Who is the Greatest Heel in Wrestling History?...

[Jonno]

When I think of a Wrestling heel only one name comes to mind : Andy Kaufman!

I know most of you probaly are thinking that Kaufman wasn't a real wrestler and so he doesn't count, but I disagree. Kaufman was Holywood way before Hogan, he wrestled women and called himself the "Inter-Gender Champion" and loved insulting the Memphis fans by mocking their accent. We still see traits of Kaufman in heels today. Although he was an comedian/actor first, Andy seemed to really enjoy wrestling and certainly put wrestling into the national eye with his Jerry Lawler fued.

Watch of Kaufman promos on You Tube (especially "Andy Kaufman wrestles a 327 pound woman") and you'll know what I'm talking about.

 

[C4Mahdee]

First of all I LOVE that Jonno said something about Kaufman because again, despite him being a comedian/actor, he knew how to be a great heel. Everyone and I mean EVERYONE in Memphis at the time absolutely despised Andy Kaufman and it's always fun to look back at that. Best ever? Don't think so. I think the most efective heel the last 10 years or so has been Triple H. He's more comfortable as a heel so he can use that comfort and make the crowd want to kill him. Again, Best ever? Close, but he owes a lot to Flair.
I'd say (not denying Hogan but his swerve was hated the character became over) it would be between Ric Flair and Kowalski. Flair isn't called the Dirtiest Player in the Game for nothing and shit Kowalski created the dirty tricks Flair used.

On a side note, I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Bischoff. Loves the heat and gets it very easily.

 

[byrnside]

I've seen some great choices so far, DiBiase, Piper, Jericho was a great choice. Hogan was a great heel at the beginning of the nWo, but I always kind of thought he faded out a little bit after.

For me, my favorite type of heel is someone who is totally full of themselves and cocky. So for me, it's probably between Mr. Perfect, and Rick Rude. Both of these two guys were absolute masters on the mic. They could generate heat like no others. Perfect with his perfection speeches. As a kid, nothing got me madder than "Cut the music.. This one's for all you fat, out of shape, etc. etc."

Of course, no body personified evil quite like Jake the Snake.

 

[Nature Boy]

Hello (1st post here!)

For me it would have to be Ric Flair.

No wrestler made me love hating him more.

Among the others I thought were the greatest Heels would be either Terry Funk, Jake Roberts and 'Hollywood' Hogan.

 

[King Patrick Star]

In my opinion, the only reason why Hulk Hogan got a crazy “He must be the Greatest Heel in History” Heat, is because Hulk Hogan IS the Greatest Face in History. He only got Heat, because of the Turn at the Bash. Ric Flair, on the other hand, is getting Pops today, because he IS the Greatest Heel in History. Put it this way, Hogan is Superman gone rogue, while Flair is Luthor who gained the respect of the fans after being the Dirtiest Player in the Game for so long. My pick if Ric Flair for Greatest Heel of All Time. Vince would be second on my list.

 

[SAVE_YOURSELVES_111]

In my opinion, the only reason why Hulk Hogan got a crazy “He must be the Greatest Heel in History” Heat, is because Hulk Hogan IS the Greatest Face in History. He only got Heat, because of the Turn at the Bash. Ric Flair, on the other hand, is getting Pops today, because he IS the Greatest Heel in History. Put it this way, Hogan is Superman gone rogue, while Flair is Luthor who gained the respect of the fans after being the Dirtiest Player in the Game for so long. My pick if Ric Flair for Greatest Heel of All Time. Vince would be second on my list.

In all fairness, Hogan was already being booed by the loyal WCW markets.

Ric Flair in the 80's was purely untouchable, I could sit on YouTube for hours, and listen to his promos on World Championship Wrestling on TBS. Today it seems as though most heels just seem forced and contrived. For Slick Ric it came naturally, it just flowed with his attitude and demeanour, and that's why he was so effective. To this day, you could truly believe, that is the REAL Ric Flair. That's how convincing he was.

I'll agree Flair was the best heel of his time, but if I had to choose a personal favourite, I'd have two.

First would be Raven, a guy who probably wouldn't make the list unless you're a major original ECW mark, but this guy was just so downright whiny in his angst, you couldn't help but get annoyed by him, and just want to see someone kick the living sappyness out of him. The eerieness in his tone of voice, how he let his anger out on many babyfaces in devistating fashion, he may have been a crybaby, but one who possessed psychological saavy, as was shown in the infamous Sandman's son storyline.

Another personal favourite, Bret "The Hitman" Hart! His original singles heel run didn't even last a year, (I wipe his 20423543534 turns in WCW from the record), but it may have been perhaps the most memorable portion of his career. Yes, I'm aware the screwjob is what helped make it memorable, but lets just shelve that for a second, and think about what it did. It helped make Steve Austin from popular heel, to bona-fide main event megastar. When fans started turning against Bret in early 1997, and cheering Austin, the changing of the guard, the "Attitude" era was on its way, it let the wrestling world know, that now WE'RE the ones who are going to decide who the "good guys" and "bad guys" are. Now i'm not saying wrestling fans don't have mind of there own, but it was the feud between Hart & Austin that made it ok, and acceptable for us to have our own thoughts of who should be what in this business.

Hart's scathing anti-american promos, were classic, and etched his legacy in stone. The events of the Austin feud, and subsuquent legit Michaels issue, set the tone for the next golden age in wrestling.

 

[Nature Boy]

Randy Savage was a wonderful wonderful Heel as well!

I would also have to include Ted Dibiase and Roddy Piper and Rick Rude on my list.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

I've heard Mr. McMahon, Ric Flair, Hollywood Hogan .... and I'm sorry, but there was truly no more arrogant, nasty individual than the Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase. Not even Vince McMahon himself could pull off the absolute nastiness and utter arrogance as the character of The Million Dollar Man.

I think the difference was that Vince played the power hungry owner, where as Dibiase had money and was simply a man of leisure, who lived to prove his motto on a daily basis that "Everybody has a price for the Million Dollar Man".

Those of you who missed Dibiase in his prime, you missed the Greatest Heel of All Time, sadly. Treat yourself by watching some footage of him, and you will see what a real Heel is.

In my opinion its a tie between Hollywood Hogan and 2008-2009 Chris Jericho these to draw heat so much that fans try to attack them themselves. Just look at how much crap was thrown at hulk hogan the night he started the nWo, Now look at that clip of that fan that jumped out at chris jericho at a house show. They draw uber heat.

Not to rain on your Jericho parade, but Sgt. Slaughter actually received several death threats against him during the Gulf War for turning his back on America and recruiting General Adnan.

 

[CMCoke42381]

I swear to god im not saying this based on my username or because it's "popular" but I truly believe CM Punk might end up as 1 of the top 5 Heels of all time. He preaches all the things we fear and hate "being a addict, not being mentally strong enough to be like Punk or better than him" He makes valid points that are 100% Truth but yet still get's jeered, and why? Because inside we know he's right and unless a miracle happens, chances are we will remain addicts and serve as a slave to our master whether it be street drugs, smoking, drinking and even prescription meds ect. He get's in your Head very much like Jake Roberts and Raven had the ability to. Ive always felt Punk was Edge and Jericho before those 2 ever became heel famous, meaning how Punk is pretty much saying the things he said back in 2002-2004 in the indy's. Punk was Heel Famous before Edge or Jericho ever were. Granted both were solid Heels before that but not to the level of Punk IMO. Thinking back I wanna add Rick Rude & Ted Dibiase to the list. Rude for being a arrogant dick but yet backing up his insults with a great body and being a excellent Wrestler, and Ted for being the rich white collar asshole we all hate and rubbing it in our faces.

 

[GameOver]

Thought i did post in this topic oh well, can't comment on WCW as A) i never really like it much and B) it was hardly ever televised here in Sth Australia

Hard to track down one as there's been 26yrs i've been watch and sooooo many people that have come and gone, so i'll break into categories

Also to note during the different era's the idea's of what a heel and face are have changed alot so one could say that someone in the golden era had it easy, wheras someone in say the latter attitude era had it rough as heels were getting cheered more than the faces so it was harder to garner a heel response.

Ted Dibiase - was the best overall, he didn't have the size/brute force of an Undertaker, he didn't have backing of a gang like Triple H amongst others, he only really had one huge mega face to compete against, and he also had to deal with being held back because he was in the Hogan era so noone else would ever get a push to the top. he wasn't really nasty in todays standards but the fact that despite being a heel he could actually still wrestle and was as good as anyone in that era or beyond and he performed the heel pop to perfection, he was the guy you loved to despise which imo is the perfect heel. he also played the fool aswell and how can anyone from that era forget that rediculous reverse elbow drop off the top rope that connected may be once LOL or his evil laugh

Obviously the McMahon character mirrors Ted Dibiase's everyone has a price and everyone is beneath me mentality too. also might add that without Dibiase/Savage there being the total heels and puting Hogan over tme and time again, history may have been different

Triple H i'd put in the second best overall. He was a triple threat aswell like Ted Dibiase, however alot of his heel success came from who he went against at the time and the fact that during his runs the WWF/E was naturally a violent anti-social style with not so much clear cut Heel/Face's

Jake the Snake/Mick Foley/Psycho Sid were the best heel wacked out promo cutters imo. They all had that same style and influenced alot of people on the mic including 2 huge names, Randy orton, Triple H. .

Taker/Psycho Sid for pure fear factor and brute force, Kane also when he intially debuted

Orton is playing an awesome heel now but there's something that jsut doesn't grant him status as best heels of all time, probably the fact that prior to the very near future he was very boring.

Best heel owner, well Vince has been playing that role the longest and has had the most impact. but he obviously got the idea from Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff.

 

[Mrs. Randy Orton]

My absolute favourite heel ever is Rowdy Roddy Piper but I'd have to give the title to Vince McMahon. He's a sick, twisted, evil heel that doesn't even care if you're family or not, he'll bury you if he wants to. I loved the whole angle he did with Linda, that was hilarious in so many ways and just showed how he loves to rub things right into your face, just like with the screwjob.

 

[OWEN-ing It All]

I always thought Jerry Lawler was the greatest heel of All-Time.

I couldn't stand him as a kid and he really got the crowd worked up. He used make fun of everyone as he strolled to the ring, he used to mock the Hart family on a regular basis, making fun of Stu and Helen. He'd call the crowd peons, crack fat jokes, jokes about towns, and sports teams.

At the time I can't remember anyone doing it as well as Jerry and IMO he went well beyond what was acceptable at the time. He really stretched the limits in the early to mid 90's and did it to such a degree that fans would bring Burger King crowns just for him because he was so hated.

The King's Court anyone? Him kicking Bret Hart when he was down after Diesel jackknifed him?

Making fun of Piper and Warrior, etc etc.

He always rooted against the good guys and really got under your skin. Plus he had an endless array of one-liners and jokes.

Second I would pick Bobby Heenan, he was in the same vein as Lawler. Both were great and true masters of their crafts.

 

[666_The_Game_666]

Trips for me from 1999-2000 then 2002-2005 this is classic trips a man obbsesd with the title and would do whatever he had to to get the title. Then we had HHH in charge of the WWE in 2000 with Steph doing whatever he did man it was classic stuff then we have all the evolution stuff and all that which we all know. So Trips is your classic Wrestling heel

 

[blkscrpn5]

The best heel manager/owner goes to Paul Heyman (E. Dangerously) if you ever really wanted a wrestler to be hated just pair them up with Heyman. He was great as the leader of the Dangerous Alliance in WCW. And my second place for heel manager is Jim Cornette, i dont know about anyone else but everytime i saw him on tv i was waiting for him to smack some one with that tennis racket.

 

[matman8540]

It is time for us old people to speak up. There are tons of wrestlers (and managers) from the 60s, 70s, and 80s who could make some of these guys cringe. These are the categories:

Best wrestlers to strike fear in your heart without uttering a word: The Shiek and Abdullah the Butcher

Best manager to turn your stomach without getting physically involved: The Grand Wizard/Abdullah Farouk (Those who don't know, they were one and the same person)

Best heel to make you wish we dropped the bomb on Berlin: Baron Von Raschke (until the AWA made him a lovable old codger)

Best heel that Jake the Snake Roberts learned his craft from: Kevin Sullivan

Best heel managers that used massive interference: Freddie Blassie and Captain Lou Albano (until the WWF made them into lovable old codgers)

Best heel manager nobody made into a lovable old codger: General Scandor Akbar

Best lunatic heels that just made you cringe when they came into the arena: Bruiser Brody (except in World Class), and Stan Hansen (except for a short period in Georgia)

Best heels that lost their heat due to Glasnost(those are Russians):
Bronze medal: Nikita Koloff (not the best worker, marginal on the mike, but a monster in the ring, gets the bronze because he turned face WAY too early)
Silver medal: Nikolai Volkoff (better worker, better on the mike, but a tad slow afoot)
Gold medal: Ivan Koloff(best of all the Russian heels, and except for when he turned face for a very short time in WCW, stayed a heel throughout his career

Best heel that was Kurt Angle without the humor: Bob Roop (ask anyone who watched Championship Wrestling from Florida from the mid 70s throughout the 80s, he was a great amateur wrestler, who had the arrongance to have people really despise him)

If anyone else has some other really old school wrestlers that I have forgetten, please let me know.

 

[8thwotwATG]

I have had a chance to take a look at some of the posts here on this topic, and all have merit. There are some names from the further past that could be mentioned that as of yet, have not.
"Gorgeous"George Wagner
The wrestler who was probably the original heel in the professional wrestling business, drew major crowds into arenas just to see him get his ass kicked.He was the granddaddy of them all.
Killer Kowalski
Another pioneer heel, upped the violence level at a time when even heel wrestlers still used mostly holds and wrestling technique.(Yukon Erics cauliflowed ear was the greatest thing to happen to Kowalski's career). A hated man for an entire generation of wrestling fans.

 

[gully side adidja]

it is between HOLLYWOOD HOGAN, or triple h,hogan had the greatest heel turn in profesional wrestling so far,he ran from you, hid behind the nwo,attacked you from behind, celebrated about it in the most over the top provoking way ever,always held on to the belt,dominated wcw for a while unchallenged, spray painted on your back when you were knocked out, you can just hate him thinking about that...................................................

but on the other hand you have triple h the most selfish controlling power hungry violent man in the wwe history(who has said on occasion that the belt meant more to him than life itself,eve his wife)he attacked you physically and mentally, broke peoples arm, crippled people with sledge hammers, claimed a fellow wrestler was a murderer and a rapist(even going far as to pretnd to have sex with a dummy) hit women, beat up his own member/friend, when he won a title he wanted,ordered a run down on someone,he just looked evil,felt evil,and probably made the word evil seem like a compliment to him,its a tough decision but id say a draw.

 

[WonderboyJ]

Vader. Looks like a heel, acts like a heel and can wrestle, he is like the bad guy at the end of a computer game.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

Some very interesting points have been made here. Jake Roberts and DiBiase were amazing, both of them, but they never held heavyweight gold in WWF/WCW. Hogan definitely had the biggest heel turn of all time, no question. When he came out Bash at the Beach 96 I was going crazy in my living room, thinking he was going to help Savage and Luger...but no. Instead, he made the most unexpected heel turn in pro wrestling history. McMahon was an amazing heel as well, but him not being a wrestler takes him down a bit for me. I believe the answer is Ric Flair. He was a monster heel for 20+ years. In WCW, he led the Horsemen, the most underhanded, dirty stable in wrestling history. When he went to the WWF, he was their top heel immediately, feuding with Hogan and Savage. His Royal Rumble '92 win (taking the WWF championship) was the best I have ever seen. He clawed, scratched, and cheated his way in front of 29 other superstars (major superstars) to take the belt NO ONE wanted him to have. He continued on, sometimes going face, but never for long. In all honesty, I don't see it being much of a question when it comes to who is the greatest heel of all time.

 

[King Douche]

I say HHH, especially when he had the cerebral assassin gimmick going on from 2003-2006. He had turned on his own Evolution member in Randy Orton cause he was jealous of him. He atatcked people and beaten them badly, tried to kill people and would hide behind his Evolution buddies and cheat to win and hold on to the belt.

 

[Terry'sGordy]

For me in no particular order:

Michael Hayes
Ric Flair
Roddy Piper
Gino Hernandez
Tully Blanchard
The Sheik
Fred Blassie
Kevin Sullivan

 

[Royal Arthur]

well who feuded with the greatest face in wrestling history? Mr Mcmahon, however the reason he isn't the greatest heel is because we loved watching him put stone cold in these predicaments it wasn't frustrating, whereas hogan damn right pissed people off, i'm going with hogan

 

[TheNachoMan]

I thought ravishing rick rude was a great heel - his feud with the ultimate was was ace (especially the summerslam non-cage match) where warrior won back the IC title.

 

[Miko]

I'd probably go with Hogan, he's probably the greatest face of all time, and the greatest heel, that is pretty cool. Hogan was what got the NWO booed, Hall and Nash were popular, people used to cheer them, then Hogan would come out and give everyone his schtick and people would hate him for it, fucking hate him.

Wrestling's had some great bad guys over the years, I mean genuine bad guys, not these "cool" heel people, guys like Ted DiBiase, Roddy Piper, Randy Savage, those last 2 being just as good faces. I'd throw JBL in there as well, he could piss people off. Obviously, with my old school knowledge being not too great I can only start from Hogan times, so be nice if I dont mention people before that who were also good.

Still, even with that stiff competition I'd still say Hogan was the greatest, he was such a cartoonistic pussy, especially with the lip quivering everytime an old enemy would come after him. Not only that, but the NWO angle, which he was the centrepeice of, is still arguably the biggest angle in wrestling history, people watched WCW to see him get beat.