Face In wrestling , a face is a character who is portrayed as being moral or approving ( that is , faces are " good guys " or " crowd favourites " ) . The vast majority of wrestling storylines ( though not all ) place a heel ( " bad guy " ) against a face . The term face began as an abbreviation of babyface , and up until the mid 1990s , the two terms meant essentially the same thing . This changed with the birth of Extreme Championship Wrestling , the start of World Championship Wrestling ' s nWo storyline , and the Attitude Era of the World Wrestling Federation . These three things coincided and saw wrestlers like Steve Austin and Sting adopting heel tactics to overcome opponents . While technically tweener s , their immense popularity with crowds had their gimmick s categorized by many as faces ( though they were not the pure " babyfaces " of old ) . Although wrestlers such as Dick the Bruiser , Crusher and Fred Blassie had been babyfaces while using non - admirable tactics , the Attitude Era is usually credited with this new kind of face . Many wrestlers who would be considered face today would previously be considered a tweener . Similarly , Kurt Angle was introduced to the World Wrestling Federation with a gimmick that would traditionally have him seen as a babyface , and yet was immensely unpopular with fans . Thus , while adopting many actions and mannerisms of a babyface , Angle ' s gimmick was seen by most as being " heel . " The Spanish term used in lucha libre is a " técnico " ( literally a " technician " , one who sticks to basic wrestling techniques without cheating , in theory ) . Some reasons that can cause fans to turn against a wrestler with a face gimmick include : wrestler ' s repetitive in - ring antics ; a limited moveset ; a lengthy title reign ; and lack of sell ing his / her opponents ' moves and carrying his / her opponent . This often results in wrestlers who are supposed to be cheered receiving a negative or no reaction from the fans . A good example of that is Bret Hart , who started out as a face in his feud with then heel Steve Austin , but then saw fans turn against him and cheer for Austin , after Bret Hart continued his agonising hold after the end of one of their matches . Another example is the original character of The Rock ( named Rocky Maivia ) who was immensely unpopular despite his constant attempts to get the crowd on his side . John Cena is another example , who despite being a top face on " RAW " was heavily booed throughout most of 2006 until the week after Unforgiven 2006 after defeating Edge in a TLC match when fans got back on his side , albeight briefly . Types of Babyfaces While behaving as a face is often part of a wrestler ' s gimmick , many successful faces fall into one or more categories : Anti - Hero : A face who acts like a heel , but gets cheered nonetheless . Common tactics include attacking Dictators , breaking the rules as a way of " leveling the playing field " against cheating heels , only interferes in matches when they have had enough of the heels cheating on a certain babyface , and cutting edgy , but popular promos . Examples include Stone Cold Steve Austin , The Rock , The Undertaker , D - Generation X , and believe it or not Hulk Hogan , because he was only taught how to be a heel and luckily he knew ring psychology so that he could use the same heel tactics as a face . Authority Figure : They give the fans what they want most of the time . This includes fair matches , or doing something that involves punishing a heel wrestler , such as ordering them to go back to the ring to continue / restart the match and yet punish a babyface that did something wrong such as no showing certain events or win a match in an unfair way . Examples include Mick Foley , Sgt . Slaughter , and Shawn Michaels as WWF Commissioners . Theodore Long , Stone Cold Steve Austin , Team Orton after 2004 Survivor Series and Stephanie McMahon during their runs as Raw and SmackDown ! General Manager . Bret Hart in WCW . Presidents such as Dixie Carter who is also the actual TNA President and Jack Tunney as the on - air " President " of the WWF . Celebrity : These faces are famous in one section of media and are well liked by the majority of the public . They act like a face and would start a major feud with ( mainly ) the top heel after the heel attacked him / her first . This also makes the storyline more interesting to the fans . Examples include Cydni Lauper , Seth Green , Mike Tyson after he betrayed then - heel Shawn Michaels and revealing his alliance with Stone Cold Steve Austin , Floyd Mayweather , Jr in beginning of his feud with The Big Show , Mr . T , Seth Green , Bob Barker , Cedric the Entrertainer , JWoww , and Donald Trump ’ s feud with the heel gimmick of Vince McMahon . The most recent babyface celebrity is Snookie when she was involved in a feud with Lay - Cool . Comedian : A face with comical aspects to his / her gimmick . Though the actions are silly , he / she can still be a serious contender . Unlike Jokers where they make mistakes and get mad at the fans , they are the ones who pull pranks on the heels in a light - hearted way and always admit their mistakes which get them in punishment matches and they sometimes come out the winner . These faces also have outlandish outfits that make them believe in some “ alter ego ” that is liked by the fans . Most of the times they will make goofy faces . Examples include The Hurricane , Colt Cabana ( known in WWE as Scotty Goldman ) , The Hart Foundation tag team ( mainly in their promos ) , Doink the Clown , Pirate Paul Burchill , Dude Love , Eugene , and The Bushwhackers . Foreign Ally : These are faces who are happy to have found work within a new country . They excite the crowd by expressing strong positive things about their new job / home . They do their best to speak the main language of the country they are working in . Examples include Petey Williams , The British Bulldogs , Asuka , Alex Wright , Chris Adams , and Kofi Kingston . Hoss : A larger wrestler who often wrestles as a face rather than a heel . Large enough to be considered a Monster , but not quite unstoppable like the Juggernaut . Despite their superior size , the wrestler will often use quickness , agility , and / or aerial maneuvers rather than , or as a supplement to , their raw power . The main difference is that they play face characters that are often clean - cut compared to their Monster counterparts , who are often menacing in appearance . Examples : Hulk Hogan ( good example ) , Randy Orton ( in 2002 ) , Festus , Mark Jindrak , Sean O ' Haire , Lance Cade ( in 2003 - 2004 ) , Heidenreich , DH Smith , Batista , Bobby Lashley , Rhino , Rhaka Kahn , and Samoa Joe . Juggernaut : A wrestler that can ' t be stopped by opposition . The behavior and tactics are totally opposite of the Monster , but the wrestler will occasionally pull off such tactics as a form of counterattacking or whenever the stipulations allow it . They are often called upon to " clean house " in a ring after a face or a heel who is about to turn face is getting beat down by a heel or a group of heels but this is not always the case . Usually the top babyface . Examples : The Undertaker , Stone Cold Steve Austin , The Rock , Sting , Hulk Hogan ( mid - late 1980s ) , Lex Luger , Andre the Giant ( late 1970s ) , The Big Show , Goldberg , Kane , Batista , Bobby Lashley , Abyss and Chyna ( during her reign as WWF Women ' s Champion ) . Longshot : An underdog face below Heavyweight class often forced to go against a Monster , putting the motions of a physical mismatch on paper . This face gains popularity by sneaking out upset wins against much larger opponents , usually by executing roll - up pins or by taking advantage of a critical mistake made by that opponent . Majority of them are masked luchadors ( Mexican wrestlers ) in the United States . Theses faces gain the most sympathy . Examples include Rey Mysterio ( best example ) , The Hardy Boyz , Salinas , Zack Ryder , Shawn Michaels , The 1 - 2 - 3 Kid , Alundra Blayze / Madusa , Miss Elizabeth , Gail Kim ( during her feud with Awesome Kong ) , Hornswoggle , Spike Dudley , Eddie Guerrero ( during his babyface runs ) and Colin Delaney ( mainly in WWE ) . Play - By - Play Announcer : Although his / her main job is to put over the action in the ring by not only calling the maneuvers and action in the ring , but by recapping the angles and other goings on that have occurred . He / she often support the face ( s ) in the match and are joined by color commentators , who take up for the heel ( s ) . Though both are supposed to show neutral stance while announcing , the two will begin arguing . Examples include Jim Ross , Todd Grisham , Joey Styles , Mike Tenay , and Michael Cole , Gordon Solie , Lance Russell , Gorilla Monsoon , and even World Wrestling Entertainment Chairman Vince McMahon , who started his on screen career doing play - by - play announcing . Regional Hero : These faces often feud against foreign and traitor heels in effort of defending their home nation when it comes to the storyline ( USA vs . Canada ) . However , during the course of the season , federations will visit the region that one of the wrestlers came from . So by depending on the popularity of the wrestler ( s ) , fans often ignore the heel / face alignment for those shows . They often rely on cheap pops to gain support in their home territories , but not all of them do this . Examples include any Canadian wrestler during any event in Canada , William Regal ( England ) , Finlay ( Ireland ) , Mick Foley ( northeast USA ) , The Rock ( Miami ) , Hacksaw Jim Duggan ( Upstate New York ) , Ric Flair ( southeast USA ) , and Stone Cold Steve Austin and any other Texas - born wrestler during any event in Texas . Reject : A face that gets negative reaction from the crowd , despite regional territories not playing a role in the negative reaction . Fans often perceive them as overrated and / or stale , believe that the heel wrestler is the superior talent , or due to real life scandals that has nothing to do with the persona they are portraying on - screen . This has them become heels later on , sometimes even getting a positive reaction because of the change in character . Examples include The Rock ( as Rocky Maivia , and again during 2002 ) , John Cena ( since feuding with Kurt Angle in 2005 ) , Hulk Hogan ( mid - 1990s ) , Bret Hart ( early 1997 prior to WrestleMania XIII ) , Jeff Hardy ( drug problems ) , Lita and Edge ( after revealing a real life affair with each other to the public ) , X - Pac ( during the WCW / ECW Invasion and drug problems ) , and Michael Cole ( between 2008 and 2011 ) Revolutionist : A babyface from the classic days of wrestling in today ’ s wrestling . They care for new rules and regulations being made which did not exist during their glory days and will align themselves with today ’ s top babyfaces to bring in a new era . They also get physically involved in matches such as helping the top babyface win or keep a championship . Examples include Hulk Hogan helping out Zach Gowen , Arnold Skaaland assisting Bob Backlund into becoming WWF champion , and Ricky Steamboat ’ s participation with CM Punk , John Cena , Rey Mysterio , and Jeff Hardy . Showman : These faces make the crowd into a fury , as something big is about to happen such as a finishing move or cleaning house after a hot tag . Most lack the size or instinct to be effective Juggernauts yet does not fit the role of Longshot , Technician , or Tenderfoot . Examples include Junk Yard Dog , The Hardy Boyz , Sabu , Dusty Rhodes , Sandman , The Rock , Triple H , Stone Cold Steve Austin , Chris Jericho , Hulk Hogan ( 1980s ) , Roddy Piper , Trish Stratus , Ricky " The Dragon " Steamboat , Rob Van Dam , Shawn Michaels , CM Punk , the Beautiful People during their face run , Christian Cage and Mr . Kennedy . Team : A large group of faces that are usually used by each other to watch each other ' s backs . They often feud with the Gang counterpart who either have greater numbers or stronger members . Though not as closely tied to one another as the Gangs , which usually last much longer due to more ability to work together and less selfishness between group members . However , they are less self - destructive due to everyone fighting for a common goal regardless of whether or not they can work together . Examples include D - Generation X , The Brothers of Destruction , Team Extreme , The Acolytes Protection Agency , the WCW roster ( during the n . W . o . invasion ) , The n . W . o . Wolfpac , The Misfits in Action , S . E . X . , the WWF / E roster ( during the Alliance and Nexus invasions ) , The Union , The Dudes with Attitudes , Blue World Order , The ECW Originals , Extreme Violence 2 ( EV2 ) , and The Hart Foundation whenever they were wrestling in Canada or Europe as pro - Canada . Technician : The most common of faces who always obey the rules and rely on takedowns , reversals , and counterattacks before finishing off with a submissive or pinfall victory . Examples include Mr . Perfect , Bob Backlund , Bret Hart , Owen Hart , Kurt Angle , Sting , Lou Thesz , Cody Rhodes , CM Punk and Daniel Bryan . Tenderfoot : This underdog face is more emphasized on his / her inexperience , rather than his / her size , but not always a rookie . He / she could also be a somewhat experienced wrestler who never competed at a main event level up to a certain point . They feud with or compete against upper - midcarders and sometimes against the main event wrestlers , usually coming out on the losing end . They often lose after the more experienced heel wrestler takes advantage of a critical mistake , allowing the heel to win cleanly without completely burying the younger wrestler . Examples include Maven , Randy Orton ( in 2002 ) , John Cena ( in 2002 ) , Brian Kendrick ( in 2003 ) , DH Smith , Cody Rhodes , Sapphire , and Colin Delaney . A perfect example being Jeff Hardy , who was billed as an underdog against the younger and less experienced Randy Orton , who ascended the ranks into the main event at a much faster rate than Hardy .