So many minds all thinking the same thing. How interesting. Everyone has basically made the same cases for a select few, and there have been some random name drops, but I've got one that no one has mentioned which blows me away. How you could have missed this guy is beyond me, and will probably leave you thinking "Why the fuck didn't I already think of that?"
He's a former WWE champion, former United States champion, former European champion, former Intercontinental champion, former 3 time World Tag Team champion, boasting 17 Hardcore championship reigns. He is a Triple Crown, and only the 10th Grad Slam champion of all time.
He's tried to hunt illegal immigrants, caused old ladies to have heart attacks, he beats up midgets, hangs people, buys them, he's tried to hit John Cena with a car, threw him through the windshield of a car, and tried to burn him alive inside of it.
If you haven't figured it out by now, I am talking about not just a man but " A WRESTLING, GOD!" John Bradshaw Layfield.
How could you overlook this guy. He's was a heel for his entire career, and was always a good one. JBL was also known to be a heel of sorts outside the ring as he was involved in his fair share of "Altercations" much like Orton. Your talking about a guy who gave the Nazi salute to Germany and goose walked around the ring in front of these people. He also beat up The Blue Meanie for real once too, which led to the Meanie getting a contract extension. JBL always cheated his way through, and cheated more people out of title wins than you can count.
He may not have always been the best wrestler, but that never stopped him. He would stoop to any low to save his title or his pride. JBL was ruthless, aggressive, dastardly, cunning, and he was rich a fuck which meant he could buy his way in or out of anything, he even once had his own group of lackeys he called "The Cabinet" with Orlando Jordan his "Chief of Staff" and the Basham Brothers as his "Secretaries of Defense".
After JBL's comeback when he feuded with Jericho is when I think he really earned his place at the top of the list of good "bad guys". He hung Jericho, I already mentioned what he did to Cena, He bought HBK for God sake, tried to get C.M. Punk to drink Jack Daniels, terrorized Mysterio, beat up Hornswoggle with Finlay handcuffed to a rope aiding Vince McMahon, revealed Hornswoggle to be Finlay's son rather than Vince's "Illegitimate Bastard Son", and he knew exactly how to make you hate him all the time which is a mark of a good heel. He was also able to make you care about the face in any feud he was in because he was such a son-of-a-bitch to them which also shows how great a heel he was.
JBL made meaningless feuds matter, and I think that is one of the biggest things that makes him not just a better heel than Orton, but one of the best heels ever, period. C.M. Punk wasn't the big deal he is now when he feuded with JBL, after that he was launched. Same for Jericho, no one was giving a shit about him until he feuded with JBL and it was shortly thereafter that he turned heel. JBL could teach a course on how to be a heel, and a lot of these guys could learn a lot from him.
A lot of those guys you all named are good heels and I give them their props. I am actually a fan of a lot of their work, but JBL holds a special place in the Heel category for me. Most of those other guys always acted "Crazy" or something and that was part of what made you believe them. JBL never did that, he was just a power hungry rich guy with more money than integrity who loved letting you know it which made you hate him all the more. I think it would be very difficult to make a case for many people over JBL.