In 2014, WWE decided to try a different approach when they launched the Reality Era. Its main aim was for the superstars to blur the lines between the storylines and real-life.
However, the era was short-lived, extending only from March 24th, 2014 to April 30th, 2016. The fans didn’t seem to buy into what they were watching and hence, the Reality Era didn’t have as much of an impact as WWE hoped it would.
Even still, this aspect of the era didn’t seem to affect the wrestlers and many of them took the opportunity to showcase their best talents.
The Reality Era had some incredible babyfaces, both those who turned and those who had been faces for almost their entire careers. Here are the 10 best babyfaces from the era.
10AJ Styles
AJ Styles made a late entry into the Reality Era. After weeks of speculation, WWE finally confirmed that he had signed with them in January 2016.
At Styles’ re-debut match at the Royal Rumbe pay-per-view, Styles entered at number three for the World Heavyweight Championship. He then entered a storyline with Chris Jericho which ended with Styles emerging victorious via submission.
Towards the end of the era, Styles won a fatal four-way match to become the number one contender for Roman Reigns’ championship title. Although he didn’t win any titles during the era, he still proved that he was a force to be reckoned with.
9The Lucha Dragons
The Lucha Dragons was a tag team comprising Sin Cara and Kalisto. The team had their ups and downs throughout the Reality Era but some of their biggest wins came during it.
The Lucha Dragons defeated The Ascension to win the NXT Tag Team Championship in 2014. A year later, they made their main roster debut as a team in an 8-man tag team match. With The New Day, they took down Tyson Kidd and Cesaro and The Ascension.
The team also took part in the ongoing feud between The New Day and The Prime Time Players where they helped The Players win against their opponents. The latter half of the era unfortunately had a lot of losses for the team. Even still, they exhibited some great skills while competing.
8Kofi Kingston
Apart from a brief heel run from 2015 to 2016, Kofi Kingston has been a face for almost his entire career and he was quite popular during the Reality Era.
Kingston’s perseverance, patience, and extreme positive energy have helped him win multiple mid-card and tag team championships.
In 2014, Kingston was put in a team with Big E and Xavier Woods and they called themselves The New Day. The team had a slightly disappointing start which caused them to turn heel.
However, when they turned face again in 2016 by starting a feud with The League of Nations, they proved their worth by successfully retaining their title against The League in an episode of Raw. The team then went on to retain more titles at Extreme Rules and Money in the Bank.
7Rob Van Dam
Rob Van Dam had the potential to be one of the most dangerous heels but WWE never took that chance and it’s a good thing that they didn’t. Despite many losses in his career, he was a fan-favourite and everyone loved watching him fight.
RVD’s Reality Era run was rather short, lasting less than a year, but he was still quite impactful. During this time, he secured wins against Damien Sandow twice and he entered into a feud with Cesaro and Jack Swagger with the three of them exchanging wins in multiple encounters.
In the 2014 SummerSlam, he teamed up with Roman Reigns and Sheamus in a 6-man tag team match in a winning effort against Randy Orton, Ryback and Curtis Axel. RVD also came very close to winning many championship titles but unfortunately lost them in the final rounds.
6Sting
Sting initially rose to prominence in the late ‘80s, but like journalist Bill Apter once said in an article, Sting’s best days were still yet to come. After turning down multiple offers from WWE, the veteran wrestler finally made his debut in late 2014.
In his very first match, Sting attacked Triple H and cost the dangerous Team Authority the match. This led to a feud with Triple H which unfortunately ended with Sting on the losing side.
Later in 2015, Sting teamed up with John Cena and defeated Big Show and Seth Rollins, two of the biggest heels of the era.
Sting’s impressive run made him the first member of the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2016. He even exhibited great sportsmanship like when he shook hands with Triple H after losing to him and didn’t blame Rollins for a neck injury that happened during one of their matches.
5 The Undertaker
The Undertaker is one of the greatest “gimmick” workers in wrestling history and one of the very best big men. His promo and in-ring style are perfect for WWE and his WrestleMania streak has made him one of the most enduring legends.
He was also offered to be inducted into WWE Hall of Fame in 2014 but he declined.
The Undertaker had a couple of heel runs that were fairly short, but both times he proved that he would excel more as a babyface. He isn’t exactly a traditional face when it comes to his ring-work, but he is still very popular amongst audiences.
Some of Undertaker’s biggest wins during the Reality Era include defeating Bray Wyatt after two Tombstone Piledrivers, defeating Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam in a controversial match and defeating Shane McMahon at Wrestlemania 32 after being challenged by Vince McMahon himself.
4Charlotte Flair
Charlotte Flair’s name might sound familiar and that’s because she’s the daughter of the legendary Nature Boy Ric Flair. She knows she’s genetically superior and she doesn’t want anybody to forget it.
Charlotte helped kick off the Divas’ Revolution which eventually became a full-fledged Women’s Revolution. She was extremely determined to get to the top of the roster and her perseverance paid off really well.
Charlotte was the final WWE Diva’s Champion. And not just that; she also won the Raw Women’s inaugural championship and went on to win the title three more times in the same year, 2016. With her father by her side, things got very real and she was truly unstoppable.
3John Cena
John Cena has been the No. 1 face of the WWE for almost the entirety of his career. However, during the Reality Era, there were two others who performed much better than him, thus explaining why he’s been placed at number 3.
John Cena has the most world championship reigns in WWE history.
The Reality Era specifically saw him win his 15th title at Money in the Bank, World Heavyweight Champion at Hell in a Cell against Randy Orton, and his fourth United States Championship, marking Rusev’s first pinfall loss in the main roster.
John Cena isn’t just a wholesome babyface inside the ring, but also outside of it. He’s the number 1 merchandise seller for the WWE, he has granted more Make-A-Wish requests than anyone and he’s also the face of the corporate partnership with the Susan G. Komen Breast cancer Foundation.
2Roman Reigns
The disbanding of The Shield was probably the best decision for Roman Reigns’ career at the time. Although he lost the championship title to Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 31, he finally captured the title at Survivor Series against Dean Ambrose.
The Big Dog broke out as a huge star during this era’s timeframe.
Roman Reigns won the chance to headline Wrestlemania 32 against Triple H after a lot of compromising. This match made him a three-time worldchampion and was supposed to crown him the top babyface in the WWE.
Reigns then held the WWE Championship for 77 days before losing it to Seth Rollins. His run as champion may have been short, but that doesn’t take away the fact that he took down several great heels to get there.
The Reality Era was just the start of what would eventually become a super impressive WWE career for Roman Reigns.
1Daniel Bryan
Daniel Bryan is the best heel of the WWE’s Reality Era. He’s the most over wrestler in the company and apart from being a great in-ring babyface, he has also turned into a very great talker.
The Reality Era basically started because fans were not pleased with John Cena’s increased prominence in major storylines and their support for Daniel Bryan began to rise. The “Yes!” chants among the fans of Bryan became a cultural trend in the WWE.
After Bryan “Occupied Raw” and made Triple H give in to his requests, Triple H dubbed that point in time the start of the Reality Era.
At WrestleMania XXX, Bryan defeated Triple H, and also Orton and Batista in a triple threat match, which led him to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. This match remains iconic even to this day.
Daniel Bryan may have started out as a heel but we’ll all remember him as one of the purest babyfaces in WWE’s history. He’s known to be polite and down to earth even outside the ring. He truly deserves the top spot on this list.
About WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., doing business as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and various other business ventures.
WWE shows are sports entertainment, featuring story line-driven, scripted, and partially choreographed matches; though including moves that can put performers at risk of injury, even death, if not performed correctly. It was founded in 1953 as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation and is the largest wrestling promotion in the world. It is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut.
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