5 greatest WWE babyfaces of all time 

The wrestling business thrives on interesting angles and stories, and most stories have two sides - the good, and the evil. While in today's world the lines have blurred between heels and babyfaces, their objectives more or less remain the same.

A babyface needs to generate sympathy for himself, while the heel is supposed to make the audience hate him with great intensity.

Over the years, there have been a plethora of great heels and babyfaces in the WWE who did their jobs to the utmost efficiency. Heels have been able to incite roots in the arenas by their actions, while the babyfaces have been genuinely adored by the masses.

In this article, we take a look at the 5 greatest babyfaces of all time.

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#1 Hulk Hogan

Hulk Hogan

Say what you want about him, but Hogan was THE SUPERSTAR in the golden age of the WWE. People adored him and ate up every single one of his words. While he may have built up a reputation backstage, Hogan was a saint for the WWE Universe. He could do no wrong.

If you have any doubts over his popularity, the fact that he main-evented eight of the first nine WrestleManias removes all doubts. He held the WWE Championship six times, with a combined 2,185 days as a champion.

Hogan was untouchable in the '80s. He made WWE the juggernaut it is today. While his recent actions have painted him in a light anything but good, Hogan will forever be in the history books as the most beloved babyface in the history of pro-wrestling.

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#2 Daniel Bryan

GOAT

If there is an emotion inducing and inspiring story in the WWE, it is the story of Daniel Bryan. The indie sensation was signed by the WWE after contesting classics after classics against the likes of CM Punk, Samoa Joe, etc.

While the fans had high expectations, they were dashed when he was treated like a loser by The Miz. You could tell that even the management wasn't that high on Bryan, given his small frame. Although he won the World Heavyweight Championship, his entire reign was treated like a joke, which ended in that infamous squash against Sheamus.

That match ignited something amongst the fans. Appalled by the mistreatment meted out to a talent like him, the WWE Universe decided to take matters into its own hands.

So much support gathered for Bryan that WWE was forced to change the WM32 main event to a triple threat. When Daniel overcame The Authority to become the WWE Champion, the roof blew off the arena and not a single dry eye could be seen

Rarely has such emotion been poured into a storyline, and it's almost impossible for a movement like the Yes! movement to take place again.

#3 Ricky Steamboat

Ricky Steamboat

Ricky 'The Dragon' Steamboat is considered the best babyface in pro wrestling history. In a career that spanned 20 years, he never once turned heel. And it's also worth noting that although he remained a babyface throughout his career, his fans didn't turn on him the entire time.

His working style was so advanced that his trilogy of matches with Ric Flair still put today's matches to shame. He contested fast paced matches with Slick Ric, whose character was a complete antithesis of Ricky's.

His best WWE match was a classic against Randy 'The Macho Man' Savage at WrestleMania 3. Today he is a WWE Hall of Famer and an ambassador for the company.

#4 Bob Backlund

Bob Backlund

While modern wrestling fans know Backlund as a crazy old dude who was hell bent on making Darren Young great again, he is much more than what he is remembered for now.

Back in the days, Bob Backlund was the best babyface the business had ever seen. He is the third longest reigning World Champion with a combined reign of 2,135 days. He also had an infamous reign where Nash squashed him at a house show to win the World Title.

After the legendary Bruno Sammartino, Vince McMahon needed a pure, great babyface who could be the top dog of the business, and he found one in Backlund.

He was an all-American hero who stood for all the right things, and this was the running theme for great babyfaces at that time. He perfectly fit into the mould and became a legendary performer.

#5 John Cena

Wrestling Royalty!

Ever since his face turn before Survivor Series in 2003, Cena hasn't gone over to the dark side. His rapper gimmick was a tremendous success, with legions and legions of fans blowing off the roofs of various arenas.

His gimmick change from a rapping bad boy to a boy scout-ish do gooder had a mixed response, to say the least. Cena was bombarded with chants like 'Cena Sucks!', jeered mercilessly, and there was palpable hatred directed towards him by the adult male demographic.

All this changed when he brought out the US Championship open challenge. Slowly, but surely he silenced all his critics by working mini classics every week on RAW. The true proof of his popularity is the reaction he got when he won his 16th World Championship against AJ Styles. There was not a single person booing in the building, which goes a long way to show how much respect he has earned over the time.

Honorable mentions

1. Johnny Gargano

2. Bayley (in NXT)

3. Batista

4. Randy Savage

5. The Rock