WWE's Growing Problem Blurring the Lines of Heels and Babyfaces

The blurring of the line between heels and babyfaces in WWE has become a growing problem, with the top of the card on both Raw and SmackDown dominated by Superstars operating in shades of grey.

While that may have been a welcome change in the mid-to-late 1990s, at the apex of the Attitude Era, that is no longer the case.

The first years of Triple H's run as WWE chief content officer were critically acclaimed, culminating in one of the most successful events in company history, WrestleMania 40, where Cody Rhodes defeated Roman Reigns to win the Undisputed WWE Championship in the main event.

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That run to The Show of Shows, and the marquee match itself, were the successes that they were because fans had a clearly defined babyface to root for and an identifiable heel to jeer.

They could invest emotionally in Rhodes' pursuit of the title that his father could not win. They were able to channel their energy against Reigns, the egotistical, gaslighting champion who manipulated his family for his own benefit.

They were defined characters, fans knew which side they were on in the live-action morality play, and the result was the most important match of the last five years.

That same thing could be said for the rest of that particular card, with Bayley besting turncoat former friend Iyo Sky, underdog Sami Zayn doing the unimaginable and defeating the unbeatable Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship, and R-Truth and The Miz reuniting to take the tag titles from The Judgment Day.

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Fast forward two years, and you have an almost unrecognizable product.

Reigns again stands atop the mountain as world heavyweight champion, but he is treated like a babyface by fans who appreciate his star power, despite a descent back into his old ways.

Jacob Fatu was the clear babyface initially, fighting for his family against The Tribal Chief, but was then booked like an out-of-control madman who attacked referees and put Reigns to sleep with the Tongan Death Grip.

On SmackDown, Rhodes is a babyface champion who has, by design or not, subtly begun talking down to opponents and with a sarcastic tone that has made him unlikable to a portion of the audience. That, coupled with a steady main event run, has led to "Cody fatigue" and left the blue brand without a clear-cut babyface at its helm.

The American Nightmare's WrestleMania 42 booking, where he was booed every week and wrestled his entire title defense against Randy Orton in a very heel-like fashion, did not help.

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Neither did the creative for the Reigns-CM Punk battle, which saw both booed as they took personal shots at each other and claimed superiority ahead of 'Mania.

The muddled mess of babyfaces and heels, with no clear commitment to either, is hurting the overall viewership of the show, too.

Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics reported that the June 1 episode of Raw, a post-premium live event broadcast, garnered just two million global views, making it the lowest-rated episode of 2026.

Sure, this is a busy time in sports, with the NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Final underway. The show delivered its lowest global viewership over seven days this year, though, indicating that fans do not see it as a must-watch. That can, at least partly, be attributed to the lack of worthy characters to dedicate two-and-a-half hours to.

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The lack of investment-worthy characters and low-risk creative, even earned the ire of WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray, who spoke of his boredom with pro wrestling as a whole, while specifically criticizing the company's current product.

This is not to suggest that shades of grey cannot work in professional wrestling. There is evidence that it does. When handled correctly, building a star who is neither good nor bad, but rather motivated by oneself, can result in him or her getting over with the audience. Look no further than Becky Lynch in 2018.

Unfortunately, we do not even currently have that.

Until there are strides made at the top of the card, the likelihood that the problem goes away or at least improves is low, as is emotional investment and genuine excitement for the once red-hot WWE product.