In 2023, WWE followers had been handled to a recent wave of logical storytelling. With Triple H on the helm of artistic, weekly content material made loads of sense when it comes to character motivations, particular person and group conflicts, and babyface/heel alignment.
2024 guarantees extra of the identical, and as such, will probably be attention-grabbing to see which heroic characters will embrace the darkish facet. Based mostly on how their 2023 performed out, there are a number of WWE superstars who might use a heel flip to clean up their act and enrich their character arc.
A Villainous Flip Can Forestall LA Knight From Treading Water As A Babyface
The Megastar Is So Good That He Can Pull Off Any Function With Ease
LA Knight Had A Nice Run As A Babyface In 2023 Earlier than The 12 months Ended, Although, He Bought Knocked Down A Few Pegs Now, With Cody Rhodes And CM Punk Filling The Prime Babyface Spots, Knight Is In A Precarious Place
LA Knight had such an attention-grabbing 2023, in that he rose to immense reputation at breakneck velocity and obtained knocked down a number of pegs earlier than the yr ended. With the upcoming crowning of Cody Rhodes and the return of CM Punk, LA Knight’s standing as a prime babyface was considerably compromised.
Thankfully for Knight, his charisma can shine by way of whether or not he’s a superb man or a nasty man. Maybe a heel flip is to ensure that the Megastar in order that he can enter recent feuds with babyfaces and preserve his outstanding place on the cardboard.
Bianca Belair May Develop into The Badd-EST If She Incurs Her First WrestleMania Singles Loss
Belair Is At the moment 3-0 In Singles Competitors At The Showcase Of The Immortals
Bianca Belair Has Been A Goody Two-Footwear For Fairly Some Time A Loss To Jade Cargill On The Grandest Stage Of Them All Might Push Belair Over The Edge The EST Can Thus Develop into One Of The Baddest Ladies In WWE
Since her historic important occasion match at WrestleMania 37, Bianca Belair has largely performed the John Cena-like function of a goody two-shoes athlete who completely cherished to smile. The EST, nonetheless, may discover herself overshadowed by the emergence of the spectacular bodily specimen that’s Jade Cargill.
These two superstars seem like on a collision course at WrestleMania, and likelihood is, Cargill will come out on prime in that matchup. Consuming her first singles loss on the Grandest Stage of Them All can break Belair and trigger her to faucet into her nefarious facet.
Tommaso Ciampa Ought to Play To His Strengths In 2024
As soon as Upon A Time, Ciampa Was One Of The Prime Heels In All Of WWE
One Of The Greatest Heels Ever Produced By NXT Was Tomasso Ciampa The Reactions He Garnered From 2017 To 2018 Have been Completely Nuclear Ciampa Can Convey Out His Greatest Model As soon as Once more On The Essential Roster
There’s no different technique to put it: Tommaso Ciampa is at his greatest when he’s a deranged heel. From 2017 to 2018, few superstars on any WWE model had been higher at drawing nuclear warmth than the Sicilian Psychopath. Although he’s fairly a superb promo as a babyface on Uncooked, Ciampa is perhaps chomping on the bit to showcase the complete array of his character.
Conveniently, the seeds have been planted for Ciampa to retrace his villainous steps. A brutal beatdown of his present tag crew companion Johnny Gargano can set issues in movement for the terrifying facet of Tommaso.
Here is A Profitable Method: Andrade and Zelina Vega As A Villainous Tandem
They Each Play The Half Of Antagonist Fairly Successfully
When Andrade First Signed In NXT, He Performed The Function Of Babyface That Did not Work Properly, And When He Turned Heel Via His Alignment With Zelina Vega, He Hit Pay Filth If Andrade And Zelina Reunite On The Essential Roster, They Can Convey Out The Greatest (Or Worst) In Every Different
There is a good probability that Andrade, who signed with the Uncooked model shortly after his 2024 Royal Rumble model, can be packaged as a babyface when he wrestles his first singles WWE bout in 2024. Nevertheless, as soon as the hype surrounding Andrade’s return has totally dissipated, followers may develop weary of his character.
This may be poetic, as Andrade overstayed his welcome as a babyface throughout his NXT days. The trajectory of his profession within the black and gold model shot upward when he teamed up with the artful Zelina Vega. Because it seems, Vega hasn’t been doing a lot with the Latino World Order just lately; a reunion by way of the WWE Draft might bode nicely for her and her former protégé, who’re each pure villains.
The Subsequent Time Sheamus Delivers A Brogue Kick, It Ought to Be As A Huge Dangerous
That Fella Is A Good Babyface However An Even Higher Villain
Sheamus Has A Lengthy Historical past Of Deplorable Acts For Practically 15 Years, He Has Dished Out Beatings On The Essential Roster When Sheamus Makes His Eventual Comeback In 2024, He Might Make A Bang With His Heel Persona
Do not look now, however Sheamus can be celebrating his fifteenth yr as a WWE Famous person in 2024. All through his WWE profession, he is been a fun-loving babyface and a ruthless heel. Between these two roles, the Celtic Warrior has positively regarded higher as a villain, whether or not he was placing Mark Cuban by way of a desk or taking Triple H to the restrict.
As such, when Sheamus makes his comeback from damage, his heel antics can be a refreshing sight. Few superstars in historical past are extra bodily than Dublin’s favourite son, and Sheamus might be raring to reintroduce himself to the youthful opponents on the roster.
Liv Morgan Might Be A Scary Heel
Her Resilient Babyface Act Can Solely Take Her So Far
At Some Level, Liv Morgan’s Babyface Character Will Run Out Of Steam She Has The Potential To Be A Harmful Heel After All, She Has The Appearing CHops To Pull It Off
For the higher a part of her important roster stint, Liv Morgan has portrayed a plucky babyface that thrives in overcoming adversity. Nevertheless, her character progress will hit a ceiling in the end if she stays on this function for too lengthy.
Morgan might clean up her in-ring persona if she takes a villainous flip in 2024. Having dabbled in movie and TV appearing, Morgan can craft a compelling heel character who torments her opponents each bodily and psychologically.
Pete Dunne Can Unleash His Most Vicious Bruiserweight As A Heel
Twisting And Pulling Opponents’ Fingers Is Such A Villainous Transfer
Pete Dunne Has A Imply Streak That No Famous person Can Match In 2024, It is Time For Him To Maim His Opponents With The Absolute Worst Intent His First Dance Accomplice Can Be His Present Tag Crew Accomplice Tyler Bate
Among the finest character shifts in current reminiscence is Pete Dunne’s shedding of the Butch gimmick and subsequent return to his unique NXT identify. An integral a part of this easy storyline was his longtime rival and buddy Tyler Bate, with whom he fashioned the New Catch Republic.
Whereas it is good to see Dunne get his mojo (and his identify) again, his distinctive wrestling type can solely attain its peak if he embraces the darkish facet. The Bruiserweight, in any case, is supposed to control joints and pressure brutal submission victories. Having banger matches with Bate—who would match the betrayed babyface function to a tee—can be nice for heel Dunne.
Bronson Reed Can Get Actually, Actually Huge As A Villain
As A Pressure Of Utter Destruction, He Would Actually Be Credible
Bronson Reed’s Potential Stays Vastly Untapped To This Day A Heel Flip Can Unleash A Terrifying Monster That Might Wreak Havoc On Opponents Of All Sizes Reed Has What It Takes To Be A Juggernaut Of A Heel, A lot Like Mark Henry When He Was Operating The Corridor Of Ache
Indisputably, Bronson Reed has all of the bodily instruments to thrive within the WWE. Nevertheless, in each his NXT stint and his present run on Monday Night time Uncooked, there seems to be one thing lacking in Reed’s persona. The massive Aussie is one character beat away from forging a powerful reference to the followers.
That character beat may very well be a heel flip, as Reed would make a plausible monster heel harking back to Mark Henry circa 2011. It should not be too tough for Reed to show up the aggressiveness a notch; this may rework him into an unstoppable behemoth who can bulldoze his technique to championship competition.
Sami Zayn May Blow Up Into A Villain After Getting Fed Up With Dropping
This Is The Underdog From The Underground, With A Twist
Sami Zayn Has Confirmed That He Can Pull Off Storylines That Take Months To Pay Off In 2024, His Losses Have Been Extra Resounding Than His Wins This 12 months, Zayn May Lastly Lose It And Flip To The Darkish Facet
In 2022 and 2023, Sami Zayn helped execute a traditional slow-burn story arc with the Bloodline. As each an ally and foe of Roman Reigns, Zayn was an enchanting character to observe on a weekly foundation.
Thus, it’s not exhausting to think about Zayn pulling off one other intentionally paced storyline in 2024. His frustration together with his shedding streak can ramp up at WrestleMania when he comes up brief in a high-profile encounter (like, say, with the Intercontinental Champion Gunther). Fed up with getting Ls on a regular basis, Zayn can rework into an underhanded tactician who isn’t above utilizing shortcuts to lastly snag some wins.
