Coinciding with WWE’s Naughty or Nice list, let’s examine All Elite Wrestling’s roster to give a 3-count of the best babyfaces and heels of AEW, too.
AEW likes to brand itself as not having traditional heroes and villains, but we all know that’s b.s. Just because they play more with shades of gray than WWE at times doesn’t mean there aren’t still some clear-cut babyfaces and heels. They have different tunnels they come out of, for God’s sake!
As with that WWE list, these names I picked are solely by my personal opinions, although I tried to factor in accomplishments, longevity, character work, intensity and other kayfabe elements even if I didn’t necessarily prefer that person over some others. I try to be as objective as I can, despite how it’s a mostly subjective topic.
Naturally, your personal preference may disagree. If so, be sure to tell us your list in the comments below!
Without further ado, let’s talk about the men and women who made this year’s AEW list…
BEST BABYFACES
“Hangman” Adam Page
How could the cowboy not make the top 3? His journey to the AEW World Championship saw true growth from his first attempt until he finally reached the mountain top. This was the year he made those final steps and fully assumed his position as the top babyface in AEW.
You could argue the entire Kenny Omega heel title reign was in service of making Page. It was very much designed this way, and while some hiccups happened along the timeline and I’m sure it wasn’t 100% mapped out as it occurred, by and large, AEW killed the execution (in a good way).
Wrestling fans are often so bitter. When someone is groomed to become champion, so many times, the crowd turns on them. Suddenly, the underdog they wanted to hold the belt is now overrated and it’s no longer fun to root for them. Those fans are awful and are never satisfied as they’re more concerned with being adversarial to the norm than enjoying anything outright.
It was great to see that this hasn’t happened with Page. He’s simply been embraced as an outright babyface champion of the people, due in part, I’m sure, because he’s not some John Cena/Hulk Hogan type character, nor is he in WWE at all.
Instead of rejecting it, people are eating it up, as they should. Page is likable as an everyman and someone with a lot of heart who can take a beating, but isn’t invulnerable, and can dish out some punishment, but isn’t destroying people with two moves.
Jungle Boy
Page is someone young enough to get invested in for his first title reign. Someone who is even younger and an investment for further down the line, who will undoubtedly pay off in the future, is Jungle Boy.
In many ways, I’d argue Jungle Boy is actually more of the top babyface in AEW than Page. It’s a hard call, and I ultimately went with Page because he’s the actual top champion, but Jungle Boy is the sentimental underdog above all underdogs.
This year in particular, he saw some impressive victories that put him closer and closer to achieving some real success. Ultimately, he came up short in the big matches that would have given him a belt, but he came within inches of so many pinfalls on those major moments. This year, he stepped up to a new level that made him “a guy to watch out for” to someone who has been declared one of the four pillars of the company.
That’s a huge moniker that shouldn’t be downplayed. Jungle Boy could have easily been a gimmick that didn’t work and quickly fizzled out. His name’s Jungle Boy, for god’s sake. He’s not the tallest, nor is he the best on the microphone, nor is he the most muscular. But he’s for damn sure one of the best they have in the ring.
I go into every Jungle Boy match knowing it’ll probably be my favorite of the night and that it’s extremely doubtful I’ll dislike it. I can’t say that for many other wrestlers out there in AEW, nor WWE.
I don’t get tired of his act because it’s simple. He’s just a good guy and a good wrestler. Being aligned with the babyfaces is just natural, as he fits the underdog role so well and doesn’t have the cocky bravado that a smaller guy like Lio Rush has, for instance. I could even picture Darby Allin turning heel easier than Jungle Boy, who very much comes off to me as this company’s Rey Mysterio or Ricky Steamboat, in that I think I’d be okay if he never turned.
CM Punk
The pops this guy gets. Crowds singing along with his theme. That type of response would already put him in the running for this. But what really seals the deal in my mind for him being one of the top 3 is that with his return came something that rarely ever happens in professional wrestling: a collective sigh of relief.
Punk was back, he’s in a company that will better suit his strengths and weaknesses, and he’s happy. It shows. Fans can tell when someone’s bitter and frustrated, which bleeds over into their work and makes people resentful. When someone’s having fun, even if he’s not having the absolute best matches of his career, people are still riding the wave of positivity with him.
That includes this still being the honeymoon period of his return in general. Fans are too excited that he’s back at all to really lock in the cynicism and start nitpicking. It wouldn’t shock me if 2022’s list doesn’t have Punk on it after things fizzle out, but for now, he’s someone who gets Stone Cold Steve Austin reactions whenever the static hits.
5 Honorable Mentions:
- Chris Jericho – Turning The Inner Circle babyface was a necessity. I’m personally more interested in tracking Sammy Guevara than keeping up with Jericho, but as the mouthpiece, he’s the driving force for that vehicle.
- Darby Allin – He’s undeniably one of the top stars that many people are so behind it’d be impossible to deny him a mention on this list, even if I don’t think he’s worthy of taking one of the top 3 spots.
- Dark Order (as a whole) – John Silver, in particular, is one of my top favorites
- Eddie Kingston & Jon Moxley – I’m grouping them together as I think their pairing was instrumental in both of their babyface personas this year.
- Orange Cassidy – Admittedly, it wasn’t as good of a year for him as 2020, but I still love the guy.
- Also, shout out to Varsity Blonds for being a team I’ve gotten very much behind, too, but they couldn’t realistically make this list.
BEST HEELS
The Elite
The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, Don Callis, Adam Cole, Brandon Cutler and to lesser extends, The Good Brothers, Bobby Fish and Michael Nakazawa were collectively the best heels in AEW this year BY FAR.
As great as the others on this list are, the unit of The Super Elite, The SuperKliq, or any variation you want to talk about was what I had the most reverence for. They got the job done, won multiple championships, constantly interfered in each other’s matches, perpetually acted like douchebags and ran amok. As they should.
Abuses in power, cocky costumes, elaborate entrances meant just to stroke their own egos, picking fights just because they knew they had the numbers advantage…they did it all. They also feuded with all the top adversaries they could, as Omega took care of the singles competitors while The Young Bucks feuded with the tag teams.
Don Callis was a key heel on the mic and as a weasel. Cutler was an awesome punching bag to laugh at. Adam Cole was the surprise addition to the ranks who has helped fill the void of Omega’s absence and acted as the perfect middleground between Nick and Matt Jackson (tag team division) and Omega (main event). For their worth, Fish and The Good Brothers have been good backup and Nakazawa as a stooge has had his moments, too.
I can’t imagine 2022 is as kind to The Elite as this year was, but I hope they keep up the great character work in their own way.
MJF
While The Elite takes the top spot for me for overall success, the heel I have the most fun with is easily MJF.
Any time he’s got a microphone, I’m listening. I’d rather check out an MJF promo than 90% of any other programming on both AEW and WWE, including the matches. A line like “I didn’t realize having an undefeated streak in a string of underwhelming matches against underwhelming opponents made you championship material. I thought that just made you the new Ryback.” absolutely popped me, for instance.
I love to live vicariously through heels. At no point in my life have I ever seen myself wrestling, as I’m just not interested at all in personally taking on that athleticism (nor would I be good at it; yeesh). However, I’ve always been envious of heels who can get an entire arena to boo them into oblivion like MJF has the talent to do.
In such a short time, he’s risen to one of my favorite talkers of all time in pro wrestling history. This year proved to me that he’s only getting better and I’m incredibly excited to see what he has to offer in 2022, which I think will be even bigger for him.
Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D.
Baker is an odd circumstance. She’s undeniably a heel, yet she perpetually evokes a babyface reaction. Not only is the “D.M.D.” entirely meant to be replicated like a babyface would do, she also has a delivery that feels more like an antihero sometimes, rather than an outright villain.
And yet, we’re supposed to boo her, and when she’s up against the right opponent, that’s more than obvious.
It fails miserably if she’s paired with Nyla Rose. Then, she’s the clear babyface. But everyone knows her deal and how her cocky character is one of the bad girls, particularly in comparison to someone like a Kris Statlander, Hikaru Shida or Tay Conti.
Points for Punk saying Baker overtook MJF’s spot as a pillar of AEW. Credit where it’s due for Baker improving to the point where she went from the undeniable babyface who was going to win the title from the start of the company but wasn’t delivering up to snuff to someone who had to win the title because fans were begging for it, and she’s been easily the biggest sensation in the women’s division, no questions.
I don’t think she’ll stay a heel for 2022. I’m anticipating a face turn sometime in the next few months after she drops the title. However, it’s nice to know at any point, once that happens, she’s got it in her to turn heel and pull it off.
5 Honorable Mentions:
- Bryan Danielson – It’s just too soon.
- Dan Lambert – Arguably the best heel on the mic.
- Miro – Extremely close to taking a top 3 spot.
- Serena Deeb – The most character I’ve seen from her yet.
- Taz – Even more so than Ricky Starks, the top heel on Team Taz is still the mouthpiece.
Those are my picks, but who do you think should be considered the best babyfaces and heels of 2021? Who do you think will take these spots in 2022? Tell us what you’re thinking in the comments below, and happy holidays, everyone!
