Professional wrestling fans are hip to the term “face” as slang for the “good guy.” Hulk Hogan, despite his actual heel leanings, is one of the most famous examples of faces in wrestling history. John Cena’s recent 180-degree shift to becoming a bad guy shortly before this year’s WrestleMania main event against Cody Rhodes shocked even the youngest fans.
Faces are generally easy to root for. They have a basic morality that nearly anyone would agree with, but their presentation provides more. The “heel” can adopt some cooler attributes, similar to how Roman Reigns morphed into a modern-day Samoan Thanos through his record-breaking reign.
The Chiefs might be entering a new phase of their dynasty—one that has fans seeing them less as villains and more as resilient underdogs again.
If performed incorrectly, the face becomes the corniest of cornballs, and the heel becomes a mustache-twiddling villain. Both have the skeletons of characters that fans will get behind, but lack the meaty flesh of true superstars.
John Cena’s heel turn was accomplished with a groin kick a few months ago. Seth Rollins broke up The Shield with a chair shot heard ’round the world. Shawn Michaels kicked off his singles career with a boot to Marty Jannetty’s face. Heel turns tend to be more dramatic and flamboyant in display. The baddie waltzes out of the arena with the championship over his shoulder and children raining boos and jeers.
Face turns take longer. The wrestler must undergo some actual adversity to appear from the other end with true character. To have long careers, a performer must alter his appearances to sustain success and gain popularity through generations.
I believe the Kansas City Chiefs are in such a metamorphosis.
The Chiefs have heard every boo from Arrowhead to Germany as the ultimate overlords until Super Bowl LIX. The roar of the crowd in New Orleans was the last moment that the collective NFL fanbase had against the Chiefs before Philly ran roughshod for three and a half hours. The blowout was the beginning of a face turn.
The pivot began, in my opinion, where all dramatic events in sports history begin: on TikTok. A trend recently began comparing Patrick Mahomes’ voice to the lead vocals on the party track from New York-based rapper V.I.C., “The Wobble.” Now, even Mahomes has made jabs at his own vocal pattern, but the accuracy made the comparison undeniable. Some have even connected the chorus’s vocalization to that of Travis Kelce’s, but that is a stretch too far for some to make.
Now, how does this drive Kansas City’s return to underdog territory? Human nature states that we’ll only make fun of the people we view as equals, while a natural rebellion grows against superior talent. For so long, the Chiefs were so much better than the rest of the league—and still are—but a year off from winning the game of games may reset the collective psyche.
The Dallas Cowboys have been a heel since the mid-’90s, despite the years of falling on their faces. The Eagles have knocked off the titans of the time in back-to-back eras, so the City of Brotherly Love’s team generally feels like a protagonist. Emotions never truly die, so some will never change their feelings for the Chiefs, but perspective can change when results do.
