New Day Turning Heel Will Help the Stable Grow

The WWE Universe hath spoken! The New Day faction is not well-liked.

The trio of Kofi Kingston, Big E and Xavier Woods preached change and wanted to make the New Day work and make a positive impact in the WWE landscape.

Unfortunately for them, the fans weren’t having any of it.

The New Day took part in the WrestleMania 31 pre-show on March 29. Big E and Kingston wrestled in a Fatal 4-Way tag team match for the tag titles, with Woods at ringside. They fought the Usos, Los Matadores and Cesaro and Tyson Kidd, the defending tag team champions. The champions retained, as Cesaro pinned Big E after the New Day’s powerhouse took a splash from Jimmy Uso.

They encountered plenty, as they also were involved in the Andre the Giant Battle Royal and were all eliminated by the Big Show. Needless to say, WrestleMania 31 wasn’t their day.

The next night featured Big E and Kingston teaming with the Lucha Dragons to take on the Ascension, Cesaro and Kidd. Their team won, but it came with a price.

The fans kept chanting along with their rhythmic clap, a familiar rallying cry, “NEW. DAY. SUCKS,” much to the New Day’s chagrin.

Normally, the latest trend is to kill the antagonistic cheers with kindness. But the New Day decided to go with it.

The group addressed it on cryptic tweets and the April 6 episode of Raw in Austin, Texas. They even wrestled the Lucha Dragons that night. It’s a rarity for the WWE to pit two babyface tag teams against each other. So, why did they put the New Day against the Lucha Dragons?

The answer is elementary: The slow build to a heel turn has begun.

The New Day turning heel will help the stable grow. They’ll benefit once they become the bad guys.

Strangely enough, the tale seems very familiar. It happened nearly 19 years ago, with a certain babyface who became arguably the most popular household name to come from the WWE.

The Rock wasn’t well-liked when he debuted in the 1996 edition of Survivor Series. He first appeared using the moniker Rocky Maivia, honoring his father (Rocky Johnson) and grandfather (High Chief Peter Maivia). He was the sole survivor in an eight-man elimination match. Maivia won for Marc Mero, Jake the Snake Roberts and Barry Windham against Jerry Lawler, Goldust, Crush and Hunter-Hearst Helmsley.

Rocky Maivia was destined for greatness, but the fans weren’t having it. They chanted “ROCKY SUCKS” every time he stepped into the ring. It wasn’t until he turned heel that fans started respecting him.

Maivia changed his name to The Rock and joined the Nation of Domination. Rock excelled in his heel persona, inventing new catchphrases and feeding off the antagonizing crowd. The rest, as they say, is history.

Fast forward to today, where the New Day faction is faced with the same predicament. Maybe their anticipated heel turn can finally shed some light on why this group exists.

It’s all been smiles for this faction. It’s time for New Day to toughen up.

Frankly, we haven’t seen what they can do as bad guys. Big E was more of a bouncer when he sided with Dolph Ziggler and AJ Lee. He was just the muscle of that trio. Now that he’s cutting promos, we could see even more of the big man’s personality.

Woods barely made an impact but is well-spoken. He could be the strongest speaker of the two if given allotted time.

The most interesting member is Kingston. When’s the last time you remember him being a villain? Actually, he never was.

Kingston’s always been the high-flyer who last showed aggression during a short feud with Randy Orton in 2009. Six years later, and he’s still the same character. Truthfully, if anyone needs a persona face-lift on that team, it’s definitely Kingston.

The New Day stable turning heel will help them grow. By becoming bad guys, the New Day will develop and create the lasting impact they covet.