Title says it all, lets discuss this. Could the Bearer of Bad News work as a face? How would you turn him?
Could Bad News Barrett work as a face?
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Saying "I've got some bad news, I'm face now" would be a clever way to do it because imo that would be bad news 
IMO the way he's been presented since he first came in pretty much screamed permaheel. I think his ceiling face wise would be babyface at best but definitely not in the BNB character; heel is pretty much associated with that gimmick right from the start.
He's a fan favorite from what I see, for him to have the most success in the business I believe they should keep him heel until they figure out a clever way to get him a different gimmick alter down the road; one that may be more face related.
IMO the way he's been presented since he first came in pretty much screamed permaheel. I think his ceiling face wise would be babyface at best but definitely not in the BNB character; heel is pretty much associated with that gimmick right from the start.
He's a fan favorite from what I see, for him to have the most success in the business I believe they should keep him heel until they figure out a clever way to get him a different gimmick alter down the road; one that may be more face related.
He's already cheered as a face everywhere he goes, so why not? He's too entertaining in this role.
That's where I got that double turn idea from, Brad. Why not bring in the ever-so-positive Bo Dallas to feud with BNB as a face, because feuding with one of the unintentional top babyfaces of the show could get the annoying Bo character even more heat (just like they did on NXT) which would be the perfect way to turn Bo into the mega-heel we all know he can be?
Or you can do a double-turn in the title unification match. :bodallas:
That's where I got that double turn idea from, Brad. Why not bring in the ever-so-positive Bo Dallas to feud with BNB as a face, because feuding with one of the unintentional top babyfaces of the show could get the annoying Bo character even more heat (just like they did on NXT) which would be the perfect way to turn Bo into the mega-heel we all know he can be?
Or you can do a double-turn in the title unification match. :bodallas:
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He's not cheered as a face.... he's cheered because WWE only has one face worthy of being cheered for so the crowd has taken to BNB because he has charisma. A person with charisma will be cheered regardless of being face or heel (for example.. The Rock and Stone Cold). BNB should remain a heel because that's the only way the 'Bad News' gimmick works. If he was to change his gimmick for a face turn I think his popularity would go out the door right along with the gimmick (example.. Cesaro's current situation).
Hmm, to an extent I could see his popularity going down but not completely out the door even before BNB along with Nexus he had quite the following if I'm not mistaken.
BNB has in-ring skills, charisma and mic work to put himself above Cesaro which is why I think it's less likely for Barrett's popularity to go away as easy as Cesaro's situation.
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Yeah, bad choice of words... his popularity would definitely lessen without the BNB gimmick though.
Yeah that could most likely be true because if they took him out of the BNB gimmick they would have to find an equally approved character to make him. If they just made him standard Wade Barrett again with no character time he would definitely lose popularity.
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All great heels are cheered and turned babyface eventually. "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan/NWO, Triple H, Ric Flair, Stone Cold, The Rock, etc. Even Bray Wyatt is getting cheered and has the entire crowd singing along with him now.
You can already hear the audience saying "I'm afraid I've got some bad news!" along with Barrett, so it's probably inevitable that he'll turn good eventually. The only small issue with Barrett being a heel imo is that he doesn't have as wide of range of material to use, like real-world events and stuff. Him standing on the podium high up while delivering the news is also one of the cool things about the gimmick since standing atop the podium as it ascends into the air, metaphorically, is supposed to be Barrett showing that the audience he's speaking to is beneath him. That couldn't be done as a fan favorite, unfortunately. But I think as long as he was entertaining enough in an insulting way against his opponents on the mic (like his putdown on RVD a couple of weeks back), a babyface run could still work fine.
You can already hear the audience saying "I'm afraid I've got some bad news!" along with Barrett, so it's probably inevitable that he'll turn good eventually. The only small issue with Barrett being a heel imo is that he doesn't have as wide of range of material to use, like real-world events and stuff. Him standing on the podium high up while delivering the news is also one of the cool things about the gimmick since standing atop the podium as it ascends into the air, metaphorically, is supposed to be Barrett showing that the audience he's speaking to is beneath him. That couldn't be done as a fan favorite, unfortunately. But I think as long as he was entertaining enough in an insulting way against his opponents on the mic (like his putdown on RVD a couple of weeks back), a babyface run could still work fine.
There's a very good point in here, and that's that WWE screws up babyfaces. I can count on 1 hand the number of guys in current wrestling that made better faces than heels, but it doesn't have to be that way.
Remember all of us were absolutely panicked at the thought of turning Ziggler face. With how entertaining he was, we all worried about him becoming unbearable just like most WWE faces.
But nowadays they're getting better with faces. The Shield are even better in their face role, Bryan's still over as hell, and I guess they're treating Cesaro as a heel, but his in-ring talents can keep him babyface, and Ziggler was ruined not because of his babyfaceness but because WWE hates him. Do we still have to worry about guys being ruined when turning?
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I still see the Shield as tweeners.. even with their feud against Evolution... why? Because when have the Shield ever helped a face without it benefiting themselves first and foremost? They ran down 1 time when Kane was beating up Bryan a couple months ago... but only because they were in a feud with Kane and NAO at the time. What have they done to be considered face? Everything they've done was for their own benefit.
but to get back on topic.. I also don't think it's the gimmick that makes BNB a great heel... it's his look and his accent as well. His accent won't ever change but everything else would need to change in order to turn face. I just can't see it... I'll leave it at that.
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But isn't that a good thing? I mean, I'd hate to see The Shield suddenly become friendly with other faces or feel it's their duty to run to their aid just because they're getting cheered now (I know they consider themselves the "Hounds Of Justice", but still.) WWE makes this mistake all too often when they turn someone from heel to face and feel the need to tweak their personality to make them more likeable, but I'm glad they haven't made that same mistake here (though they almost began to when The Shield did the YES chant along with Bryan on Smackdown a few weeks ago) and have so far left well enough alone. The Shield are still the bad-asses they were before, except now they're opposing heels like The Authority and Evolution now instead of other.
If they're able to maintain his interesting traits if he turns, sure. Basically if he did the same stuff he's doing but to heels instead, it could work.
OH YOU DIDNT KNOW!? Were heels with DX forever ago, hell the Real Americans got pops for days, but can Wade Barrett give bad news as a face? God no, but he could help turn another heel babyface by using it as an asshole angle.