With All In's feel-swell "YessleMania" moment in the books, and The American Dragon sticking around to defend the title for a few more weeks -- and with both Bash in Berlin and All Out co*king up quickly -- let's take a look at the state of the Babyface in the top two North American promotions, singling out the best superheroes of the bunch. Consider this a companion piece for the Top Heels deal from a while back.
Danielson has just now come into his own as a top face for AEW. Not that he hasn't been popular during his Elite tenure, but being the big-time champ is a mantle he should have taken a while ago. AEW's been sort of scrambling for faces with Copeland and Kingston out, still heavily relying on their brilliant underdogs Darby and Orange to carry a bulk of the TV weight (especially Orange).
Swerve was a babyface briefly, but against Danielson he fell back into heel mode. He'll most likely teeter back and forth his whole career, so he's not in listicle consideration right now. MJF was even a top babyface for a month until they quickly leveled up Ospreay and then turned it onto a whole angle.
WWE has a lot of popular mid-carders, though one wonders when they'll finally decide to take advantage of Jey Uso's kaiju-size crowd appeal. Roman already feels like a top babyface, but he's just getting started in that role. CM Punk is a phenomenal draw, but he and Drew are sort of connected at the hip in their excellent long-running feud, and now it's at the point where they're both almost tweeners. If anything, WWE needs to up its villain game since fighting friends Cody vs. K.O. is headlining Bash in Berlin.
Let's check in with both companies and single out their best babyfaces. Naturally, you'll also have a chance to vote here.
WWE
Honorable Mentions: Rhea Ripley & Damian Priest (the Terror Twins cancel each other out), Roman Reigns (over, but we need to see more), Seth Rollins, Jey Uso, Randy Orton
Cody Rhodes
Despite being overshadowed by Raw's feuds since WrestleMania, Cody's still THE superhero and face of the company. Even if his challengers and feuds haven't felt all that vital since he won the title, he's absolutely beloved by fans of all ages. So he's there, he's popular, he wants to wrestle, he wants to sign babies and kiss autographs. All the right moves. You just gotta give him a substantial meal.
R-Truth
R-Truth is comedy gold, and a stalwart superstar who's been a part of four major eras in WWE, dating all the way back to the Attitude Era. Aside from Jericho and Dustin Rhodes, not many dudes have had as long a career and are still knocking it out of the park on a weekly basis. Whether he's mistaking DIY for DX or deluding himself into thinking he's part of The Judgement Day, R-Truth is one clever motherf***er. We've all gotten used to what usually often passes for humor in wrestling, and in WWE in particular, so it takes someone pretty special to land jokes that still play in 2024 while also being a very endearing character.
CM Punk
The Living Colour song ain't lying when Corey Glover sings about a "cult of personality," because that's what CM Punk's got waiting for him whenever he walks into an arena now. Yeah, I know I said that he and Drew are almost becoming “Face/Off” indistinguishable now, but I put Drew on the heel list so Punk's going on the babyface one. No matter how many times Punk screwed Drew out of a winning moment, the crowd ate it up like Pet Chow rat poison. He's an old schooler who knows how to get people to invest in a feud. Even if that feud is mostly based on a cheap bracelet. It almost feels like, at one point, this was all an improv promo class dare. Like "make the crowd care about this thing" and Punk gets handed an ashtray or something.
Also, after this Strap Match, and maybe even a Hell in a Cell bout at Bad Blood, should these two pull a Face/Off? That may be the ultimate endgame for them.
AEW
Honorable Mentions: Adam Copeland (injured), Eddie Kingston (injured), Orange Cassidy, Hook, Daniel Garcia, Darby Allin
Bryan Danielson
Bryan Danielson finally put his sometimes-bad-for-business selflessness aside and won the big one at All In in a harrowing battle against Swerve Strickland. Now AEW finally gets to have their own "Yes!" movement with one of the greatest of all time at the tippy top of their roster. Even if it's just for a few more months, it's better late than never and Danielson can go out in a blaze of fervent glory. Now the question remains: Who will retire him? Because it's not just beating him for the gold, right? Every match is now a Career Match for Danielson. I assume it's happening in his home state at WrestleDream, but who can say?
Willow Nightingale
She may not be in the main event scene right now, in AEW's Women's Division, and her feud with Kris Statlander will probably last a few more months, but Willow Nightingale is everything you want in a top babyface. She's got passion and joy exuding from her at all times and none of it feels phony. She's one of the rare believable "smiling" superheroes of the business and she deserves to get pushed back into a feud with Mercedes or, alternately, get in a program with Mariah May.
Will Ospreay
Just in the nick of time, Ospreay arrived to fill the gap left by Adam Copeland, who in turn had helped fill the gap left by Eddie Kingston. Saddled with Don Callis at the start of his AEW run, Ospreay has since broken free and delivered unto us an exceptional feud (and corresponding matches) with top trash-talker MJF. I almost wonder if they should turn Ricochet heel just so there's not too much superhuman flippedy-doo overlap with the good guys. Adding, of course, to Ospreay's charm is that when he opens his mouth he sounds like an ailing extra from Fleabottom. "Oi, I've come down wiffa jumbly browns!"
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