10 Times WWE Got Babyfaces Wrong

8. Faarooq

Farooq Ron Simmons
WWE.com

By 1998, The Rock had built on late-1997's foundations by emerging as a cocksure heel who started to outshine everyone else in The Nation. That included settled leader Faarooq, and the decision was made to boot big Ron Simmons out of the group and try to run with him as a face.

Read that again. It won't make any more sense a second time round.

The WWF's big plan for Faarooq as a baby was that he'd been replaced in a heel faction by somebody who was younger and getting more attention. How on earth that was supposed to lead people towards cheering for the former leader is anyone's guess. Surprise surprise - it didn't work.

Faarooq continued to wear his Nation ring attire as a babyface and obsessed over kicking that "upstart punk" Rocky's ass all over the place. His revenge mission didn't endear him to the core audience, and it didn't lead to any worthwhile pay-per-view blow off either.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.