10 Basic Qualities All WWE Heels Should Possess

What makes a sports-entertainer a villain or hero, a good guy or a bad guy, a babyface or heel? How do the crowds know whether the character they are watching should be cheered or booed? It may sound like a silly question but, especially today, the lines have become extremely blurred as far as what characters portray which role. Pro-wrestling fans should be able to easily identify the heel within seconds of seeing them appear, even without speaking the same language as the wrestler. It's an art and it's slowly dying. WWE used to have a reputation for building great heels and for the longest time the company was considered a "heel factory" because of the sheer amount of villains they would create in order to feed to their top babyface stars. Unlike in the Attitude Era, where heels and babyfaces weren't always so well-defined, the uncertainty of the current programming is not due to carefully-crafted character development by the writing team. It's actually a result of the complete opposite. Too many characters straddle the fence between good and evil or, worse, are miscast and demonstrate tactics that they shouldn't be demonstrating. In a world where things aren't always black and white, it is understandable that many characters will exemplify qualities of both, but too often in WWE today, heels don't display anything that's considered "bad". There should still be a distinguishable difference so that fans are able to pick a side. Villainous characteristics need to be exemplified more and, frankly, the company may need to go back to the basics in this regard...