History Main / Face

[[caption-width-right:300:''"[[AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle Train, say your prayers, eat your vitamins, be true to yourself and be true to your country]]...[[Wrestling/HulkHogan BROTHER!!!]]"'']]

* Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling's biggest and most curious break out baby face during the Usefulnotes/COVID19Pandemic was Wrestling/DarbyAllen. He's a skinny, 160 lbs skateboarder who paints half of his face with a skull, speaks in monotone, refuses to defend himself when insulted-even when the insults are blatantly untrue, and deliberately subjects himself to harm and discomfort to get motivated. But in a company full of acrobatic cruiser weights and {{spot monkey}}s Darby Allen is not only one of the best high fliers thanks to the body control that comes from skateboarding, from the stiff collisions that come from a man who doesn't care about his own pain much less his target's, but he also has occasional bouts of brilliant WrestlingPsychology when working with anyone else who cares about such details... In a promotion full of comedy it seems fans take Allen's morbidly serious attitude a welcome change of pace, and he is of course an underdog.

* Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling's biggest and most curious break out baby face during the Usefulnotes/COVID19Pandemic was Darby Allen. He's a skinny, 160 lbs skateboarder who paints half of his face with a skull, speaks in monotone, refuses to defend himself when insulted-even when the insults are blatantly untrue, and deliberately subjects himself to harm and discomfort to get motivated. But in a company full of acrobatic cruiser weights and {{spot monkey}}s Darby Allen is not only one of the best high fliers thanks to the body control that comes from skateboarding, from the stiff collisions that come from a man who doesn't care about his own pain much less his target's, but he also has occasional bouts of brilliant WrestlingPsychology when working with anyone else who cares about such details... In a promotion full of comedy it seems fans take Allen's morbidly serious attitude a welcome change of pace, and he is of course an underdog.

* Other than some disputes with his brother and Wrestling/RobVanDam, Wrestling/JeffHardy is among the most unique stars in pro wrestling who actually made it as a singles superstar when he never should have. Technically, Jeff and his [[Wrestling/MattHardy brother]] were heels (as the "New" Brood) when they debuted in 1999, but Jeff turned face two months later, and it's been a decade since then. (Matt, however, had gone back to being heel once in a while). When Jeff was caught selling illegal substances, charged with 5 felonies and sent to prison, his merch still out-sold Wrestling/{{DGenerationX}} ''and'' Cena. Extremely gifted, but ultimately wasted talent.
* Perhaps the more appropriate term is técnico but Lucha Libre Internacional had a luchador who went by (not kidding) ''Babe Face'' in the late 1970s up until [[Wrestling/{{AAA}} Triple A]] forced it out of business around 95. Later his son ''Babe Face Jr.'' entered the business, although not even IWRG was interested in him, much less the major Mexican enterprises; both AAA and Wrestling/{{CMLL}} opted to milk whatever they could out of Babe Face Sr. instead. Likewise, one of Dominican Wrestling Entertainment's featured luchadoras goes by ''La Baby Face'' and on the flipped side, there is the masked Australian wrestler of Wrestling/ProWrestlingZero1, ''El Technico''.

* Not a wrestling example, but Hercule from the ''Manga/DragonBall'' series acts like the typical wrestling hero and the main characters, despite being better fighters than him, are all willing to do the job so that he will look good. He was even instrumental in the defeat of one of the series most powerful villains in a scene which had obvious parallels to the power of the Hulkamaniacs.

* Even the 'western' characters in ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'' revere Zangief, a pro wrestler who trained himself by fighting bears in Siberia. In a time when any [[DirtyCommunist "Champion of the proletariat"]] starts as a mere ideological enemy, they have a change of heart or [[EnemyMine teaming up]] with the westerners for the greater good. In-universe, "The Red/Iron Cyclone" is not just a national and ideological hero, but a beloved face by children, fellow wrestlers and wrestling fans world-wide.
* While ''Manga/TigerMask'' manga is the story of [[HeelFaceTurn a heel's journey to baby face]], every wrestler who has since used the gimmick has been a face by default. The first official wrestler to be recognized as [[Wrestling/SatoruSayama Tiger Mask]] by New Japan caused ratings to increase by 25% whenever he was featured on a show, further ensuring this would be his role.
* In one episode of ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'', Xena decides the best way to save her friend Joxer (who has offended the Amazon tribe) is to stage a SquashMatch, with Xena playing to the crowd before "killing" Joxer with an overly dramatic {{finishing move}}.

* Of course, Wrestling/TitoSantana, winner of the first [=WrestleMania=] match ever, the first Mexican-American to win the WWF/WWE Intercontinental Championship, remained a face his entire career.

** A similar thing happened with Wrestling/RandyOrton's second face run, where half of his feuds were started by his own need to be [[EvilerThanThou the most BAMF around]]. Sometimes the enemy would be shown to be just as evil or worse than him, but not always. Becoming face by default in 2010 being the only thing he changed about his character is who he attacked.
** Wrestling/ZackRyder. Hated for bad jokes, arrogance, entrance music, hair style, goggles, see through jacket, pants with different leg lengths, and his signature taunt "Woo Woo Woo!" Oddly enough though, many Smart Marks are fans of Zack Ryder. Though this may have something to do with his theme song... Ultimately it got him to full time Facedom by late 2011.

* "Stone Cold" Steve Austin started his career as a ''heel'' "Blowjob" in Wrestling/{{WCW}}, having later an existential crisis in Wrestling/{{ECW}} to wind-up as a redneck rebelling against an [[Wrestling/VinceMcMahon undeserving authority]]. For the most part, he was a fun-loving good guy who had some trust issues. Since he stopped wrestling, he became more of an [[ThePrankster anarchist]] who delivers Stunners to everyone around him for no real reason, but fans still cheer for him no matter what.

* Wrestling/{{Bayley}} is one of the biggest Faces in NXT, and possibly one of the biggest female Faces in history. (She'd probably be the female John Cena if WWE had played their cards better.) It's especially notable that while the rest of her fellow horsewomen (Wrestling/BeckyLynch, Wrestling/SashaBanks, and Wrestling/{{Charlotte}}) have had periods where they worked as both heels and faces at various points in their WWE careers, it took until late 2019 for Bayley to finally turn heel.

** People tend to forget that Wrestling/AndreTheGiant was a face for ''most'' of his career.
** A comedic character is a face almost by default, but non other example highlits better this than that of Happy Humphrey, a performer back in TheFifties who clocked the weighing machine in ''800/900 lbs.'' and went over with the fans despite of being an almost proverbial unamovable object (...seriously, NoPunIntended).
** In the same vein as that above, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan is perhaps remembered better as the WWF's [[TheKlutz goofball]] who never was really stated he was a ''face'' to begin with, went over by taking his antics to legendary proportions and for his ever firey patriotism. But in his Mid-South days he was a ''[[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} completely unhinged looney]]''. He went away with things that today could be considered way over the top as to wanting to spray Chavo Guerrero Sr. with an insecticide sprayer and a can of "hot taco sauce".

* Wrestling/BoboBrazil is the Jackie Robinson of pro wrestling. He got over by wrestling non-white midcarders and heels, until finally the Caucasian fans demanded that he be allowed to face better competition (i.e. white people). This was in the early sixties.
* [[Wrestling/{{Boogeyman}} The Boogeyman]], whose entire gimmick was [[ThePigpen smelling bad]], would randomly appear and force-feed worms to people (that he first ate and then regurgitated into their mouths). For whatever reason, fans took a liking to him. He did something similar to Haystacks Calhoun on the North American independent circuit: he just seemed to be traveling about tormenting heels and scaring everyone else along the way (presumably wrestling just to support this endeavor).
* Bobby Calloway of ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Khp8H7KJeLc F*** Kayfabe: Wrestling With Labels]]'' describes himself as the "eternal good guy" and talks about how he believes there is an art to playing a believable face and how the best faces look like they're having "the time of their lives in the ring". He is indeed working as a face in the two matches shown.
* The Caras/Sicodelico family in Mexico by and large. [[Wrestling/AlbertoDelRio Dos Caras Junior]] is the only one to ever be a heel (at least until the family went to Puerto Rico) and is still more known for his tecnico run there. And when he returned from his WWE heel run he was greeted by scores of hero-worshippers, as if it never happened, or indeed he had remained good during his entire stay up North. Mil Máscaras in particular has a similar reputation to Tiger Mask and Maeda but is shielded from any damaging criticism by his legendary status, being considered the third biggest name in lucha libre after El Santo and The Blue Demon.
* John Cena has served the longest time as the Face, and if often considered the mascot for WWE.
** This is partly for publicity reasons. Cena does a ton of charity work for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. So far he is the only person to fulfill 300 "wishes"... and his count is now approaching ''600''. With so many young kids looking up to him, Cena announced that he and the company have no plans to turn him heel. If Cena ever did turn heel, it would probably be a bigger swerve than Hogan's run in '96.
* Abe Coleman (A.K.A. "The Jewish Tarzan", "The Hebrew Hercules" and "The Polish Cougar"). He shall be credited with innovating the drop kick if Antonino Rocca isn't (see below), but he's most famous for breaking the wrestling ring apart after slamming the 300-lb. Man Mountain Dean.
** Since dropkicks have been brought to the subject, the most famous user of this maneuver wasn't any of them both, that is credited to another face: "Jumping" Joe Savoldi.
* By the end of his career, Wrestling/{{Edge}} was a face.
* '''"PARENTAL WARNING: [[Wrestling/JimFullington The Sandman]] has been known to promote drinking, smoking, swearing and ass-kicking. Keep away from children."''' Jim Fullington is a perfect example of Wrestling/PaulHeyman's ability to hide flaws and accentuate strengths. An untrained construction worker whose gimmick is chain-smoking and getting drunk shouldn't be trading armbars and doing 450's, anyway.
* Wrestling/{{Goldberg}}, the top draw of WCW, was always a face, though he had somewhat of a mixed reaction when he wrestled [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Rock]]. Brock Lesnar took all the heat for his infamous parting match at ''Wrestling/WrestleMania 20''.
** Goldberg did briefly turn heel in Spring of 2000, but that got quickly nixed as fans didn't react well to Heel Goldberg. Mind you, not the usual booing that a heel gets and that sort of stuff, but rather fan apathy at how [[AssPull poorly-booked]] the Goldberg turn was.
* [[Wrestling/EddieGuerrero The]] [[Wrestling/ChavoGuerreroJr Guerreros]] by all means should have been the heel team, with the way they proudly lived out ethnic stereotypes and regularly lied, cheated and stole. They were such good workers in the ring and on the microphone though that it did not take any effort to get them over as faces. Trying to get them over as heels always failed, at most they could make Chavo hated by attacking the more popular Eddie. WWE later gave them a SpiritualSuccessor in Cryme Tyme whose career went pretty much the exact same way, only with less success in winning titles and less longevity.
* Wrestling/MollyHolly has been outspoken about how much she preferred being a face: She liked being a positive role model for children, hence why she hated being a heel. In a shoot interview, her family talk about how it is against her nature to be one.
* Wrestling/HulkHogan is this very trope's image for a reason. Started his career as a MonsterHeel and later became the ultimate face, keeping it up for 18 years until he pulled his infamous FaceHeelTurn at ''Bash at the Beach '96''. Even this only makes him a heel in Wrestling/{{WCW}}'s continuity. When he tried the same routine in WWE the fans still cheered him anyway. Part of his appeal was [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve drawing on the fans' energy]] to be "[[HeroicSecondWind Running wild, brother!]]" back again.
** After his [[AngryWhiteMan scandal]] was made public, some shoot interviews [[RealLifeWritesThePlot accused some roily managment]] of his career as a whole like putting himself over and buring promising talent [[ForTheEvulz just because]], all of this due to his [[AwesomeEgo name and fame]]. Then again, no one can say all of his own claims about his legacy weren't [[FallenHero right all along]]. An attendance of 93,173 fans on his match on Wrestling/AndreTheGiant and being one of the very few who beat him clean, his contribution on making business a nation-wide phenomena, [[FakeRealTurn being beaten clean himself a rare and unncany event]], [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson the]] [[Wrestling/TheBigShow number]] [[Wrestling/TripleH of]] [[Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin wrestlers]] [[Wrestling/{{Edge}} influenced]] [[Wrestling/JohnCena by]] [[Wrestling/TheNastyBoys him]]... and so on.

*** A decade before Naitch' there was Ernie "The Big Cat" Ladd (IWA), who never, ''ever'' stopped cheating. Over time, he gained recognition [[DickDastardlyStopsToCheat for his sheer determination to cheat]], and was subsequently booked against less-popular heels of the 70s. Since his career ended when wrestling was still in the more divided territorial era, Ladd is mostly remembered as a heel, though.
*** In fact, there has been a myriad of heels receiving this same treatment barely changing their gimmicks, Wrestling/JakeRoberts, Wrestling/HonkyTonkMan, Wrestling/RoddyPiper and Wrestling/RandySavage to name a few.
** [[Wrestling/JessicaKresa ODB]] in TNA has never been able to stay heel for very long. She was a boisterous, big-tittied lush who lived in a trailer park. She started out as a heel in TNA, but became very popular with the fans ([[CriticalDissonance if not the critics!]]). She was able to get heel heat in other companies and returned to TNA in 2011 as a heel, but TNA's fans didn't take to it and she reverted to face within a month.

*** Undie's brother Wrestling/{{Kane}} is another face by default. He tries really hard to be heel and generally does a good job and gets booed. The moment he stops performing over the top acts of evil though the fans are back to cheering for him.

** Even when Wrestling/EricBischoff and the Wrestling/{{n|ewWorldorder}}Wo were running roughshod over WCW, they still had to answer to ''UsefulNotes/TedTurner'', who frequently came down hard on them.

* Wrestling/KellyKelly is a Diva who debuted in the "new" ECW in the spring of '06. She began as an "exhibitionist" who was always removing her clothes (at first just to entertain the male fans, and then to [[DistractedByTheSexy distract the heels]]) and was a love interest of Mike Knox, but apart from the distractions, she herself never did anything truly heelish. She eventually broke up with Knox, and starting around 2007 the "exhibitionist" gimmick was dropped as well. She's been a straight-up babyface ever since.(The easiest way for a WWE Diva to get heat nowadays is for them to do something bad to Kelly Kelly.)
** Interestingly enough, despite her overwhelming popularity her in-ring wrestling style is one more expected for a heel. She uses an illegal submission hold, is very aggressive, screams a lot and will ram her opponent's face off the canvas sometimes just for the hell of it.
** A major reason why she's been a face so long is because she is probably the single largest [[TheWoobie woobie]] in WWE, who seems to take an almost perverse glee in making her suffer. Her boyfriend was emotionally abusive and let her get hit in the head by Sandman with a singapore cane, The Miz actively sabotaged her attempts to hook up with anyone, got stalked by Kane and rejected by Randy Orton, and the list goes on.
* Wrestling/KofiKingston and [[Wrestling/RonKillings R-Truth]] (at least under that name) both had short heel stints but were otherwise lifelong babyfaces through their decade-long runs in WWE.
* {{Wrestling/Lita}} was eternally a face too, due to her JustForFun/OneOfUs nature. Little girls looked up to her, little boys wanted to hang with her - and her daredevil streak made her really exciting. She did turn heel towards the end of her time in WWE, but that was only because a real life affair scandal caused fans to chant obscenities at her anyway. As with Trish, [[HeelFaceReturn she's always a face when she returns]] to WWE.
* Wrestling/AkiraMaeda, an unrepentant {{jerkass}} both on and off the ring who was lucky enough to wrestle when anti authoritarian rebellion was the cool trend in Japanese media. So getting himself fired from New Japan for refusing to go on tour only added to his aura and he became just second to Tiger Mask in the Wrestling/UniversalWrestlingFederation, even after the unsporting act of kicking Tiger Mask below the belt. Maeda eventually became the authority he was perceived to be rebelling against with ventures such as Fighting Network RINGS, to the point he's been caught [[BadBoss assaulting students and employees]] on camera. But by then he was basically a revered figure of myth and thus given a pass.
* Despite of being the biggest heel in Memphis at the time, Sputnik Monroe is more remembered as a face because even if older male fans hated him, he was popular with the youth. He was also responsible tearing down the segregation of sporting events not only in Memphis, but possibly in the rest of the old Tennessee territory. He was the first man to be arrested for drinking in a "negro cafe" and in fact was arrested multiple times for "drinking with coloreds and mopery", defended by black lawyers at each case. This lead to his match against Billy Wicks, who was the hometown hero otherwise, becoming the match to draw the largest attendance in Memphis ever as young and black people flooded in to support Sputnik. Rustwood park had reached capacity at 13,000 but so many people came that they broke the outfield fences down trying to get in, making the crowd close to 18,000. Once wrestling was integrated, other sports followed suit. In spite of the damage to the ballpark, there were no actual riots at the integrated shows he worked.
* Aside for Cena, and except for one match against Mark Henry where he used one of Eddie Guerrero's heel tricks (though even that was more of an homage to his recently departed friend), Rey Mysterio Jr. had never play any role other than the pure whitemeat face. He's probably unique among male Superstars in that respect.
** Rey turned heel when the Filthy Animals were formed and they feuded with Ric Flair for a bit back in 1999 after he lost his mask and the whole No-Limit Solders thing died. The Animals was partly responsible for luring Flair out to the middle of nowhere, where the New World Order ambushed him. He had to hitch a hay truck back to the arena. (Really.) Rey's maskless period, however, is [[CanonDiscontinuity no longer considered canon]] in WWE.
* [[Creator/HardGay Razor Ramon HG]] was a face in Wrestling/FightingOperaHUSTLE since his debut, and became the top face, leading their forces against Generalissimo Takada's monster army. (Much of what got him over in the wrestling world was not as well-received when he moved onto other TV programming.)
* Wrestling/WendiRichter was a solid performer who fell victim of a real-life episode named as "The Original Screwjob" predating [[Wrestling/MontrealScrewjob the most famous one]] by 12 years.

* Wrestling/TheRockNRollExpress were '''THE''' underdog pretty-boy babyface team of the [=80s=], and inspired MANY imitations.
* Wrestling/AntoninoRocca. The man who brought elbow drops, cross bodies, huracanranas and the Argentine back breaker to professional wrestling back in the late 1930s (the dropkick is disputed, and the rana is sometimes attributed to Huracán Ramirez). He was also responsible for bringing wrestling back to Madison Square Garden in the 50s, where it hasn't left since. How influential has he been, you ask? He is the reason Wrestling/AntonioInoki is called like that!

* The man called Sting is very interesting from a career standpoint. He became a star completely independent of WWE (despite being booked as a dumbass in kayfabe), survived numerous ill-conceived attempts to turn him heel, made a ton of money with WCW and later TNA, worked limited days for the majority of his career, and put up with some of the worst moments in wrestling history going on around him. (ex: ''Starrcade '97'', ''Victory Road '11''.) For a legend of such high caliber, Sting sure put up with a lot of crap in his career.

* Lita's archenemy, Wrestling/TrishStratus, was the WWE's top female face for most of her career. Although she has said she loved being a heel, both her runs in that role were quite short, lasting less than a year each. Her PluckyGirl nature, natural likability and [[BeautyEqualsGoodness stunning beauty]] meant that she was always put back into the face role. Whenever she makes a return to WWE, she's always a face.
* One veteran theorized that Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat could cut off Hulk Hogan's limbs with a chainsaw and still get cheered for it because he was just such a naturally likable guy. This is why he used the "Steamboat" stage name, despite his birth certificate showing him as '''RICHARD BLOOD'''. (That's not a joke.) Common sense said that you couldn't have a babyface named "Blood."
* There are certain instances when the designated face is not the face in the bill, but the one who "plays local", especially if his in-ring performance is outstanding. The same may be true for other hometown heroes that wind up wrestling for foreign promotions.
** Wrestling/TheGreatKhali has always been a hero in the Indian market. It was only in the US that he was booed. Khali is a standout example as he is practically a legend in India! By the time he made it to nationally televised shows in the USA, though, he was no longer very mobile (his knees turned to powder from all those bumps he took), so the fans didn't see what the big deal was.
** This also applies to Wrestling/BretHart, who will always be face in Canada no matter how he's booked. Even when he was the biggest heel in the company in 1997, all he had to do was drive the border and he was a face again.
*** And talking about The Harts, [[Wrestling/DaveyBoySmith The British Bulldog]] had the same reaction back in UsefulNotes/{{Britain}} since his sole reason to turn heel[[PunchClockVillain -ish]] in late '95 was nobody gave him a well deserved title shot.
** A lot of North Americans [[AmericansHateTingle don't get the appeal]], but Wrestling/HiroyoshiTenzan is a face by default in Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling, due to his undying loyalty to the company.
** Kelly Kelly get booed when she was in Wrestling/BethPhoenix's [[AHeroToHisHometown hometown of Buffalo New York]] as a result, even though "The Glamazon" was the obvious heel in all their other matches.

* A comedic character is a face almost by default, but non other example highlits better this than that of Happy Humphrey, a performer back in TheFifties who clocked the weighing machine in ''800/900 lbs.'' and went over with the fans despite of being an almost proverbial unamovable object (...seriously, NoPunIntended).
* Wrestling/HaystacksCalhoun was probably the first traveling [[WrestlingMonster face enforcer]], moving from territory to territory back in the days before WWE bought them out. So influential was he that ''Rock n' Wrestling'' performers like Wrestling/HillbillyJim took a lot of cues from him, starting for his "lucky charm" horseshoe.

[[caption-width-right:300:''"Train, say your prayers, eat your vitamins, be true to yourself and be true to your country!"'']]

* Stone Cold Steve Austin was a redneck rebelling against an undeserving authority. For the most part, he was a fun-loving good guy who had some had trust issues. Since he stopped wrestling, he's become more of an [[ThePrankster anarchist]] who delivers Stunners to everyone around him for no real reason, but fans still cheer for him no matter what.

* Wrestling/HaystacksCalhoun was probably the first traveling enforcer, moving from territory to territory back in the days before WWE bought them out.

* Wrestling/{{Bayley}} is one of the biggest Faces in NXT, and possibly one of the biggest female Faces in history. (She'd probably be the female John Cena if WWE had played their cards better.) It's especially notable that while the rest of her fellow [[FanNickname horsewomen]] (Wrestling/BeckyLynch, Wrestling/SashaBanks, and Wrestling/{{Charlotte}}) have had periods where they worked as both heels and faces at various points in their WWE careers, it took until late 2019 for Bayley to finally turn heel.

-->--'''[[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson]]''', 2013 Wrestling/RoyalRumble [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2jMFBYTqfk prematch speech]]

->'' Swig o' beer for [[Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin The Rattlesnake]]! Wrestling/CMPunk spoke truth to power and became the poster-child of this type of face in the Summer of '11, Wrestling/RandyOrton goes into this phase whenever he’s a face, and a massively miscalculated FaceHeelTurn in the Summer of '18 allowed Wrestling/BeckyLynch to become the first woman to ever be face of WWE as a straight-talking, no-nonsense scrapper sick of watching others steal her opportunities.''\\\

[[quoteright:350:[[Wrestling/HulkHogan https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/66318299_120076455915855_4627810229472521374_n.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"Train, say your prayers, eat your vitamins, be true to yourself and be true to your country!"]]

** Goldberg did briefly turn heel in Spring of 2000, but that got quickly nixed as fans didn't react well to Heel Goldberg. Mind you, not the usual booing that a heel gets and that sort of stuff, but rather fan apathy at how [[ShockingSwerve poorly-booked]] the Goldberg turn was.

->''Blowjobs can be baby face jobbers like The Mulkey Brothers, or special attractions who frequently hold championship belts like Wrestling/TheRockNRollExpress, [[Wrestling/HiroshiTanahashi The New]] Japan [[Wrestling/YoshiTatsu Dragons]] or the [[Wrestling/MattHardy Hardy]] [[Wrestling/JeffHardy Boys]]. Individual examples include Vampiro, El Elegido, [[Wrestling/ChrisJericho Lion Heart]], Wrestling/AdamCole and Jungle Boy''\\\

4. The '''[[AllAmericanFace All-American]]'''. He is a real American. He fights for the rights of every man. He fights for what's right, fights for your life. He feels strong about right and wrong. The whole concept of "America vs. The World" is 80's {{kayfabe}} distilled to its purest and most ludicrous form. Some of the biggest pops and most involved crowds have been the result of [[Wrestling/JackSwagger "We the People!"]] or "USA! USA!" chants against your EvilForeigner of the week. Draped in a flag, defending the honor of his country (separate to a degree from his heritage); it's almost the only way to guarantee a strong crowd reaction.

->'' Swig o' beer for [[Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin The Rattlesnake]]! Wrestling/CMPunk spoke truth to power and became the poster-child of this type of face in the Summer of '11, Wrsstling/RandyOrton goes into this phase whenever he’s a face, and a massively miscalculated FaceHeelTurn in the Summer of '18 allowed Wrestling/BeckyLynch to become the first woman to ever be face of WWE as a straight-talking, no-nonsense scrapper sick of watching others steal her opportunities.''\\\

->''Wrestling/BretHart defined this trope in the '90s. A major reason Wrestling/DanielBryan got over is because he was clearly not "the chosen one", despite massive fan support.''\\\

->'' Swig o' beer for [[Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin The Rattlesnake]]! Wrestling/CMPunk spoke truth to power and became the poster-child of this type of face in the Summer of '11, and a massively miscalculated FaceHeelTurn in the Summer of '18 allowed Wrestling/BeckyLynch to become the face of WWE as a straight-talking, no-nonsense scrapper sick of watching others steal her opportunities.''\\\

->''Blowjobs can be baby face jobbers like The Mulkey Brothers, or special attractions who frequently hold championship belts like Wrestling/TheRockNRollExpress, [[Wrestling/HiroshiTanahashi The New]] Japan [[Wrestling/YoshiTatsu Dragons]] or the [[Wrestling/MattHardy Hardy]] [[Wrestling/JeffHardy Boys]]. Individual examples include Vampiro, El Elegido, [[Wrestling/ChrisJericho Lion Heart]], Wrestling/AdamCole and Jungle Boy''

->''"Wrestling/CMPunk says each and every single one of you DON'T. COUNT. You have no idea--''no'' idea--how much each and every single one of you count. You count to me, for all that you do: All the love, all the support! It IGNITES me. It MOVES me. It INSPIRES me. That's why, in this moment, I'm reaching out my hand to all of you around the world; to all of you who believe! All of you who have faith! All of you who live your life gettin' knocked down, gettin' right back up, just to say, "'''JUST BRING IT!'''"''

* Wrestling/SgtSlaughter may be remembered mostly as heel, but to those who were kids in the mid/late eighties, he is a face through and through. This perhaps due to his tendency to prove no one is harder than him and his [[NowBuyTheMerchandise involvement and endorsing]] of [[Franchise/GIJoe certain toy franchise]] is what made him tremendously popular not just in the states, but in places like Latin America. He is the second most beloved face in the brand's history only beneath Hogan, for that matter.

** There have only been a couple of attempts to turn him heel over his near 30-year career and they have all been half-hearted and poorly-received. Most recently, when TNA put him in the Main Event Mafia, Sting was conspicuous in not participating in the beatdowns administered by his stable mates. They eventually threw him out for his disloyalty. He had another heel run in 2010 (an impersonation of Health Ledger's Joker), but the audience still would not accept it, so he became Film/AceVentura in Joker paint instead. Sting reportedly does not like to be a Heel and prefers to be a Face; this preference and his drawing power are likely why few have even tried to turn him over the years.

* Wrestling/SamiZayn is a classic example in a new millennium since his character is an extension of himself: Good-natured, somewhat dorky, and willing to fight ´till the bitter end.

Blowjobs can be baby face jobbers like The Mulkey Brothers, or special attractions who frequently hold championship belts like Wrestling/TheRockNRollExpress or the [[Wrestling/MattHardy Hardy]] [[Wrestling/JeffHardy Boys]]. Individual examples include Vampiro, El Elegido, [[Wrestling/ChrisJericho Lion Heart]], Wrestling/AdamCole and Jungle Boy

** Act Yasukawa in Wonder Ring STARDOM. Her heel turn failed to take, even with her membership in the "Monster Army" . She spat rum on a fan chanting her name once, only to get more fans chanting her name and begging to get spat on, too.

3. The '''[[AllAmericanFace All-American]]'''. He is a real American. He fights for the rights of every man. He fights for what's right, fights for your life. He feels strong about right and wrong. The whole concept of "America vs. The World" is 80's {{kayfabe}} distilled to its purest and most ludicrous form. Some of the biggest pops and most involved crowds have been the result of [[Wrestling/JackSwagger "We the People!"]] or "USA! USA!" chants against your EvilForeigner of the week. Draped in a flag, defending the honor of his country (separate to a degree from his heritage); it's almost the only way to guarantee a strong crowd reaction.

4. The '''[[{{Acrofatic}} Fat Guy]]'''. Mass × Acceleration = Force. In some ways, the look and the wrestler are intertwined: It imbues them with a sort of "don't give a fuck" mentality. It also helps him stand out, since the majority of the roster is cut, and that might catch peoples' eyes more. Also, "cut" sometimes doesn't translate well into actual ring performance, since a lot of that is for show. Mind you, there is a line of separation between, say, Wrestling/MarkHenry and {{Wrestling/Yokozuna}}. When you're built that large, you have to work your weight into your gimmick and play to the WrestlingMonster trope.

5. The '''AntiHero'''. Heels are allowed to be flawed people, and so are almost inherently more interesting than babyfaces. Solution? Be punk rock and go rebel. This guy is more of an anti-authoritarian, comedic dick, rather than a true hero. He stands up for himself against the bosses, calling legends like [[Wrestling/KevinNash Nash]] "Old and irrelevant", and does whatever he wants to whoever he dislikes and whenever he pleases. It's not "out of character" for him to do dickish things, since the entire point is that the heel made it O.K. to do. At the same time, he is a human with real human failings. That's why the Wrestling/AttitudeEra babies worked.

** ODB in TNA has never been able to stay heel for very long. She was a boisterous, big-tittied lush who lived in a trailer park. She started out as a heel in TNA, but became very popular with the fans ([[CriticalDissonance if not the critics!]]). She was able to get heel heat in other companies and returned to TNA in 2011 as a heel, but TNA's fans didn't take to it and she reverted to face within a month.

** The Great Khali has always been a hero in the Indian market. It was only in the US that he was booed. Khali is a standout example as he is practically a legend in India! By the time he came to the Americas, though, he was no longer very mobile (his knees turned to powder from all those bumps he took), so the fans didn't see what the big deal was.

* Stone Cold Steve Austin was a redneck rebelling against an undeserving authority. For the most part, he was a fun-loving good guy who had some had trust issues. Since he stopped wrestling, he's become more of an [[ScrewySquirrel anarchist]] who delivers Stunners to everyone around him for no real reason, but fans still cheer for him no matter what.

Most female wrestlers are booked as half-heel, half-face. This appears to be by design, with little concern about the heel/face dynamics. Mildred Burke, crowned [[Wrestling/NationalWrestlingAlliance NWA]] World Women's champion based on her matches with Clara Mortenson, popularized female wrestling in the U.S. during the thirties. But she was frozen out of the industry, leading her to take her own promotion overseas. (Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia and South America can trace their womens' wrestling to Burke.) As a result, there remains a specific sort of female babyface in the States who struggles to earn respect while [[YouGoGirl competing in a "male" division]], but they can just as easily draw heat by harassing the male babyfaces. Wrestling/{{Chyna}} and Wrestling/{{Jacqueline}} are two noteworthy Tweeners who competed in areas they didn't 'belong' in.

[[quoteright:293:[[Wrestling/HulkHogan https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hulk-hogan-image_7510.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:293:"Train, say your prayers, eat your vitamins, be true to yourself and be true to your country!"]]

The Lucha Libre equivalent is known as a ''técnico'' (or more rarely ''[[SpellMyNameWithAnS technico]]'') which is more about the method they take to win (técnicos are content to rely on valid wrestling techniques) but is the same in practice more often than not. To further confuse, in British Wrestling (Such as World Of Sport), the term used is "Blue Eyes."

** Wrestling/KofiKingston and [[Wrestling/RonKillings R-Truth]] (at least under that name) both had short heel stints but were otherwise lifelong babyfaces through their decade-long runs in WWE.

->'' Swig o' beer for [[Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin The Rattlesnake]]! Wrestling/CMPunk spoke truth to power and became the poster-child of this type of face in the Summer of '11,'' and a massively miscalculated FaceHeelTurn in the Summer of '18 allowed Wrestling/BeckyLynch to become the face of WWE as a straight-talking, no-nonsense scrapper sick of watching others steal her opportunities.\\\

->'' Swig o' beer for [[Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin The Rattlesnake]]! Wrestling/CMPunk spoke truth to power and became the poster-child of this type of face in the Summer of '11.''\\\

1. The '''[[IncorruptiblePurePureness Whitemeat]]'''. The hero who gets beat up constantly, before heroically and miraculously snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. The whitemeat places particular emphasis on morality and virtue. (Cheating heavily is part of being a heel.) We're told that they're fighting against all odds to win the titles they're striving for. He/she has a tendency to always trust wrestlers, no matter how many times they've betrayed him/her in the past: {{Wrestling/Sting}} had a history of joining tag teams or stables full of vicious backstabbers when he really should have known better (leading to the phrase "Sting-level [[GoodIsDumb dumb]]"). He/she exists mostly to carry out good deeds and make the kids happy.