Toni Storm is the very embodiment of the modern Babyface

In today's climate, wrestlers face a multitude of challenges every time they enter the ring. However, perhaps more than anything else in today's struggle, the most difficult thing is to be a baby. But Toni Storm has already mastered this subtle art.

Being heel is a child's game in comparison. Not only because it's hard to try to get people to like you without giving in to pressure, but because heels are cool. It's never cool to be a fair baby who begs the crowd to cheer them on – no longer. The real challenge is to convince a crowd of people to really love you. Just ask guys like Roman Reigns and John Cena.

Most often, a face enters the ring and the first impression of the crowd is not to like them, simply because the baby's face is unknown to them. How can a fan immediately look for someone he does not even know?

For heels, they enter an unparalleled circle and simply give the public more reasons to dislike them; the heels start a step forward.

The Babyface affair is not what it used to be. Today there are only a handful of wrestlers who master the art of playing the babyface without having to resort to silly antics or to stay in a middle position in the gray zone.

One of those rare wrestlers is Toni Storm.

via WWE.com

Our readers may have recently become more familiar with Toni Storm because of his appearances on NXT UK and his historic Evolution victory in the 2018 Mae Young Classic final. Those who knew Storm a bit longer will recognize it. for her matches in promotions such as STARDOM, ICW and PROGRESS, where she became the first female champion of the company.

No matter where she is or what ring she passes in, Storm always enters an arena filled with a loud crowd who thinks of her name and encourages her. Storm and his character have ties to the fans. She continues to be universally loved as a babyface without ever having to succumb to antics for cheap pop.

She is probably the closest wrestler that we can find in full babyface in 2018.

We tried to understand why Toni Storm was so loved, no matter what country, arena or ring she was entering. She never gets a mixed reaction or the dreaded boos that crowds save for baby-faces that annoy them. What could she do well that so many other babies are hurting nowadays? It's simple: she's naturally cool and she's not trying to be what she is not.

via WWE.com

The gimmick of Toni Storm is essentially that of a classic rock star. Think Jimi Hendrix when he sacrificed his Fender Stratocaster guitar at the Monterrey International Music Festival in 1967. Of course, Storm's desire for arson does not quite match that of Hendrix, but you get the point. They breathe similar levels of cool, if nothing else.

Like most rock stars, Storm is not left out to make the crowd like it. Most rock stars seem to have a "damned if you have, damned if you do not" attitude when it is to be loved; they call it "the devil can worry about the attitude" for a reason. They do not dive off the stage and do not break their guitars into tiny pieces as they think the fans will like them. They do it because it's just who they are. It's a part of themselves that they have to leave to the whole world.

Between suspending his opponents in the ring and diving out of it, Toni Storm winks and sweeps his opponent to the delight of spectators. She does not try to encourage the crowd or signal to encourage them. Unless she's sitting in the middle of the ring, she does not really care. She only walks at the rhythm of her own drum and, by chance, if only because she is naturally cool, the crowd plays to the rhythm of her cheers.

For reference, see Storm's entry above at the beginning of Chapter 52 of PROGRESS. Storm enters the arena without feeling the need to play in front of the crowd. She does not even hit the fans near the ring before getting into the ring, as would any other babyface. She looks around and recognizes the wider expanse of the massive arena, but that's all she's doing. admits it.

From the way she heads to the ring, you never know if she is a face or a heel. Instead, it's really the sound of the crowd that decides if Storm is the babyface they are looking for. She takes the screaming cheers that rain on her, but she does not play in front of the crowd to get those cheers a little louder. She does not spoil the moment by trying to sprinkle something hypocritical. She plays just cool, like a rock star walking on the stage in front of a crowd filled for the umpteenth time. The rocker has already arrived here in a giant setting and we know it.

For another reference, check out her first-round Mae Young Classic 2017 match against Ayesha Raymond. First, Storm begins the game by refusing Raymond's handshake. Anyone who has seen Ring of Honor knows that refusing a handshake is a classic way of letting the crowd know who is the heel. However, Storm retains its likelihood for the duration of the match.

When Storm refuses the handshake and starts clinking as if it's too cold to shake Raymond's hand, it does not come as a malicious heel tactic. That's the only thing she does. Keep this in mind for a second.

Also keep in mind that when Storm plays in front of the crowd – whether it's through his poses in the middle of the ring or the configuration of his hip attack, Storm plays in front of the crowd, but not so that she complains of them. In Storm's moveet, there are many movements that – on paper – favor a manual babyface.

However, it's the way she plays this role that does not make her feel like babysitting while winning the crowd. When she makes fun of him and plays his game, she does not feel like asking for approval from the crowd. We would think in his skin. There is nothing wrong with having a baby play against the crowd as long as it makes the right choice; as long as the performance is not too much above.

What makes Storm such a perfect baby face comes down to his performance. Again, rather than begging the crowd to encourage them to get ready for a comeback, Storm puts forward unique character traits, hints and ways to win the crowd. She plays in front of the crowd, but with subtlety.

To relay sympathy, all that she does, is rely on her ability to act. The crowd sees the pain and despair on his face as a heel like Raymond's shoves it brutally, and suddenly it's hard not to support it. When she finally realizes her return, she feels won instead of forced. This is another essential thing for a babyface. When it comes to trying to lead the crowd on his side, every moment they initiate in the ring must feel won, not forced.

via WWE.com

Much of this piece has been devoted to mentioning how cool Toni Storm is and explaining her coolness which explains why she is so dear to baby's face. "Cool" is a broad and subjective definition, but for convenience, Let's say it's cool, it's just not trying to be cool.

Be cool, that's when a character presents himself without shame as his most authentic self.

Wrestlers – no matter where they stand on the heel or the tally – tend to receive their loudest cheers not when they play against the fans, but when they play what they are without trying to make them feel an emotion . Whenever Roman Reigns set the microphone, stopped shouting out Looney Toons scripts, and just beat the hell out of a horde of competitors (the end of TLC 2015), he was getting the most applause from strong night, even when it was at its height.

Storm understands that this formula is a babyface. She understands that rather than begging fans to love you, a babyface should just give them a reason to rejoice. At that time, she is the perfect babyface.