing battle with a villainous antagonist: it has been this way for decades, and it won't be changing anytime soon.
Writers and creative teams are constantly searching for ways to keep the format fresh and prevent wrestling from becoming stale and formulaic, which is always the danger when adhering to such a framework. Unfortunately, this often leads to outlandish, unbelievable stories, and confused, misguided characters whose motivations aren't clear, and whose inconsistencies make it difficult to get invested in them.
This has never been a bigger problem than it is in 2016. For the most part, creating a compelling hero or villain is a dying art. WWE's roster is flush with wrestlers who are grossly ill-suited to their current roles, particularly in the main event scene, and their ongoing dilution of the face/heel alignment scale continues to hamper their product.
WWE have struggled with creating genuinely likeable babyfaces for years, but building great villains has become a real problem too. Part of this comes from forcing wrestlers to play face or heel roles that they're just not suited to, but a handful of well-timed turns would soon fix this.
Here are 10 big turns WWE must make in 2017.
10. Rusev (Face)
Rusev is still technically a heel, but the last time he was booked like one was when he was abusing Titus O’Neil in front of his son. In fact, The Bulgarian Brute is regularly booked as if he’s the company’s most valiant babyface. Everything he does is driven by a desire to protect his and his wife Lana’s honour: it started with the Roman Reigns feud, and continues with Enzo & Big Cass.
Reigns ruined Rusev’s post-wedding celebration then laughed when Lana fell into their cake. He spent three months constantly belittling, ridiculing, and mocking Rusev, then jumping him from behind like a cowardly playground bully. Enzo, meanwhile, was caught parading around naked in front of Lana and got sassy when confronted about it. What did Rusev do? He handed Enzo a well-deserved beating.
Rusev is continually beset by bully tactics from some of WWE’s most obnoxious “faces,” yet we’re still expected to boo this guy. It makes absolutely no sense, and while Rusev pulls out the odd dirty trick of his own every now and then, he hasn’t really done anything wrong. The man’s already being portrayed like a face, and while he still carries one of the company’s most stereotypical heel gimmicks, it makes no sense to keep insisting that Rusev is somehow the villain in all this.