Putting the Wrong Face Forward?

Around this time last year, the last time RAW did a double taping in one night to accomodate an overseas excursion, Mark Henry debuted on RAW, turned face, pinned then-heel and WWE Champion Randy Orton clean and got a standing O from the NorCal crowd. After a year or so of toiling as the World's Angriest Champion in ECW, Henry got the call via trade to RAW and looked primed to finally cash in on the potential the WWE saw in him 13 years prior when they signed him right out of amateur bodybuilding.

It's been a year later, and Henry is still waiting for that rematch for the title against Orton. Of course, that won't do him much good unless Orton defeats either Sheamus or The Miz (outside shot they do have him cash in on his shot successfully before then) at SummerSlam. Within two weeks, Henry was being used as a prop in the DX/Legacy feud and then his big debut was just sort of forgotten. After that, he was given a red unitard that made him look like the Kool-Aid Man and ended up being PPV job fodder for JeriShow along with MVP and then here we are now, with Henry as just a veteran who's just... there. He's available for mentoring on NXT, as a spot ally for John Cena when he needs someone intimidating to get his back or just as a jobber to the stars when guys like Batista or Sheamus need to look really impressive without having to beat one of RAW's golden calf-faces.

Speaking of MVP, he's been forgotten too. Ever since his big run at Orton was ditched in favor of yet another Shane McMahon superman push, he's been relegated to the sidelines. You could argue that his work since then has gone downhill a lot, and I wouldn't disagree, but I would also argue that MVP might have been despondent after seeing his one big chance to break through (since he's pushing 40) went down the drain because the doughy poster child for nepotism wanted another run in the spotlight. The guy is the best face promo in the company, even still, and before he started to not care, he was a decent worker. No one was going to confuse him for 2 Cold Scorpio or even Scorpio Sky, but once upon a time, he was far from the slug that he tends to be now.

Then there's Yoshi Tatsu, who speaks English as well as Lindsay Lohan stays sober (TOO SOON?), and yet he still is over with the crowds more than anyone could possibly expect him to be. He languishes on Superstars, watching the goodwill he's built up with the fanbase dwindle away with every moment of disuse he gets.

Meanwhile, John Morrison, who can't hit his finisher anymore, struggles to land basic strikes and flounders on the microphone seems to be getting shot after shot to showcase himself and be positioned for a run a World Championship. Kofi Kingston is moving laterally in terms of ringwork and only slightly forward in terms of micwork, and he's going to get his interrupted push restarted sooner rather than later. Even then, both guys aren't nearly being pushed as hard as the newbie heels are, heels like The Nexus, Sheamus, The Miz, Drew McIntyre, Jack SWAGGAH~! and even CM Punk. Yes, all those aforementioned heel entities are blog favorites and staples of Internet fandom. It's no secret that the Internet loves heels, and that I appreciate a good heel just as much as anyone. However, heels rarely if ever put money in Vince McMahon's pockets. The WWE crowds have always been face-loving crowds, as opposed to the old NWA/WCW crowds, that came out for good wrestling and to see the megaheels like Ric Flair, Nikita Koloff, Big Van Vader or the nWo get their asses handed to them.

While it is true that yes, the WWE seems to grow its top faces through years of heeldom (just look at Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H, Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, John Cena, Batista, and... well everyone after the Ultimate Warrior, really), they should be fine grooming the next breakout face from that group, like Sheamus, who's been likened as an Irish Stone Cold, or Miz, who's already getting face pops himself. Still, where does that leave the other guys when the big guns like Cena, Trips and Orton are already occupied? Honestly, they can't think that Morrison or Kingston are going to be viable long-term without more time to learn how to work or how to get the mechanics of cutting a promo down, yet, the alternatives to them are too small (Evan Bourne) or too old (Henry, MVP, R-Truth) or too foreign (Tatsu).

Granted, they are pushing Bourne and Truth pretty hard right now. But then again, Bourne got buried last night when it came to crunch time, obliterated at the expense of making the Nexus look like worldbeaters in an angle where that sort of dominance is far from necessary. Then you look at Truth, who is mega-over with his theme song and has gotten a lot of face time on TV. His face time has been against guys like ShowMiz, the Miz solo or Ted DiBiase. Meanwhile, a comparative heel has gotten that chances to run against Orton, Cena, Trips or all three at some point.

Now, I don't like R-Truth a whole lot, but I'd be stupid to tell you that I'm in the majority. The guy is super over. So is Evan Bourne, who has gotten that taste of the main event (and admittedly, who might get more of that if the RAW spoilers are pointing in the same direction that I think they're pointing). The WWE is correct for giving these guys the exposure they're giving them, and frankly, they should get more. Not for my sake, but for the sake of their company.

In that same vein, as much as they push McIntyre, the Nexus and the rest of the neophyte heels, they need to do the same for the faces who are ready to carry a load, guys like Christian and Henry. MVP may be too far gone and set in his ways, which is a shame, because him as a face Champion would have been outstanding. They need to position Tatsu better than they're doing. Furthermore, they need to scale back Kingston and Morrison, moreso Morrison than Kingston, who needs tweaking. Morrison, though, needs overhauling. Seriously, instead of using William Regal as a comedic foil for Santino week in and week out, how about putting him in a program with Morrison so that he can teach the Monday Night Delight how to work? Granted, it's something he should have learned in OVW/DSW/whatever territory he came out of, but hey, better late than never.

It's true that guys really learn the business being heel, but that doesn't mean faces are fodder. What happened last night was kind of embarrassing on the company, and a sign of how much they take having strong babyfaces for granted. I'm not saying that Mark Henry should main event WrestleMania and win as a face, but as a stopgap program at, say, Night of Champions, or even as a secondary main event program at SummerSlam against a really strong CM Punk/Jeff Hardy TLC match? Yeah, that would work. It really would.

If only the suits in Stamford would see it the same way...

Photo Credit: WWE.com

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