Power Ranking Bayley, Seth Rollins and WWE's Top 15 Current Babyfaces
A babyface in professional wrestling is the hero, male or female, fans are expected to invest in emotionally and want to see succeed. They are strong, courageous, fearless and will stop at nothing in pursuit of championship glory.
Over the long and illustrious history of World Wrestling Entertainment, Vince McMahon has crafted some of the greatest good guys to set foot inside a squared circle. From Hulk Hogan to Bret Hart, the rebellious Steve Austin to The Rock, his company has always featured a prominent babyface at the forefront.
Today's WWE features a plethora of effective babyfaces, from the top of the card all the way to the bottom. More importantly, there are men and women, demonstrating the number of opportunities that exist for performers of all genders.
They motivate and inspire young fans and give older ones a break from the daily grind, and their successes fuel rabid cheers and chants of pure bliss.
In an industry becoming more and more about the shades of grey, the number of definitive good guys and bad guys is becoming less and less with every passing week. Join us for this look at the 15 best babyfaces on WWE's current roster.
15. Cesaro
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There are some Superstars who do not need a larger-than-life persona or obnoxious gimmick to get over with the audience. Such is the case for Cesaro, who is among the greatest in-ring workers in the world.
The Swiss Superman has repeatedly demonstrated herculean strength, incredible athleticism and a hard-hitting style that inspires raucous ovations from fans, who appreciate his work rate.
Always willing to try something new, such as The Swiss-1-9, he has earned the respect of the fans through his dedication to his craft and his willingness to put on the best show he can between the ropes.
What makes him a greater babyface, and deserving of his spot on this list, is the fact he has never let his spot on the card dictate his level of performance.
Whether he is working the opening match against R-Truth or headlining a WWE pay-per-view inside the Elimination Chamber, Cesaro boasts respect and adulation because of the consistency of his work.
14. Tye Dillinger
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Every once in a while, a babyface comes along who was never meant to be a huge success but whose connection with the audience fuels him to heights few could have expected.
Tye Dillinger is one such Superstar.
A longtime enhancement star in NXT, he developed a "Perfect 10" gimmick that first caught the fans' eyes in 2015. From there, he worked hard and dedicated himself to his craft, and his efforts were never lost on the NXT faithful. He became the heart of the brand, a Superstar who believed in the cause and played his role to perfection.
Call-ups allowed him to enjoy more exposure, and his popularity grew. A consummate professional who feeds off of the energy of the audience in arenas across the country, Dillinger finds himself on SmackDown Live, poised to become one of the top good guys on Tuesday night.
His sheer overness earns him a spot on this countdown, while his work in the months to come could elevate him up a future list.
13. Naomi
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Naomi's journey to the SmackDown Women's Championship was a long, arduous one that saw her saddled with embarrassing gimmicks, then discounted by management, only for her to develop a glow gimmick that stuck with fans. Her quest for gold captivated the audience,, and when she captured the championship in February, she was greeted with chants of "you deserve it."
It was the culmination of a run that saw her switch from good to bad and back again before settling into an inspirational babyface role that suits her style and allows her to enjoy the increased television exposure she was deprived of for the majority of her career in WWE.
Now one of the faces of the SmackDown women's division, her status as lead babyface figures to intensify as she works with second-generation heel Charlotte Flair well into the summer.
If she can maintain the quality of her recent performances, expect Naomi's push to continue and her star to rise, potentially elevating her up this list of top WWE babyfaces.
12. The Hardy Boyz
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Matt and Jeff Hardy are that set of brothers who, once upon a time, were the most over act in professional wrestling.
Nearly two decades later, they are older and more traveled. Their bodies have been beaten, battered and bruised from years of bumps off ladders and through tables, but they remain two of the hardest workers in the industry.
After getting over elsewhere, they returned to WWE at WrestleMania 33 and resumed wowing audiences with their tag team skills and unconventional arsenal.
Their dedication remains their greatest attribute. Still willing to throw caution to the wind in order to entertain the masses, they arguably remain the greatest babyface tag team of the new millennium.
Add the nostalgia factor, which fans 30-and-over experience every time their theme music plays and Jeff Hardy delivers a huge Swanton Bomb from the top rope, and you have a duo of babyfaces that continues to deliver something for members of the WWE Universe both young and old.
11. Enzo Amore and Big Cass
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Enzo Amore and Big Cass are fast becoming one of the most over acts in the company, and it is not difficult to see why.
Amore is a fast-talker, a master of the mic who keeps fans hanging on every word he spits. Cass backs up his smaller partner's braggadocious claims with a bruising big-man style that nearly carried him to the Universal Championship last summer.
Together, they make up a wildly popular team that transcends the Raw Tag Team Championships. Whereas some teams need titles to legitimize them, Amore and Cass remain over no matter how many times they compete for, and ultimately fail to win, gold.
They are among the top babyfaces in WWE because of the energy they generate, the loyalty fans have for them and the manner in which they remain consistently over no matter their win-loss record.
10. Seth Rollins
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Seth Rollins' current babyface run is a story of redemption.
The Architect once found tremendous success as a member of The Authority. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon's chosen champion, he was handed the world. As the WWE champion, he was untouchable, the company's top heel and most promising young star.
He found out shortly after returning from a near-crippling injury that loyalty is nonexistent in the world of sports entertainment. He was dispatched, thrown away like garbage at the end of a Triple H Pedigree.
Eager to rediscover the person he was before accepting the fame and fortune of the evil empire, Rollins finds himself earning back the fans' respect as one of the lead babyfaces on Raw.
At WrestleMania 33, he defeated Triple H in the night's best match and has set his sights on slowing the momentum of Samoa Joe, The Authority's Right Hand of Destruction.
Rollins' future is bright. Whether he can capitalize on the support he has and become an even stronger hero in the future remains to be seen.
9. Shinsuke Nakamura
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Shinsuke Nakamura is an artist.
Not only is The King of Strong Style an amazing athlete, but he approaches everything from his entrance to his time between the ropes as if it were performance art intended for the world.
Charismatic at a level few other Superstars could claim to be, he captivates audiences with his blend of body language, speed, high-impact offense and selling.
He can get fans to sing along to his theme song one moment, cheer his strong-style offense the next, then put a cap on his performance by generating tremendous sympathy as he conveys the pain his knee is in from an opponent's ruthless attack.
It is a rare combination in today's wrestling world and further proof Nakamura is arguably the most well-rounded performer the industry has to offer.
And he does it all with the most minimal promo time.
8. Chris Jericho
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Once an obnoxious heel with his List of Jericho and "stupid idiot" catchphrase, Chris Jericho has taken both the list and the catchphrase and made them into vital elements of one of WWE’s most over babyface acts.
His success as a good guy in today's WWE is a testament to his ability to adapt. One of the premier heels on Raw just months earlier, Jericho is now one of the most popular stars on the roster.
Whether he is vowing to put baddies such as Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe on The List of Jericho, poking fun at backstage interviewer Mike Rome by calling him "Tom Phillips" or pandering to the audience as only he can, The Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla still generates an enormous reaction.
Do not expect that to change anytime soon.
Jericho has made an 18-year career in WWE out of evolving to meet the demands of the fanbase. In 2017, he is doing some of his best character work at a time when his in-ring game may not be as strong as it previously was, making him not only one of the smartest workers on the roster but one of its most effective babyfaces.
7. Finn Balor
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The Attitude Era brought with it the incarnation of the cool babyface. He was dark, mysterious, somewhat rebellious and unpredictable. In this, The New Era, the coolest babyface on the WWE roster is Finn Balor.
The leader of the Balor Club enters every arena as if he is the coolest guy in the world. Clad in a leather jacket, accompanied by awesome entrance music and with a presence that captures the attention of the audience, he is the Superstar every guy in the WWE Universe aged 18-35 wants to be.
His in-ring style certainly helps matters.
Balor cuts a frenetic pace and delivers some stiff, hard shots that render his opponents momentarily helpless. The fluidity of his ring work and his Coup de Grace finisher inspire large reactions.
It is the emergence of his alter ego, The Demon, that puts Balor over the top in terms of being a top-15 babyface in today's WWE. Covered from head to torso in body paint, Balor stalks toward the squared circle as the intimidating, imposing Demon on special occasions.
Not only is it an enthralling watch for fans, but it heightens the significance of the match and lends a certain credibility to events as a whole.
A smaller competitor with an explosive arsenal of weapons, Balor is as cool as the other side of the pillow but also inspires awe in fans of all ages.
6. The New Day
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The New Day began as a poorly conceived trio of motivational speakers that was booed out of the building at WrestleMania 31 and left for dead by WWE Creative—until they began incorporating unicorns and Booty-O's into the equation, that is.
The goofier and more cartoonish they became, the more fans ate them up. Soon, the sarcastic heel group became the most over babyfaces in the company and a marketing machine. They uttered pop-culture references that only the biggest gaming nerds would understand and even openly mocked some of the company's writing on live television.
The mixture of Kofi Kingston's high-flying offense, Big E's power-based slams and hip gyrations and Xavier Woods' intellect and superior trombone playing created a must-see act that fans were eager to support.
When they enters arenas around the world, they are greeted with some of the loudest reactions of the night, are among the most merchandised acts in the company and generate a level of energy and electricity few others can.
The epitome of what can happen when Superstars are left to get themselves over, sometimes by unconventional means, they belong at or near the top of any babyface discussion.
5. Sasha Banks
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A number of popular sports stars strike a chord with fans because of the swagger and confidence they carry themselves with. Cam Newton, LeBron James and The Rock are three superb examples of stars who became icons because they captivated audiences with their raw athleticism and a little arrogance.
Ditto for Sasha Banks.
The Legit Boss has become one of the top babyfaces in wrestling because she is great, she knows it and she conveys it every time she steps through the curtain. There is no humility when the red light goes on and it is time to perform.
That cockiness with which she approaches each match endears her to fans who are tired of the humble underdog seeking their lifelong dream of being a champion.
Her ring work backs up her claims and supports the attitude she carries to the squared circle every night.
The company's equivalent to an elite athlete and the closest thing to a female performer capable of breaking into pop-culture relevance, Banks will be a top babyface in WWE for as long as the company resists the urge to turn her heel.
4. AJ Styles
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AJ Styles is an excellent babyface because he is the best wrestler in the world, and fans know it. Even as a heel, he did nothing different than he did as a good guy. He simply reiterated his status as the premier wrestler in the industry and, even in that role, received enormous ovations.
Why? Because fans appreciate excellence.
Like Bret Hart, who spent his career telling the audience how good he was, Styles benefits from being able to back it up between the ropes and in the highest-profile matches imaginable.
Whether he is fighting for the top prize in wrestling or wrapping up a feud with a heated grudge match, The Phenomenal One earns the respect of the fans every time he takes to the ring.
Back to being a babyface after a 10-month run as a villain, he has emerged as the face of SmackDown Live and its most respected competitor. Whether his return to the light side is long or if it simply suits an ongoing storyline remains to be seen. Either way, Styles will remain an elite babyface.
3. John Cena
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The most prominent and important babyface of the last decade-plus is John Cena, without a shadow of doubt. The franchise star for WWE has never been the most beloved good guy in the industry, but he has been its purest.
Never wandering from his laurels of hustle, loyalty and respect, he has become the equivalent of Superman for Vince McMahon's promotion.
Cena will get beat up. He will even lose on occasion. But like the iconic superhero, he fights back and conquers evil in the end.
He is the epitome of the live-action comic-book description some use to describe the art form and an inspiration to millions of young fans searching for someone wholly good to look up to in a sometimes scary world.
Over the course of his 15-year WWE career, Cena has defeated every major villain to come through the front door and cemented his legacy as the top star of his generation.
While his in-ring career may be winding down as opportunities beyond the squared circle present themselves, he remains one of the consummate good guys in professional wrestling and one of WWE's most valuable babyfaces.
2. Bayley
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The purest, most lovable babyface in all of WWE is Bayley.
A fan of wrestling from her youth, she worked her entire life in hopes of living her dreams in the rings of WWE. When she finally arrived in NXT, she was that same starstruck young woman she was prior to entering the promotion. She reflected the excitement of the fans in the stands and became wildly popular with them as a result.
She was the consummate underdog, a Superstar who never should have made it to the level of a Charlotte or a Sasha Banks but who continued to fight, scrap and evolve into a competitor capable of winning championships.
She has done just that, earning gold in both NXT and Raw.
Now at the top of Monday night's women's division, she is the star around whom the most prominent matches and stories revolve. That is a far cry from the shy, characterless young woman fans were first introduced to in 2013.
No matter the success she achieves or the status she attains, Bayley remains the lovable hero who inspires young girls and convinces fans of all genders that anything is possible with hard work and dedication.
Her popularity is eclipsed only by the No. 1 entry on our list.
1. Sami Zayn
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Sami Zayn is WWE's greatest babyface.
The Underdog from the Underground has a connection with fans that cannot be manufactured or mass-produced. He is relatable because everyone in the stands has wanted something as desperately and as passionately as Zayn wants wrestling stardom. He wants to be the best, to be champion, and no loss or any other hurdle will keep him from chasing his dream.
He has been pummeled by bigger Superstars, including Kevin Owens and Braun Strowman, but continued to fight through the pain and punishment. He has never quit, a quality that has become integral to his overall presentation.
Zayn is fiery, impassioned and aggressive, traits any strong babyface possesses.
He loses, but he does so by generating such sympathy that fans care even in defeat. They want his next match to be the one in which he strikes it big and starts his run to the top of the industry. When it does not work out that way, that desire and anticipation intensifies.
With every passing week, fans want nothing more than the dreamer from Montreal to achieve greatness. When he finally does, the reaction will be responsible for one of those truly memorable moments that is replayed for decades in video packages, on WWE Network and in a major career retrospective.
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