10 Ways WWE Storytelling Has Declined Since 2000
3. Dumb Babyfaces
WWE babyfaces tend to fall into one of two categories:-
1. Smug egoists who are often as smarmy as the heels they’re feuding with.
2. Dim-witted, overly naive tryhards who are booked as if they’re not in the same league as their opponents.
Both are problematic, with the second especially so. Wrestling works best on a basic dichotomy of good vs. evil. The heroes should be flawed enough that people can relate to them, but not to the point that they come off vastly inferior to the villains. When the bad guys win, it should usually be through a miscarriage of justice, which builds sympathy for the hero, and compels you to keep rooting for him.
This doesn’t exist in WWE anymore. When the company have a truly likeable ‘white meat’ face on their hands, they inevitably run them into the ground. The likes of Sami Zayn and Bayley could be hugely marketable commodities for WWE, but they’ve been buried so often that their popularity has been crippled.
It’s impossible to build a compelling story around a protagonist nobody believes in, and how can anybody honestly put their trust in someone like Bayley getting the job done at the moment?