The New Day Are the Best Heels in WWE Right Now

It took WWE five months—and aggressive rejection from fans—to realize it, but The New Day members are the quintessential heels in an era when cynicism reigns supreme.

WWE usually dismisses the bizarro reactions doled out during the Raw after WrestleMania, but every year, one particular reaction—from "Yes" chants in 2012 to Fandangoing in 2013—is too significant to simply chalk up to a raucous crowd.

On this week's PodNasty Wrestling Podcast, I mentioned the "New Day sucks" chants were the one reaction WWE couldn't ignore.  

The New Days' smiles, claps and positivity are quickly becoming the most powerful weapon to antagonize an audience since Ravishing Rick Rude's hips. Fans were chanting "New Day sucks," but what they really meant was "the New Day has arrived."

It's not the '80s anymore. The classic technical wrestler is a fan favorite whereas the happy-go-lucky hero is a nuisance. If Ted DiBiase were active today, he'd be celebrated for choking out Bo Dallas.

The Reality Era rewrote the rules for heels. It's not as simple as wearing a black hat anymore. Being truly loathed in professional wrestling is more nuanced and more difficult than ever. Recording artist Meek Mill once famously rapped, "It's levels to this s--t, young boy," and the same principle applies to the levels of WWE villainy.

In today's WWE, there are cool heels, bad guys and true heels. Cool heels are cheered, bad guys receive mixed reactions and true heels are jeered.

Since making a subtle change in attitude, The New Day has the best true heels in the business.

The sudden babyface turns of Tyson Kidd and Cesaro are a great catalyst for what should be a strong feud. Kidd and Cesaro are too good in the ring and too plain in character to be considered true heels, and they'll bring out the best in The New Day.

Date	Event	Participant(s)	Opponent(s)	Result	Notes
April 6, 2015	Raw	Big E and Xavier Woods	The Lucha Dragons	Loss
April 9, 2015	SmackDown	Big E and Kofi Kingston	Kidd and Cesaro	Loss
April 16, 2015	SmackDown	Big E and Kofi Kingston	Los Matadores	Win
April 20, 2015	Raw	Big E and Kofi Kingston	The Lucha Dragons	Win	Became No. 1 Contenders for WWE Tag Team Championships
April 23, 2015	SmackDown	Kofi Kingston	Cesaro	Win
April 26, 2015	WWE Extreme Rules	Big E and Kofi Kingston	Kidd and Cesaro	Win	Became WWE Tag Team champions
April 27, 2015	Raw	Big E	Tyson Kidd	Win

The trio won't have to worry about ironic cheers because these usually come from WWE's meta fanbase looking to fulfill its own agenda. By turning Kidd and Cesaro babyface, however, meta fans are now part of WWE's agenda. Now, they can chant "Cesaro" all they want.

That's what they're supposed to do.

Kidd and Cesaro's indy wrestling style juxtaposed against obnoxious WWE-branded heels will make The New Day easy to detest, which is a tough feat these days.

Bray Wyatt's Fireflies support him whenever he enters an arena. Much of the hardcore Chicago fanbase chanted, "Let's go Rollins" during his main event match against Randy Orton at Extreme Rules. Rusev, while a true heel in his own right, is cheered by default because of his ongoing feud against John Cena.

No heels in WWE get a more unanimous negative reaction than The New Day, and all they have to do is clap their hands.

The New Day's perceived happiness is a perfect foil for the current entertainment landscape, which is laced with anger, outrage and negativity among the more passionate fans.

The New Day can continue to take advantage of these fans by remaining upbeat, while carrying out standard heel tactics to justify (and exploit) their cynicism.

The unfortunate injury to Jey Uso that sidelined the former tag team champions means the top two babyface duos are beloved by the Independent Wrestling Community. The New Day's current feud against Kidd and Cesaro and a future feud against The Lucha Dragons will keep them in this role without the danger of becoming too cool.

Fans will be too caught up rooting for IWC-approved standouts to even think about cheering for The New Day.

There are levels to these heels. And right now, The New Day is on top.

 Alfred Konuwa is a Featured Columnist and on-air host for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @ThisIsNasty and listen to his weekly wrestling podcast.