I don’t agree with Batista. He was overall liked by the fans back in the mid 2000s. The reason Batista was unpopular in 2014 was due to WWE booking Batista to headline WM30 during the time Bryan was the most popular.
Some forget that when he first returned he got a good reception. Then he got the spot the crowd wanted Bryan in and THEN they started booing him so hard that if you gave boos mass it would bury him in the core of the planet.
@@seymourglass26 well yeah that's the point lol that's how you get a good face turn you said that like the fans would've never liked him at any point
Wait what?? Batista was LOVED by fans from 2005-2009. I remember he was a very loved babyface in 2006-2007. When he was injured and had to take time off, fans were genuinely sad. Every time his music played, fans were cheering loudly. He was the face of Smackdown.
What? Batista was consistently over as a babyface between 2005 - 2009. The heel turn in 2009 was clearly because he had done literally everything as a face during that time and needed to finally freshen things up.
People loved Batista! His face run until like 2008 before the feud with HBK was where the fans showed their loyalty to the veteran. And yes he was a better heel, but people liked him. If the Daniel Bryan stuff wasn't as prominent at the time of his return no one would have booed him coming back for that run. He was full time until he left. The crowd was booing Rey Mysterio at the time not because they hated those guys. They just wanted DB.
Adam Cole and Becky Lynch would probably be #1 and #2, though depending how Scott Hall was seen back in the day compared to today, he may also be high up there. That they just completely failed at making Becky a heel and found that anti-hero like The Rock or Stone Cold is just the better option is something I'm honestly so glad about. Becky being The Man and being egotistical about her success, only to recently turn face again after conceding defeat to Bianca was just so satisfying to me, as it's a character arc that makes sense, which doesn't always happen in WWE.
@@SomeOfTheJuice I wouldn't put Becky there, I think for somebody to be on such a list that they should be heel for a long time and get cheered during it, she was only heel for about a month and it was botched because fans weren't going to play along with her as heel. Scott Hall was a pure heel for years but got massive cheers and everybody was fine with him being heel. He was the bad guy after all.
I think the worst face turn of all time goes to The Miz. He didn't get a main event push with the turn, but pairing him with Ric Flair and giving him the Figure Four as a new finisher just completely fell flat for me and all went in the opposite direction of how Miz works best and is most comfortable.
It's because when he was teaming up with his brother in the 90 on wcw he was a good guy it wasn't until he started getting to roids that he became like that
I know the list can only hold ten names, but honorable mentions go to the likes of Rocky Maivia, Charlotte Flair and Alberto Del Rio as their babyface runs all floundered, as well. Heck, we could even throw in Bayley since her initial face run on the main roster just didn't work with some fans.
I don’t normally disagree a lot with the list. But the Batista inclusion is bull. Batista was over like hell. There was a little moment where it could have turned but the feud with the undertaker solidified his face run. It shocked the hell out of me when he turned.
Orton as the legend killer was such a piece of shit. Such good TV. Thinking about it, they should do this with Charlotte. She's gone through Trish, give her Lita, Molly, McCool, Victoria, Melina over the course of a year then give her a feud with Mickie James leading to Mickies induction to HOF in 2024. Keep that belt off her
Putting Batista in there seems weird considering there's a bunch of guys who had worse face runs than him. Here are some examples: Sheamus - Started out good but became Vince's favorite flavour of babyface, the bully babyface, in 2012 and was completely unlikable for the majority of his time as babyface before getting injured. The Miz - Taking a natural heel like Miz, turning him face, and then having him make lowest common denominator insults towards heels was never going to work. The Rock - His first babyface run had fans chanting at him to die, kinda says it all.
Batista for his 2014 return is enough of a reason. He returned as a face but everyone hated it. The 2014 Royal Rumble got hijacked because Daniel Bryan wasn't part of the match so when Batista won, the fans crapped all over it and booed Batista horribly. Besides some missteps on his part, he did his best in a no-win situation (put Daniel Bryan over at Wrestlemania 30 by being the one to tap out, helped put the Shield over as a bigger deal). His problems before his 2009 heel turn were that he kept getting injured so his momentum was constantly being halted.
@ShiningJudgment666 there are some on this list that are arguable like Shawn Michaels and his example the miz they were best as face when they had someone to bounce off of for Shawn it was dx and for miz tbh it's r truth those two work really well together
Roman Reigns should take his rightful place as number one. He used to get boo’d out of every stadium between 2014-20. It got so bad WWE used to edit out his boo’s. I remember when he beat undertaker the next day the crowd would not let Roman speak. He was truly the most hated baby face in wrestling history.
I think Roman as a heel should have cut promos on the fans and blamed them for what he became, and they will all now down and acknowledge him as their Tribal Chief.
His second face run was more of a disaster then his first. His first face run he had some decent matches with Damian Sandow and won the intercontinental championship a second time from Wade Barrett. That was until he lost it to Wade Barrett in a squash match and it went down hill from there. As I said before his second face run was a absolute disaster, he lost a falls count anywhere match at Wrestlemania against Shane McMahon of all people and basically became a jobber.
Do you honestly remember him as a Face? No, You remember him as a Heel. Hence why hes seen as 'unlikable' as a good guy. Kinda like the title of the video says.
@@talkintomenow How tf you gonna ask me a question then answer it for me? 😂 The most memorable Batista era for me was when he betrayed Evolution and became World Heavyweight Champion as a face. Lol, so you pretty much get your opinions on things from YT videos?? Those last 2 sentences aren't very bright.
@@talkintomenow I remember him turning on HHH and beating him 3 straight times and having a hell of a run as World Champion on SmackDown and having that amazing tale of 2 babyfaces feud on Smackdown all of 2007. i remember him as a heel sure. but to say he wasn't a memorable face. that's a bold faced lie.
These people are clowns we remember Batista run to become champion and his smackdown reign at top. Feuds against Undertaker baby face Versus baby face. Only think about his heel run was his riverly with Rey and Cena (people still liked him over Cena). Then a babyish crowd insisting he turns heel and because he’s an actually a good wrestler he ran with it and made that work too. Make no mistake he will always be remembered as a dominant baby face by a majority, despite with a vocal minority may try to spin it.
It didn’t help that Roman was being booked strong well in 2015 when there was another wrestler at the time who still had total fan support and people cheered more for. *coughDanielBryancough*
Ye I think people hated Roman not because of Roman himself, but because of Vince McMahon trying to turn him into the Samoan John Cena. At least Cena had the charisma to pull off the tough, inspirational and sometimes goofy face. I mean Suffering Succotash is a bad line but if Cena said it he could’ve made it a little funny because he’d give it his all.
I feel at Unforgiven 2004 it should’ve been Orton v Benoit v HHH. Orton retains and then the double cross occurs. If they built the tension a bit maybe the fans would’ve warmed up.
Fr this is why Roman is still over now despite being champ for well over 2 years. A heel willing to do anything to keep the title is far more interesting than a babyface winning every match clean
Hardcore wrestling fans. Sure, there are some people who like his work, like kids and some parents, but his style of wrestling, not to mention his seemingly squeaky clean goody two shoes persona, don’t resonate with people who grew up in the 90s. That, and until recent years, he seemed like the next Hulk Hogan or so. Booked too strongly that not much people can touch him. Plus, don’t forget the millions of wrestlers buried by him. Not sure if it’s Triple H bad, but there’s a list. Zack Ryder, Wade Barret, Rusev… but in his defense, guys like CM Punk maybe, Daniel Bryan, Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, AJ Styles, and more did beat him from time to time. It’s just that his W-L is totally bonkers compared to other wrestlers. He’s a good wrestler. He’s a good performer. But, people will often compare him to the Rock too. Guess which one would probably make people appreciate more? That, and Cena’s overeliance of staying a baby face for many years, and never going heel, when a vast majority do both to sometimes different effects, also sours his experience. Like Roman Reigns is now doing to a great effect, imagine Cena turning into a heel. It would be a mind-blowing thing, like what The Hulkster did in the late 90s. Perhaps only do it a year, to make sure it was only in storyline. Heck, like The Rock and Kurt Angle, he could’ve pulled off a joky comedian heel. Or tweener. The fact that his character arc seemed stale for most of his run also didn’t help. And I don’t like the Heroes Journey thing they did with him repeatedly. Lose, recover, win, repeat. Like CM Punk once said how is he the underdog when he keeps winning?
At least half of any given audience would boo him out the building. He was unlikeable to a sizeable portion of most crowds, that has little to do with his ability to draw or sell merch. How you can say that makes zero sense, well, that ACTUALLY makes zero sense.
@@dannyhargreaves1326 when you say hardcore wrestling fans you're talking about a loud minority. Cena wouldn't be as huge as he was if only women and children cheered him.
@@wackozackoyt Still, they’re there when they join in the “Cena sucks!” Just because they’re small doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Who else gets a reaction like that as a baby face! You usually get a boo, but rarely never a they suck chant.
People from western countries really underestimate how over Randy Orton is internationally and with the casual audience. He always got the crowd hyped during his when builds up to the rko
The only reason Batista is on here is because the fans were red hot for Daniel Bryan and wanted him to main event mania and that made Batista the villain otherwise ain’t no way he deserves to be on the list that’s just wrong 🤣🤣🤣
Orton was loved always though his heel nature is top notch. Batista was loved as baby face. HHH as face was also loved around 2006-08 Cena was always like as face except later in his career
Prime Batista was very over in the 2000s, it was also that time that he is widely considered as the top 2 guy/second protagonist of the Ruthless Aggression era and he's also THE face of Smackdown back then.
Batista should not be on this list. When Batista was a face, he was insanely popular. To me, his heel turn before he left in 2010 was weak because they turned him while he was still insanely over as a face and it was awkward. When he came back, he was only booed because he came back and took Daniel Bryan's place at first. Also, I guess I'm the only person on earth that has liked Ronda Rousey no matter what she did, lol.
Movies and professional wrestling are different. We expect them to play the good guy in the movies but not in wrestling where his true craft is at rather he likes to admit it or not
Hulk was the most popular star the business has ever known. Pacitti just likes joining in with the Hulk bashing that's popular with a certain subset of the fandom.
I think Seth Rollins is a hard one. His offense kinda screams baby face, but how he overall carries himself works better as a heel. He could have taking a few spots on this list like Batista, Goldberg, Hogan, and Cena. Cody probably should be on this list no doubt.
im clearly too young, but everytime i look at Hogan's WWF run, he literally always seemed like the heel. i never understood how the crowd accepted him as a face, but (thankfully) times have changed
I am the same (born in 03). I think it’s just because so much has come out about Hulk. The backstage politics, racism, etc. We’ve heard all of the stories so now when we watch it’s kinda easier to see him for who he really was.
1982 birthday here. It's not just retrospective. I hated him - yes would have been toward the end of his first run in WWE when I was watching, but at 5-7 I couldn't stand him and always wanted him to lose, I especially didn't understand why it was 'okay' when he flagrantly cheated as much as any bad guy. I doubt I'm alone.
Hogan as a babyface was more over than just about anything ever in the 80s and 90s, right up until his turn with the NWO. It's only now that there's so many documentaries and stories told about that era, that we've seen how he acted, and changed our opinion of him...
@@fromomelastocarcosa3575 really? Wow... Now, I (born in '81) wasn't a huge Hulkamaniac (I was the cliche Warrior fan, and LOVED Demolition), but from what I remember most of my friends loved Hogan in the late 80s. I don't really remember anything in wrestling from about 89 to about 96-97, and then it was all about Nash, Goldberg, Rock, Benoit, Stone Cold, etc...
Batista and Unlikeable Babyface? geez everybody loved him as a babyface and shouldn't be in this list Miz should be in this list since he had the worst babyface turn twice between 2012 & 2018
Great video y’all are awesome. I would change the video name as this feels like wrestlers who are better heels than baby faces, as there’s so many popular baby faces on the list that weren’t unlikeable like hogan Batista hbk etc who are liked
Test is always a what SHOULD'VE been for me. Big dude that could handle himself in the ring. If only he had a Heyman like manager to be his mouth, I think his career could've been different. I was excited when he came back for WWECW at first, until I realized that was going no where
This may be the worst Cultaholic video I ever watched. The wrestlers in this are literally the most successful, popular and supported baby faces in WWE history... Hulk Hogan, Goldberg, HBK, John Cena?? Then the rest like Batista, Orton, Triple H, HBK, Roman Reigns have also done great as babyfaces and been wildly popular. This is an AWFUL list. Hogan and Cena are the most successful babyfaces in the history of wrestling.
I do agree with Batista in this list but I can understand the objections. The intro may have skewered it by mentioning people in the list are unpleasant. Batista isn't unpleasant. Batista would botch his lines and struggled doing this live, but we know he had a natural charisma and likability on film, when he could be framed to be at his best.
The fact that he said Ronda was pushed to hard is laughable. She put over the Becky Lynch and cemented her as the top girl. And she was already popular as fuck. You don’t bring in a talent like Ronda full-time to not put the rocket on her. Lol Pro Wrestling fans are just never satisfied and have to whine and complain about every decision because it doesn’t sync up perfectly with what they want. Give me a break. 😭
I would love to see a top 10 list of wrestlers outside of WWE. •Cody Rhodes in AEW •Sammy Guevara •Jeff Jarrett in TNA (he was a babyface in the early TNA days
The thing is, Reigns is perfectly likeable, but they were beating us over the head with him for a good three years. And he cannot do a face promo. He's halfass face now because he sounds natural and like he believes what he's doing.
Clearly they didn’t watch wrestling enough during the ruthless agression era to know that Batista literally was eye level with Cena as the top face until his injury then at least top 3 until 2009
Scott Steiner was likeable early in his career when he and his brother Rick were a face tag yeam from 1989 until 2 1998. But after he became Big Pompa Pump, it was hard for him to be likeable again, albeit he did have his humorous moments.
Even though he was only in WWE a few years, I would suggest Jason Jordan. I remember the storyline in which he was Kurt Angle's kayfabe son and was constantly on the receiving end of loud booing.
I feel like this list should have stuck to wrestlers who never worked as a face; Batista, Goldberg, Hulk Hogan and Shawn Michaels were all almost universally cheered during various runs as a face so don't really belong here
I’d like to point out that Goldberg is mega huge for young people and casuals. It’s smarks who don’t like him. Same with Ronda Rousey. Smarks don’t like these two. People need to realize smarks aren’t the majority of fans. They’re a vocal minority. It’s why people always got so stunned that Vince pushed Roman for so long. He was bloody popular with casuals and kids. It didn’t matter that whiny ass 35 year old white guys didn’t like him. They’ll watch the show anyways since they love to complain.
It's a totally different time now. heels get over just as much as babyfaces anymore so the lines are blurred. Yes roman is a major heel but fans go nuts when he says "acknowledge me". And no matter how nasty Chris Jericho gets when Judas hits crowd goes crazy. And look at Mox, he acts like a heel used to but fans absolutely love him.
How about Flair?.She keeps going from face to heel even though she's clueless as a face.Heel Flair works better because she does come off as genuinely entitled.Look at some of her stunts."Accidentally"dropping the title during that exchange with Lynch,killing Asuka's momentum,not objecting to being pushed into the WrestleMania main event,etc.
Like all the comments, Batista was a hugely over babyface. I agree completely he is a better heel, but his feud with the beloved Undertaker for instance never had the crowd turn on him, they were in both of their corners generally. He was cheered over Cena in their first feud, the only problem he ever had as a baby was the ecw crowd crapping on his match with Big Show. Of course, the 2014 debacle has to be mentioned of course, but that was about 1% of his babyface output.
Hated "Stone Cold" as a baby face, and cheered for Mr McMahon in their feud. I loved his heel run in 2001. He was a natural heel. I even enjoyed his heel stint as "Stunning" Steve Austin in WCW.
They just included Hulk Hogan to seem woke. Most over wrestler ever. Only thing that stopped that was stuff from outside of wrestling. I’m Black , I’m not exactly a Hulk Hogan supporter but even I can acknowledge , it’s a little different than being unlikeable. Even all the evil shit he did , he still got cheered.
Calling John Cena or Triple H unlikeable is proof. They were heavily cheered as faces. While Cena-fatigue is/was real , kinda came n went. You know who is unlikeable to a level that would make sense to include them on a list like this ? Logan Paul. No cheers before that ring to table spot. Scott Steiner , initial buzz was gone in months. Cain Velasquez. Lost his buzz before his match , and had very little reaction to begin with. You sound stupid as fuck to say the most profitable wrestler of all time and a member of probably the most over tag team EVER , ridiculous statement.
These are all retrospect, markish, femboy opinions. I agree with some but not most. Goldberg was MASSIVE just in my class alone. We all loved the dude.
Cena Roman Goldberg and Batista don't belong here. Especially their prime runs. Goldberg's later run sure I guess. But Batista wasn't rejected because of coming back but because DB was the guy fans wanted. They were booing Rey Mysterio at the Rumble, hell they booed The Rock too. There are far worse babyfaces. Same goes for Roman, he just wasn't Daniel Bryan, and people didn't like that he was "Vince's boy" which is stupid because literally every babyface you've ever liked in WWE in the main events was "Vince's boy" otherwise they wouldn't be in that spot Miz, Kevin Nash, Alberto Del Rio (dude was so bad at being a babyface/good guy he ended up in jail irl), Edge never worked well as a babyface either similar to Orton. Dude got booed in Canada pre Let's Go Cena Cena Sucks era. I think this video would be better as 10 most unatural babyfaces or 10 wrestlers who weren't good at being a babyface. Cena was damn sure likeable. Not unanimously but he was likeable. And fans now miss the hell out of him. They cared. That doesn't make Orton a babyface in their feud though.
@@trewilliams8411 and yet he was still the top babyface. for a long time. fans turned on hogan, fans turned on hbk, on bret, on rock, austin. etc. 3 of those guys aren't here on this list. the list doesn't make any fucking sense. cena was a good babyface. he did everything a babyface should. sorry that a vocal minority is pissed off but they still went to those events. they still paid attention to his matches. they still cared. they were invested in his stuff. otherwise they'd just leave the shows, they'd change the channel when he came out for his matches or on their tv screens, they didn't. Tell me one time the fans chanted beat the traffic at john cena. or a time they threw garbage in the ring at him, or he started a literal riot, you can't. ECW ONS Doesn't count, they threw his shirt back at him, oooooh so edgy, he was so unlikable. yeah at an ECW show against the heart and soul of ECW in their arena at a reunion show. also i have seen you in this comment section a lot. bro hating cena stopped being cool like 6/7 years ago. its over, move on. there were way worse wrestlers at portraying a babyface then john cena. That is my point. You didn't like a white meat babyface like John Cena, okay great, but he literally checked all the babyface boxes and did it for well over a decade and didn't need to turn heel ever after the fact. Cena did something right if that's the case. Diesel was a worse babyface, big show is a worse babyface, sheamus is a worse babyface, the miz, rocky maivia (not The Rock) Del Rio, Ziggler, loads of guys should be here not Cena. They just wanted big names.
@@attiepollard7847 people were "demanding" as far back as 05. And they're full of it. Newsflash you aren't the only fans to exist. Cena doesn't have to appeal to you and still be a babyface. The beatles are considered one of the best bands of all time but not everyone likes them. But Cena was not BAD as a babyface. People believed in that character. People didnt buy into Say Miz as a face, or Diesel, there's others who are more suited for this list then Cena.
@@JitteryJackanape hold on now I like 2005 John Cena. But it was getting kind of old during 2010 and forward. But unfortunately for the fans John Cena wants to keep his squeaky clean image for the kids and these charity events. This is one of the curses of WWE becoming a global mega wrestling promotion they always want to try to appeal to the major corporation donors.
Honestly, the best face triple h we ever got was the one that went against Randy Orton on The road to WrestleMania 25. The reason it worked so well is because we actually felt bad for what he was going through and wanted to see him kick Orton's ass.
One of the problems with modern wrestling is that if a guy is good as a heel, he's a terrible babyface, and visa versa, making everything either wildly predictable, bad, or both. It's hard to cheer for Paul Levesque when he inserts himself into main event matches and gets himself over at the expense of everyone else. The guy was basically Michael Hickenbottom, only he stayed sober and learned from HBK's mistakes. Let's not forget, it was Stone Cold, Undertaker and The Rock who made WWF the top sports entertainment company in the world, not Shawn Michaels or HHH. But by 2002, Stone Cold and The Rock were basically retired or semi-retired and the Undertaker was past his prime.
@@chepeolvera8057 He feels like its necessary to refer to Trips and Shawn by their shoot names so clearly he doesn't know as much as he lets on. Sounding like that Voodoo Kin Mafia promo from TNA - AT THE ALAMO!! HICKENBOTTOM!!!
Randy Orton, Scott Steiner, and Bill Goldberg’s baby face runs didn’t fail due to any fault of their own. They failed because they had the misfortune of crossing paths with Triple H and his golden shovel during his infamous reign of terror. Yes, WWE suffered from a dearth of quality baby faces from 2002-2005, but that was mostly because Hunter insisted on elevating himself at their expense.
I don’t agree with Batista. He was overall liked by the fans back in the mid 2000s. The reason Batista was unpopular in 2014 was due to WWE booking Batista to headline WM30 during the time Bryan was the most popular.
I definitely remember him being over like hell from 2006-2008. I loved him.
Yes, Batista was a better face than heel, although he could be great at either with the right booking.
Some forget that when he first returned he got a good reception. Then he got the spot the crowd wanted Bryan in and THEN they started booing him so hard that if you gave boos mass it would bury him in the core of the planet.
He was only really liked because HHH could outheel him. Yeah, he rode it to a good place, but HHH set the stage to make it almost inevitable.
@@seymourglass26 well yeah that's the point lol that's how you get a good face turn you said that like the fans would've never liked him at any point
I think they included Batista just to make up the numbers. Batista as a face was insanely popular, as seen during the feud with legacy
Yeah I completely agree, I used to absolutely love face Batista when I was a kid
Miz was a much worse face and just didnt work both times
100% a stretch. When he first turned face he was face as fuck and got massive pops
I liked him as a face
Facts. As soon as he turned on Triple H, crowds couldn’t get enough of him.
Batista as a face between 2005-2009 was very popular. People didnt even boo him when he fought with Taker
I remember actually liking Batistas face run with the world title on smackdown
It was really good until Khali had that..... run.
Most people did. This Guy is definitely an outlier.
It's because basketballs dont hold grudges
Wait what?? Batista was LOVED by fans from 2005-2009. I remember he was a very loved babyface in 2006-2007. When he was injured and had to take time off, fans were genuinely sad. Every time his music played, fans were cheering loudly. He was the face of Smackdown.
What? Batista was consistently over as a babyface between 2005 - 2009. The heel turn in 2009 was clearly because he had done literally everything as a face during that time and needed to finally freshen things up.
They picked the perfect guy for Batista to turn on too.
Rey Mysterio is probably the one guy on the roster that couldn't get booed if he tried.
@@jasondyrkacz8270 he and Jeff Hardy for sure
People loved Batista! His face run until like 2008 before the feud with HBK was where the fans showed their loyalty to the veteran. And yes he was a better heel, but people liked him. If the Daniel Bryan stuff wasn't as prominent at the time of his return no one would have booed him coming back for that run. He was full time until he left. The crowd was booing Rey Mysterio at the time not because they hated those guys. They just wanted DB.
Yeah also HBK's early 2000s WWE return as a face was amazing people loved it
Now do 10 Most Beloved Heels to even things out
Adam Cole definitely making Top 5
Dwindling it down to 10 would be rather impressive
Adam Cole and Becky Lynch would probably be #1 and #2, though depending how Scott Hall was seen back in the day compared to today, he may also be high up there. That they just completely failed at making Becky a heel and found that anti-hero like The Rock or Stone Cold is just the better option is something I'm honestly so glad about. Becky being The Man and being egotistical about her success, only to recently turn face again after conceding defeat to Bianca was just so satisfying to me, as it's a character arc that makes sense, which doesn't always happen in WWE.
Scott Hall
Austin
Flair
Rock
Piper
Jericho
Savage
Million Dollar Man
Mr Perfect
RVD
@@SomeOfTheJuice I wouldn't put Becky there, I think for somebody to be on such a list that they should be heel for a long time and get cheered during it, she was only heel for about a month and it was botched because fans weren't going to play along with her as heel. Scott Hall was a pure heel for years but got massive cheers and everybody was fine with him being heel. He was the bad guy after all.
I think the worst face turn of all time goes to The Miz. He didn't get a main event push with the turn, but pairing him with Ric Flair and giving him the Figure Four as a new finisher just completely fell flat for me and all went in the opposite direction of how Miz works best and is most comfortable.
The first one sure, but the second one was great until Shane screwed it up.
@@dna507 yeah but Miz only works as a heel
Jesus, might as well let Honky Tonk Man turn face.
Doesn't help that The Miz as a faces never wins. He got real strong reactions against Shane O Mac until he kept losing over and over again
@@juicyeboi9006 he earns fans respect that's the reason he was cheered in some arenas or just to booed reigns
Never understood anyone pushing Steiner as a face, he is meant to be a heel for sure
It's because when he was teaming up with his brother in the 90 on wcw he was a good guy it wasn't until he started getting to roids that he became like that
Hhh wanted to be the heel in the feud so Steiner had to be the face.
It’s because triple h was heel
I know the list can only hold ten names, but honorable mentions go to the likes of Rocky Maivia, Charlotte Flair and Alberto Del Rio as their babyface runs all floundered, as well. Heck, we could even throw in Bayley since her initial face run on the main roster just didn't work with some fans.
ADR is an unlikeable human being.
I don’t normally disagree a lot with the list. But the Batista inclusion is bull. Batista was over like hell. There was a little moment where it could have turned but the feud with the undertaker solidified his face run. It shocked the hell out of me when he turned.
Orton as the legend killer was such a piece of shit. Such good TV.
Thinking about it, they should do this with Charlotte. She's gone through Trish, give her Lita, Molly, McCool, Victoria, Melina over the course of a year then give her a feud with Mickie James leading to Mickies induction to HOF in 2024. Keep that belt off her
That is Money
Cena,Michaels and Batista actually we're insanely popular babyfaces imo
This is facts!
04:11 That "eating his prayers, saying his vitamins" line got me. hahaha
The best 🤣🤣
Putting Batista in there seems weird considering there's a bunch of guys who had worse face runs than him. Here are some examples:
Sheamus - Started out good but became Vince's favorite flavour of babyface, the bully babyface, in 2012 and was completely unlikable for the majority of his time as babyface before getting injured.
The Miz - Taking a natural heel like Miz, turning him face, and then having him make lowest common denominator insults towards heels was never going to work.
The Rock - His first babyface run had fans chanting at him to die, kinda says it all.
Batista for his 2014 return is enough of a reason. He returned as a face but everyone hated it. The 2014 Royal Rumble got hijacked because Daniel Bryan wasn't part of the match so when Batista won, the fans crapped all over it and booed Batista horribly. Besides some missteps on his part, he did his best in a no-win situation (put Daniel Bryan over at Wrestlemania 30 by being the one to tap out, helped put the Shield over as a bigger deal). His problems before his 2009 heel turn were that he kept getting injured so his momentum was constantly being halted.
@ShiningJudgment666 there are some on this list that are arguable like Shawn Michaels and his example the miz they were best as face when they had someone to bounce off of for Shawn it was dx and for miz tbh it's r truth those two work really well together
Roman Reigns should take his rightful place as number one. He used to get boo’d out of every stadium between 2014-20. It got so bad WWE used to edit out his boo’s. I remember when he beat undertaker the next day the crowd would not let Roman speak. He was truly the most hated baby face in wrestling history.
I think Roman as a heel should have cut promos on the fans and blamed them for what he became, and they will all now down and acknowledge him as their Tribal Chief.
The Miz , he's a natural heel. Face Miz just feels off lol
That was a weird period of Miz in late 2012 and mid 2013.
His second face run was more of a disaster then his first. His first face run he had some decent matches with Damian Sandow and won the intercontinental championship a second time from Wade Barrett. That was until he lost it to Wade Barrett in a squash match and it went down hill from there. As I said before his second face run was a absolute disaster, he lost a falls count anywhere match at Wrestlemania against Shane McMahon of all people and basically became a jobber.
Just like Edge
Honorable mention: pre-Rock Rocky Maivia
OMG. He was just insufferable.
@@america6545 Oh and what about Bret Hart in 1997 before the double turn with Austin at Wrestlemania 13?
surprised Miz didn't make it on the list. i HATED him as a babyface
The Rock & Randy Orton's careers took off after their hardcore matches with Mick Foley.
How tf was Batista unlikable?
Do you honestly remember him as a Face? No, You remember him as a Heel. Hence why hes seen as 'unlikable' as a good guy. Kinda like the title of the video says.
He wore blue trunks instead of black that time. Bluetista
@@talkintomenow How tf you gonna ask me a question then answer it for me? 😂 The most memorable Batista era for me was when he betrayed Evolution and became World Heavyweight Champion as a face.
Lol, so you pretty much get your opinions on things from YT videos?? Those last 2 sentences aren't very bright.
@@talkintomenow I remember him turning on HHH and beating him 3 straight times and having a hell of a run as World Champion on SmackDown and having that amazing tale of 2 babyfaces feud on Smackdown all of 2007. i remember him as a heel sure. but to say he wasn't a memorable face. that's a bold faced lie.
These people are clowns we remember Batista run to become champion and his smackdown reign at top. Feuds against Undertaker baby face Versus baby face. Only think about his heel run was his riverly with Rey and Cena (people still liked him over Cena). Then a babyish crowd insisting he turns heel and because he’s an actually a good wrestler he ran with it and made that work too. Make no mistake he will always be remembered as a dominant baby face by a majority, despite with a vocal minority may try to spin it.
As a JoJo enjoyer, I have the legal authority to say: There is no such thing as "too much posing".
When Trips came back from that ACL tear, his muscles had muscles😆😂
It didn’t help that Roman was being booked strong well in 2015 when there was another wrestler at the time who still had total fan support and people cheered more for.
*coughDanielBryancough*
Ye I think people hated Roman not because of Roman himself, but because of Vince McMahon trying to turn him into the Samoan John Cena. At least Cena had the charisma to pull off the tough, inspirational and sometimes goofy face. I mean Suffering Succotash is a bad line but if Cena said it he could’ve made it a little funny because he’d give it his all.
People prefer skinny runts than guys who are actually built.
@@AJARyan-yn2uv If the Rock said "Suffering succotach" you all would have laughed your heads off and cheered.
I understand Hogan, but what about in 2002 when the fans FORCED the WWF to turn him face?
no Charlotte Flair, surprising
She’s basically Goldberg but good in the ring and not a part timer
Wasn't she only a babyface when she was first called up?
I feel at Unforgiven 2004 it should’ve been Orton v Benoit v HHH. Orton retains and then the double cross occurs. If they built the tension a bit maybe the fans would’ve warmed up.
As good as 2004 was, I would have changed at least a few things.
It's almost impossible to stay babyface, fans are so fickle and the writers always screw it up
Correct.
Fr this is why Roman is still over now despite being champ for well over 2 years. A heel willing to do anything to keep the title is far more interesting than a babyface winning every match clean
Randy Orton was relatable af to me. Especially when he looked like he hated his life and he was bored
"Eating his prayers saying his vitamins"
🤣🤣🤣
I’d like to see the opposite: 10 most likeable heels
John Cena being on this list.... Let alone being number 2..... Makes zero sense. He was literally the biggest draw in the company for over ten years
Hardcore wrestling fans. Sure, there are some people who like his work, like kids and some parents, but his style of wrestling, not to mention his seemingly squeaky clean goody two shoes persona, don’t resonate with people who grew up in the 90s. That, and until recent years, he seemed like the next Hulk Hogan or so. Booked too strongly that not much people can touch him.
Plus, don’t forget the millions of wrestlers buried by him. Not sure if it’s Triple H bad, but there’s a list. Zack Ryder, Wade Barret, Rusev… but in his defense, guys like CM Punk maybe, Daniel Bryan, Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, AJ Styles, and more did beat him from time to time. It’s just that his W-L is totally bonkers compared to other wrestlers.
He’s a good wrestler. He’s a good performer. But, people will often compare him to the Rock too. Guess which one would probably
make people appreciate more?
That, and Cena’s overeliance of staying a baby face for many years, and never going heel, when a vast majority do both to sometimes different effects, also sours his experience. Like Roman Reigns is now doing to a great effect, imagine Cena turning into a heel. It would be a mind-blowing thing, like what The Hulkster did in the late 90s. Perhaps only do it a year, to make sure it was only in storyline. Heck, like The Rock and Kurt Angle, he could’ve pulled off a joky comedian heel. Or tweener.
The fact that his character arc seemed stale for most of his run also didn’t help. And I don’t like the Heroes Journey thing they did with him repeatedly. Lose, recover, win, repeat. Like CM Punk once said how is he the underdog when he keeps winning?
At least half of any given audience would boo him out the building. He was unlikeable to a sizeable portion of most crowds, that has little to do with his ability to draw or sell merch. How you can say that makes zero sense, well, that ACTUALLY makes zero sense.
@@dennett316 see that's the thing. You're only looking at half the audience. The other half damn near worshipped Cena. How do y'all ignore that?
@@dannyhargreaves1326 when you say hardcore wrestling fans you're talking about a loud minority. Cena wouldn't be as huge as he was if only women and children cheered him.
@@wackozackoyt Still, they’re there when they join in the “Cena sucks!” Just because they’re small doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Who else gets a reaction like that as a baby face! You usually get a boo, but rarely never a they suck chant.
some of this list really falls apart with talking things in hindsight instead of at the moment. Michaels and hogan in particular
People from western countries really underestimate how over Randy Orton is internationally and with the casual audience. He always got the crowd hyped during his when builds up to the rko
Batista as a face was incredible, who was smoking crack when they made this list? 😂
The only reason Batista is on here is because the fans were red hot for Daniel Bryan and wanted him to main event mania and that made Batista the villain otherwise ain’t no way he deserves to be on the list that’s just wrong 🤣🤣🤣
Orton was loved always though his heel nature is top notch.
Batista was loved as baby face.
HHH as face was also loved around 2006-08
Cena was always like as face except later in his career
Prime Batista was very over in the 2000s, it was also that time that he is widely considered as the top 2 guy/second protagonist of the Ruthless Aggression era and he's also THE face of Smackdown back then.
Wrestling babyfaces who failed
Number 1: Hangman Adam Page
Batista should not be on this list. When Batista was a face, he was insanely popular. To me, his heel turn before he left in 2010 was weak because they turned him while he was still insanely over as a face and it was awkward. When he came back, he was only booed because he came back and took Daniel Bryan's place at first.
Also, I guess I'm the only person on earth that has liked Ronda Rousey no matter what she did, lol.
Wait wait wait. Not comfortable playing the hero? He’s a fucking guardian of the galaxy…
Movies and professional wrestling are different. We expect them to play the good guy in the movies but not in wrestling where his true craft is at rather he likes to admit it or not
Haha 😂 that’s what I’m saying he’s such a easy monster face in movies and wrestling.
Steiner was originally a baby face with his brother. He had played that role many many years.
This list should've been called ten babyfaces that where much better heals just saying
Hulk was the most popular star the business has ever known. Pacitti just likes joining in with the Hulk bashing that's popular with a certain subset of the fandom.
A lot of it is jealousy.
I booed hhh when he came back from the quad tear.
surprised Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins werent on the list
Cody's failed babyface run (the end) was in aew not wwe
No he was good when he was stardust
I think Seth Rollins is a hard one. His offense kinda screams baby face, but how he overall carries himself works better as a heel. He could have taking a few spots on this list like Batista, Goldberg, Hogan, and Cena. Cody probably should be on this list no doubt.
Fans still hum along to Seth's entrance music.
im clearly too young, but everytime i look at Hogan's WWF run, he literally always seemed like the heel. i never understood how the crowd accepted him as a face, but (thankfully) times have changed
I am the same (born in 03). I think it’s just because so much has come out about Hulk. The backstage politics, racism, etc. We’ve heard all of the stories so now when we watch it’s kinda easier to see him for who he really was.
1982 birthday here. It's not just retrospective. I hated him - yes would have been toward the end of his first run in WWE when I was watching, but at 5-7 I couldn't stand him and always wanted him to lose, I especially didn't understand why it was 'okay' when he flagrantly cheated as much as any bad guy. I doubt I'm alone.
Hogan as a babyface was more over than just about anything ever in the 80s and 90s, right up until his turn with the NWO. It's only now that there's so many documentaries and stories told about that era, that we've seen how he acted, and changed our opinion of him...
@@fromomelastocarcosa3575 really? Wow... Now, I (born in '81) wasn't a huge Hulkamaniac (I was the cliche Warrior fan, and LOVED Demolition), but from what I remember most of my friends loved Hogan in the late 80s. I don't really remember anything in wrestling from about 89 to about 96-97, and then it was all about Nash, Goldberg, Rock, Benoit, Stone Cold, etc...
Hulk did begin his career as a heel. Vince saw his potential as a Face and took a risk and the rest was history.
Batista and Unlikeable Babyface? geez everybody loved him as a babyface and shouldn't be in this list Miz should be in this list since he had the worst babyface turn twice between 2012 & 2018
Was anyone else as disappointed as me that we didn’t get the song for the Randal Keith segment? lol
How is The Miz not on here? Both of his face runs crashed and burned almost instantaneously.
Great video y’all are awesome. I would change the video name as this feels like wrestlers who are better heels than baby faces, as there’s so many popular baby faces on the list that weren’t unlikeable like hogan Batista hbk etc who are liked
Test is always a what SHOULD'VE been for me. Big dude that could handle himself in the ring. If only he had a Heyman like manager to be his mouth, I think his career could've been different. I was excited when he came back for WWECW at first, until I realized that was going no where
Tbf, Batista was so over during his first babyface run in ‘05. The injury was so unfortunate cause he was on course for another WM main event.
Scott steiner was a good heel in wcw
Here's some more honorable mentions:
The Miz, Logan Paul, Sasha Banks and Charlotte Flair
Cena fatigue is still a thing for me 😂
This may be the worst Cultaholic video I ever watched. The wrestlers in this are literally the most successful, popular and supported baby faces in WWE history... Hulk Hogan, Goldberg, HBK, John Cena?? Then the rest like Batista, Orton, Triple H, HBK, Roman Reigns have also done great as babyfaces and been wildly popular. This is an AWFUL list.
Hogan and Cena are the most successful babyfaces in the history of wrestling.
I do agree with Batista in this list but I can understand the objections. The intro may have skewered it by mentioning people in the list are unpleasant. Batista isn't unpleasant. Batista would botch his lines and struggled doing this live, but we know he had a natural charisma and likability on film, when he could be framed to be at his best.
The fact that he said Ronda was pushed to hard is laughable. She put over the Becky Lynch and cemented her as the top girl. And she was already popular as fuck. You don’t bring in a talent like Ronda full-time to not put the rocket on her. Lol Pro Wrestling fans are just never satisfied and have to whine and complain about every decision because it doesn’t sync up perfectly with what they want. Give me a break. 😭
Goldberg "cares deeply about his craft."
Riiiight. 🙄
Right? The only thing Oldberg cares about is his paycheck.
I would love to see a top 10 list of wrestlers outside of WWE.
•Cody Rhodes in AEW
•Sammy Guevara
•Jeff Jarrett in TNA (he was a babyface in the early TNA days
The thing is, Reigns is perfectly likeable, but they were beating us over the head with him for a good three years. And he cannot do a face promo. He's halfass face now because he sounds natural and like he believes what he's doing.
Clearly they didn’t watch wrestling enough during the ruthless agression era to know that Batista literally was eye level with Cena as the top face until his injury then at least top 3 until 2009
you're good at the game of omission, padding your lists, and revisionist history, guys
Scott Steiner was likeable early in his career when he and his brother Rick were a face tag yeam from 1989 until 2
1998. But after he became Big Pompa Pump, it was hard for him to be likeable again, albeit he did have his humorous moments.
Even though he was only in WWE a few years, I would suggest Jason Jordan. I remember the storyline in which he was Kurt Angle's kayfabe son and was constantly on the receiving end of loud booing.
Now the opposite video of Likeable Heels has to be made
How is Hogan an unlikeable baby face? He was the foundation of WWE ffs 🤦🏻♂️
They probably meant post Heel turn he could never really be a Babyface kinda
Well, nowadays, he sure would be an unlikeable one
Kayfabe top 3 baby faces of all time, shoot heel. This list should be renamed lol 😂
I ve hated Roman thru his bay face fase, but I love him as a heel
I feel like this list should have stuck to wrestlers who never worked as a face; Batista, Goldberg, Hulk Hogan and Shawn Michaels were all almost universally cheered during various runs as a face so don't really belong here
I’d like to point out that Goldberg is mega huge for young people and casuals. It’s smarks who don’t like him. Same with Ronda Rousey. Smarks don’t like these two. People need to realize smarks aren’t the majority of fans. They’re a vocal minority.
It’s why people always got so stunned that Vince pushed Roman for so long. He was bloody popular with casuals and kids. It didn’t matter that whiny ass 35 year old white guys didn’t like him. They’ll watch the show anyways since they love to complain.
Goldberg cares deeply about his craft? That’s why he never learned how to work a match beyond 3 minutes?
I'm surprised The Honkytonk Man didn't make the list.
It's a totally different time now. heels get over just as much as babyfaces anymore so the lines are blurred. Yes roman is a major heel but fans go nuts when he says "acknowledge me". And no matter how nasty Chris Jericho gets when Judas hits crowd goes crazy. And look at Mox, he acts like a heel used to but fans absolutely love him.
How about Flair?.She keeps going from face to heel even though she's clueless as a face.Heel Flair works better because she does come off as genuinely entitled.Look at some of her stunts."Accidentally"dropping the title during that exchange with Lynch,killing Asuka's momentum,not objecting to being pushed into the WrestleMania main event,etc.
Before watching the video - Roman Reigns better be on the list
Like all the comments, Batista was a hugely over babyface. I agree completely he is a better heel, but his feud with the beloved Undertaker for instance never had the crowd turn on him, they were in both of their corners generally. He was cheered over Cena in their first feud, the only problem he ever had as a baby was the ecw crowd crapping on his match with Big Show. Of course, the 2014 debacle has to be mentioned of course, but that was about 1% of his babyface output.
Hated "Stone Cold" as a baby face, and cheered for Mr McMahon in their feud.
I loved his heel run in 2001. He was a natural heel.
I even enjoyed his heel stint as "Stunning" Steve Austin in WCW.
The crazy thing is they wanted to keep Batista as a heal but the fans loved him so much he became face
I would have added Seth Rollins. Seth does not play the face well.
Sorry. How is miz not on here. Really? REALLY? REALLY?
I would swap out Batista for Charlotte. I love me some Charlotte, but she is infinitely better as a heel. It just fits her.
Hulk hogan was getting booed in wcw so they decided to turn him heel
Hulk Hogan was the biggest Babyface on the planet in the 80s and early 90s and the Biggest Heel in the late 90s ....So not sure why he's on the list
This channel always bitiches about Hogan
@@jsmith3946 I think that's true and that's kind of unfortunate that they got a bias against him
Tall poppy syndrome.
They just included Hulk Hogan to seem woke. Most over wrestler ever. Only thing that stopped that was stuff from outside of wrestling. I’m Black , I’m not exactly a Hulk Hogan supporter but even I can acknowledge , it’s a little different than being unlikeable. Even all the evil shit he did , he still got cheered.
Calling John Cena or Triple H unlikeable is proof. They were heavily cheered as faces. While Cena-fatigue is/was real , kinda came n went. You know who is unlikeable to a level that would make sense to include them on a list like this ? Logan Paul. No cheers before that ring to table spot. Scott Steiner , initial buzz was gone in months. Cain Velasquez. Lost his buzz before his match , and had very little reaction to begin with. You sound stupid as fuck to say the most profitable wrestler of all time and a member of probably the most over tag team EVER , ridiculous statement.
And most recently, not to mention how poor Liv was literally thrown under the bus after SummerSlam '22. That's what really put me off Ronda right now.
These are all retrospect, markish, femboy opinions. I agree with some but not most. Goldberg was MASSIVE just in my class alone. We all loved the dude.
Cena Roman Goldberg and Batista don't belong here. Especially their prime runs. Goldberg's later run sure I guess. But Batista wasn't rejected because of coming back but because DB was the guy fans wanted. They were booing Rey Mysterio at the Rumble, hell they booed The Rock too. There are far worse babyfaces. Same goes for Roman, he just wasn't Daniel Bryan, and people didn't like that he was "Vince's boy" which is stupid because literally every babyface you've ever liked in WWE in the main events was "Vince's boy" otherwise they wouldn't be in that spot Miz, Kevin Nash, Alberto Del Rio (dude was so bad at being a babyface/good guy he ended up in jail irl), Edge never worked well as a babyface either similar to Orton. Dude got booed in Canada pre Let's Go Cena Cena Sucks era. I think this video would be better as 10 most unatural babyfaces or 10 wrestlers who weren't good at being a babyface. Cena was damn sure likeable. Not unanimously but he was likeable. And fans now miss the hell out of him. They cared. That doesn't make Orton a babyface in their feud though.
@@trewilliams8411 and yet he was still the top babyface. for a long time. fans turned on hogan, fans turned on hbk, on bret, on rock, austin. etc. 3 of those guys aren't here on this list. the list doesn't make any fucking sense. cena was a good babyface. he did everything a babyface should. sorry that a vocal minority is pissed off but they still went to those events. they still paid attention to his matches. they still cared. they were invested in his stuff. otherwise they'd just leave the shows, they'd change the channel when he came out for his matches or on their tv screens, they didn't. Tell me one time the fans chanted beat the traffic at john cena. or a time they threw garbage in the ring at him, or he started a literal riot, you can't. ECW ONS Doesn't count, they threw his shirt back at him, oooooh so edgy, he was so unlikable. yeah at an ECW show against the heart and soul of ECW in their arena at a reunion show. also i have seen you in this comment section a lot. bro hating cena stopped being cool like 6/7 years ago. its over, move on. there were way worse wrestlers at portraying a babyface then john cena. That is my point. You didn't like a white meat babyface like John Cena, okay great, but he literally checked all the babyface boxes and did it for well over a decade and didn't need to turn heel ever after the fact. Cena did something right if that's the case. Diesel was a worse babyface, big show is a worse babyface, sheamus is a worse babyface, the miz, rocky maivia (not The Rock) Del Rio, Ziggler, loads of guys should be here not Cena. They just wanted big names.
@@trewilliams8411 he belongs on this list because between 2011 all the way to 2013 we demanded that he become a heel.
@@attiepollard7847 people were "demanding" as far back as 05. And they're full of it. Newsflash you aren't the only fans to exist. Cena doesn't have to appeal to you and still be a babyface. The beatles are considered one of the best bands of all time but not everyone likes them. But Cena was not BAD as a babyface. People believed in that character. People didnt buy into Say Miz as a face, or Diesel, there's others who are more suited for this list then Cena.
@@JitteryJackanape hold on now I like 2005 John Cena. But it was getting kind of old during 2010 and forward. But unfortunately for the fans John Cena wants to keep his squeaky clean image for the kids and these charity events. This is one of the curses of WWE becoming a global mega wrestling promotion they always want to try to appeal to the major corporation donors.
Honestly, the best face triple h we ever got was the one that went against Randy Orton on The road to WrestleMania 25. The reason it worked so well is because we actually felt bad for what he was going through and wanted to see him kick Orton's ass.
I think Chief Content Officer Paul "Triple H" Leveque is massively over now.
He is having his most popular face run now.
DX Army HHH I always felt was his best babyface work!
One of the problems with modern wrestling is that if a guy is good as a heel, he's a terrible babyface, and visa versa, making everything either wildly predictable, bad, or both. It's hard to cheer for Paul Levesque when he inserts himself into main event matches and gets himself over at the expense of everyone else. The guy was basically Michael Hickenbottom, only he stayed sober and learned from HBK's mistakes. Let's not forget, it was Stone Cold, Undertaker and The Rock who made WWF the top sports entertainment company in the world, not Shawn Michaels or HHH. But by 2002, Stone Cold and The Rock were basically retired or semi-retired and the Undertaker was past his prime.
You think Undertaker was past his prime in 2002?
@@chepeolvera8057 lol beat me to it!
@@sethshepherd3221 Sounds ridiculous right? Lol
@@chepeolvera8057 He feels like its necessary to refer to Trips and Shawn by their shoot names so clearly he doesn't know as much as he lets on.
Sounding like that Voodoo Kin Mafia promo from TNA - AT THE ALAMO!! HICKENBOTTOM!!!
Too bad no NXT stars here.
"All you need to do is BO-LIEVE!"
Randy Orton, Scott Steiner, and Bill Goldberg’s baby face runs didn’t fail due to any fault of their own. They failed because they had the misfortune of crossing paths with Triple H and his golden shovel during his infamous reign of terror. Yes, WWE suffered from a dearth of quality baby faces from 2002-2005, but that was mostly because Hunter insisted on elevating himself at their expense.
We knew Roman would be at the top of this list, let's be real
I love a good crispy tater tot
Charlotte should be on the list he got cheered for beating the shit out of her until Charlotte turned face
Just saw you hold up a sign at all out so I subbed
Batista was a great face on smackdown
Glad I'm not the only one to like Batista during the 2000s, as when I got into wrestling on my own he was one of the reasons I enjoyed WWE so much,