10 Best Character Arcs In Wrestling Today

Suffering builds character.

In wrestling, pain is a principle of life and personality shifts both good and bad can come at the drop of a dime. Some make no sense (see every single one booked by Vince Russo during his time murdering - I mean booking - WCW). Others can be true works of storytelling brilliance.

Some wrestlers have managed to keep an amazingly long term story and developing personality arc running throughout much of their careers (see Shawn Michaels, Triple H and Mick Foley for prime examples). Who in today’s wrestling climate is fighting the good fight on the story and character fronts? In this age of increasingly athletic wrestling and decreasingly colourful storytelling, whose stories are standing out the most? And, to be clear, standing out for good reasons.

From all over the world, we take a look here at a diverse range of talent keeping us hooked on their every moment. From the serious to the funny and the sad to the strong, let’s discuss the greatest character work in wrestling today.

Sometimes to step forward, first you have to step back.

From one of the worst timed injuries in the history of the business to a string of middling undercard feuds, Bálor’s main roster career proved rather disappointing.

Despite solid ring work and general crowd support, his often vacuous babyface persona failed to take him to the top. It was far removed from the Real Rock N Rolla persona of his New Japan run that captured so many fans’ imaginations. It often felt like that in his quest to be loved, Bálor had forgotten the fire that once made him such a dynamic performer.

In a rehash of their infamously silly 2017 feud, Bálor found himself at odds with the fiendish new face of The New Face Of Fear. Utterly dismantled during their SummerSlam encounter, Bray Wyatt sent the Demon King packing.

After some time away from the ring, Bálor returned to his stomping grounds at NXT. A place where he dominated, where he enjoyed many of his greatest career victories. Fed up with meandering in WWE, Bálor finally let his true colours show, fans be damned.

Returning to a place he called home, we are now seeing the real Finn Bálor come out to play - and what a dangerous player he is.