10 Times WWE Tried (And Failed) To Make You Cheer For Former Heels

8. Carmella

Nia Jax Total Divas
WWE.com

The SmackDown Live Women's Championship has travelled a long way in the four months since Carmella clung to it with just the right amount of false hope a pretender should espouse.

Contrary to received wisdom, 'The Princess Of Staten Island' was a great heel, albeit not perhaps best placed at the top of division as a great wrestler. The character was an archetype of a time gone by, but as she said shortly before giving up her plum spot to Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch, she was "proud to be a Diva".

This sort of patter had become uncommon amongst those in the division, and thus had a place - though she could have done without Alexa Bliss being almost identically positioned on Monday Night Raw at the same time.

After her title loss there was little wiggle room for her persona on the blue brand. The IIconics did her b*tch schtick better, and Becky Lynch became the complete wrestling heel before Carmella could exponentially expand her moveset.

She was instead made a dancing fool alongside R-Truth. The gimmick has sort of worked - the pair drew so many new eyes to the mixed match challenge that the dance break has now become a feature in every match - but fans don't erupt, they merely don't boo. This half-baked effort is the best they'll ever make for her, in the near future at least.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett