Who is the greatest heel of all time?

[stavros241000]

The question is very simple. Who is the greatest heel of all time? When answering this question, also add what they're best feud was that made them as over a heel as they were. Now when asked this question many great names come to mind such as Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper, Ted Dibiase, Chris Jericho, etc etc etc but my choice is... DRUM ROLL PLEASE... Ric Flair. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! Where do I begin, 16 world championships, leader of the 4 Horsemen, founding member of Evolution, the man has done it all. His feud with Dusty Rhodes was one of the greatest of all time and he could talk with the best of them. Maybe the greatest talker of all time, Flair is the clear winner here in my opinion and he is the wrestler that influenced many of the greatest wrestlers (and heels) of all time such as Randy Orton, Triple H, and Shawn Michaels. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! So, who's your choice? What was your choice's greatest feud? While answering your question remember one thing. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

 

[salopstick]

The better heels would be the ones that didn't repeatedly turn face and heel.

Flair was a great heel but didn't do much hellish stuff apart from cheating, compared to piper hitting Snuka with the coconut.

Rick rude played heel most his career and the highlight of heelish was the feud with jake Roberts.

A very difficult question but flair, lawler, zybsyko are right up there. Would have preferred the best heel moments.

Probably slaughter in his anti American gimmick. Now that was hatred

 

[HenryOGodwin]

My top 3 are:
3) Rowdy Roddy Piper, the ultimate heel against Hulk Hogan at the beginning of the WrestleMania era.

2) The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase, played the mean rich guy gimmick to perfection.

1) Mr. McMahon, the character that made Stone Cold an all-time great. Who didn't want to see SCSA beat the piss out of Mr. McMahon?

 

[madnumber24]

1) Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase - everything you want a heel to be
2) Vince McMahon - everything you hate in your boss times 1 million
3) Rick Rude - a narcissistic a** hole heel, just brilliant lol

 

[FlairFan2003]

The better heels would be the ones that didn't repeatedly turn face and heel.

Flair was a great heel but didn't do much hellish stuff apart from cheating, compared to piper hitting Snuka with the coconut.

Well.... Flair did orchestrate the post match locker room beatdown of The Rock & Roll Express that saw him repeatedly knee drop Ricky Morton's face into the concrete floor while The Horsemen held down his partner Robert Gibson, making him watch (also rubbed the near comatose Morton's face in the concrete repeatedly, setting up an entire segment in their upcoming matches where Flair would rip out Morton's stitches and bandages, re attack the face, etc)... There was breaking Dusty Rhodes leg (Ironically after Dusty came to the ring TO SAVE Flair after a post match attack by The Russians following a Flair win over the hated "Russian Nightmare" Nikita Kolloff)... Not only alleging, but showing doctored photos, of his "affair" with Elizabeth (this lead to some of the best promos of all time as part of the "She was mine before she was your, she's damaged goods" fued with Randy Savage)... Stealing Liz away from Randy, then getting him suspended while going on a shopping spree with his money (courtesy of Liz) (Leading to those expensive champagne & caviar Ringside Buffett segments on Nitro, paid for by Savage)... ... Breaking Sting's knee in a Horsemen beatdown immediately after dumping him from the group... The parking lot beatdown on Lex Luger circa 1988... Dressing in drag to gain entrance into the arena to interferre in Savage & Hogan's matches while being banned from appearing at ringside circa 1995... Beating up Savage at ringside during his title match at SummerSlam 92 so he could defeat the injured Macho Man and win the World Title in 1992...

Flair did A LOT more than just cheat in matches as a heel.

 

[relentless1]

Hollywood Hogan, dude was such a hated heel at the time he turned, the nWo was so popular because of the outsiders but most if not all of thier heel heat cme from hogan, i just finished watching the matches on nWo revolution dvd and it really made me remember what a entertaining heel hogan was back then, just his body language and all the dirty tricks he pulled and the announcers hyping him up, greatest heel IMO

 

[Da Solo]

I'm surprised no one said The Rock yet. He was such a great heel as Hollywood Rock back in '03, hilarious as well.

But for all time, I would have to call it a tie between Piper, Rock (as aforementioned) and VKM himself.

 

[HBsam31]

The Dirtiest Player in the game was called that for a reason. How many times did he have his henchmen come into the ring to beat his opponent down to save the title for him? The Brass knuckles, the pulling of the tights, and the backstage beatdowns were a huge part of Ric Flair. As a kid one of the main reasons I watched a WCW show was to see someone pin Flair. I remember them repeatedly banning the Horsemen from ringside only for them to interfere anyway. He was the guy I wanted to see get beat so bad, but dammit hardly anyone was ever able to do it. To me that is the definition of a heel.

 

[matman8540]

Flair was a very good heel, and all the guys you already mentioned. But, the best heel is the one who legitimately scares the crap out of the crowd when he comes to wrestle. That won't happen anymore in this homogenized society we have now. The greatest heel I've ever seen is Ed Farhat, The Original Sheik. Any person who saw him wrestle in Japan, Detroit, Toronto, or Los Angeles who whole-heartedly agree with me. Especially, when you can be so villianous that you make the crowd cheer for Freddie Blassie. When you originate throwing fire at your opponents, or use a simple golf pencil to carve a roadmap in an opponent's head, you are a heel of the highest magnitude.

 

[jeritroll94]

Good thread and I can't choose a winner but its between 3 contenders for me:

1 - Mr McMahon - As previous posters have said already, the guy was so easy to hate back in the Attitude Era! You always wanted to see Austin make a jackass out him in some way every week on Raw!

2 - Chris Jericho - Who else can turn heel without saying a word or attacking a face? I was really impressed with the 2012 return since he just simply trolled everyone! The best part of Jericho as a heel was when he turned into the self-honest man in a suit during 2008 and his rivalry with Shawn Michaels wasn't booked as just a typical Face vs Heel feud. He was such a hateable character who was able to great cut heel promos which is what you want from a heel!

3 - Triple H - "You're damn right it was me Shawn"! Triple H was one of the biggest faces if not the biggest face when he returned in Jan 2002 until he turned heel about 6 months later. The Shawn Michaels rivalry which lasted from 2002-2004 is probably my favourite of all time. Can cut excellent heel promos as well to go with any of his storylines! Even in 99 when he first turned into a main event heel, you could see why he was such a great heel and had the perfect storylines.

 

[The Voice]

I absolutely LOVED Austin as a heel. Nobody else did, but I think that made me love him as a heel more. I got so sick of everybody loving him at the time, so when he became heel and just starting kicking random peoples asses for the sake of it, it was amazing!

I remember one episode of Smackdown! soon after he turned heel where he was just walking around backstage bullying the wrestlers smaller than himself. Brilliant stuff.

I also loved the whole JR angle where he was like "This isn't the guy I know..." and it also helped launch other wrestlers. It allowed Rock to be the new top babyface and it gave Kurt Angle his first real face run.

 

[#tamale]

Two great heels: the Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase and Triple H.

Dibiase was great. Perfect heel character. Memorable. Classic evil laugh. Perfect opponent for guys like Hogan, Savage, etc.

Triple H was the perfect foil for guys like The Rock and Austin. But his feud with Foley really put him over as the best. Triple H during Evolution was also very hated and obnoxious. Plus, married to the boss's daughter. Great heel.

As far as a great heel run, Chris Jericho's 2008-2010 heel run was fantastic. Slow turn, great feuds, the suit, etc. people really hated him. Great heel run.

 

[zhaff2004]

3 letters.... "JBL"

This man was an awesome heel... Rocky was too loved to be taken really seriously as a heel...

Also, Billy Graham should deserve a mention, the man was tremendous... The Iron Sheik as well...

But here the two i'm surprised haven't been mentioned given how fairly recent they have wrestled are JBL and Muhammad Hassan... Hassan was a tremendous heel who could've been huge for the WWE had politics not gotten involved

 

[beagle44]

first post

#1 roddy piper.......he made the heel popular ...he's abuse of the rocknroll connection.....making fun of hogan......piper pits made the heel popular


# 2 ric flair and the horsemen.....they fueded with every face from dusty rhodes..( where they broke his arm in car door) road warriors, tommy rich....they beat them all down

#3 ox baker......no one ever wanted to face him he was villain before villain became cool

#4 pamperio firpo the first evil pyscho

# 5 the shiek........fire balls tables tacks ...he was first heel that absolutely was pyscho.....

 

[UltimateHitman]

Yeah, I think if you want the absolute best heels, you have to go old, old school. Nobody is really that "heel" anymore, some of which is due to the mystique of professional wrestling being taken away over the years.

You already had the original Sheik mentioned, Ox Baker, and Roddy Piper. Those guys were pretty bad.

Flair has been mentioned, as has been the Koloffs, although not as top heels, which they were. The Sheepherders before they became the Bushwhackers were pretty vile, too.

There were so many good ones. Rude, DiBiase, Iron Sheik, I don't know if you could pick just one.

You also can't forget the Freebirds. Now those guys were pretty despised in the height of their heel run.

 

[peter_midnight]

Ravishing Rick Rude was already mentioned and with good reason. The guy was an absolute jerk and frankly receive some of the best heel heat I've seen on a live broadcast (youtube his WCW superbrawl match where he can't even talk over the crowd booing him). He also had the nerve to make very racist comments towards the Japanese in Japan when he went with WCW, but I doubt many in the audience understood him. I also admired the fact that he didn't change his style for the Japanese, which IMO is a heelish act itself, lol.

Now for someone that I think hasn't and should get mentioned: The Honky Tonk Man. Seriously, this guy was a heel with a cool ass song that still got booed out the building in his heyday. I can't say anything about the other IC champs, but it is on record that this guy sold out shows as the IC champ main eventing as a heel, which is a great feat itself. Not a great fan of his ring work, but definitely a top heel.

Another person that should be mentioned- Bad News Brown. This guy was Stone Cold before Stone Cold was and that isn't a knock on Austin. Bad News Brown was definitely in a category all of his own during the more colorful era of the WWF. Black tights, liked rats, no ring music, no cool physique and of course the best trait of them all, he turned on other heels (Bret Hart being one of the more notable ones), but was never considered the babyface when he did it, now THAT'S a heel! There really wasn't much to like about Bad News Brown and that is what makes a great heel IMO.

Honorable mention- The Giant in WCW. He wasn't really a great heel, but anyone that smokes cigarettes on the way to the ring especially in light of all of the anti-tobacco propaganda is definitely worth mentioning as one of the biggest heel tactics ever. Giving other people second hand smoke, now THAT's a heel tactic!

 

[SWSTOKES]

For me I try to look back and think who did I really wanna see get their ass kicked back in the day? Kevin Sullivan comes to mind for me. He was just such a prick and played the role so perfect.

I liked Triple H and Stephanie in the Mcmahon Helmsley era aswell.

Who remembers big bully busick?? stealing kids popcorn and things like that. Hilarious. He sucked, but was hilarious

 

[TheImpactPlayer]

In no particular order...

Roddy Piper - Everybody knows he is one of the best ever
Triple H - Carried a company as a heel
Million Dollar Man - Perfect Heel Gimmick
Hulk Hogan - I think people tend to forget how hated he was for a solid two years. The awesome crow sting didn't hurt either.

 

[jopoll]

I can't beleive no one has mentioned Edge yet. He may not be number one but he has to at least be in the conversation! Once he put Lita on his arm he was the top heel in the company and the reason you watched Smackdown for the next several years. This is also the only time Cena was entertaiing to watch as a super baby face needs a convincing heel or he gets boring.

 

[xavyer]

My main choice is Triple H, he truly showed everyone how a true heel is suppose to be, evil, smart, methodical and very calculating, he was the tipe of heel that never failed to acomplish his goal, and he had his most memorable matches as a heel, specially with his sledge hammer, that right there is vintage Triple H, i also got to go with The Undertaker, every time he was a heel, it was amazing, when he started the Ministry, and when he became heel as the American Badass, and of course, i also go with Rowdy Roddy Pipper and The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase, and The Macho Man Randy Savage was also a memorable Heel......

 

[robinkom]

I think the greatest heel of all time was Gorgeous George, the wrestling industry's first real cowardly villain and heel persona. He was a spectacle in his day, no one else went to the lengths of showmanship that he did to get heat from the fans. He brought the "Entertainment" aspect into professional wrestling and it proved to make him a colossal draw, especially with the advent of television.

From handing out gold-plated bobby pins to the crowd, his manager spraying the ring down with disinfectant (which reportedly consisted of Chanel No. 5 perfume), and his flamboyant entrance attire, to being the first wrestler to really use entrance music, he was the true originator of the narcissistic egotistical heel character. There probably would not have been a "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers and, subsequently, Ric Flair without Gorgeous George.

 

[rpwilbur]

Greatest heel of all time? Most of the people mentioned above have had both heel runs and babyface runs, even the "Dirtiest Player In the Game", Ric Flair. Ric's tricks worked as both a heel, and as a babyface. Now, here's a great heel, one who no one ever saw as a babyface. Gorgeous George. He came in with a then-unique gimmick. He infuriated fans with his arrogance, his vanity, his valet, and his actions. Fans wanted to see him messed up by their heroes. And George usually came out on top, cheating all the way. Gorgeous George for Greatest Heel of All Time

 

[8thwotwATG]

It's hard to pick a single greatest heel of all time, but there are some legendary heels of the business that could ALL qualify as the best of all time...
#1
Wild Bull Curry
This man was truly one of the most vicious and violent performers ever to grace the squared circle as a Pro Wrestler... his penchant for hardcore forms of wrestling violence made him one of the single most feared, and hated men in the wrestling business....Before the Sheik, before Gorgeous George, before Buddy Rogers, before Killer Kowalski, Fred Koury, AKA Wild Bull Curry was THE
single most vicious, and hated man in the wrestling business...scary, tough, and legitimately dangerous...Bull Curry was THE pioneer of the hardcore style.
#2
Fred Blassie
Blassie's influence as a top notch wrestling heel and a top notch heel performer cannot be over emphasized. As feared and hated as he was in North America, this man made his reputation as one of the scariest, and most dangerous heel wrestlers of all time in Japan. With filed teeth and a propensity for bloodletting, Fred Blassies' moniker as "the vampire" was NOT without basis...His feuds with Rikidozan, Sammartino, Tolos, et., al are the stuff of legend. Blassie was a Hall of Fame wrestler, and Heel
FOR A REASON...

#3
Gorgeous George Wagner
The original showman and cocky arrogant heel of the wrestling business deserves inclusion on this list if for no other reason than that he was responsible for a major revolution in pro wrestling as a performance art. A bona Fide shooter(he was a 1936 olympic wrestling medal winner), Wagner was the 1st to bring Pro Wrestling to the masses...with his handing out of gold plated bobby pins, his use of Chanel No. 5 to "disinfect" the ring, his heated promos to bring in the fans, Gorgeous George WAS the man you loved to hate...virtually every single bleached blond arrogant heel that followed owed his career to the stuff that George Wagner did as a performer; he was, no doubt, one of the greatest of all...
#4
Wladek"Killer"Kowalski
No discussion of the greatest wrestling heels would be complete without the mention of the name of Killer Kowalski..The 30 year veteran of the business earned his moniker after an accident in 1954 with renowned face Yukon Eric...His reputation as a human hurricane, with nonstop perpetual action was EARNED, much like his conditioning. No less an authority than Bruno Sammartino called Kowalski the toughest man he EVER took on in the ring..If that ain't great I don't know what is...
#5
The Original Sheik
Ed Farhat, like Curry and Blassie was a pioneer of the hardcore style..
between throwing fireballs, and using a pencil to carve up the foreheads of opposition, The Sheik was, without a doubt, one of the BADDEST of all time...
When you engage in a feud w/ Fred Blassie and HE'S the face... you know you're a badass....
#6
The Iron Sheik
This man is, without a doubt, one of THE most sucessfull and hated heels in the history of pro wrestling...Seriously, Khosrow had it all...he had a legitimate amateur background(so good, in fact that he helped train the US Olympic team in 68), he was trained for the pro ranks by 2 of the best in Verne Gagne, and Danny Hodge...he was a conditioned, trained, and dangerous animal in the ring, plus, he could cut some absolutely off the wall promos...his feud with Sgt. Slaughter put him on the map, and kept him solidified as one of the greatest heels ever..few, if any, were better...the man was absolutely fearless as a monster heel.
#7
"Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers
The original nature boy refined the mold set by Gorgeous George and took it to the next level. Every move, every step of the swagger he used in walking to the ring inflamed fans for a decade plus...he had a physique ahead of its time, he could work the stick, and he could wrestle!!! A total package as a wrestler, and as a heel!
#8
Jake "the Snake" Roberts
Yeah, the "Snake" didn't have the greatest physique, and he wasn't a technical specialist, but when he got on the stick, and after when he got in the ring, you always were afraid of what he was gonna do to your favorite face...Jake Roberts was a great heel, due in no small part to his mastery of the psychology of pro Wrestling..the man could put the fear of God in your heart with any given promo, and did it without screaming or shouting or a long diatribe...a true master as a ring villian.
#8
Rowdy Roddy Piper
No one single wrestler epitomized "heel" more so than Roddy Piper. from his start in the Mid Atlantic territory feuding with Ricky Steamboat, to his wars with another great heel in Greg Valentine, to his epic historic meteoric rise to the very top in his feud with Hulk Hogan in the early years of the national expansion of the wrestling industry, I don't think that any other wrestler managed to piss off more people in less time than Hot Rod...a solid in ring performer with great timing, he was more blessed with a gift of gab,and nobody was better at inflaming fans in the early 80's with his promos.
These eight that i have spoken if are, to me, some of the greatest heels of all...I'm sure that the younger folks can make an argument for some of todays modern day heels, although, admittedly, I think there isn't such a clear cut line between the face and the heel today. If you took the time to read this rather long post, i thank you. Peace out.



#7

 

[Wald]

I'm going to base this off who I wanted to see get his torn off more than anyone else in the industry when they were the top heel for their company. For that reason, and in order, I'm going to pick:

3. Triple H

Funnily enough, probably why he is called the game, he was able to turn the hatred and disgust people felt against him for using his position as Steph's husband to his advantage in storylines. When he was rolling over top babyface after top babyface on Raw, from Goldberg to Kane to RVD to Booker, I actually hated his guts. I hated Raw, hated evolution and hated him, wished he would suffer a career ending injury if I'm honest.

So I guess he won in the end!

2. Eric Bischoff

I'm a huge supporter of Bischoff and really don't understand why people try and tear down his achievements in wrestling. That said, back in 1996 to 98 I really wanted someone to shoot on him and kick his ass in the middle of the ring. He played the smarmy heel to perfection, a proper playground bully who would insult everyone and stand behind the bigger guys cackling as they pushed you away from getting your hands on him. Perfect character.

1. Hollywood Hogan

Staying with the nWo Hogan easily became my most hated heel. I actually probably despised him more as Hulk Hogan and ended up respecting him a lot more because of the Hollywood character, but when he was on top and the nWo were running wild he was everything I said about Triple H x1000. Marked out big time when Goldberg destroyed him on Nitro for the title.

 

[midgensa]

This is a great topic and a ton of great guys have been mentioned.

Obviously, Ric Flair pops to mind right away as one of the classic heels. And then when you get to the Jericho heel run and The Rock heel run you have to love them. Of course, a big part of the Austin rise was the heel play of Vince McMahon ... but in the end my favorite heel of all time is probably not the most popular choice ...

TRIPLE H
When this guy first turned on DX at WrestleMania XV we all knew he was going to be a serious main event player, but he proceeded to be one of the top dogs ... in the most lucrative era ... as the primary heel to the two most over faces of all time. What more could you actually ask of a guy?
His feud with Shawn Michaels was trully a good as heels get. His work with Evolution, the McMahon-Helmsley faction, the heel DX turn. It was all simply fantastic.
I remember right after WrestleMania 17 when you had all the markings for him turning face ... he came out while Austin was bashing on The Rock and looked like he was going to make the save ... and BAM ... he went full heel again in a classic moment bashing the shit out of The Rock and forming the two-man power trip.

When people mention HEEL in wrestling. Triple H is always the first one that comes to mind for me.