User blog:CEDJunior/Angelina Love: Face or Heel?

In this week's "Face or Heel?" blog, I've decided to go back to the Knockouts Division and analyze the record-setting six-time TNA Knockouts Champion, Angelina Love.

Face Angelina:  Angelina debuted as a babyface back in 2007; the year that TNA built up their Knockouts Division, but we really didn't get to see much of her babyface persona back then because she was turned heel within months and was the centerpiece of The Beautiful People. We wouldn't see Babyface Angelina in full form until 2010, when she returned to TNA after being away for months dealing with issues with her work visa. She was in the audience at the start, but she would later attack her former BP cohorts Velvet Sky and Madison Rayne, and their new ally, Lacey Von Erich, to cement her babyface turn.

Angelina would feud with the BPs for months, and she even had former rival Tara as her partner. However, the partnership started to dissolve after Angelina won her third Knockouts Championship from Tara in a Lockbox Challenge. Despite the friction, they teamed up and lost to the BPs in a tag team match at Lockdown for both the Knockouts Championship and the Knockouts Tag Team Championship, and Angelina would be attacked by Tara, who became a villainess as a result, after the match ended. Angelina's second babyface run would see her add two more reigns as Knockouts Champion, and she would also reunite with Velvet Sky to make the original BPs a babyface duo. It would also see her become one half of the Knockouts Tag Team Champions with Winter; this was during the early stages of their odd partnership.

Heel Angelina: As we all know, Angelina's elevation began when both she and Velvet became villainesses and officially formed The Beautiful People in 2007. Angelina was very golden in her heel role, which led to her first two reigns as Knockouts Champion, and she engaged in feuds with several different Knockouts, including (among others) Awesome Kong, Tara, and ODB. Angelina's first of three heel runs lasted close to two years, before she dealt with her visa issues.

I mentioned Angelina's partnership with Winter earlier. We all figured back then that WInter was plotting to drive a wedge between Angelina and Velvet, and she would do so weeks after Victory Road, After they lost the tag titles, Angelina was slowly turning against Velvet, thanks to Winter controlling her, and she would finally make her heel turn in April. I remember the "Zombie/Demon Angelina" look from back then and actually having mixed feelings about the whole "drugged up/silent but deadly" villain role that Angelina was playing. I was very happy when Angelina was "back to normal" and playing her classic wicked heel role, while still being aligned with Winter; an alliance that ended when Angelina was released by TNA two summers ago.

After competing in Shine Wrestling for a year, Angelina returned to TNA on March 13 of this year and wanted to realign with Velvet Sky, which they did a week later. After she was rejected by Madison Rayne, however, the evil Angelina attacked her in the Knockouts locker room to become a villainess for the third time in TNA. Velvet underwent her own villainous transformation to show her allegiance to Angelina just one week later. I remember loving Angelina's heel turn because a) it came two days after my birthday, and b) I wanted Angelina to turn heel in Shine and replace Rain as the new leader of Valkyrie, but that wouldn't happen. I love Angelina's current run as a villainess the best, and that is mainly because she is much more wicked than she was in the past. She would win her 6th Knockouts Championship under this current role.

Now, the question of "Face or Heel?" is a difficult one regarding Angelina Love. When she was a heel years ago, I wanted her to turn face. And as I already said, when Angelina portrayed a face in Shine, I wanted her to turn heel. I have to share this; some time last year, I actually asked Angelina on Twitter, "Face or heel:  which role do you prefer?" Angelina actually answered my tweet, succinctly responding:  "Heel!" I have to agree with Angelina. There is no doubt that Angelina is golden whether she's a heroine or a villainess, but if I really, really had to choose, I'd go with Heel Angelina. Being evil truly suits that woman.

Face Angelina or Heel Angelina? Which do you prefer?