The Best Heel Of All Time

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Mudlup50

Championship Contender
I was reading somebody's comment about how Edge was white hot back when he feuded with Undertaker and it made me realize how right this guy was. This was around the time I started aligning more with heels and Edge was just so frigging good at being a heel. I've only watched wrestling since 2004? I think it was 2003? I don't know to be honest, but it's been around a decade. But I'm talking a true heel. Not a heel we all cheer(Bo Dallas, Orton in like 2009/2010 or Rock), I mean a straight up heel.

My pick has to be for Triple H when he was in Evolution. I remember when I just started watching and Hunter would do anything to retain that title. I missed the part where there was just the Undisputed(I rewatched it later but I mean at that point in my life) the title was insanely valuable. I mean Triple H created a faction with 3 guys who basically did what they wanted, he brought a sledgehammer into an elimination chamber match and smashed it in Goldbergs face, not to mention when he was feuding with Goldberg and put a hit out on him(Batista showed up and snapped his ankle). Maybe I was naive back then, but I never heard a single cheer for him. He was just such a douche.

A runner up would be Lesnar during his initial run in the company. I remember when he "feuded" with Zack Gowen(the kid with 1 leg). And the kid is in a wheelchair and he pushed the kid down the steps. There was no way to like him! It was so intense and me as a new fan just ate it up. I didn't care who but I wanted him beaten up badly.

I also thought of Orton when he truly was the legend killer for that like year. When he started the punting with Shawn Michaels. Shawn came to the ring like groggy and methodical Orton shows up and just targets his head. Then he spent months doing the same things to other guys older than his father. I don't know why or when it ended, it just seemed like it stopped.

I know I started this thread with Edge but he's not up there. I think a lot of his heat came from one spot...Vickie Guerrero. On Smackdown when they had that relationship is when I remember it started and she got booed like nobody's business. Then when she came to Raw, with the whole excuse me!!!! thing. She was so hated back then :p

Again, my number 1 is definitely Triple H when he was in Evolution but I"m curious to see what everybody else puts :D
 
Top Heels;
Hulk Hogan's heel turn in 1996 changed the business forever. HBK's heel run in 1997/1998 was brilliant and not many people remember it. But his 2005 heel turn on Hogan was exciting and many wish he had carried on as a heel for another year. Jake Roberts was a brilliant heel in the 1990's; his cobra attack on Macho Man is the stuff of legend. Considering how basic Yokozuna's sumo character was; his unstoppable crushing of wrestlers made him a great heel for his era. Kane's first year in the WWE was brilliantly told and he was an unstoppable monster; I was 14 when he debuted, and his attack on Taker during the HIAC match at Badd Blood 1997 was chilling at the time. Stone Cold's heel run in late 1996 and early 1997 was so good it turned him face; same with the Rock in 1998; and the Rocks heel turn on Mankind at Survivor Series; Deadly game in 1998 was so brilliant it is still one of my favourite ever WWE angles.

Nobody will ever forget Undertaker's debut in WWF; simply one word - WOW.

Kurt Angles initial heel run as a comedy goof but great wrestler was awesome. Kurts debut at Survivor Series 98 was perfect; he came out as an all american hero during the attitude era and people boo'ed him. He got the mic and chastised the audience and it got him super heat; I hated that match until that second; and it was only the weeks that followed did I realise we had witnessed the birth of something really special.

Bret Hart had a fantastic run as a heel in 97; what a refreshing character, not only for Bret but for the wwf. Chris Jericho can play a brilliant heel when he is motivated to; but his heel run in WCW was the best. Edge saved the WWE and helped get Cena even more over with his Rated R gimmick in the mid 2000's.

Rowdy Roddy Piper, Ric Flair and HHH are pro's at bein heels (though I enjoy HHH when he is a comedy face more when he is in DX).

Razor Ramon was great; his loss to X Pac and the 1-2-3 chants he attracted and enticed and played up to made Sean Waltman a star.

Who could forget Owen Harts run in 1994/95. What a legend.

Other notable heels (regardless of ability but more about presence): Andre The Giant, Rick Rude, Earthquake, Money Inc, Pyscho Sid, Batista, Randy Orton, Big Show, Mr Perfect and Diesel.
 
"One-two, this on?...."

I really like the OP's pick of Triple H. While I think that there are heels that have been far more effective drawing massive heat on a whim (The Rock, Vickie Guerrero, Vince McMahon etc.), I still feel like over the course HHH's career, he managed to believably be the roadblock to many of the babyfaces. If his real-life reputation were less egotistic and more humble, this might be a no-brainer for most.

The reason why his heel work is so unique is because post Hunter Hearst Helmsley days, he was essentially the best definition of a tweener (yes, even more so that Stone Cold). While feuding with Mick Foley, The Rock, Stone Cold, Kane, or Jericho, HHH managed to get people to stop cheering for the "coolness" of his faction and boo the shit out of him for being in the way of their successes. He's got to play the villain to some of the greatest legends in the business for over 15 years and still manages to do so while drawing significant hatred from the crowd. Couple that with his unfavorable reputation outside of kayfabe and you have the greatest heel of all time.
 
Of all time? That covers a multitude of eras... I can tell you it is NOT Triple H in any of them though...

How are you judging it? Is it the amount of heat they draw compared to the effort needed to get it? If so then you would be looking at people like Roddy Piper, Rick Rude, Ric Flair and Chris Jericho or any "Russian/Foreign" villain ever.

If you're judging it on who was the most "evil" character, then you're looking at guys like Vince McMahon, Hulk Hogan when he turned, Sgt. Slaughter during the Iraq days, Jake Roberts during his heel run in WWE or Bobby Heenan.

If it's about who was the "coolest heel" then it's Austin, Pillman, Shawn, Taker during his first run or Mr. Perfect.

Someone mentioned Vicki... she is perhaps the most natural heel I have ever seen in some ways, her abilities to get insane levels of heat and hatred were incredible for someone with such a short career and no real training but she's not the best of all time.

For all the Killer Kowalskis of the world etc... I think the winner has to be... Mr. McMahon. To take a benevolent character like announcer Vince and spin it into the monster he became.. he won the title, the Rumble and we lapped it up... he made guys kiss his ass... he even brought GOD into it... and he screwed over his top guy... publicly... and you know he'd do it again... It's Vince... has to be.
 
THTRobtaylor said:
Of all time? That covers a multitude of eras... I can tell you it is NOT Triple H in any of them though...

How are you judging it? Is it the amount of heat they draw compared to the effort needed to get it? If so then you would be looking at people like Roddy Piper, Rick Rude, Ric Flair and Chris Jericho or any "Russian/Foreign" villain ever.

If you're judging it on who was the most "evil" character, then you're looking at guys like Vince McMahon, Hulk Hogan when he turned, Sgt. Slaughter during the Iraq days, Jake Roberts during his heel run in WWE or Bobby Heenan.

If it's about who was the "coolest heel" then it's Austin, Pillman, Shawn, Taker during his first run or Mr. Perfect.

Someone mentioned Vicki... she is perhaps the most natural heel I have ever seen in some ways, her abilities to get insane levels of heat and hatred were incredible for someone with such a short career and no real training but she's not the best of all time.

For all the Killer Kowalskis of the world etc... I think the winner has to be... Mr. McMahon. To take a benevolent character like announcer Vince and spin it into the monster he became.. he won the title, the Rumble and we lapped it up... he made guys kiss his ass... he even brought GOD into it... and he screwed over his top guy... publicly... and you know he'd do it again... It's Vince... has to be.
Click to expand...

How was Hogan evil when he turned? I'm seriously asking, I didn't watch back then(I would've been like 3-5) I just assumed he turned his back on his fans, not really evil in my book.

Yea Vince definitely has to be up there, I think he's the reason why the bad boss gimmick still works so well today. Between his feuds with Stone Cold, DX(2006) and his faking of his death twice in one year. He definitely has to be considered and I feel stupid for leaving him off :p

But yea I am asking all time, I just didn't wanna comment on people I wasn't watching to see if that makes sense? I never witnessed Hogan as a heel or Flair as a super heel or Sgt Slaughter. Now if they show up they get cheered regardless, perfect example is Roddy Piper...I've always heard about him being a huge douche but now he shows up, gets cheered and can be a douche still.
 
Jonyboyuk2 said:
Top Heels;

Nobody will ever forget Undertaker's debut in WWF; simply one word - WOW.

.
Click to expand...

I always thought Undertakers first appearance was one giant rib against Dusty Rhodes. I had visions of Vince pulling him aside backstage at survivor series and saying 'Mark you go out there and no sell to that fat bastard'.

If you say that in Vince's voice its almost believable.:lmao:
 
Imo the greatest heel of all time has to be Vince Mcmahon. The guy was ruthless, twisted, sadistic, and people just plain wanted him to get his ass kicked every single night. From around 1999-2002, Vince would barely be able to get a word out during his promos, because as Stone Cold would say, "You've got 22 000 people calling you an asshole". I personally loved Vince because I respected his work, but from a kayfabe perspective, I absolutely loathed the guy and would mark out whenever he got duped by Austin, Rock, Foley etc.

I like you mentioning HHH and I agree that he was a great heel, but I disagree that his best heel run was his 2005 Evolution gimmick. Imo HHH was one of the most true heels of all time during 1999-2000. At this point HHH, Steph, and DX were basically "running the company" and garnering massive heat for the stunts that they would pull. Also HHH's feud with Mick Foley cemented him as THE top heel in the business. If HHH was good at one thing, it was garnering heat.

Last person I would like to mention is Roddy Piper. Piper did ANYTHING he thought would generate heat on himself, and I mean anything. This was a great time in wrestling because the heels actually ACTED like heels and were allowed to do basically whatever they wanted to get heat. Piper's hate in the late 80's was nearly akin to Hogan's love and that's saying something.
 
I also think Vince is a great heel for obvious reasons. The WWE Network has really given me a huge appreciation for Rick Rude as well. Guys wanted to jump over the barricade to knock him out... that's a GREAT heel. He had the look, and knew exactly what to say and do.

Jeff Jarrett- Another great heel. His country gimmick was perfect for him, and he never failed to make a great opponent for a hot face. You could cut his heat with a knife at times. Finally, I think JBL was an amazing heel in the mid-2000's, especially with his long title run, I couldn't stand him.... in the way he intended.
 
Just because things occurred before our ability to remember them doesn't make them less important....and after all, the title of this thread is "The Best Heel of All Time"..... so based on what I've read and been told by folks older than me, I'm going to go with a guy I never saw fight live: Killer Kowalski.

The guy was lean and mean in an era when many wrestlers had flab hanging over their belt-lines. He genuinely looked as if he wanted to kill people, and my Dad and uncles told me of the hatred he inspired in arenas just by walking to the ring. He couldn't make it without being pelted by garbage or doused with water/beer/soda. Once the bell rang, he was vicious and ruthless, wearing down opponents with brawling tactics; none of them clean.

He looked and acted so deadly that, despite most wrestlers making the transition between good guy and bad guy numerous times in their careers, Kowalski was so hated that they couldn't even try him as a face.

I wish I could see footage of Kowalski's matches against WWWF champion Bruno Sammartino. The ultimate good guy vs. the ultimate bad guy.

Must have been something.
 
I think the greatest heel of all time was Ric Flair. He did anything and everything to get and make sure he kept the World Heavyweight Championship. When he and the Four Horsemen ran wrestling, everyone wanted to be like them and associated them. They did all of the things then that some of the stables today do except better.
 
This thread has been done to death but my answer will never change. It's simple...

The Million Dollar Man. During his time in the ring, he was never cheered. Never. Not once. That speaks volumes.
 
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For me, the greatest heel would have to be one that the fans didn't start cheering for while they were still supposed to be a heel.

It's a problem a lot of heels have had over the years, wanting to be cool while being the bad guy. I don't consider that playing the heel all that well honestly. A lot of 90s/00s heels did that.

I'd say Rick Rude certainly belongs on the list, as does Ted DiBiase as Million Dollar Man. Those are both guys who didn't play to the cool side at all, just had downright distaste for the fans.

Vince McMahon's run as Mr. McMahon from 97 forward was up there for sure as the best run ever.

Hollywood Hogan was outstanding as well. Even though he was part of the cool rebel group, Hogan didn't portray himself as a redeemable character at all. He was a total egomaniac, completely untrustworthy, cheating to win matches, fans hated him, etc. Yes, there were fans that still cheered for him because it was cool to be for the heels, but it wasn't because Hogan was being cool. If that makes sense.

Eric Bischoff deserves credit as well. Most of Mr. McMahon's character came from Easy E who mastered the corrupt authority figure well before McMahon. Heck, they even stole exact schtick from the nWo with regards to the tag titles being awarded back and stuff like that. His heel heat helped keep the nWo's heat alive when the fans were cheering for Savage and Hall and Nash was frequently injured and Hogan was rarely wrestling. He still holds heel heat to this day, is so entrenched as a heel that getting over as a face would be almost impossible for him. He is only hated on because people blame him for messing up WCW and TNA or something like that.

So, hard for me to pick one right now. Mr. McMahon, Easy E, Hollywood Hogan, Million Dollar Man and Rick Rude are my top five for today.
 
Hogan was not "evil" per se. BUT, I was born in 1982 and in the UK the only Wrestling they had before 1988 was awful. It was called "World of Sport" and the main stars were "Big Daddy" and "Giant Haystacks" (both of whom trained or worked with up and comers such as Dynamite Kid (who has influenced MANY wrestlers such as Bret Hart, Bulldog, Punk, Benoit, Jericho) and Chris Adams (who trained Stone Cold Steve Austin and Scott Hall) and William Regal.

When the WWF/WWE came to the UK in broadcast on Sky TV/Satelite TV, the 2 big babyfaces at the time were Hogan and Warrior. Kids LOVED them!

Eventually, the hype died down. Hogan disappeared in 1992 and made brief appearances in 1993 before resurfacing in WCW. His act was stale, it was old and afer 13 years people had become sick of Hogan's act and people just did not follow him (most wrestling fans became Bret Hart fans).

So when Hogan turned Heel, all the teenagers who had been little children when Hogan was the king of Wrestling, were in total shock. It is like Batman becoming a badguy or Superman turnign bad. It as unthinkable. This coupled with the NWO takeover storyline reversed the flagging fortunes of the Wrestling/Sports Entertainment industry.
It pushed WCW to new heights and WWF/WWE had to change course to compete; which brought us Stone Cold and the Rock.

The one person I missed out earlier was Vince McMahon.The Mr McMahon character came about because WCW had broken so much new ground.

I think, after all the suggestions I made earlier, and considering how important Hogans heel turn is; I do not believe there was ever a better villain in Wrestling than the Mr McMahon character; for obvious reasons.
 
For me, it's easily VKM.

Just because of how into that character he got, and how passionate he was, and how much of complete sack of monkey crap he was, from the Austin feud to Undertaker's higher power to...everything else he did.

And VKM was the greatest heel because he always let the face make a fool of him in the end. He was always willing to be the horse's ass and the heel all the way to the end. He didn't find cheap ways out of the payoff. VKM always made you cringe, and always gave you what you wanted - his ass being kicked.
 
Wel, as you pointed out, there are two types of heel; those who get cheered because they are so damn good and those who get booed because they are either boring or they are so damn good at getting booed.

Since you are asking who is the best heel at getting the real kayfabe heat boo, overall, I'd say it is either Vince McMahon or HHH. I would have to go with HHH simply because of the longevity. Look back in the Attitude Era when he was teaming with Austin. They were facing Chris Jericho and Punkoit (ya I said it) and they were getting serious heat.
When Jericho won the WWF title from Hunter, HHH was getting booed by the entire arena because of his bitch and moan tactics.
Lately, this whole thing with Bryan. The Raw after WM saw the ENTIRE ARENA chanting ASSHOLE to HHH for a good 20 seconds.

Some time down his career, he was neither a face nor a heel. Well, you could take him as a face, because of his rare appearances, but he was nothing. Simply was there for himself, like during his matches with Taker. But when he was a heel, he was really good at getting heat and it really reflects to something that I believe Michael Hayes had said; "HHH isn't the guy who is gonna be THE star, he is the guy that you put against THE stars", simply because of his ability to draw cheers or boos from the crowd depending on the situation.

P.S.: Well, when you go against Cena, you can be the biggest heel in the company, but you can't escape getting cheered.... #WM22
 
It amazes me how people tend to forget the first "good" heel - Gorgeous George.

I wasn't alive when Gorgeous George was active. Hell, my mother wasn't even alive. Hell, my grandmother wasn't even alive. But I will always consider Gorgeous George to be the greatest heel ever solely based on the fact that he was the first heel to go outside the box and do something different, culminating in the creation of the "good" heel. Think of great heels like Triple H and Edge, and then take away their character and what made them good; what are you left with? Gorgeous George's flamboyant character was the first good heel character in wrestling history.

If you want to be a bit more modern, I'd say my second favorite heel is Randy Orton, and then Chris Jericho.
 
So so many, the start of the nWo in those very early days when Hogan joined. At BATB '96 you really do wonder who they got out alive.

Ric Flair was the absolute master of heel tactics but he was always the heel everyone loved.

Shawn Michaels always worked better as a heel in my opinion and I think he enjoyed it more.

Bret Hart during the Canada vs America storyline as a heel in the States was tremendoys (infact my favourite time in the WWF).

Vince McMahon has to be one of the greatest of all time, maybe even the greatest heel of all time.
 
For a non-wrestler, the trophy has to go to Vince McMahon. The man behind his own daughter's kidnapping thanks to the Ministry, evil billionaire, his feuds with Austin, the Montreal Screwjob, the 'cancer' promo where he brought in the NWO, his "You're Fired!" catchphrase, etc. He has been loathed for his actions over the years.


In ring? Man, that is tough, but I have to give it to Roddy Piper. Just a tough, smart mouthed, son of a bitch. Not afraid to cut corners or break the rules & his heel persona over the years has even caused people to legitimately hate the guy. When you are that good at being a heel that fans actually hate you, then I think that qualifies you for the title of best heel. Plus lets not forget his rivalry with Hogan & all the Piper's Pit shenanigans that has been etched into our memories. When I think heel, I think Rowdy Roddy Piper.
 
I'm always gonna have a soft spot in my heart for my favorite wrestler of all time, the Million Dollar Man. He had a combination of everything... sure, with the Million Dollar Corporation, he had a ton of lackeys to hide behind. But when you had to fight him, he could destroy you and put you right to sleep with that Million Dollar Dream. Hell, he's got a gimmick that would garner even more heel heat today. Picture him coming back as some kind of investment banker or super-pac organizer. The fact that he's never won the WWE title is one of the biggest travesties in wrestling history, and one I've spent many a night trying to fix through fantasy booking.
 
Rick Rude

He had the physique. He had the mic skills. He had the sleezy push broom mustache. Most importantly.. there was nothing about him to like as a fan favorite.
 
to me the goal of a heel isnt to be your "favorite", a real heel makes you hate him and has absolutely no redeeming qualities. the only wrestler who comes to mind that i hated as a kid and still hate today is the honky tonk man. honky did his job because to me it is so gratifying to see honky lose
 
the top 3 Heels of all time (in no particular order)

Ric Flair- the man was the picture of a perfect heel champion in the 80s, flaunted his riches, hid behind the Horsemen and could get it done in the ring as well as on the mic.

Hollywood Hogan- no other man can say they are in the top face and top heel lists of all time but the Hulk can. Hollywood was about as big a heat magnet as you could find. His turn revolutionized the sport and ushered in the Attitude Era in the WWF. You know you're onto something great when the fans pelt you with garbage for a full 6 months after you turn heel.

Vince Mcmahon- wasn't the first to do the evil boss (Eric Bischoof beat him to it by a good 18 months) but damn did it make for compelling TV when he did and the fact that he created that character from what shouldve been a crash and burn for the WWF in montreal was pure genius.
 
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