The New Day Lose Their Charm as Serious Villains

Monday on Raw, The New Day closed the show by standing tall over a sea of babyfaces.

Prior to their ambush of John Cena, Dolph Ziggler and the Dudley Boyz, The New Day debuted a new demeanor. Gone were the music and the happy-go-lucky entrance. Instead, the surging stable adopted a more somber tone.

"Is this serious enough for you?" Xavier Woods asked as the trio dragged Ziggler onto the entranceway.

The character development of The New Day should serve them well if the plan is to transition to the main event, but too much tweaking will cause the stable to lose their identity—and as a result their momentum.

What's made The New Day so successful over the past couple of months is their entertainment value. Every week they find new ways to capture the audience's attention through obnoxious antics that further their status as heels. They're really just having fun out there, and it shows.

While an element of seriousness is necessary in order to maintain credibility as champions, The New Day do not have to make such a drastic change. By sprinkling in babyface beat-downs—like the one that ended Raw—with their signature brand of humor, The New Day can appear at or near the main event without dropping the comedy.

D-Generation X dominated the main event throughout its tenure in WWE, despite being primarily a comedic stable. There was never a need for Shawn Michaels or Triple H to completely drop the comedy and become serious as the group ran roughshod over the WWE.

Much of the stables antics came at the expense of the straight-laced Sargeant Slaughter, who was often used as a foil for D-Generation X's sophomoric behavior. Several memorable stunts, such wearing windshield wipers on their faces and making a mockery of the European Championship, were done to antagonize Slaughter.

This was mixed in with more physical assaults on the then-WWE Commissioner, which led to an actual match between Slaughter and Triple H at D-Generation X: In Your House pay-per-view. Although DX was a comedy-first stable, their ability to rough up opponents gave them license to act silly while still existing in the main event.

Edge and Christian started out as not only a serious tag team, but a gothic one. But they didn't become major stars until they evolved into a comedic tag team, but one that consistently won the highly dangerous TLC matches.

The New Day are in that same vein. Establishing themselves as a dangerous threat is fine, but their palpable charm is their bread-and-butter, and should not be sacrificed. As The New Day continues to feud with the legendary Dudleys and John Cena, fans will get the message that they are a top-tier stable, serious or not.

Xavier Woods and Big E have already had matches with Cena, so Kofi Kingston is likely on deck. A future victory over Cena for a New Day member would do them wonders ahead of Cena's reported time off, according to F4WOnline (h/t WrestlingInc.com).

In the tag team division, so long as The Dudley Boyz chase The New Day for the tag team titles, The New Day will continue to grow as heels. If it's not broke, don't fix it. And there's no need to sacrifice The New Day's entertainment value for main event posturing. 

Alfred Konuwa is a featured columnist and on-air host for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter@ThisIsNasty and subscribe to his weekly wrestling podcast.