These are the 10 greatest good guys in WWE history (WWE)
The hero vs. villain story is as old as storytelling itself, and the situation is no different in the wild world of WWE.
In wrestling parlance, heroes are "babyfaces" (or just "faces") and villains are "heels." But whatever you call them, a strong good guy is essential to telling a captivating story inside the squared circle. When the fans get behind a particular performer, the results can be absolutely electric as they cheer wildly for their chosen hero.
In the more than 50 years of WWE history, the company has produced hundreds of babyfaces. Some of them, whether because of circumstance or because of their own shortcomings, failed to connect with the crowd. But a select few have earned their spot among the greatest of all time and, in many cases, became household names.
Thanks to the WWE Network, fans can relive the greatest moments of these wrestlers' careers, from Stone Cold Steve Austin's first WWE Championship win at WrestleMania 14 to Hulk Hogan's clash with Andre the Giant at WrestleMania 3.
No matter your favorite, read on to see our list of the 10 greatest good guys in WWE history.
Note that for this list, we're going to include the lineage of all companies that the WWE now owns and claims, which includes WCW, its main rival from the 1990s.
10) Bob Backlund
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Nowadays, fans know Bob Backlund as the bow tie and suspenders-wearing lunatic who wanted to Make Darren Young Great Again and loves locking people in the chicken wing submission hold.
But in his heyday, Backlund was actually one of the best babyfaces the business had ever seen.
He's the third-longest reigning WWE Champion in history behind only the legendary Bruno Sammartino and Hulk Hogan (spoiler alert: we'll see both of them later in this list) at a combined 2,138 days. The overwhelming majority of that was a 2,135-day reign from February 20, 1978 to December 26, 1983. He also had a short three-day stint as champ in November 1994.
Vince McMahon needed someone to be Sammartino's successor, and he found his man in the All-American Backlund.
Watch Bob Backlund win the WWE Championship from Bret Hart and more when you sign up for a free 30-day trial to the WWE Network.
9) Daniel Bryan
Megan Elice Meadows via Wikimedia Commons
With the benefit of time, Daniel Bryan could easily move higher up this list. But there's no denying that the American Dragon captured the hearts and minds of WWE fans in a way that hadn't happened in more than a decade.
Bryan truly burst into the main event in 2013 when he challenged John Cena for the WWE Championship. Prior to that, the fans had slowly but surely put their support squarely behind him, and his popularity reached a fever pitch in the summer of 2013. So when he delivered a devastating knee strike to Cena at SummerSlam 2013 and pinned him for the title, fans rejoiced.
Of course, it all came crashing down when Triple H assaulted The Beard and handed the title to Randy Orton. This started a nearly eight-month climb back to the top of the mountain for Bryan, which culminated with a title victory at WrestleMania 30 in New Orleans.
What makes Bryan so special was the way he tapped into the spirit of the working-class fan. He was the underdog. According to rumor and innuendo, interviews with WWE backstage officials, and even Bryan himself, the plan was never for him to win the title at WrestleMania. He was supposed to be a quick diversion on the way to other plans. But tens of thousands of fans each week made their voices heard, and a new legend was born.
Relive Daniel Bryan's rise to the top when you sign up for a free 30-day trial to the WWE Network.
8) Sting
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Steve Borden portrayed Sting in two strikingly different ways throughout his 30-year career. Wrestling fans like to call the first incarnation "Surfer Sting," when he had a blond flattop haircut and white and blue face paint.
But his more well-known iteration was what we'll call "Crow Sting," which came to life in early 1996 in WCW. He grew his hair out. He switched to black and white face paint to resemble Eric Draven from the movie The Crow, and he emblazoned his clothing with a scorpion. He became a silent vigilante who came down from the rafters and whose sole purpose was to take down the power-hungry New World Order.
As the nWo grew in number, seemingly absorbing the entirety of the WCW roster, Sting would attack silently with his trademark baseball bat. He would offer his back to anyone not in the nWo and give them a free swing. If they refused, he would simply nod and exit the ring, satisfied that they had passed his morality test.
Sting finally came to WWE in 2014 and wrestled just two matches before he retired in 2015. Any wrestler who wants to capture the aura of silent but powerful hero should start by watching Sting's work.
Go behind the scenes of Sting's arrival in WWE when you sign up for a free 30-day trial to the WWE Network.
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