Who is the first heel you remember rooting for?

[jmt225]

I guess this question is specifically for those who have been watching since you were a kid. I mean, unless you were a little asshole, kids are usually cool enough to root for the heroes and boo the villains of the show. As teenagers and adults though, we gravitate towards the "cool" characters or characters we can personally relate to; it doesn't matter what side of the fence they play on.

Anyway, the question I'm curious about... when you were a child, who was the first 'bad guy' that you can remember actually rooting for and what made you root for them?



For me, the answer is undoubtedly Mr. Perfect. Now, there were still times I rooted against him (vs. Bret Hart & The Texas Tornado specifically... two guys I worshiped as a kid), but at the same time I clearly remember rooting for him when he faced someone like the Red Rooster or Brutas Beefcake or Ronnie Garvin or Jimmy Snuka... you know, guys like that.

I think there were two reasons why this was. The first was the way he carried himself. The guy oozed charisma. He was so believably confident and specifically nonchalant about it, which you didn't see in many heels back then. Usually the heels in the late eighties and early nineties were either just loud, obnoxious goofballs, or slimy scumbags. Perfect was neither.

The second reason was because I thought his finishing move, the Perfect Plex, was the most awesome move in the WWF at the time. I probably spent well over $100 of my mom's hard earned money in quarters on the old arcade game Wrestlefest, and I always picked Mr. Perfect in that game, specifically because of the Perfect Plex. What other finishing move was there back then that went straight into a pinfall besides like a splash? I just loved it.

 

[OldSchoolWrestlingFan]

There are two that stick out in my mind & I can't really remember rooting for one before the other ~ nikita koloff & the Great Muta

Koloff probably was actually first but I am not really for sure ~ I like everything about him, his sheer power/strength, his finisher & the overall way he carried himself to/in the ring. I would be the only one of my friends that would stand and cheer as he would nail the faces with that monster clothesline. I even got the chance to accompany him to the ring at a local house show waiving the Russian flag, I was in heaven that night.

To me Muta had it all ~ great makeup, creative outfits, unique moveset and what one me over as a kid.....THE MIST!!!!! When I saw him spit out that mist for the first time I was on his bandwagon from that point forward. I used to practice with Kool~Aid trying my best to get it down just right. I even went as far as to create a wrestler that I was going to become which was like (in the background I was adopted from america and raise and trained by him). He won me over!!

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

The Outsiders.

I was always a big fan of Hulk Hogan as a kid in the 80's. When he moved to WCW I shortly followed. When Hall first debuted on WCW TV I was excited. I knew exactly who he was (as I still occasionally followed WWF) and when he specifically mentioned he had a "big" surprise, I was so excited hoping it was Diesel (Nash). I loved their antics leading up to the big Triple Threat match where Hogan debuted as the third member.

It was still great with Hogan, but part of me was disappointed a little as my childhood favorite wrestler was now a bad guy. I remember even marking out once as Hollywood Hulk Hogan "hulked up" in a match against Ric Flair.

Still, as much as I still liked Hollywood Hulk Hogan, no heels were ever cooler than the original Outsiders.

 

[ComeOnVince]

Jake Roberts. I loved Jake the Snake, and he was always a face to me. For what reason, I have no idea. Same with Hitman. I always rooted for Hart, even when he was a heel.

 

[Hendog]

Born in 91 so I was 9 at the time and it was Triple H. Throughout 2000 and 01 before his injury I always cheered for him even when he was against Rock and Stone Cold. I don't really know why either in all honesty as I liked Austin and Rock and all my frtiends at school liked the good guys too.

I remember the 3SOH match at No Way Out 01 and I was the only guy that came into school the next day happy as Triple H picked up that "flukey" win by falling on Austin after the double chair shot.

I can't really recall why but it was probably because of the D-X stuff being funny and rebellious.

 

[Woodstuff]

Triple H. The greatest heel of all time.

 

[martymcfly]

Kurt Angle in WWE around 2000. He was a heel but to me he was just so funny on the mic that I liked him. At this point I honestly cannot remember specifics, but he was probably the first heel that I really enjoyed watching.

 

[jrush1978]

For me the very first time was HBK. When he faced Rick Martel at SummerSlam. So being heel vs heel it kind of forced you to and I wasn't a teenager yet. Though I did think it was 'cool' to get to cheer for Michaels at the time.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

For me it was HBK. I was such a huge fan of his as a kid, that even when he was supposed to be a heel, I still cheered for him. It literally was for no good reason other than my name being Michael, and his last name was Michaels. That was all it took for young Yazzy to cheer for him at the time.

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

I want to say Stonne Cold in 1997 and I always rooted for him after WM13 and his face turn. However, the first TRUE heel I rooted for was around September 1998 - The Rock. i remember Kane and Undertaker beating on the NOD and he walked out to the ring and walked right in and told them both to get out of The Rocks ring. The Rock tehn teased a baby face turn until Survivor Series 1998 - which is still my favourite PPV ever in terms of originality. That made the Main Event at WM 15. I remember this because everyone was itching to cheer the Rock.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Randy Savage.

He was so evil that I found it impossible to root against him......always anxiously waiting to see what he'd do next. I was only 6 when he first showed up and first learning that bad guys weren't really bad. Plus, the rotten way he treated Miss Elizabeth (my idol) made me genuinely hate him even as I rooted for him.

Turning him good by '88 seemed exactly the right move at the time, so I still cheered him, yet my favorite Macho Man years were his first with WWE.

 

[FlairFan2003]

Still, as much as I still liked Hollywood Hulk Hogan, no heels were ever cooler than the original Outsiders.

The original Four Horsemen....the original "Cool Heels". With their designer suits, matching Rolex's, and the constant partying and gambling, not too mention some of the best matches any company was putting on at the time, these guys were perfect 80s "Cool Bad Guys", the JR Ewing's of the wrestling world.

I still remember going to live shows circa 1986 & 1987 and seeing large groups of fans all dressed in three piece suits and sun glasses (aka Ric Flair) showing the four finger sign of the group, something un heard of, large groups of fans actively cheering FOR the bad guys.

They also had some of the greatest screw job endings ever to stay ahead of the heroes, JJ Dillon stealing the prize money from a crippled Magnum TA so Dusty Rhodes would get counted out & lose his $100,000 vs TV Title Match vs Tully Blanchard in June 87, the Baby Doll switch that cost Dusty the World Title in Oct 86, the constant use of dress shoes and quarter rolls as weapons to win matches, Blanchard dressing his valet up as ringside security to distract TA so he could pin him and win the US Title.

They also had the most brutal beatdowns of the day....breaking Dusty's leg, the parking lot mugging and baseball bat attack on Dusty, pummeling Lex Luger and bashing his head off his limo, the nasty "rub his face in the concrete and knee drop his face into the concrete" beatdown on Ricky Morton, classic stuff. The Horsemen circa 85-88 in their heyday were the original "Cool Heels" and had lots of fans switching sides to cheer for them even though they routinely jeered other heels.

 

[arashikage20]

Rowdy Roddy Piper. It was a Saturday night and my mother let me stay up late. I was flicking through channels (the old way, before we had a TV with a remote, made worse by the fact that it was good ole rabbit ears to boot). I remember coming across some guy that was kicking the s*** out of Mr T. Turned out to be Saturday Night's Main Event and Roddy was beating down the tough guy from The A-Team to set up for WrestleMania 2. Pulled me in hook, line and sinker. Been watching ever since.

 

[K Web V3]

Owen Hart. My all time favorite is Bret, but I always kinda rooted for Owen when head to head. I've always since I was a kid pretty much liked the heels, but Owen stood out. I liked his cocky arrogance, n then just like his brother, he'd go out n technically take his opponent apart.

Bret v Owen at wmX was amazing. Best match of the night, that gets over shadowed by hbk v razor (also a classic)

Bret v Owen at summerslam 94 in a cage match was incredible. Go watch it now. Seriously. Perfect.

Then Owen gets even more evil when he pleads n persuades dear old mom, Helen hart to throw in the towel for Bret vs backlund at survivor series. That laugh after Bret loses his title was just a total dick move, n I was down lol.

Owen was a good heel no matter what, but him n Bret he was at his peak.

 

[dd23beatlesfan1]

The first heel I ever fully rooted for was Bam Bam Bigelow.. There were three reasons for this.

1. How he looked. I absolutely loved his flame tattoos on his head, and the fire on his outfit. He just looked like a bad-ass and totally cool.

2. I was amazed at the stuff he did in the ring. The cartwheels, the moonsaults, the other moves off the top rope. I was in awe that a guy so huge could do things that Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, and the 1-2-3 Kid could do.

3. When he returned to WWE in 1993, which was the first time I actually saw him, as I wasn't watching in the late 80's, yet, he was the only bad guy that I saw that never cheated or did something cowardly. I hated how Money Inc would constantly lose matches by DQ and count-out to keep the titles away from LOD and the Natural Disasters, among others. I hated how Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels would cheat in matches to win. I hated how Yokozuna would use Mr. Fuji to interfere for him and win (even though he was a monster). Bam Bam, at least early on, never cheated. He just flat out won his matches fair and square by beating guys up. Even when Luna Vachon joined up with him, he didn't really cheat to win for the most part. I liked that about him, he wasn't really a bad guy in that sense. Just a bad-ass you didn't want to mess with.


The combination of how cool he looked, the amazing moves he did, and that he never really cheated made me like the guy.

To this day, I feel he was the most under-utilized wrestler in the history of WWE. He should've gotten Yokozuna's run as WWE champion in 1993 as the monster heel champ for Bret to eventually dethrone. And if the Kliq hadn't been around, he could've been a top 2-3 babyface for Vince after he fell out with Ted Dibiase's corporation. He should've been so much more than he ended up being (though he had a great run in ECW).

He'll always be one of my favorite heels ever.

 

[wrestler36]

first guy that came to mind for me was Razor Ramon. At the time, I kind of remembered him as the Diamond Studd in WCW, but I liked his Razor vignettes immediately. The 'Bad Guy,' with his Cadillac, gold chains, one hair going forward. I guess I wasn't in the minority because they turned him face in what, less than a year?

 

[@smarkmouth]

On a purely superficial level, the first heel I rooted for was Dino Bravo, as I am from Montreal as well. Mind you that I was very young, so I didn't know that wrestling was a work. There were no other reasons for me to like Dino at the time, other than being billed from Montreal.

Once I "wisened up" to being worked, the next heel I loved was Bret Hart, in the thick of the Hart Foundation. There was still that superficial love for the Canadian hero which carried on from when he was a babyface, but bad guy Bret was far more nuanced than Dino. He was anti-USA, sure, but he had legit gripes (in kayfabe) with Americans that I think resonated with Canadian citizens at the time.

 

[Xemmy]

Like it isn't blatantly obvious who I'm going to talk about...

December 7, 1998 was a big day in the young life of Xemmy.
That was the day The Undertaker crucified Stone Cold Steve Austin with the help of Paul Bearer and his loyal followers. The foreshadowing of the Ministry of Darkness was awesome. My 6 year old mind couldn't take it. I loved Stone Cold just as much as anyone did. But Undertaker was soooo coooool. He made Austin look helpless, hit him in the head with a shovel, crucified him and then he did the eye rolling thingy. And then there was Undertakers voice playing in the background, and King kept saying on commentary that it was all true, and he sounded horrified, talking about how Austin would be buried alive on Sunday (The Rock Bottom pay-per-view was around the corner) and just. Ugh.

I just really love the Undertaker. Okay? Just. Yeah.

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

HBK during his heel run with DX. Lewd, crude and what not but always cheered for that group from day one really. I cheered for HBK back in his Sherri days actually.

Another one could be The Undertaker because I never remember a time NOT rooting or him.

 

[Luke Sandell]

For me it was Edge.

I'm only 16 but I've been watching wrestling for around 11 years now, every single time I stuck with Edge because although he acted like a douche a lot, he was such a freaking cool guy to me. Edge used to be a tremendous heel. I absolutely loved seeing his heel transformations, from the title-obsessed crazed man to the ultimate opportunist. He always used to have these subtle heel expressions that gave you a deeper feel for his inner psyche, it was compelling and unlike any of those basic Kennedy or Orton heels with only one dimension at the time.

Edge was a good heel during his first heel run. He was a little psychotic and gave the impression he was going to snap at any moment. He complained when he wasn't given matches. He whined and snivelled, hiding behind Vickie or Lita, and had to be forced into the ring. A coward. I absolutely ate it up because that's what great heels do. It's probably why I love Seth Rollins so much.

I knew that he was going to be one of the greatest heels of all time (although by this point it could be argued he was already) The money in the bank ladder match that he won in 2005 and the ladder matches he had with guys like Jeff Hardy and The Undertaker were testament to that and I always admired his in-ring style.

Edge could wrestle with anybody and have a pretty damn good match. Edge was one of those guys that could have a feud with people, become onscreen pals with them, then go back to feuding with them and it'd be gold every time. Edge’s rivalry with John Cena is a prime example of that.

Every time Edge worked with a younger guy, he would always make his opponent look like a million bucks and usually would have a good match that fans would appreciate.

Edge to me is one of those superstars that only comes around once in a lifetime, he could do it all from amazing mic-work to five-star matches with anybody. I respect Edge’s in-ring work to such a degree it's the kinda thing I look for in a lot of guys nowadays.

No matter how you view the man or character, you have to acknowledge Edge as one of the greatest heels of all-time.

 

[King Patrick Star]

The very first Heel I ever rooted for was the Macho King Randy Savage. I just started watching Professional Sports Wrestling Entertainment right after WrestleMania V, right before SummerSlam 1989. I was immediately hooked. I remember thinking, if Macho Man was Hulk Hogan’s opponent at the Grandest Stage Of Them All, then there must be a reason why. So I went to my local video stores and rented all of the Pay Per Views before WrestleMania V. I saw that he was always a Heel, and was shocked to see that he even formed the Mega Powers with Hulk Hogan. I was still on the fence about cheering for the Lex Luthor of the WWE at the time, but when he beat Hacksaw Jim Duggan for the WWE Crown, I instantly became a Macho Maniac. Oh yeah!! Dig it!!

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

While my 1st favorite wrestler I can remember was The Ultimate Warrior, that did not stop me from liking heels back in the day. There are two guys who come to mind when I think of the first heels that I liked.

Mr.Perfect: He was just way too cool back then. He was so cocky and I thought the perfect plex was the coolest move around.

Dino Bravo: This one is weird no doubt, but I was a fan. From the nickname of the Canadian Strong Man to his helicopter spin finisher I ate it up.

 

[Saeros]

Mines Mr Perfect. He was my idol. I rooted for him above everyone. The Undertaker i was a fan of before his turn in 92 aswell. TBH i think i also rooted for anyone who went up against Hogan. I hated him in the early 90s. I've always disliked the "top guy" in WWE for some reason, even when i was 4/5 years old.

 

[Messiah]

Yokozuna.. It was around when i started watching wrestling, i was 3 year's old. He was the biggest man i've ever seen in my life and that really intrigued me as a kid.

 

[Christian Faith]

For me it was The Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase.

I knew as a kid I was meant to boo him but I respected that not only was Dibiase gold on the mic and quite funny but he was also pretty decent in the ring as opposed to Hogan.

I know he says the million dollar belt was his choice and made him more money but I feel he should have had at least one world title run.