Ziggler as a face- Y or N?

[Dolph'sZiggler]

Many, including myself think he can/will be an amazing face for a few obvious reasons. His selling/bumping ability can draw fans in, he can expand on his moveset and get more offense in to display his athleticism and hell, the crowd is dying to cheer for him most nights.

the downside many see is that 1.) he has barely scratched the surface of being a heel (which is valid. He is barely even a heel as I often point out, he is just a cocky guy who doesn't display face or heel tendencies for the most part) and 2.) the most obvious drawback to turning anyone face, WWE ruins faces.

 

[Stopspot]

He'd work very well as a Shawn Michaels style babyface.

 

[Dolph'sZiggler]

He'd work very well as a Shawn Michaels style babyface.

I think we all agree he is capable, but do you think now is the time and place? He and Big E have to split, so it is an easy time to turn him and send Big E off as a heel, preferably taking Aj with him so I can not care about the two of them at once.

 

[Senhor Perfect]

What Softspot said

 

[Dolph'sZiggler]

What Softspot said

what D'Z said

 

[Shadie T]

:

 

[Crayo]

No way. I have no faith in WWE booking a face. Sure, they suck now when it comes to booking Ziggler, but naturally he still provides better entertainment because it's a known fact heels can do more with their character. As a face though, his mic time would inevitably end up being cheesy promos written by the writers, and smiley-face antics to please the kids. I just do not trust it. He doesn't have enough influence backstage to force WWE to book him properly, so it'd be a clusterfuck. This first feud for Dolph has been horrible and hasn't shown how good Dolph is as a heel, but he is working with two guys who can't even get crickets to make noise.

 

[Stopspot]

I think we all agree he is capable, but do you think now is the time and place? He and Big E have to split, so it is an easy time to turn him and send Big E off as a heel, preferably taking Aj with him so I can not care about the two of them at once.

I'd make the turn a longer arc for him. I'd have him be the heel in the split between him and Big E because E is a better face than a heel from what I have seen. Or I'd work it like Big E turning because of something AJ did, leading to AJ recruiting some lower card brute to feud with Big E and thus getting out of the way of Dolph. If and explanation for her and him not hanging around anymore is needed a backstage segment establishing a break up or something like that can be whipped up.

Key part is getting Dolph solo as a heel, then over a period of time I'd have him slowly turning more and more babyfaceish, if AJ is still involved but Big E is not you can start seeing him disagreeing with AJ helping him cheat and such which can then lead to the split, have AJ cost him the belt (Maybe to Bryan for the sense of poetic justice). Keep Dolph becoming more and more faceish whilst keeping his show off character and then have him go full blown face at a late fall PPV, Survivor series or TLC, I could stretch it to the rumble. So that he can walk into the next mania as a babyface.

 

[Lockard 23]

He strikes me better as an arrogant and obnoxious heel. He can bump great in the ring and put on good matches, but so could Mr. Perfect, who was another guy much better off as a heel than a face.

I can only picture something so much, so I'd have to see how a face run would go before I judge completely. For the moment, I'm going with no.

 

[Crayo]

Honestly I can see so much potential in Dolph as a heel. He's great at it. He could be the WWE version of Bobby Roode imo with the way he delivers his lines.

 

[Dolph'sZiggler]

Honestly I can see so much potential in Dolph as a heel. He's great at it. He could be the WWE version of Bobby Roode imo with the way he delivers his lines.

I feel the same way, but at the same time...


-I feel he has just as much potential if he were a properly booked face (suspend disbelief for a second and pretend WWE books a face right for once)
-The crowd is going to continue to be more and more pulled onto his side the more entertaining he is as a heel. He is already 50/50 at best in his reactions, crowds are going to be more and more pop happy for Ziggler. You know Chicago is going to mark its ass off for him on Sunday
-WWE is much more in need of faces right now than heels.

probably doesn't matter because WWE will just book him like shit either way

 

[Crayo]

Suspending disbelief - sure. The guy is one of the most talented wrestlers in WWE, so he can pull off almost anything. But, in reality, he'll be the new Kofi Kingston WWE relies on to put green heels against to get that win to make them "credible". Very few are on Dolph's level of making others look good. He'd be WWE's scapegoat.

As for the face pops he gets, it's because WWE aren't booking him as a heel. He comes out with the jobber crew (or characters the fans don't care about), wrestles wonderfully, and then leaves. Their shit heel booking > their face booking though. Punk gets face pops all the time and has done for a LONG time, but he was good enough as a heel to get more heat due to his excellent promo ability and the way he was booked. If I see any Roode in Dolph, it confirms he can shake off those face pops with guaranteed promo time.

 

[Snowman1]

I'm almost tempted to say turn him face just to avoid Langston debuting the 5-Count on Dolph. But no, definitely keep him heel unless you can hire the guy that booked Aries' face turn.

The WWE Audience is mostly casuals, right? Well take a step back and look at it from their shoes. Why would you boo Ziggler?
No, being a paper champion doesn't count. That doesn't get you heat, that makes people not care.

See more Aries in Dolph than Roode imo. Did you hear his promo on Smackdown (probably not)? It was awful. Dolph's better as a witty smartass hurling insults than cutting actual serious promos.

 

[CrayJ Lee]

The thing with Dolph is he does great mic work and I imagine he could sell anything rather well. If they give it proper development, I wouldn't mind seeing Ziggler as a face at some point.

 

[Nano]

I don't think DZ would fit in a face character, it may be like Punk in his face roles, not too bad but much better as heel