Monster Heels!

[The Eighties]

Seeing the way big Zeke was presented on Smackdown last night reminded me of the old days of monster heels, I loved that period in wrestling.

As a kid I admit I was intimidated by Sid Viscous, when he came down to the ring i literally feared for the jobbers safety. He was the ultimate monster visually, looking like an escaped insane patient chiseled out of rock.

I recall the awe when Shawn Michaels insurance policy Diesel made his way down to the ring on Raw, this was a 7 foot monster of a different kind, coming off more as a badass trucker than freakish mammoth.

For many The Big Boss Man is just Vince's security guard that Taker hung at Wrestlemania XV, but back in 88/89 he was a 350lb monster that beat up and dominated Hulk Hogan like no one else had done at the time, he was more agile and had much more viscous looking offense than most of the monsters Hogan faced, plus he cut a mean promo. The feud culminating in a cage match at SNME was quite spectacular back in 89.

Then there is The Undertaker himself, the way he initially destroyed The Ultimate Warrior before facing Hogan at Survivor Series 91 was as impressive of a monster push as you will see, fans really were scared for Hogan as he faced this zombie like monster that seemingly felt no pain and was deceptively agile.

1992/93 is perhaps my favourite time for monster heels, as perhaps the best two in the business history came to prominence.

In WCW there was...

VADER



An ex NFL player, Vader was built like a tank, so wide his chest and back looked like it was a boulder from the Rocky Mountains he hailed from, his style of offense was what really got him over though, he was stiff as hell so his size was amplified by how badly he roughed the guys he worked up, what was unique though was how agile and mobile he was, his feud with Sting is one of the greatest in wrestling history IMO.

Over the way in the WWF they had their answer in the form of....

YOKOZUNA



Despite not being Japanese the sumo champion gimmick was gold as it combined two of the biggest heel types of the day, the 'monster' and the 'foreigner'. Yokozuna however was more than just a gimmick, despite his mammoth size he was surprisingly agile and one of his best tricks was when he'd allow a face some comeback offense before cutting them off with a burst of movement into a super kick or karate thrust that seemed impossible for a man so large.

His push was classic monster heel booking and one of the biggest in WWF history, from the squash matches to the Rumble win, to him winning the title at Wrestlemania and then winning it a second time from the Hulkster. His time as a top guy was shorter than Vader's but he main evented two Wrestlemania's in a row which speaks a lot of how good he was at what he did.

In the modern era I'd cite Cena vs Umaga as the best example of how a monster heel can still work, and to me it was the closest thing to Sting vs Vader we have seen.

So I've rambled on enough, I've mentioned just a few examples, anyone else here a fan of monster heels? if so which ones?

 

[psg15]

Yeah these days to be a monster heel you have to tall like the great kahi or big show. Most monster heels today are guys like Tyson Kidd's bodyguard Jackson Andrews or Eli Cottonwood.

 

[Lionheart_Y2J_fan.]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Mark Henry or Brock Lesnar. They were great monster heels. The way they dominated the WWE was spectacular. Lesnar was one of the most hated WWE champions of all time. Once Lesnar's music hit the crowd absolutely erupted with boo's. There were also times where Mark Henry drew major heat from the crowd on ECW during his ecw championship run a few years ago. WWE needs to bring back these kinds of heels. Keep Nexus but also bring back some Monster Heels.

 

[King Blitzkonic]

I love monster heels! If they use Zeke properly (which they hadn't done thus far up till now) he could easily be right up there with the best. Problem is that the red trunks have got to go. Right now he's looking like a slightly bigger version of Ahmed Johnson and we remember how that turned out.

Side note: I know Big Show helped a little bit on that slam but for Zeke to keep him up there that long... That was mighty.

And looking at my avatar, I have to agree with the OP about Vader. But let's talk about a modern monster heel:

KANE

Admittedly he's not shown quite as dominant as when he first debuted but Kane remains a guy that no one wants to mess with.

And another guy that COULD be a monster heel now if allowed: SAMOA JOE. Like Yoko and Vader did, Joe has that scary combination of speed and power with pretty decent promo abilities.

Anycase. My three favorite old-school monster heels:

1. Vader: For all the reasons mentioned by the OP. Let's not forget that this big lug could do dropkicks and moonsaults as well as bash your skull in! The moonsault's been shown a lot but not the dropkick:

2. Sid Vicious: Talk bout vicious. This guy's powerbomb put down a LOT of opponents over the years. Not too many people can brag that they beat all three of the following great icons: Sting, Taker, and HBK.

3: Scott Norton: Easily one of the most underrated. He was big, ugly, and powerful. One of the top 3 powerbombs in the biz IMO.

 

[The Eighties]

Side note: I know Big Show helped a little bit on that slam but for Zeke to keep him up there that long... That was mighty.

That was an incredible feat, the way it looked so easy as well really sold Zeke as a monster, plus the clothesline that leveled Show was sold perfectly.

Anycase. My three favorite old-school monster heels:

1. Vader: For all the reasons mentioned by the OP. Let's not forget that this big lug could do dropkicks and moonsaults as well as bash your skull in! The moonsault's been shown a lot but not the dropkick:

His agility was amazing, if you look at his matches with Sting it is incredible the variety of moves and counters they are able to do, the face is rarely able to get the kind offense Sting got on Vader in those matches.

3: Scott Norton: Easily one of the most underrated. He was big, ugly, and powerful. One of the top 3 powerbombs in the biz IMO.

Very underrated indeed, I was often surprised WCW did so little with him as he seemed an ideal opponent for Hulk Hogan as he was a legit tough guy and looked it.

 

[spinningtorturerack]

I love a good monster heel me. One personal favourite was Nathan Jones when he first debuted with Matt Morgan as apart of team Lesnar. Incredible I loved him because he seemed brutal, though now I can see through the charade to his rubbish wrestling.

The problem with monster heels is that they storm into the company quickly dispose of a lot of the roster to seem unstoppable, just to be defeated by the hero at the top, and then left with nothing to do as they have been defeated by the person they were sent to destroy (see: Vladmir Koslov, Great Khali, Giant Gonzalez etc).

The exception, of course, is the classic monster heel, Andre the giant. This massive man had a very long winning streak, and surprisingly was able to maintain a large proportion of dominance after the slam heard around the world. Mostly likely due to size.

 

[Dyno Kid]

For me some of the best monster heels:

The Road Warriors- When they first hit the scene they just blew everyone away ! 2 roided up monsters that just destroyed everyone in their path !

The One Man Gang- Before he came to the WWF and Vince turned him into a joke the man with the 747 was a killer ! Had great feuds with Kerry Von Erich in WCCW and Jim Duggan in Mid-South/UWF !

Bruiser Brody- The "Intelligent Monster" as he was known in Japan was a world wide star who came into every territory and put fear in the heart of every face around !

Nikita Koloff- From 1984-1986 the "Russian Nightmare" was the perfect monster heel ! He had the look, the body, and he just ate his opponents alive !

Stan Hansen- "The Bad Man from Borger, Texas" was 6'3" and 320lbs. of ass kicking monster ! Just killed his opponents and then you throw in the greatesst finisher of all time the Lariat and you got Stan Hansen !

 

[The Eighties]

The One Man Gang- Before he came to the WWF and Vince turned him into a joke the man with the 747 was a killer ! Had great feuds with Kerry Von Erich in WCCW and Jim Duggan in Mid-South/UWF !

It was always a surprise to me that One Man Gang was not used against Hogan, he was tailor made for a feud with the Hulkster in that period while Macho Man was champion, and they even kept him strong at the tourney emant at WMIV when he went out by DQ.

Another couple of monster heels that didn't do as well in the WWF as I thought they might were.....

Mr Hughes



He seemed on the road to a feud with Taker in 93, he had possession of the urn, but then disappeared. He had short spells as a bodyguard for Triple H in 97 and Chris Jericho in 99.

Kurgan



His snap gimmick with the Jackal seemed like it had Ivan Drago potential as he looked truly monstrous, however the business was changing and monster heels weren't as prevalent and he sucked. He ended up as a comedy act in The Oddities.

 

[MinistryDeadman95]

Man, I just joined this forum and I love it. I think that monster heels are awesome, and can make for some of the greatest gimmicks ever in pro wrestling history. If you don't believe me, here a few: The Undertaker, Kane, Yokozuna, Umaga, Andre the Giant, Road Warriors, Vader, Brock Lesnar, Goldberg just to name a few. They can make for some great feuds and storylines.

Umaga, probably the most recent of these guys, was and had one of my favorite gimmicks ever. He had so much ring presence, I almost felt scared for his opponents, hell he even scared me. His feuds with Jeff Hardy, John Cena, Bobby Lashley, Triple H, was great. His feud with fellow monster Kane, was all right, I think it could have been much better.

Brock Lesnar, another recent example of a monster heel, was phenomenal. So strong, huge, and quick, he was a suplex and wrestling machine. He hurt people. He brock Holly's neck, who can forget the F5 he gave Albert, KO'ed Jeff Hardy, manhandled both the Hardyz at the same time, beat legends like Hogan, Undertaker, The Rock, he could throw around and F5 guys like Big Show, Rikishi, Mark Henry, Kane, Brock Lesnar had one of the best build ups ever; some can say it was too fast, but I think it was pretty perfect timing.

I was always a huge fan of monster heels. I think Mason Ryan could be the next huge monster heel. That's not bad thing, but I haven't really seen much of him. Cool, topic. I definitely agree. Monster heels are great gimmicks, if done right.