Sasha Banks: Better as a heel or face?

[Psykohurricane55]

I know that for the most part, sasha is the internet darling of the women's division so I'm guessing that I will get some peoples that will write that she a great babyface because she's a great athlete.

But after watching her cut that horrible babyface promo on monday, I have some serious doubt about that. I remember when the boss character started in nxt, as part of summer rae's group in nxt, the character was edgy. She was really great at playing that bitchy heel character and it was easier to connect to her character andd truly hate her as a character. Her promos we're great and she felt comfortable.

As a babyface, the boss character fells akward, her promo fell fake and while she a great wrestler, she could do better as a character if she was a heel.

The only problem I think she would have turning back heel, which would be better for her, is the fan reaction. I think the fans seem to not take this seriously anymore and will react more to the performances then for the characters which in turn make the job of the performers harder.

Sasha as always been a better heel and should really go back to that but will the fans let her turn or will she be stuck in babyface mode because of the fact she's a great wrestler.

 

[LBGetBack]

I agree, character wise she is definitely a better heel. In fact, she could be one of the best heels in the whole company both on the mic and in the ring.

She certainly is great at wrestling like a babyface in the ring. But promo wise, she doesn't shine there.

I agree, even if she's heel she will get some that cheer her because she's so good. Fans only hate women wrestlers when they feel they are getting ahead for other reasons: Charlotte is Ric Flair's daughter, Stephanie for being a McMahon, Lita when she real life cheated on Matt Hardy with Edge, Michelle McCool for being married to Undertaker, Nikki Bella for being hot and being with Cena, etc. That's seemingly the only way to get major heel heat for women.

 

[Navi]

I don't think the problem is so much Sasha Banks character heel or face, the issue is that Charlotte has upped her game so much that she has outrun the field.

That being said though, Sasha Banks works for me both ways. I like her bitchy heel persona but I also like her as a face as well. Didn't realize just how small she actually is and that might be an issue down the road when she's facing Nia Jax and other bigger women. Have her beat up Bayley a couple of times and you'll have an instant heel on your hands.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

A huge reason why Sasha worked so well as a heel in NXT is because of her chemistry with Bayley. Sasha's "Boss" character is a heel through and through when you get right down to it and I think she's ultimately better in that role; I think she's done a good job as a babyface but she just has even more of that swagger as a heel.

If they keep her as a babyface for a while, which I think they will given that it looks like she'll be feuding with Nia Jax, I've got no complaints. As I said, she's done a good job as a babyface and has been one of the company's top stars in 2016.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Sasha as a heel made me hate her for a good portion of her NXT run due to her heel actions and the promos she had as her heel character. Her in-ring work quality earned her my respect though. With her growing popularity it made sense to turn her face. As a face she gets the fans behind her and has continued to provide good quality matches. I'm fine with it if she were to turn heel again, she's better at a heel than at being a face, but she's popular enough to justify keeping her a face for a while. Many wrestlers are clearly better at being heels or better at being faces. Sasha is among the few who is great at both alignments. If I had to pick one or the other, heel Sasha is just a little better than face Sasha.

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

Due to whole "The Boss" persona she works better as heel. Kinda like Del Rio in his first run except he didnt made it work and Sasha does work that heel shtick really great. Because you cant exaclly claim how you are richer or better then anyone and be face. I mean you can, but works a lot better as a heel. Have nothing against her as a face either, she did work good face program with Charlotte. Mostlz due to Charlotte being great heel but you cant say that Sasha wasnt there.

 

[ISkye]

I generally skip whatever she is involved with, but whatever I have caught with her on the mic at all is painful to watch. I haven't liked her since NXT, and haven't really had a reason to change that. Her general voice / personality type is mind numbing to me. I think this Charlotte feud just made me just even attempting to try to like her.

To be fair the talent / potential is there. Also, that feud just made me want them both to move on to different thing. It made me like Sasha less, and neutral on Charlotte. Besides a few forced moments and history, I really just had no passion or desire for it to exist. She's only 24, and has (Hopefully great years) ahead of her. So, at some point in time I feel like she'll grow on me.

It'd be cool to see her as a heel. Whatever is the opposite of what I was watching for the past while, honestly. Kind of clean slate it, and reinvent the character or do something that feels less repetitive or stagnant. Heel, then a face turn eventually would be cool. At least at this moment in time.

 

[#hamler]

Sasha's boss gimmick is a heel gimmick.

There's really no way around it. It is hard for that gimmick to shine without being a heel. It's comparable to Eddie Guerrero's "lie, cheat and steal" gimmick in that it's a heel gimmick. Like Steve Austin "rebel" gimmick is a heel gimmick. Like DX's gimmick is a heel gimmick. These guys are all comparable because they do so well at portraying these characters, fans turn them into a babyface. That's pretty much what happened in NXT and if given the chance on the main roster, I'm betting it would happen again. It's exactly what her career needs at this point after a long strenious, exhausting, slightly forced feud with Charlotte.

Right now though, Sasha seems unlucky enough to be second best in both categories. Charlotte is without a doubt a better heel not only in the women's division but the male roster as well. Her consistant heat proves it. As for the baby face role, right now Bayley is better received than Sasha has been in quite sometime. It's hard for two dominant heels to run rampant over the RAW division without one out shining the other. With that, maybe a move to Smackdown Live's thinning women's division for heel Sasha wouldn't be the worst idea. As talented as she is, she deserves a chance to shine.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

Sasha's boss gimmick is a heel gimmick.

There's really no way around it. It is hard for that gimmick to shine without being a heel. It's comparable to Eddie Guerrero's "lie, cheat and steal" gimmick in that it's a heel gimmick. Like Steve Austin "rebel" gimmick is a heel gimmick. Like DX's gimmick is a heel gimmick. These guys are all comparable because they do so well at portraying these characters, fans turn them into a babyface. That's pretty much what happened in NXT and if given the chance on the main roster, I'm betting it would happen again. It's exactly what her career needs at this point after a long strenious, exhausting, slightly forced feud with Charlotte.

Right now though, Sasha seems unlucky enough to be second best in both categories. Charlotte is without a doubt a better heel not only in the women's division but the male roster as well. Her consistant heat proves it. As for the baby face role, right now Bayley is better received than Sasha has been in quite sometime. It's hard for two dominant heels to run rampant over the RAW division without one out shining the other. With that, maybe a move to Smackdown Live's thinning women's division for heel Sasha wouldn't be the worst idea. As talented as she is, she deserves a chance to shine.

It's would be a good idea to move her to smackdown but the problem is that she would be in competition for top heel with alexa bliss who is becoming a great heel in her own right since she got move away from the shadow of sasha and charlotte. At the same time, smackdown as the a better women's division right then raw and adding her on smackdown would hurt raw's women's division because until summer rae and paige comes back from injury, they pretty much just have these 3 women's to carry the division. I would love to see sasha turn back heel and be more comfortable as a character, but that's not going to happen until bayley wins the title, so until them I would like to see her twick her character a little bit for her to be confortable on promo's and let her improvise her promos a little instead of feeding her the same crap every single time. If I heard sasha say either that her and charlotte made history or they started the women's revolution, I will stop watching raw because that the one line I can't stand anymore.

 

[Messiah]

I agree she looks awkward, but she's awkward as a face or heel.. She's better as a face because she's naturally popular and she said she doesn't like being hated..

Not to mention she apologized to a fan she made cry before. What kind of heel does that?

Nobody can say she was a good heel, she had no idea how to get heat.. Leave her as a face.

I'm not a fan due to her awkwardness, but she's popular though.

 

[LBGetBack]

I agree she looks awkward, but she's awkward as a face or heel.. She's better as a face because she's naturally popular and she said she doesn't like being hated..

Not to mention she apologized to a fan she made cry before. What kind of heel does that?

Nobody can say she was a good heel, she had no idea how to get heat.. Leave her as a face.

I'm not a fan due to her awkwardness, but she's popular though.

She knew how to get heat in NXT. I think when she came up to WWE, fans were just excited for the changes happening in the division and they liked and respected Sasha's ability and talent so she got cheered a lot and eventually turned face. She never really had the chance to be a major heel....she had a wack ass crew holding her back, and didn't get much of a push, though she was booked strong in terms of winning and losing it didn't really go anywhere. Then she was barely used for awhile. It felt like she was being "held back" so the fans really got behind her and started chanting for her.

Give her a heel run and a strong push where it's about her and not a forced "team" that isn't on her level, and I think you'll see her get over as a heel again. In NXT she was strong on the mic as a heel, and in ring she can wrestler either style very well. I think her overall persona can work for either face or heel, given the right material and some freedom. I also think she is the perfect foil for Bayley and I think those two have better chemistry than anyone else on the roster. So hopefully next spring or summer we get Sasha turning on Bayley.

We know that eventually Charlotte is going to start getting cheered and become face. Anyone who does moonsaults off of anything and everything will eventually start getting cheered. And Vince loves his best overall performer to be a face, and Charlotte is certainly the best overall performer. She's just a physical specimen and nobody else can match her athleticism and physical ability. That Sasha and Charlotte feud will probably be revisited down the road with the heel/face dynamics reversed.

 

[Navi]

She knew how to get heat in NXT. I think when she came up to WWE, fans were just excited for the changes happening in the division and they liked and respected Sasha's ability and talent so she got cheered a lot and eventually turned face. She never really had the chance to be a major heel....she had a wack ass crew holding her back, and didn't get much of a push, though she was booked strong in terms of winning and losing it didn't really go anywhere. Then she was barely used for awhile. It felt like she was being "held back" so the fans really got behind her and started chanting for her.

Part of it might be that if you read the dirt sheets, Vince and the people behind the scenes think that Bayley/Charlotte is the money feud not Banks. That's why her title reigns have been short lived. She wasn't meant to have long title reigns. Changing the title so many times over the last few months have done nothing but to show off Charlotte's dominance in the division and Banks lack there of.

If you look at Banks her whole demeanor screams heel. Just the way she carries herself and "The Boss" moniker is designed to be heelish. That's probably why she was never taken seriously as a face. It's hard to have your two top women, Charlotte and Banks feuding with each other when both are heels. Bayley's call up changed the dynamic and Banks has been put on the back burner for now.

I expect to see Charlotte hold the title and feud with Bayley now until at least Mania. Then Banks can re enter the fray and hopefully with a heel turn can go after Bayley well into 2017.

 

[ShinChan]

I think that she's better as a heel. The whole "Boss" persona is somewhat like that of a heel.

It doesn't mean that she is bad as a face in any way. Nopes. She's good as a face too but better as a heel as it suits her persona and gimmick.

I don't know about others but I'm waiting for a feud between heel Sasha Banks and face Bayley. These two just suit each other more than any other duo.

 

[Vanilla Midget]

I thought Bayley was our interwebs darling?

Sasha Banks' biggest obstacle as a babyface has been Charlotte's undefeated on ppv streak. Every time Banks gains momentum, it's squashed when she has to drop the title back to Charlotte after holding it for less than a month.

Banks sounded weak during her promo on Raw last weak. She admitted defeat in ways she shouldn't have that were generally out of line with The Boss character.

Banks is a victim to Charlottes streak. It's another example of WWE's inability to properly book streaks. Nikki Bella and The New Day similarly hurt a lot of other talent when it came to their record breaking title reigns. Similary someone had to lay down for Charlotte.

Banks winning and dropping the title was a best case scenario when the booking mandate is push Banks while maintaing Charlotte streak. The alternative was Banks eating a ton of pins with no title reigns and thus being booked more effectively.

I don't think Sasha necessarily works better as a heel. I think what the majority of us are noticing is that her face booking hasn't been as strong as it could be. Sasha should be booked dominantly, but she's had to drop the title back to Charlotte mulitple times due to Flair's booking.

A heel turn doesn't address the route cause with Banks. If Sasha pins Nia Jax clean and we see some dominate booking, then yeah maybe a heel turn works best. But is she's booked strong, is she not going to do better no matter what side of the fence she's on?

The draft after Mania will shake things up and that will be the place to consider flipping Sasha Banks' alignment. She works when she's booked strong. She was booked to lose to Bayley at Brooklyn I and didn't look any weaker than the woman who won the match. Banks works when booked properly.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

I thought Bayley was our interwebs darling?

Sasha Banks' biggest obstacle as a babyface has been Charlotte's undefeated on ppv streak. Every time Banks gains momentum, it's squashed when she has to drop the title back to Charlotte after holding it for less than a month.

Banks sounded weak during her promo on Raw last weak. She admitted defeat in ways she shouldn't have that were generally out of line with The Boss character.

Banks is a victim to Charlottes streak. It's another example of WWE's inability to properly book streaks. Nikki Bella and The New Day similarly hurt a lot of other talent when it came to their record breaking title reigns. Similary someone had to lay down for Charlotte.

Banks winning and dropping the title was a best case scenario when the booking mandate is push Banks while maintaing Charlotte streak. The alternative was Banks eating a ton of pins with no title reigns and thus being booked more effectively.

I don't think Sasha necessarily works better as a heel. I think what the majority of us are noticing is that her face booking hasn't been as strong as it could be. Sasha should be booked dominantly, but she's had to drop the title back to Charlotte mulitple times due to Flair's booking.

A heel turn doesn't address the route cause with Banks. If Sasha pins Nia Jax clean and we see some dominate booking, then yeah maybe a heel turn works best. But is she's booked strong, is she not going to do better no matter what side of the fence she's on?

The draft after Mania will shake things up and that will be the place to consider flipping Sasha Banks' alignment. She works when she's booked strong. She was booked to lose to Bayley at Brooklyn I and didn't look any weaker than the woman who won the match. Banks works when booked properly.

When she lost in brooklyn, she was the heel in the match and she felt more confortable in that role so she looked stronger because of it. But lie you wrote and I agree with you on this, her booking in the Charlotte feud didn't help her at all. The problem with the boss character is that she's suppose to be this over confident women that is ready to do anything to prove that she's better then everybody else and during that feud, they turn the character into a generic babyface that's doing this for her idol and as respet for her opponent and that not what the character should be.

The ting that scares me with the way she's been booked is that they will use her as a stepping stones for other heels to get over and have challengers for the belt after bayley wins the belt from charlotte at mania and her program with charlotte is over.

The thing I would love to see is her getting drafted to smackdown and getting better opportunities to fet herself out of that one dimensional character she been stuck with since starting n the main roster.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

Sasha's face run has been well... not that great. Although you could blame that on a combination of booking, injuries, booking, and (you guessed it) booking. I hate to constantly complain about the WWE Creative Team, but I really can't help it. After I've seen the same match 15 times, I don't care. That's the entire problem with the Raw women's division and Sasha in general. We've seen her wrestle Charlotte so many times that it's beyond stale.

Point is, the problem with Sasha's face run is her feud with Charlotte and wrestling her so many times. That made it hard for myself or anyone else to care for Sasha.

Sasha is better as a heel, but if booking doesn't get better it won't matter.

 

[kadroan]

I know that for the most part, sasha is the internet darling of the women's division so I'm guessing that I will get some peoples that will write that she a great babyface because she's a great athlete.

But after watching her cut that horrible babyface promo on monday, I have some serious doubt about that. I remember when the boss character started in nxt, as part of summer rae's group in nxt, the character was edgy. She was really great at playing that bitchy heel character and it was easier to connect to her character andd truly hate her as a character. Her promos we're great and she felt comfortable.

As a babyface, the boss character fells akward, her promo fell fake and while she a great wrestler, she could do better as a character if she was a heel.

The only problem I think she would have turning back heel, which would be better for her, is the fan reaction. I think the fans seem to not take this seriously anymore and will react more to the performances then for the characters which in turn make the job of the performers harder.

Sasha as always been a better heel and should really go back to that but will the fans let her turn or will she be stuck in babyface mode because of the fact she's a great wrestler.

She's better as a tweener IMO. I think she loses her edge when she tries to be a babyface.

 

[ShinChan]

She's better as a tweener IMO. I think she loses her edge when she tries to be a babyface.

I think that before any turn, we should see how Sasha fares with Nia Jax as a babyface. Nia Jax is a heel so the potential of Sasha as a babyface can easily be determined in this feud with Nia.

Losing the titles multiple times to Charlotte hasn't done her any favours as a babyface. It has infact affected her in a significant but bad manner. She has the potential to be the top heel when we witness the inevitable face turn of Charlotte.

 

[LBGetBack]

I think that before any turn, we should see how Sasha fares with Nia Jax as a babyface. Nia Jax is a heel so the potential of Sasha as a babyface can easily be determined in this feud with Nia.

Losing the titles multiple times to Charlotte hasn't done her any favours as a babyface. It has infact affected her in a significant but bad manner. She has the potential to be the top heel when we witness the inevitable face turn of Charlotte.

Talking about respect and the women's revolution and wanting to shake her opponents hand....bad. That's Cena stuff. Telling Charlotte "your daddy loves me more"....fantastic. That's Sasha stuff.

She needs to be insulting and disrespectful and aggressive....costing Nia the match with Bayley was a good start. She needs to keep targeting Nia and wanting to ruin her, not just the other way around.