Watching NXT tonight and I’m reflecting on some of the dumb shit I used to think. Johnny Gargano can never be a heel – he’s too likeable! Bayley will never be a heel – she’s the female John Cena! Sami Zayn can never be a heel! Kyle O’Reilly can’t be a face – his face is too punchable!
Clearly I underestimated all of them as performers because they’re all doing great work in their current roles. It’s making me wonder… did Tito Santana have an epic heel run in him? What about Ricky Steamboat? Does Baron Corbin have some insane face run on deck just waiting to be tapped? You’ve alluded to Sammy Guevara primed to be a great babyface someday. Any other seemingly counterintuitive face/heel alignments stick out to you?
Ricky Steamboat would have killed as a heel ninja. I’m sad he never tried it. Also Rick Rude as a tough guy babyface absolutely would have worked. The Rock N Roll Express could have extended their career by another decade as top guys with the heel run they were doing in Memphis but I can understand why they wouldn’t want to alienate the people who buy the gimmicks.