Heel Wonderland
The stigma of smarks is that we always like wrestlers better as heels and turn on them as soon as they turn face. Now, being one who likes to challenge stereotypes, I spent a good while thinking about which of the current wrestlers I like better as a face than a heel, excluding wrestlers who I’ve never seen working as a heel before. You know what I came up with? Three names. Jeff Hardy, Zack Ryder, and AJ Styles. That’s it! Maybe Hulk Hogan if you want to count him. I don’t think I’m particularly jaded as a wrestling fan where I hate anyone a little kid might like, I just prefer it when wrestlers are edgier and a little dangerous. It’s the same thing with Darth Vader or Magneto. And I don’t hate guys like CM Punk or Christian when they’re faces, it’s just harder to enjoy knowing how much more entertaining they’ve been in the past.
I guess you could throw Brodus Clay’s name on that list too, though it’s hard to judge his heel run when the most evil thing he did was say “Sheee!” too much. I still don’t get what it means.