Best Heels Ever...Part Deux

[Monkey_Mania]

Ok, so I created this thread over a year ago and it garnered some good discussion. So with it being buried way down in the annals of this forum and being so old I thought I would recreate it. Seeing as there have been a lot of discussion on who the best heel is. I want your opinions on it. What makes a good heel. Is it how they can go out and get straight up solid heat the whole time they are out in fron of the crowd. Or is it based on how they portray the role, and the acting involved? I think it is a combination of both. Good heels will have you booing there ass off the whole time they are out there. Unlike some heels where when their music hits the crowd first cheers, then they realize they are supposed to boo them.

Yet, instead they rile the crowd up so much, that they want to see that said wrestler get the absolute shit kicked out of them. Where they will pay their hard earned money to see it happen. So many people state that Edge is a great heel. He is decent yes. But you really don't hate him do you? Chris Jericho is a guy that can get alot of people to boo him, but still have people cheer him. Although lately he is getting some serious heat. Hulk Hogan was a guy that could straight up get some full on riots to occur. Same with Roddy Piper and Ric Flair. Don't forget about wrestlers like Killer Kowalski, Harley Race, The Assasin, Bob Orton, Yokozuna, Triple H. These guys also got heat so much heat it was uncanny.

Then you also have Bret Hart, and Shawn Michaels. Who were very over as a babyface, but when the roles were reversed you had people wanting to see them get their asses kicked. People Like Vince McMahon and Eric Bichoff got people to get so worked up they couldn't wait to see someone take them down a peg. There are so many others as well. Don't just think about the males either. There were some great female heels too.

So I leave to you this. What makes a good heel, who are some of the best. Please list reasons as to why you think this way. Who were some heels that didnt quite cut it as heels, who were the best at getting the crowd riled up? Let's see some good discussion.

 

[Lee]

I'm going to go with the person, who in my opinion, was also one of the biggest faces of all time. Hulk Hogan. "As far as I am concerned, all this crap in the ring represents these fans here" With that a legacy that had gone back quite sometime, the fans made Hogan but for that famous "you fans can stick it brother" the biggest heel was born.

The impact this had at the time, rating rocked, one of the biggest factions EVER were formed and this started a new era in pro wrestling, before heel turns would last 2 weeks (CM PUNK!) it was a full blown turn, we didn't see Hulk as a face until 2002 and his return to WWE. What made him so? to me it was because he was such a face, to then turn on the fans and be very blatant to say that set up a heel legacy, an I don't care about you attitude made people actually hate Hogan.

 

[Eternal Dragon]

Ok, so I created this thread over a year ago and it garnered some good discussion. So with it being buried way down in the annals of this forum and being so old I thought I would recreate it. Seeing as there have been a lot of discussion on who the best heel is. I want your opinions on it. What makes a good heel. Is it how they can go out and get straight up solid heat the whole time they are out in fron of the crowd. Or is it based on how they portray the role, and the acting involved? I think it is a combination of both. Good heels will have you booing there ass off the whole time they are out there. Unlike some heels where when their music hits the crowd first cheers, then they realize they are supposed to boo them.

Yet, instead they rile the crowd up so much, that they want to see that said wrestler get the absolute shit kicked out of them. Where they will pay their hard earned money to see it happen. So many people state that Edge is a great heel. He is decent yes. But you really don't hate him do you? Chris Jericho is a guy that can get alot of people to boo him, but still have people cheer him. Although lately he is getting some serious heat. Hulk Hogan was a guy that could straight up get some full on riots to occur. Same with Roddy Piper and Ric Flair. Don't forget about wrestlers like Killer Kowalski, Harley Race, The Assasin, Bob Orton, Yokozuna, Triple H. These guys also got heat so much heat it was uncanny.

Then you also have Bret Hart, and Shawn Michaels. Who were very over as a babyface, but when the roles were reversed you had people wanting to see them get their asses kicked. People Like Vince McMahon and Eric Bichoff got people to get so worked up they couldn't wait to see someone take them down a peg. There are so many others as well. Don't just think about the males either. There were some great female heels too.

So I leave to you this. What makes a good heel, who are some of the best. Please list reasons as to why you think this way. Who were some heels that didnt quite cut it as heels, who were the best at getting the crowd riled up? Let's see some good discussion.

I bolded that part just because it's the only one that I can really talk about without sounding like a total idiot (hopefully).

See the thing is, in this day and age, I think with female heels you can be talking about a totally different playing field. The Women's Division isn't exactly one with a BIG fanbase, and it's not a division that has much care put into it in the first place, especially NOW. You can argue a different case four or five years ago, but right now, no one cares. Keep in mind that I'm speaking strictly of female wrestlers in the WWE. So you can have someone like Jillian Hall, who does get some heel heat, but you question whether she's a good heel or not. On one hand, she's able to use her gimmick in the right way, and she does get heel heat, but it's never consistent, especially when she wrestles. However, for a diva, in a division that doesn't get the right amount of time or attention, I think it's okay to list her as one of the better female heels out there today, even if she doesn't have heel heat that the likes of Vickie Guerrero have.

Now the things that would make a male wrestler a good heel, would also make a female wrestler a good heel. Having the right amount of charisma, the right character, the right swagger to be a good heel, the right reactions- things like that. You have women like Trish Stratus (who was definitely one of the best female heels of the past decade), Melina (and now Vickie), who managed to get boos because they were so charismatic, on the mic and off. From the things they said, to the way they would walk down the ramp and just bitch at people, small things that you really miss now, I think made them amazing heels. There're also women like Mickie James, Victoria, and Jazz who embodied their roles in every way. Unlike Trish and Melina, it was their ACTIONS, not their words, that really earned them the heel heat they had. From the way Mickie kidnapped Ashley to the way Jazz used to pummel down other divas, it was what they did that earned them boos. I think both attributes are important, whether you're a male or female, if you want to be a good heel, though it's debatable whether you need both to be a truly great heel.

Flames Out
Dragon

 

[TThomas6128]

A good heel is someone who generates legit "heat." For example in today's world Edge is a great heel. He generates a lot of heat. He cuts great promos and he wrestles the "heel" way. Chris Jericho is also a good example of a great heel.

Now as far as the greatest heel of all time. I think it is Vince McMahon. Vince can cut some good promos and generates a lot of heat. I think there are people such as Hulk Hogan who came close to McMahon, but none have mastered a "true" heel like McMahon.

BTW . . . we saw Hogan as a face again before 2002. WCW turned him back to the yellow and red in 99 I think or maybe early 00. Remember when they tried the Sting heel turn Hogan was good then. Fans didn;t buy Sting's heel turn so they turned him back face quick . . . I think Sting could be considered the worse heel ever.

 

[Milkyway!]

I have to admit if i had to choose the best heel ever, it would be chris jericho...i just love what hes doing on raw, he went from the savior of wwe, to being the savior of heels..its the freshness we need...i just love how hes completly changed his character, not like a kane demask, but hes quite honestly the best heel ive ever seen, the dynamicness of this character is amazing, and being the mentor to lance cade makes it all the more sweet, i can just picture it coming down to bow to your heel savior CHRIS JERICHO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! as lance cade kisses his feet.....lol.

 

[klunderbunker]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. You can have your HHH, Hogan, Race, Piper etc. All of them are amazing heel characters and wrestlers, but to me the greatest heel will always be The Million Dollar Man, Ted Dibiase. When Dibiase was involved with Hogan in 1987-1989, there was no one more hated. His persona was a man that felt he could buy anything that he wanted. Who couldn't get ticked off at that? Most of us aren't rich and likely never will be so it hits a cord with everyone. He had something you didn't and he made you feel inadequate. His in ring skills were top notch and some of his matches with Jake Roberts are forgotten classics. There was not a single redeeming thing about him when he was at his peek. From his waving money in people's faces to his evil laugh, there is nothing at all to like about him, making him the best heel ever to me.

 

[wwefan49]

a good heel has to be good at promos and wretling for that matter and get a reaction from the crowd or they suck. my top heel of all time is vince mcmhan himself or eric bishoff. but vince knows better then anybody how to piss his fans off. he really can draw some major heat with promos. he also can give a shit less what the fans think witch is why ratings are way down now. if smackdown were live knowbody would know spoilers for the dam thing. ratings go up then. but back to point mcmahn can make him and anybody in his group a major heel look at what he did to the corperation with the rock or mic foley as a heel

Your so contradictory your name says edgebestheel but your opinion states that you think Vince McMahon is the best heel. Don't change your opinion based on someone else's opinion if you think Edge is the best heel explain why. I personally enjoy Edge heat because yes we love him but we love to hate him is the thing. He cuts sinister promos. Pushed his handicapped wife out of her wheelchair and abducted her, and assaulted his family. So Edge is the best to me.

 

[Monkey_Mania]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. You can have your HHH, Hogan, Race, Piper etc. All of them are amazing heel characters and wrestlers, but to me the greatest heel will always be The Million Dollar Man, Ted Dibiase. When Dibiase was involved with Hogan in 1987-1989, there was no one more hated. His persona was a man that felt he could buy anything that he wanted. Who couldn't get ticked off at that? Most of us aren't rich and likely never will be so it hits a cord with everyone. He had something you didn't and he made you feel inadequate. His in ring skills were top notch and some of his matches with Jake Roberts are forgotten classics. There was not a single redeeming thing about him when he was at his peek. From his waving money in people's faces to his evil laugh, there is nothing at all to like about him, making him the best heel ever to me.

I totally agree. When it comes to best heels, I always think that Ted Dibiase is a very underrated heel. He always flaunted his money. I hated that. Growing up comfortably like I did, but always wanting to not have any worries in the money department he made me feel lowly. I hated him for it. I look back now and realize that I was living a good life. But back then he simply didnt care. He laid it all out and got under your skin. Fuck he was a good heel. He is a missed oppertunity if you ask me.

 

[klunderbunker]

There is a video that I posted in the vintage thread of him wrestling as WWF champion. On Friday Andre sold him the title and on Sunday he was stripped of it. That saturday he wrestled in two tag matches with Andre against Hogan and Bigelow. Seeing him with that belt around his waist and hearing him being announced as champion still make me a bit sick thinking about him. This guy was someone that you just didn't want to see with the belt no matter what. Had it not been for Honky Tonk Man not wanting to give Savage the IC title, Dibiase could have gotten the big reign that he deserved. Alas, is was never to be.

 

[Monkey_Mania]

There is a video that I posted in the vintage thread of him wrestling as WWF champion. On Friday Andre sold him the title and on Sunday he was stripped of it. That saturday he wrestled in two tag matches with Andre against Hogan and Bigelow. Seeing him with that belt around his waist and hearing him being announced as champion still make me a bit sick thinking about him. This guy was someone that you just didn't want to see with the belt no matter what. Had it not been for Honky Tonk Man not wanting to give Savage the IC title, Dibiase could have gotten the big reign that he deserved. Alas, is was never to be.

I know I saw it. He was so underrated at everything he has done. Big Shame on WWE for that one. He could've been so much more. He was getting heel heat like crazy. LIKE CRAZY. I digress though. He was a very good heel. Here's to hoping his son can do a good job.

There are so many underrated heels though. Like right now I think Kozlov is doing a damn fine job being a heel. Maybe they need to tweak him just a bit. If they do that he will be golden. Some more underrated heels are...

Taijiri- Back in 2003. I used to love him when he was the goofy sidekick of William Regal. Then sometime in 2003 he went heel. I don't know what he did, but he did something because I absolutely HATED him. I was actually hoping Mysterio would beat him. That's saying something as I don't like Mysterio.

DDP- Back in 99, when he first won the WCW title. By god did I hate him. I mean he went from being one of my absolute favorites. To being the guy I wanted to take out myself. Then he formed the Jersey Triad with Kanyon and Bam Bam Bigelow. Who are both good heels in their own right. To tell you how much I loved DDP as a heel. It goes like this. I used to love him, usually when someone goes heel I'll either love them or hate them depending on how good of a job they do. I NEVER got over DDP's heel turn. I always liked him, but I was still feeling it. It broke my heart as a 13 year old.

Anymore underrated Heels. Or still talk about your favorite ones. Lets get some discussion going.

 

[klunderbunker]

DDP I always liked as a heel especially in the Triad. Page I never thought deserved to be where he was so putting him in a small faction helped me give him a bit more credibility. Anytime a rule like the Freebird rule is put into effect its a guaranteed way to draw heat. I remember their match with Saturn and Benoit at I believe BATB 99 and thinking it was very good indeed. Page was perfect for his heel turn as he was very over at the time and managed to turn that into excellent heat. He was the "people's" champion and therefore having him turn was a big deal. Never really a fan, but he was a good heel nonetheless.

 

[The_Phoenix]

William Regal has always been a solid heel character. From etiquette lessons for the crowd to cutting the power during a broadcast, he makes people hate him. The Rock in his heel role was phenomenal. The People's Champ turning on the people was genius and Rocky sold it like none other. Last, and most important in my opinion, Jericho. It doesn't matter if he's Y2J or the new Chris Jericho, the man embodies what a heel character is supposed to deliver every time he steps in front of the camera.

 

[Monkey_Mania]

Oh Man. The Rock was a phenomenal heel. People actually wanted to see him die. Hence the chants of "Die Rocky,Die". I remember that. He drew the ire of the fans quite well. He also went on to become one of the biggest faces of all time. Which I think is always the key to being a good heel. That you can work the heel gimmick just as good as you can a face gimmick.

A good example of being a good heel. I remember one time I think it was Stone Cold and Triple H in the ring. The fans started to chant asshole directed at Triple H. Stone Cold said "It seems you have 15,000 people calling you an asshole". Triple H responded. "I could care less if these people lived or died." It was harsh. But the heat he got was amazing. It goes to show you that by saying something so simple can make you so hated. Sometimes less is more. Which is why I think Triple H made such a good heel.

 

[DJ]

Jeff Jarrett.In 2006 this guy was hated so much people just wanted him to die.It was unreal.When he retained his title people were throwing rubbish at him.Any other fed would get him out of there quick-but no TNA let him enjoy it.Unreal.And he could back it up of the mic and in the ring!

Kurt Angle.When this guy is heel you hate his guts.Amazing on the mic,Amazing in the ring.And the thing is he can play ANY heel role.Pyshco,Perfectionist,Power Hungry,anything you can think of really.The Total Package.The best in-ring heel.

Vince McMahon.This guy can heat from saying ONE word.Nobody else can do that.He can literally turn from face to heel in a second.I'm going to go with him as the best heel ever.And the thing is everyone can connect with McMahon.During the Austin/McMahon Saga everyone saw McMahon as the pain in the ass boss.And everyone could connect with Austin making Vince a mega heel.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

I recreated this thread 6 months after you did yours, Monkey, and you're right - it's a great discussion starter. I'd like to see where people stand on this.

My vote from 6+ months ago remains the same today.

Yokozuna is the greatest heel in Wrestling history - or at the absolute least, the last 15 years.

Reason #1 - Superheavyweights make GREAT heels The age-old, Rocky film induced storyline that fans generally get behind is the David vs Goliath underdog story pitting the big, bad heel against the clearly overmatched babyface. This is why SHW's make fantastic heels - they automatically instill fans with that level of underdog passion for the faces. There is no greater example of this than Yokozuna.

I have seen some TALL SHW's in my day (Giant Gonzales, Paul Wight, Khali, etc.) and I have seen some FAT SHW's in my day (One Man Gang, Earthquake) but Yokozuna's bodytype was its own sale. He had such a low center of gravity, and generally remained on the fronts of his feet, so trying to move him or attack him using a frontal assault was nearly impossible. For the longest time, the only men people suspected would be able to use power against him were Hogan and Crush.

2. The Foreign Invasion Card In addition to SHW's making the best heels - foreigners invading the USA made the best heels as well. The WWF learned that lesson EARLY with the likes of The Iron Sheik and Nikoli Volkoff, as well as The Bolsheviks. Yokozuna was the newest evolution of the anti-American species, and the first since Sgt. Slaughter to truly capture the ire of Americans. The cold war was over, and Desert Storm had come and gone, so the inherent rivalry between arguably two of the most developed nations in the world took flight. Yoko came in, scowling at the crowd, waving the Japanese flag, and making everyone wait as he conducted his salt ceremony in the corner. People hated it - it came off as arrogance despite the cultural beauty of the act. Once again WWF played on - quite masterfully - the obnoxious ethnocentrism of the American wrestling fan.

3. Reason #3 - The Entourage Many SHW heels with little or no English mic skills (Khali, Umaga) as well as those who stay off the mic to appear more like absolute silent monsters (Vader, original Kane, anyone ever managed by Harvey Wippleman) were given a manager - a mouthpeice, if you will - to verbally rile up the fans before the SHW dismantled opponents in the ring. Vader had Harley Race in WCW and DiBiase in WWF. Kane had Paul Bearer. Khali has Singh, and Umaga had Estrada. Well, Yokozuna was so awesome, he had an evil Japanese manager in Mr. Fuji (whose anti-American stance had been solidified long before with the Orient Express) AS WELL AS the greatest heel microphone manager ever in Jim Cornette as Yoko's "American Spokesperson." Yes, folks, Yokozuna had an ENTOURAGE. And a great one at that. He never needed to say anything other than "Yo-SHAAAAA!" or "BANZAI!"

Reason #4 - The Margin of Victory Yokozuna was one of the originators of the superstar squash. Long before Jamie Noble and Val Venis were systematically fed to every large man getting a push in the WWE, Yokozuna was winning PPV matches with former superstars in under a minute. He destroyed Virgil at his first Pay Per View, swatting Virgil's meek offense away like a fly. He dismantled Hacksaw Jim Duggan - who holds the odd distinction of being the first man to knock Yokozuna off of his feet in a one on one match several months after his debut - and put Duggan out of action, the American flag draped over his limp body and stained by the blood from his mouth - the result of cracked ribs. And, WITH HIS BACK ON THE CANVAS, he bench pressed Randy Savage so forcefully off of him at the Royal Rumble that Savage vaulted OVER the top rope, giving Yoko a VERY dominating victory.

Reason #5 - The Slaps to the Face There are only three men who come to mind when I think of the rare kick out of Hulk Hogan's leg drop - Sid Justice, Vader (at a one count no less, bitches), and Yokozuna at King of the Ring. That, followed by the systematic annihilation of "The Hulkster" and the inevitable crying kids at ring side, was a classic heel "slap in the face." It got worse, in one of professional wrestlings GREATEST marketing ideas ever - the bodyslam challenge aboard the Intrepid in NYC. It was such a heel move. Fuji and Cornette told the world "We're going to embarrass you on one of your great American landmarks." Killer heat. When Crush and Savage failed, and Luger showed up to stand up for the US, it was one of the best face turns I've ever seen, and Yokozuna further solidified himself as an amazing heel.

 

[njperfection]

Although I feel Edge is the best current heel, and yes IC Yokozuna is a wonderful choice for all the reasons you stated. I would like to add Sgt. Slaughter to the mix.
Slaughter shocked the wrestling world when he turned heel and sided with General Adnan and Iraq. This was a bold move at a time when the US was just about to go to war with Iraq after they invaded Kuwait.
He beat the Ultimate Warrior at the 91 Rumble (with help from Savage) to win the WWF title. Who would have thought that a former pro-USA now turned Iraqi sympathizer now is the WWF Champion!
Many people didn't like the heel turn because they thought it wasn't right to take advantage of what was happening in the world.
Slaughter's interviews were insane, he would taunt the fans and wrestlers, putting down America while standing next to an Iraqi flag.
This angle was so controversial that the WWF had to hire armed guards to protect Slaughters family because someone threatened to blow them up.
Having Adan and Mustafia at his side made him more evil and I iwll never forget him burning the Hogan flag. to me as a kid it felt like he was burning the American flag.
I wasn't the biggest Hogan fan but I was going crazy when Hogan ripped up the Iraqi flag.
To me that period of 90-91, Slaughter epitomized what a heel should be.

 

[wolvdog316]

Even though Million Dollar Man gets my vote as best heel ever, its hard, REALLY hard to dispute Sgt Slaughter. Ill say this, and this is a Bonafide FACT. Not an opinion. NOBODY in the History of wrestling has ever had more heat on them for one year than him. MDM was hot for alot of years, Hogan was a good heel for a few years. Vince, great heel during Attitude era. But this is the only statistic you need to know

WM was MOVED from an open Arena, cause they feared a sniper would try to take out Sgt Slaughter. Ill repeat that. Wrestlemania 7 was MOVED, because Vince feared his TOP Heel could possibly be murdered in the middle of his ring, by SNIPERS. :| And the man STILL had to wear a Flak Jacket half of the time. Thats crazy.

But back to Million Dollar Man, yeah no question its him for longevity.

Ric Flair was an AWESOME heel, but he also got ALOT of cheers. Sorta like the 80's version of a toned down Austin. So did Rocky, even the Rock had some fans. Yokozuna was great, gotta hand it to ya on that one. But he also HAD To depend on strong Faces to make his gimmick work. If he went out and squashed jobbers, wouldn't work. He had to destroy American hero's. Lex, Savage, Hogan, Hacksaw. Can't get any more American than that.

Edge? Edge really got major heat over banging Lita, which in my opinion was jealously not hate. So I rule him out

Hogan was a top heel but again, nWo was getting cheered like crazy. it wasn't until Sting, and then Goldberg, that the nWo was truly a bonafide HEEL group. Which brings me to this question. if Sgt Slaughter was a greatest heel in a short period of time, then Sting would HAVE to be the greatest Face in that 17-18 month angle. They built that storyline up and built and built it. Man that was good stuff.

Anyways, Hogans out. Vince. He is a heel. He is a the greatest heel Part 2. We got Best heels 1)MDM, 1)b)Vince. This guy changed the face of wrestling in 3 words. Bret screwed bret. Amazing. AND he backed it up in the ring.

My third best would be HHH. Man you hated that SOB. But it because he wouldn't lose. EVER. They built him up to be a monster. His defeat of Cactus Jack, Mankind, Mick Foleys retirement, the Title tease of Jericho, simply golden.

But we always get back to Million Dollar Man. He is what a heel is SUPPOSED to be. He NEVER got cheered, EVER, EVER EVER. Not one person cheered him. Everybody hated him, with a passion. And heres another reason why he is #1 and its not even close. Hogan got major heat by beating the Giant, then DDP, then Luger, blah blah. HHH got major heat by beating Rock, Angle, Jericho, never losing blah blah. Million Dollar Man hardly EVER won big time matches. He ALWAYS got his ass kicked by Savage, Hogan, even Virgil. Yet the fans STILL hated him, STILL wanted to see more of him.

SS, he lost against Beefcake and Hogan. lost to Hogan and Savage damn near every time they fought. Lost his title to Virgil for god sakes. And he STILL got major heat. Now think back. had Hogan or HHH jobbed every time to Sting, Luger, DDP, Rock, Austin, Angle Jericho, could they STILL be as hot heel wise? I'm not sure. I don't think so.

Random Heels that also did a fantastic job.

The Mountie. lol Hillarious character and got major heat.

Tully Blanchard. Unlike Flair he hardly EVER got a face pop. EVER. Fans hated him and rightfully so.

King Mabel, Talk about a brilliant heel......lmao yeah I was just fuckin around on that one. My god whoever thought up of that idea should be shot in their dick 3 times. Maybe 4

Buff Bagwell. He was born to play a heel. Too bad WCW kept trying to confuse us with all the heel/face turns. Wasn't there like 13 in one week? I believe so.

bret Hart. During his Anti USA days with Austin, man Bret hat the US hating him. I mean genuine hate. He was SO good on the stick during that run. He even made a guy like the Patriot seem like a somebody for a few weeks. Who? Yeah my point exactly.

Jericho was ALSO born to play a heel. He is just garbage as a face, plain and simple. As a heel he is SO much better. Ill tjhink of more but im exhausted, its nap time

 

[simpsons_fanatic742]

I have some wrestlers in mind for best heel ever:

Hulk Hogan - of course he's on the list, how could he not be. I was actually watching his promo at Bash at the Beach 1996 yesterday and man was the crowd ever PISSED off. When he came in the ring and leg dropped Macho Man, the announcers and the fans reactions were priceless. Then Mean Gene getting in the face of Hogan and Hogan literally ripping apart the fans and the business. Then at the end, the PPV ends with the lines "Hulk Hogan you can go to hell, straight to hell" was what everyone was thinking that night. Epic stuff.

Yokozuna - I love this guy, just something about him that catches my interest. He was an amazing heel. A huge foreigner who took down American Heroes? The recipe for instant heel heat. The managers helped his character alot too and the fact that he was SO agile for a man his size made it all the more believable that couldn't be stopped.

Bret Hart - The hatred against the U.S.A was classic. The promos were beyond awesome and he made fans in the States seriously hate him. There's nothing like going against the U.S.A to get heel heat and he did it perfectly. He worked the crowd so well and they ate him up (in a bad way of course).

 

[Mr_billy]

I'll go with The Weasel, Bobby the Brain Heenan, everyone hated the Heenan family, he always got new heel tag teams, and even was responsible for Andre's heel turn. He was a heel manager to end all managers, and didn't just annoy people the way Jimmy Heart did.

 

[Mr-excitement]

Ted DiBiase's WWF heat was nothing compared to his mid-south heat when he turned on the JYD, nor does it compare to the heat Dick Murdock received when he brainbustered him on the floor, no pads like today and turned him face again years later.

It is sad that the scope of wrestling history has come down to Vince McMahon's wrestling. Freddie Blassie had more heat than anyone NAMED in this thread. Honestly, no one will ever have that kind of heat again, simply because everyone knows it is worked now. In that era, fnas believed it to be true.

For that matter, Piper and the Freebirds had huge heat in the 80s. Piper was stabbed by a fan, and the Birds routinely drove beat up wrecks to areans because the fans would trash their car. What about Gino Hernandez, Dick Murdock, Eddie Gilbert, Kevin Sullivan??

LOL Bobby Heenan and Lou Albano had more heat than edge, in the AWA and WWF respctively during the 70s.

No one has heat now, instead there are fans trained to cheer when their city is mentioned and boo when someone's music plays.

 

[Savage1]

Ill keep this short and sweet...great heels do great promos, adapt to their character well, and have an uncanny ability to generate lots of heat so my top 3 are Bret Hart during the whole "Anti-America" time, Jake Roberts...this guy was genious on the mic. He was sadistic and truly made me think he was a psycho. Rick Rude was one of my favorites cuz he was so damn arrogant. The stuff he did with Jake Roberts and his wife when Jake was a face was great.

 

[Y2Jedi]

A few guys have mentioned some great choices, such as Yokozuna, Ric Flair, Bret Hart, Edge, Triple H, but there's a few that I'd like to chat about. I have several guys who I consider to be the perfect heel. Firstly, as prior mentioned, there is Ted DiBiase. The Million Dollar Man was a great gimmick, perfectly executed by DiBiase. He would taunt the fans with his cash, humiliate people for small sums of cash, RVD included, and was just generally an ass to people! He was truly great. If pushed then I think DiBiase would likely get my vote for best heel of all time, although closely behind would be a few others.

One of the guys that can truly rival DiBiase in the all-time great heel stakes is Mr Perfect. Again, a great gimmick that truly found the right guy to carry it off. Everything combined to make the "perfect" heel. Like DiBiase, Hennig was a great wrestler, his arrogant charisma came off perfectly and he had a great finisher. The great thing about Perfect is that he also got a lot of legit, clean wins over some of the typical hero babyfaces. He was also great at sneaking out the typical heel wins. When a heel starts to win clean then you know he's good. His finisher had massive credibility and once he hit the Perfect Plex then you knew the match was instantly over, up until Summerslam '91 that is.

Another guy on my list would be Jake Roberts. A lot of Jake's heel appeal, as it were, was the pure evil that his character portrayed. Through Jake's high levels of intensity, particular in his promos, you got the feeling that the guy genuinely didn't give a shit and had absolutely no morals. You felt like he would do whatever was needed to be done in order to get the win and to get want he wanted. Added to this was the creepiness of having a snake with him. Plus, Jake participated in an angle that got instant heat like I can never remember seeing before or after. Jake slapping Miss Elizabeth was the ultimate heel action. Back then you never saw a woman get in the ring, let alone get struck, let alone get struck by a man. Jake doing that just further pushed the boundaries of how far this character would go; how much of a plain out evil, nasty bastard this guy was.

Randy Savage is the next guy that stands out for me. No, not the Macho Man, not the Macho Madness, but the Macho King. "Macho King" Randy Savage was a great heel. In fairness, it may be a bit over the top to push him up there as one of the greatest heels of all time, but for a moment there Savage really was detested. Again, it all came down to arrogance with Savage, much like Perfect and DiBiase. The general public hate to have things rubbed in their faces, and guys like Savage, DiBiase and Perfect all knew exactly what buttons to push.

Another guy that stands out to me, from watching WCW in the early '90's, is "Big Van" Vader. Vader came in and right off the bat seemed to rip Sting apart. It was so engrossing to watch. Vader was the ultimate fighting machine. The size and power of him just gave him instant credibility and made you believe that he was going to crush Sting. Vader had an almost deranged side to him by the pure brute force shown in his matches. Add in the perfect heel manager in Harley Race, and you had a great heel for that time.

At one point arguably the most hated man in all of pro wrestling, it's hard to cover this topic and not discuss "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. This was legitimately the guy that people flat out couldn't stand. There wasn't any stray cheers for Piper, there were no occasional face pops. The Piper man was out and out despised. All you need to do is check out his late '70's/early '80's stuff and you can see exactly how to be the ultimate heel. Secondly, if you haven't already got it then go out and get yourself the 3 disk Piper DVD that the WWE released. A great watch!

A quick point to end with now. I have to give Chris Jericho a mention in this thread. I'm a massive Jericho fan, be it heel or face, and think that the guy is a great heel. Ultimately, I think he always garners too many face pops when playing the heel to be considered the best heel of all time, but that is just because the fans these days can see just how good he is, much like Flair in his prime. Maybe after the events of Summerslam Jericho can get some pure legit 100% heel heat, minus the cheers. It's possible.

One thing that has also been touched on by others with several of the guys that I've mentioned is that addition of a manager, or even just slight bias. The guy that helped to get over the majority of guys was Bobby Heenan. Even if Heenan wasn't the manager of a certain heel then he would still put him over superbly when he was on commentary. Would any of the guys have gotten over anywhere near as much if Heenan hadn't been on commentary? Maybe a few, but a lot would have fallen by the wayside.

 

[ssvegita77]

There are a few heels who really deserve to be considered Greatest of All Time.

Eric Bischoff comes to mind immediately. Basically cause I hate him on and off camera. He's a smug SOB who considered himself innovative for rehashing WWF feuds from 10 years prior. He never was willing to push the younger talent that he had tons of. As far as the character goes he made fighting the NWO pointless. Best case in point, the Steiners beat the Outsiders for the belts only to get stripped the night after. I see peoples points about Vince, but I love to hate him. I'd be upset if he took himself off television. I want Eric Bischoff DEAD!!!

Ric FLair of course. So bad for so long, I respect his comittment to Heelocity. If I was aware of WCW/NWA in the 70's & 80's I'd have hated him. I hated him in his WWF run but it didn't last long enough for me to loathe him.

Raven was the best heel ECW ever had. They really built his character and made you want to see him be annihilated by Tommy Dreamer. He was good at being Heel to the point where I don't think a face turn would've worked. Shane Douglas was a close second.

Edge is doing phenomenal Heel work today. I enjoy it so much that I think screwing Lita was the best thing he ever did. Jericho is on his way, but im upset about it. Jericho needs a face title run, it's long overdue.

HBK the heel that I loved to hate. When he turns it on his words are like pure venom. Also he was excellent at being a classic dirty fighter, it was all in the little details of his matches. And how can you forget Montreal 97...they never will. Ultimately Flair was the mold and HBK broke it. Morrison, Miz, Edge, Christian, Bagwell, Jericho, (insert random attractive, conceited wrestler here) think about them and understand that they are all huddled together for heat in HBK's shadow.

 

[Davi323]

I maintain that Hulk Hogan had the single greatest heel turn of all time, but, Hulk excluded, when I think of bad guys, there are really only two guys that come to my mind immediately...The Million Dollar Man, Ted DiBiase, and Rowdy Roddy Piper. As Klunderbunker points out, there wasn't even a shred of decency in him, there was nothing you could possibly root for him for. He was despicable. We hated him. Piper, on the other hand, was just something else. Hot Rod wasn't quite the uberheel DiBiase was, but, holds his own in the visceral hatred department. I don't know how to explain Piper's heelish career, other than to say everyone who grew up watching him as I did knows what I am talking about without needing to articulate it...

 

[Haner388994]

The fact is you can't really choose one great heel so, I am going to say who I beleive is the best heel right now and who si the best heel of all time.

To start off, the way a great heel is created is mainly from their character. Other things that are pretty mush neccesary are charisma, crowd feed back, etc. I think that right now the WWE lacks in really good heels. If I were to pick the best heel right now it would be Randy Orton. Eventhough Orton isn't currently on RAW he is still the best heel right now. When he returns he will just strengthen his heel character.

If I had to choose the best heel of all time, out of all the great heels of the past, I would have to say it is the WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. Vince McMahon has done some things that really have gotten the crowd into an uproar many times. He has done so many things that make him a great heel. He has also been in the business for a very long, long time. I beleive Vince McMahon is the best heel ever because he was one of the original heels in the WWE.