wrestling / Columns

The 8 Ball 07.17.13: Top 8 Possible Faces of the WWE

July 17, 2013 | Posted by David McGregor

Welcome to another edition of the 8 Ball for the Wrestling section of 411mania, I am your host David McGregor.

It is obvious that John Cena can’t be the face of the WWE forever, therefore who should be the man to take over from him? It doesn’t matter if they are fantastic in the ring or not, what matters is that they look the part and can promote the WWE to the world better than any other person in the entire world at the point. John Cena is that man, and only he can do it the way he does it. The man has done more Make a Wish event than anyone in history, and that’s without missing a promotional date, movie, TV show or live event. So it isn’t just about being a great wrestler, which is why CM Punk just didn’t work when he was the centre point of the entire company in 2012.

I am going to be judging it on marketability, charisma, talent and dedication as well as who I think would be great in the role.

Top 8 Choices for the Next Face of the WWE

8th Place – The Shield

Positive Attributes

3 Times as Likely to Happen
3 of the Brightest Stars in the WWE
I Can’t Choose Between Them

I kept thinking that Seth Rollins or Dean Ambrose could easily go here, but then I realised that the WWE love them some genetic freaks like Roman Reigns therefore he is just as likely to be given the chance as anyone else. So I just decided to put all 3 of these guys in here, which isn’t a total copout as each of these men has just as much chance of each other to make a massive impact in the WWE. Whether each of them will become the face of the company or not is another story, and truthfully I am not sure.

Dean Ambrose is the best talker out of the entire group, and has charisma in spades! He can also wrestle better than 90% of the locker room as well clearly having company favour. But he has a really scary look, and just doesn’t strike me as the type of character and person who the WWE would put all their millions of dollars into.

Seth Rollins looks like the best choice based solely on look. I think with a little corporatisation Rollins could be the perfect poster boy for the entire WWE. But he is one of the smaller guys, and while it has happened with Shawn Michaels it was hardly Vince McMahon’s first choice. If I had to be forced to pick one of the Shield I think it would be Rollins as he has continually impressed in his time with the WWE.

Roman Reigns is the Batista of the group, he doesn’t seem like all that much but when you realised how much of a fetish the WWE has for big men his chances become a whole lot better. Reigns would be perfect for that macho toughness the WWE like to portray, and being larger than life is always a bonus for anyone in Vince’s view.

Either way I think one of The Shield, if not all of them, will make a huge impact on the WWE in the next few years.

7th Place – Evan Bourne

Positive Attributes

Charismatic
Very Endearing
Very Marketable

Evan Bourne is missing a vital aspect that the face of the company needs, and that is mic skills. Bourne isn’t exactly known for his fantastic promos but he has a charisma in and outside the ring that very few people could ever hope to replicate. He has that style of wrestling that is very similar to Rey Mysterio, which is just instantly endearing and captivating. You automatically start to root for Bourne within a few minutes of watching him. And it isn’t the first time a smaller underdog was the focal point of the company, after all it worked fantastically well for Shawn Michaels.

I’ve always thought that if the WWE lost Cena abruptly a few years ago Rey Mysterio would have been a likely candidate to replace him. At least before he became a bit of mess physically. But Evan Bourne is a much more marketable version of Rey Mysterio, and if he were to be kept healthy and pushed in the right way I firmly believe he could be an integral part of WWE TV for years to come.

6th Place –Alberto Del Rio

Positive Attributes

Face of Mexican Market
Charismatic and Great Talker

This choice jumped again and again, one time I had Antonio Cessaro and then I had Dean Amrbose in this spot. But really the only guy I truly believed could actually be a face of the WWE was Alberto Del Rio. Sure he is a much better heel than a face and his whole act seems tailor made for fans to hate him, but Mexico is a humongous market and Del Rio is the perfect nut to crack it. The WWE for the first time could devolve its traditional status of having one man be the face of the entire WWE, and instead have people be the face of separate divisions of the WWE. Del Rio is way too great a heel to be the face of the entire WWE, but he could absolutely wave the flag for the WWE in Mexico and other Spanish speaking nations. If the WWE wants to take over the wrestling world then they need to move away from their American centred wrestlers and instead branch out into more varied wrestlers.

If the WWE were to go this way then Del Rio automatically becomes the go to face of WWE’s Mexico offices. He has the looks, charisma and charm to promote the WWE very well on TV and other media appearences, and he has already taken over Rey Mysterio as the WWE’s go to guy for improving poor ticket sales or ratings in Mexico. If Del Rio is already in such a prized place then why not take over from John Cena?

5th Place – Daniel Bryan

Positive Attributes

Currently one of the Most Popular Stars in WWE

I was unsure as to whether or not Daniel Bryan should be on this list, as while he is captivating in the ring he doesn’t have the kind of marketability or likeability as someone like John Cena does. Then the WWE started pushing him properly for the past few weeks and I started to understand what could be done with Daniel Bryan when he is used correctly. I still don’t think that Bryan will be the next face of the WWE, but I do believe that this push that he is receiving will cement him in that upper tier of people who are constantly in the main event. But if he is getting a serious reaction from the crowd then why couldn’t he take over from John Cena? The matches would be far superior and the face of the WWE would be a diehard wrestling fan that works his arse off to get where he is. Surely all you need is the right spark and an extreme dedication to be successful in that kind of role.

I think Daniel Bryan’s biggest issue is that he is an indie guy, and I mean that in just about every sense of the word. The great thing about John Cena is he has interests in stuff that a lot of people like, and he is seen as that red-blooded man who is the head of this very macho company. Daniel Bryan doesn’t come across like that at all. He is a short guy that is a vegan, and those two attributes hardly go hand in hand with a wrestling god. Everything in my head goes against Bryan being any kind of figurehead for the WWE, but the fans still seem to love him so who knows?

4th Place – The Miz

Positive Attributes

Proven Track Record for Media Appearences
Already Well Known in USA
Extremely Dedicated

The Miz does more work than anyone in the WWE not named John Cena. If Cena cant do a specific engagement then Miz is there to fly the WWE flag. You can tell that The Miz loves the WWE and loves his job; for the brief time he was WWE Champion he was the face of the company. He was on every talk show and radio broadcast they could possibly slot him into, and that kind of dedication goes a long way in making you and the company you represent look very good. In a day and age when the WWE is a publicly traded company the media’s image of the brand is more important than ever, and when John Cena steps down from the top spot they need someone who is just as marketable and willing to do the media appearances as much as John Cena. Who better to replace Cena than someone who has a proven track record of doing all the appearances and PR activities that is expected of someone in that position?

The biggest problem with The Miz is that he isn’t a believable champion. As much as he is a fantastic cowardly heel, the face of the WWE will always need to be a great good guy character that can triumph over all evil. Right now The Miz is struggling to do that in the mid card, therefore what chance does he have of being a believable world-beater in the main event? But then again that is just a creative matter, and if they were to get over that then you have a guy who will go all out and do everything for the company. If John Cena were to be fired tomorrow it would be very likely that The Miz would be the one picking up the slack. At least in terms of PR.

3rd Place – Dolph Ziggler

Positive Attributes

Best All Round Superstar in WWE
Charismatic
One of the Most Recognisable New Faces in WWE

The strange thing about this choice is that I almost forgot all about Dolph Ziggler, which is ridiculous as he is one of the few people who could effortlessly step into John Cena’s shoes with a little bit of work. Ziggler is one of those people that make everything look like a work of art. His work in the ring is always pristine, and every move he takes looks perfect and deadly. I believe that when you have a guy like that in the ring he is constantly entertaining, and that is one of Cena’s biggest issues against him. Wouldn’t it be nice to usher in a new era with someone who is undoubtedly captivating in and out the ring?

Ziggler isn’t just great in the ring; he is also one of the most charismatic individuals in the entire WWE. The phrase has been tainted since the TV show of the same name, but Dolph Ziggler has that X factor that is just intangible but you know he has it. The guy may not be the face of the company, but I think that’s due to inconsistent booking more than anything. Steve Austin wouldn’t be where he is today if it wasn’t for the genius of the McMahon character and all the mayhem that followed that character. Dolph hasn’t been given that opportunity to come out and show that unique trait that makes him special, and as soon as the WWE tap into that then they will be able to position him more firmly in the WWE.

2nd Place – Shelton Benjamin

Positive Attributes

Fantastic Athlete
Proven to be Popular when Pushed
Proven he can be Charismatic

Back in 2004 Shelton Benjamin seemed to be at the beginning of a monster push, but it didn’t last very long and Benjamin languished in the mid card scene before being fired. The moment he beat Triple H he was one of the most interesting people in the entire roster. Had they played their cards right they could have had a huge deal on their hands, as Benjamin was gifted in the ring and with a little effort could portray that on the microphone too. There were times in his WWE run were he was full of charisma and you believed he could be something great, like his time as the Gold Standard and even when he was with his Momma that was still a hilarious angle.

Benjamin isn’t with the WWE anymore and I don’t understand why that it. Even if he isn’t going to be the biggest thing in wrestling, he is still a fantastic athlete and could be a main event player. But I do always wonder how massive he could have been if the WWE had done things right.

1st Place – Cody Rhodes

Positive Attributes

Marketable
Dedicated
Charismatic
Now wears Knee Pads

Cody Rhodes has been my favourite wrestler for numerous years now. He has the look, the skills and the desire. So why the hell isn’t he main eventing show after show? If you want proof of how much the fans can get behind someone like Cody Rhodes just look at Money in the Bank on Sunday. The fans were going insane for the prospect of Rhodes becoming the new Mr Money in the Bank. Which is the same way they went when he beat Rey Mysterio at Wrestlemania 27, or when he fought Randy Orton and nearly won way back when he debuted. The crowd seems to get really behind Rhodes when they see him on the cusp of something big, yet when he fails to achieve anything they get bored and go away. That’s because Cody Rhodes seems to go head over heels into every single thing he does, whether that is Legacy or being the Phantom of the Opera. I don’t understand why Vince and the WWE creative team haven’t given Rhodes more of a break; he puts so much effort into every single night that you would think he would get some sort of reward for that. But sadly it never happens, and the longer it doesn’t happen the lesser the chance of him making any real huge impact on the WWE landscape becomes.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel because on Sunday night Cody Rhodes looked like a legitimate star before Damien Sandow threw him off the ladder. I hope that this is the time Cody Rhodes becomes something truly great. He has everything ready and waiting to become a star, the WWE just need to say when.

Until next week, this has been the 8 Ball!

Choose between…

Most Disappointing World Champion

WCW Ideas the WWE Should Steal

Worst Moments in 21st Century of Wrestling

article topics

David McGregor

Comments are closed.