December is winding down and Christmastime is here, so given the spirit of the season, it means we’re in store for another edition of the annual Naughty and Nice 3-Count, recapping the best babyfaces, heels and tweeners of the year.
As far as how I went about picking these names, I went with a mixture of accomplishments, longevity, intensity and character work, mostly in a kayfabe sense with a smidge of smark added in for taste.
Of course, this is mostly a personal preference and you may disagree entirely, so if that’s the case, give us your list in the comments below!
Keeping all that in mind, which men and women made my list? Let’s take a look (in no particular order)…
THE TWEENERS
Normally, I like to add the tweeners here, if not just to balance things out. However, in 2019, I don’t think we got very many tweeners. Instead, we got a TON of people who went back and forth between being a babyface or a heel while WWE couldn’t quite commit to an idea. For instance, Alexa Bliss is a rather firm face right now, but nothing sparked that as an official turn. WWE just played with the idea and slowly decided to lean more in that direction. Randy Orton did something similar recently, The Undisputed ERA are heels who are booked knowing full well they’ll get cheered, etc.
BEST BABYFACES
Kofi Kingston
Somehow, Kofi Kingston took a bad situation that happened to Mustafa Ali and turned it into what will undoubtedly be the biggest achievement of his entire career that he’ll never be able to replicate.
His WWE Championship win at WrestleMania was arguably the moment of the night, even above the women’s main event. So many people around the world were affected by it, moved to tears and felt a sense of pride that doesn’t normally happen in professional wrestling.
The power of positivity was the strongest its ever been in 2019 and if you’re making a list of the biggest babyfaces of the year without Kofi on it, you’re simply wrong.
Becky Lynch
Likewise, there’s no denying The Man. She was the hottest ticket out of everything in professional wrestling in 2019, despite not being the planned superstar to push. Imagine how things would have turned out had WWE gotten its wish and it was just Charlotte Flair vs. Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania instead.
Roll your eyes over and over at how WWE beats the drum of “Women’s Evolution” at every possible opportunity, but despite how annoying that can be, it doesn’t invalidate the message behind it. Its overall purpose is still profoundly important and something worth celebrating, no matter how many hiccups along the way (like why it took so long in the first place).
Lynch was at the forefront of this and the figurehead for the movement, the women’s division and more. Her 2K cover, the main event of WrestleMania, winning both the titles and everything else that revolved around her this year was enormous, and she even managed to come out of it without the fans turning on her like they did with Seth Rollins.
Rey Mysterio
The ultimate underdog. Rey Mysterio was knocked down so many times this year—some legitimate, some kayfabe—and he kept getting back up.
His title reigns aren’t the most memorable. He wasn’t able to beat Brock Lesnar. Some of this matches were among the shortest this entire year. But the underlying theme of Mysterio being in the twilight of his career and still gutting it out to provide an example for his family is one of the better babyface threads to follow from 2019.
It’ll be interesting to see what 2020 has in store for him and Dominick. WWE is heading in some direction, but we don’t know where that’s leading. Is it a tag title win alongside his son? Is it a heel turn in some way that all this babyface mojo is setting up? Could Rey actually be retiring sometime next year?
In any case, this year, Mysterio was in rare form and did some of his best work in a long, long while.
Honorable Mentions: Kevin Owens for his feuds with Shane McMahon and Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins from the beginning half of the year, Ricochet and Keith Lee.
BEST HEELS
King Corbin
This guy ended last year losing his spot as the Raw General Manager and bounced back with two major accolades in 2019. He defeated Kurt Angle and retired him at WrestleMania, then won King of the Ring and became an uber douche.
Corbin gets more boos than practically anybody on the roster to the point that he’s one of the few superstars who seems to do the job of being a true villain well. Most other ones are always straddling the line between being too hokey or trying to maintain a level of cool. He just plays into the hate, whether it’s from his character or fans judging him as a performer.
Frankly, I think he’s massively underrated by most fans and deserves a lot more credit, even if I do agree that some of the storylines he’s been put in haven’t been the most amazing.
But don’t forget that this guy got insaaaaaaaaane heat when he gave Becky Lynch the End of Days earlier this year. That was one of the top heel moments of 2019, for sure, and here in December, he smeared dog food all over Roman Reigns, showing there’s always something else on the horizon.
Brock Lesnar
It’s hard not to put Lesnar down as a top heel when he’s one of the people who WWE goes out of their way to make the top villain, even if it hinders the rest of the product.
He went into 2019 as champion, did his normal shtick, lost the title, and it all seemed good. Then, he goes and wins the Money in the Bank and throws everything off-balance again by becoming champion, infuriating people like myself no matter how funny Beatbox Brock was for one week.
He loses the title and then what? Soon enough, he beats Kofi Kingston in a complete squash, because ha ha, screw you, we want Brock to be the top heel and this is how we make sure you’re pissed at him and us.
Now, he’s doing what he normally does—he’s taking off December. Of course he’s one of the biggest villains of the year. He as a performer is built to be antagonistic, even at the expense of WWE’s success.
Bray Wyatt / Erick Rowan (TIE)
Talk about a banner year for Erick Rowan! Who saw this one coming? This guy teamed up with Daniel Bryan as his heavy and somehow along the way became the bigger villain of the two.
His attack on Roman Reigns wasn’t handled perfectly, but he was still set up to be a brutal villain if you look at it from a storyline perspective. This guy attacked someone who had recently recovered from leukemia with attempted vehicular homicide, among other things.
Rowan is now even more off the deep end, carrying around whatever is in that cage (side note: I’d love for it to be nothing in there and that it’s all in his imagination). Anyone who comes in his path of destruction gets completely wrecked.
But as much as I want to put Rowan on here, I know everyone will go nuts if The Fiend isn’t on this list. I just can’t find it in me to bump Rowan, Lesnar or Corbin off to make room for him, so I’m in a tie situation.
When it comes to Wyatt, it’s pretty self-explanatory. Just look at what he’s done by attacking different people and showing off a new darker persona. The whole “let me in” thing is creepy and the best thing he has going for him with the contrast of the Mr. Rogers traits and I’m a big fan of that.
Admittedly, I’m not as hyped about Wyatt/Fiend as most people are. I think the gimmick started wearing a little thing very quickly and he hasn’t exhibited enough changes for me to pat him on the back 100%. I’m not even big on any of the matches he’s wrestled.
However, he’s been such a force over the past few months that denying him a spot in the top three, even if it’s a tie, would be a disservice.
Honorable Mentions: Shane McMahon (major focus, but his work sucked), Io Shirai, Dakota Kai (too soon), Shayna Baszler (strong, but her act is repetitive) and Imperium
Those are my picks, but who do you think should be considered the best babyfaces and heels of 2019? Who do you think will take these spots in 2020? Tell us what you’re thinking in the comments below, and happy holidays, everyone!
