Currently, there are two heelish “Role Model” gimmicks happening in wrestling. In WWE, Smackdown Women’s Champion and Women’s Tag Team Champion Bayley turned heel in October of 2019, proclaiming herself to be a role model despite her villainy and due to her WWE persona up to this point being a kid-friendly babyface.
Over in AEW, Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. started out wrestling for the promotion as a babyface but gradually turned heel, claiming to be a role model because she not only worked hard to be a pro wrestler but also because she worked hard to become a dentist in real life. So which is the superior “role model” gimmick?
10 Bayley: Years of Being a Babyface
The thing about Bayley’s heel turn is that it comes with a history. When Bayley started in NXT, she was a naive neophyte who was happy to be in WWE and see all these wrestlers she idolized, but eventually fought her way to the top through several betrayals and overcame a system that seemed to prefer non-wrestlers like Eva Marie over people who toiled in indie promotions like SHIMMER.
All that goodwill and hard work is not only great babyface material but also fantastic material for a heel turn where the villain still believes she is good and inspirational.
9 Britt Baker: A Welcome Heel Turn
Britt Baker doesn’t have the years of history and continuity fueling her heel turn, but she desperately needed it to happen. When AEW started, it seemed like Britt Baker was being set up for the top babyface position in their women’s division. After all, that division didn’t have built-in stars like The Elite, Chris Jericho, or Jon Moxley, and Baker seemed like the perfect choice.
It didn’t really work -- fans seemed more into Riho, Kris Statlander and especially Hikaru Shida -- and so Baker gradually turned heel, which really gave the character new life.
8 Bayley: Has Sasha Banks
One of the more interesting elements of Bayley’s character is her relationship with Sasha Banks. In NXT, Banks was Bayley’s biggest rival, and on the main roster, they’ve been frenemies. Currently, they’re both heels, with Banks as Bayley’s devoted friend in wrongdoing.
Together, they’re the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions, their partnership giving Bayley’s heel narrative the potential to turn into a Bayley vs. Sasha story at any moment.
7 Britt Baker: Has “Reba” and Tony
Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. has her own group of friends to boss around. First, there’s former TNA Knockout Rebel -- or, as Britt addresses her, “Reba” -- Baker’s hair/makeup artist, who waits on the doctor hand and foot while she makes ridiculous demands.
Then there’s AEW commentator Tony Schiavone, who Baker has managed to neg into a weird friendship. There’s not as much potential for huge, emotionally resonant grudge matches, but they’re tremendous sidekicks for a great heel.
6 Bayley: Destroyed Her Old Gimmick
When Bayley turned heel, a lot of her old gimmick had to go. Thus, Bayley cemented her heel turn in the most spectacular way: by literally destroying the inflatable tube men known as the Bayley Buddies on television.
One by one, she attacked the fluttering men with a kendo stick, slashing them open enough that they could no longer inflate. In other words, Bayley turned heel on inanimate objects, and that’s actually more effective than just sneak attacking Becky Lynch or whoever.
5 Britt Baker: Added New Elements
Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D didn’t need to jettison her old gimmick, as dentists are already considered heels by society. The effect here was almost like AEW realized they too often mentioned that Britt Baker is also a dentist in real life, so they decided to lean into it by making it intentionally annoying.
More than that, Baker added additional elements to be as annoying as possible, like her weird Popemobile-esque barricades to protect her from attackers while she’s sitting injured in her overly decorated golf cart, and a clothesline system to send messages to Tony while he’s on commentary.
4 Bayley: Changed Her Look
Bayley did more than destroy much of the gimmicks and iconography associated with her babyface persona. She also changed her look to match. Gone were the Macho Man/Sting-esque ring gear and goofy top-knot hairdo.
In its place came darker ring gear, heavier makeup, and shorter hair. In a way, Bayley started looking like a completely different person -- possibly babyface Bayley’s idea of what a heel looks like.
3 Britt Baker: Didn’t Need To Change Her Look
When a babyface goes heel, WWE loves to change everything about them that could be deemed likable. So the music gets darker and heavier, the ring gear changes, and so on.
Sometimes they try too hard, especially when you look at someone like Britt Baker, who didn’t need to start wearing her hair differently or stop being a dentist to facilitate a heel turn. And maybe for someone who believes themselves to be a “role model,” they should maintain the same look they did while they were a good guy.
2 Bayley: Successful
Bayley just might have the better “role model” gimmick because she’s a famous and successful WWE wrestler. She was a popular babyface and one of the top female wrestlers in the company -- the kind you can easily market to little kids.
Having heel Bayley play off of that makes a lot more sense than it does for Britt Baker, who doesn’t have the same kind of proven track record when it comes to inspiring anyone.
1 Britt Baker: No Expectations
What’s cool about Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. is that she isn’t a big star yet, so there are no expectations, as her time as a babyface in AEW was pretty short-lived, especially compared to someone like Bayley.
Most fans didn’t have enough time to get used to babyface Dr. Baker, so few of them are going to mourn the loss of a good-guy wrestler who is also a dentist.