Smark Out Moment

Welcome to the first installment of HEEL OR FACE, a specialty segment wherein we break down a particular wrestler and discuss their strengths and weaknesses on the Good vs Evil scale. There are three questions that are brought up in this: 1) are they better as a heel or a face, 2) should they turn from what they currently are, and 3) how would you turn them?

The first entry in this series is going to focus on someone who is in the midst of WWE trying to swing them one way in particular...


A) BETTER AS A HEEL OR A FACE

I understand why WWE wants Alberto Del Rio to be a babyface to appeal to the Hispanic market, but I personally think he's much better as a heel. The biggest reason why people can even cheer for him right now is due to Ricardo Rodriguez, not Del Rio himself. He gets a pop and he gets cheered, especially in comparison to someone like Jack Swagger during this storyline, but once that is over with, he's going to struggle. This is because he doesn't have a built in "good guy charisma" to work with. He isn't really funny, he isn't really honorable, he isn't an underdog with a lot of heart and spirit, etc. All of this works against him as a babyface. He was more over as a heel (even though it got boring after a while) because it was a more natural fit for him. Despite whatever the man himself is as a person backstage, when he comes out to entertain, he gives off a vibe of being a bit of an asshole and it fits a heel persona much better in my opinion.

B) SHOULD HE TURN HEEL

Not right now. If they want to invest in him as a marketing tool, they need to give it more time. He can't be that type of an asset to WWE if he's a heel, so they should at least keep it going for a few more months to give it a chance. I've been wrong before and there's a possibility that he could just be working out the kinks and soon enough, crack the code and become a much better babyface. Right now, there's no purpose for him to turn heel as they're not in need of another main event heel, nor is Alberto in need of a fresh gimmick change.

C) HOW WOULD I TURN HIM

If for some reason he were to turn heel down the line, the proper way to do it in my mind is to have him abandon Ricardo Rodriguez. He's the lynch pin to being cheered and the sympathetic sacrificial lamb that Del Rio can take his frustrations out on. What would the storyline reasoning be for why he would do this? I'm not quite sure what I would go with, but one possible explanation would be that he thought Ricardo was a leech who was doing nothing but siphoning off his money and fame. Nobody hitches their wagon to Alberto Del Rio and gets a free ride.