10 Most Effective Wrestling Babyfaces Of The 21st Century

10. Bayley

Bayley, like many of her NXT peers, has been thus far unable to replicate her extraordinary success on the main roster - but she is so likeable and natural that it's more an indictment of the creative regime than her progression.

As basic and timeless as Bayley's loveable loser NXT act was on the surface, she was unable to adopt the tropes that served her inspirations so well. So many old babyface tricks have been rendered lame with the coherence of wrestling's inner workings. A babyface can't hold their arm steady just when it is thought to fall to the mat for a third time; it's a hollow ploy synonymous with the manipulators of old.

Bayley didn't have the luxury to go that far back in time - but she channelled the classic babyfaces of the NWA's 1980s heyday by fighting through a (supposed) broken hand during her greatest moment at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 2015. That match was such an emotional masterclass that it didn't matter how technically proficient Banks was. All everybody wanted was to see that hand raised in victory.

Bayley's popularity has been symbolised by superfan Izzy - an embodiment of her ability to connect with even the most detached and disenchanted of smark audiences.