WWE : “Top 50 Villains In Wrestling History"

[ProWrestlingFan]

WWE has posted a list of the “Top 50 Villains in Wrestling History” on WWE.com.

http://www.wwe.com/classics/classic-lists/top-50-wrestling-villains

The entire list is :

1. Roddy Piper
2. Ric Flair & Four Horsemen
3. Mr. McMahon
4. “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase
5. “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan
6. Triple H
7. “Superstar” Billy Graham
8. Bobby Heenan
9. Gorgeous George
10. Jake “the Snake” Roberts
11. Rick Rude
12. JBL
13. Fabulous Freebirds
14. Original Sheik
15. Chris Jericho
16. Sherri Martel
17. Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig
18. Killer Kowalski
19. Jim Cornette
20. Edge
21. Freddie Blassie
22. The Undertaker
23. Sgt. Slaughter
24. Harley Race
25. Vader
26. Nick Bockwinkel
27. Paul Orndorff
28. Fabulous Moolah
29. Raven
30. Jerry Lawler
31. Kevin Sullivan
32. Randy Orton
33. Terry Funk
34. Abdullah the Butcher
35. Paul Heyman
36. Ivan Koloff
37. Ernie Ladd
38. C.M. Punk
39. Dudley Boyz
40. Don Muraco
41. Kane
42. Brock Lesnar
43. Eddie Guerrero
44. Eric Bischoff
45. Andre the Giant
46. Iron Sheik
47. Mark Henry
48. Vickie Guerrero
49. Randy Savage
50. Batista

In my opinion Ric Flair is the Greatest Heel in Wrestling history along with Triple-H.

Discuss.

 

[SickJames]

Before people start posting I want to point out that people rarely ever point out ALL the flaws meaning things other than JUST the top 10 spots. What about the fact that number 47 may deserve to be number 21, not in this list I'm just saying in general. How about the fact that 32 is in front of 33 when it shouldnt be, a simple switch is in order


So. I have to first say Piper's great and all, but best heel of all time? no. Not at all and bring on all the people who think I'm disrespecting him or have to go back and look at this promo or that skit. He just isnt Mr. McMahon at the end of the day

Mr. McMahon tops the list and no one else can truly say otherwise.

And Triple H is number 2. HHH is the best heel wrestler ever and McMahon tops his best heel wrestler from a professional and personal standpoint.


Yes Jake is very great as a heel, yes people will say Flair is the dirtiest player in the game, doesnt make him the greatest heel.



Hollywood Hogan had a shock value like no other in his heel turn, maybe the biggest turn but not heel. That's no reason for that HHH to be above THE HHH.


Mr. McMahon is #1

HHH is #2

you can have whatever you want from there, but I do think Punk should be higher and definately Y2J should be higher, Bischoff as well, Dudleys should be higher from their work in ECW alone (the bit where the line "there's the mom who taugh her daughter how to suck dick, and the getting in the face and the spit interaction with the fans I believe, these are Dudley moments that stick out in my head)



Y2J and The Dudleys had to be escorted out of arenas as fans truly wanted to kill them. they need to be in the top 20 atleast here if not top 15



Brock is big, but cant talk, Batista is big and can. He shouldnt be number 50, he should be above Brock. Screw any other argument over who's better in the ring, or more appealing in their strength or whatever or this or that and their soon to be MMA comparisons etc, Batista was a badass heel for WM26 against Cena, his best run I think. Better heel than his backseat heel run as Deacon Batista or in Evolution


Batista is nice as a face... just nice... he's got that Superman look, but thats John Cena in character. Batista on the mic is better as a heel




oh btw.... WHERE THE HELL IS MUHAMMAD HASSAN?!

 

[xavyer]

I can agree or disagree all i want, but the fact of the matter is that in these type of lists there's allways going to be a lot of different opinions, and in some ways that's understandable, for example, it's hard for me to agree or disagree on a lot of those names because i never got to see them in action, but on a lot of them that i actually got to see i have a different opinion, like the fact that Vince McMahon should be No. 1 and Triple H should be No. 2 on that list, and also in my opinion edge should be No. 3, Paul Heyman No. 4 and CM Punk No. 5, but like i said, that's my opinion, i know that for someone else another superstar deserves to be No. 1, so in conclusion, the good things about these lists is the fact that we get to see a lot of diferent points of wiew........

 

[SickJames]

I can agree or disagree all i want, but the fact of the matter is that in these type of lists there's allways going to be a lot of different opinions, and in some ways that's understandable, for example, it's hard for me to agree or disagree on a lot of those names because i never got to see them in action, but on a lot of them that i actually got to see i have a different opinion, like the fact that Vince McMahon should be No. 1 and Triple H should be No. 2 on that list, and also in my opinion edge should be No. 3, Paul Heyman No. 4 and CM Punk No. 5, but like i said, that's my opinion, i know that for someone else another superstar deserves to be No. 1, so in conclusion, the good things about these lists is the fact that we get to see a lot of diferent points of wiew........

I know it's all opinion, but at the end of the day WWE's lists are always off I agree people will come in and have differing views, but look at who you think should be 1 and 2 then look at my post. The majority of fans in forums including this one have stated this several times in greatest heel of all time threads and other threads when relevant or as a complement if it didnt have anything to do with it.


People most always say Vince and HHH, there's a reason for that, obviously WWE forgot, but then again we see a lot differently than WWE

 

[Fansince1992]

Maybe the top Villian of all time should be someone who was known as a Villian throughout his whole carrear. Just my Opinion.

This rules out HHH as we now see him as the smiley faced yet edgy COO who asked the Crowd at Raw 1000 "if they were having a good time" A great Villian wouldn't say this on the Mic.

Vince McMahon is the same. he has been hated and portrayed the Villian for years. However in the early years he was a Happy smiley faced Commentator. More recent he was the face Owner firing the Villian John Lauranitis.

Roddy Piper who they put at number 1... He is a face this day when he does his Pipers Pit segments. He was also a face around the 90s when he won The Intercontinental Championship from The Mountie (The Villian)

The only 2 Wrestlers i can think of who have played a Villian thier whole Carrear would be Jake The Snake Roberts or Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase. They may of had face periods but i for one can't remember them ever as faces. I will put Jake slightly over Dibiase, he was just more sick in my mind, i mean the guy carried a Sack to the ring with him with a ruddy SNAKE inside.

Again just my own Opinion on a Wrestling Villain, i see a Villain who has ALWAYS been known as a Heel/Villain. Understand others will see a Villian in a different way to me.

 

[Mongoose McQueen]

This is absolute nonsense, HHH and ric flair should BE AT THE FRIGIN TOP! Also where the heck is John Cena? His thug gimmick made one of the greatest heels ever!
Batista was great as a heel.
This list is fucking bull shit.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

This is absolute nonsense, HHH and ric flair should BE AT THE FRIGIN TOP! Also where the heck is John Cena? His thug gimmick made one of the greatest heels ever!
Batista was great as a heel.
This list is fucking bull shit.

I'm sorry about John Cena is nowhere near being the greatest villain of all time and I wouldn't even put him in this list. He was just an annoying white rapper. His height of being a villain was stealing Eddie's lowrider. He lost against everybody during that period. Batista was a great heel when he was facing against Cena. Everyone else, not so much. 50 is a good spot for him.

 

[SickJames]

Maybe the top Villian of all time should be someone who was known as a Villian throughout his whole carrear. Just my Opinion.

This rules out HHH as we now see him as the smiley faced yet edgy COO who asked the Crowd at Raw 1000 "if they were having a good time" A great Villian wouldn't say this on the Mic.

Vince McMahon is the same. he has been hated and portrayed the Villian for years. However in the early years he was a Happy smiley faced Commentator. More recent he was the face Owner firing the Villian John Lauranitis.

Roddy Piper who they put at number 1... He is a face this day when he does his Pipers Pit segments. He was also a face around the 90s when he won The Intercontinental Championship from The Mountie (The Villian)

The only 2 Wrestlers i can think of who have played a Villian thier whole Carrear would be Jake The Snake Roberts or Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase. They may of had face periods but i for one can't remember them ever as faces. I will put Jake slightly over Dibiase, he was just more sick in my mind, i mean the guy carried a Sack to the ring with him with a ruddy SNAKE inside.

Again just my own Opinion on a Wrestling Villain, i see a Villain who has ALWAYS been known as a Heel/Villain. Understand others will see a Villian in a different way to me.

Being only heel doesnt make you the best. I can be better than you even though you've done something longer.


Also a good point in this is Hogan's heel turn was better for him being the huge face he was all those years before.

The Rock was a great heel, but a better face so you might not put him on the list, but his heel turn went better than Austin's, he could be a heel, but was still comedic and beloved. Vince was a face, but was more over as a heel. HHH is a face but more over as a heel. opposite of The Rock and Stone Cold

 

[xavyer]

The only 2 Wrestlers i can think of who have played a Villian thier whole Carrear would be Jake The Snake Roberts or Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase. They may of had face periods but i for one can't remember them ever as faces. I will put Jake slightly over Dibiase, he was just more sick in my mind, i mean the guy carried a Sack to the ring with him with a ruddy SNAKE inside.


I understand your point, but Jake the Snake Roberts was a face for a good amount of time, but i agree with the fact that he was a great villian, most villians at one time were faces, but when they were bad guys they were great.....

 

[thebarber]

The only 2 Wrestlers i can think of who have played a Villian thier whole Carrear would be Jake The Snake Roberts or Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase. They may of had face periods but i for one can't remember them ever as faces. I will put Jake slightly over Dibiase, he was just more sick in my mind, i mean the guy carried a Sack to the ring with him with a ruddy SNAKE inside.


I understand your point, but Jake the Snake Roberts was a face for a good amount of time, but i agree with the fact that he was a great villian, most villians at one time were faces, but when they were bad guys they were great.....

um Jake Roberts was a face for his WWE run during 1987-1991, and again in 1996-1997. Ted DiBiase was a career babyface until he became the Million Dollar Man in 1987, he was a white meat babyface for the earlier part ofmhis career.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

I like this list. It seems to not offset someone's time as a face.

Piper is a great choice at #1. The things he did and say were awful. Other than in the ring, he generally got the better of each face he was confronted by and the fans hated him for it. He seemed to get the appropriate reactions from the crowd consistently. There was no mistaking him for a tweener.

I probably would have had Heenan a higher. Maybe even as high as 3 or 4. No one liked Heenan even though he was actually quite funny and sometimes made some valid points. I also would put Savage in the top 20 but I hate to award a guy who partially used spousal abuse to get over.

It's a shame that today's audience is so cynical and seems to have their own agenda about who they want to be popular. Guys like Orton and Punk could have been much higher on the list if it were not for the smarks. Jericho and JBL were able to overcome the smarks that just want make him their own but had to tone down their entertainment value to do so. Lesnar deserves extra recognition for the way he and WWE have gotten him over with the fans with their "difficult to work with" bullshit, the "passion for the business" horseshit, and "only there for the money" dogshit. This is similar to the old HHH backstage crap that we would here regarding his influence and holding guys back.

I'm starting to ramble. It is a good list. I could tweak it here and there but I think any expert could reasonably argue for each choice and their position.

 

[legendkiller1979]

Rowdy Roddy Piper is the right choice for one reason. We may not have wrestlemania if it weren't for him. People loved Hulk Hogan but he needed someone good to face off against at the event. People hated Piper so much that he could have been legitimately injured and people would have cheered.

Without Piper, I don't think wrestlemania I would have been the success that it was. If wrestlemania I is not a success, then there's no reason to have wrestlemania 2.

Vince Mcmahon only feuded with one person. Once the feud with Austin ended, that was basically it for him as a top heel. Steve Austin didn't need Vince Mcmahon to be successful. Hulk Hogan very much needed Roddy Piper to be successful in the beginning.
I'm not saying he wouldn't have been successful with someone else because he drew money with everyone he was in the ring with. But in the beginning Hulk's feud with Piper helped both him and wrestling very much.

 

[Da Truth]

I agree that Roddy Piper shouldn't be number one. He spent too much time as a face. I think the list should've considered the talent's longevity as a heel. So, wrestlers who constantley flip flopped from face to heel over and over again should be farther down the list. Then a person's impact during his heel run should be considered also. By the way, what happened to Bad News Brown. He definitley deserves to be on the list. He was a heel with a bad attitude and pretty much a loner. He's one of the first wrestlers to put his hands on an authority figure in a wrestling organization. I truly believe he was one of the better heels of all time.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

um Jake Roberts was a face for his WWE run during 1987-1991, and again in 1996-1997. Ted DiBiase was a career babyface until he became the Million Dollar Man in 1987, he was a white meat babyface for the earlier part ofmhis career.

Just want to correct this.

Dibiase, while he was a great babyface in Mid South, was not a career babyface prior to becoming the Million Dollar Man.

For years, he was the top heel in that territory, before making a highly regarded face turn about a year or so before leaving for the WWF.

In the early to mid 80's, he was probably one of the best heels in North America.

It's actually one of wwe.com's better lists.

Anyone disputing Piper as #1 I think honestly did not experience him at his peak as a heel. It was just unreal how much people hated everything he did, and how they grew to love to hate everything he did. Piper was probably the first guy in wrestling history who got changed to a face without ever changing his character. The fans absolutely changed him.

I'd have put guys like Gorgeous George, the Freebirds, Killer Kowalski, the Sheik, Harley Race and maybe even Lawler higher, and dropped down people like Triple H, Rick Rude and Sherri Martel a little bit, but all in all, it's actually not a bad list.

 

[Just2Sweet]

as much as I hate it, Mr. McMahon is the #1 heel of all time. He was the one who brought out the best in Stone Cold and made him the number 1 face. this list is also biased toward younger fans since Randy Savage and Andre the Giant should be top 10 of all time.

 

[HBsam31]

As far as WWE lists go I think this is a pretty good one. Usually they are horrible. I like others would put McMahon and HHH 1 and 2, but Piper is a huge heel as well. Other than a few tweeks I still think this is one of the better lists WWE has cam up with.

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

It is too vast to try and pick a good bad guy - but here are some of my favourites and the year/era in which they were bad -

Bret Hart - 1997. He really assisted in making Stone Cold - the way he sold Steve's attacks made Stone Cold look even badder than he was.

Shawn Micheals was a good bad guy in 1991 to 1993. He put his tag partner through a window face first. His 1992 run was bland but was saved by his epic contribution to the Bret Hart match at Survivor Series 1992. His Feud in 1993 with Janetty was exciting. 1994 - he was still excellent. His DX heel turn in 1997 showed he could be a great bad guy - and that was when he was at his best professionally. He was also amazing in his brief 3 weeks of being bad in Summer 2005.

Yokozuna was a great villain for kids in 1993.

Stone Cold Steve Austin was a good bad guy in 1996/1997.

The Rock was amazing in the Corporation in 1998/ early 1999. He was brilliant.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

I agree with JBL, George should be higher, William Regal and Stan Hansen should be on the list and no way Cena should be anywhere near it.

With this list they seem to have gone more the route of "nasty" heels rather than colourful ones. Piper is a worthy winner but I think guys like Rude should be higher than they are, on his WCW work alone in 1992 he rates top 10...

Jake's heel work in WWF was actually pretty poor compared to what he was doing in GCW when part of the Legion Of Doom. I always felt they made the wrong move turning him against Savage and Warrior and that others would have used that turn to more effect.

No way should Vince be high, he had one meaningful feud with Austin, then he descended into "Kiss My Ass/Higher Power/NWO/Anything To Avoid Being Face".

 

[StarJet3000]

When someone discusses the greatests WWE heals of all time, how can you not put Captain Lou Albano on the list? His promos as a manager were must see in his day helping get over a large number of wrestlers. Most folks forget that he was a heal for a large number of years prior to turning face at the end of career.

 

[Wolf Pac]

Not a bad list but I would've had Mr. McMahon at #1 and Eric Bischoff at #2. They've both screwed people over in reality and in kayfabe, they really make you hate how they conduct themselves in & out of the ring that there is never a day that goes by where someone out there isn't complaining about them despite at the end of the day them being great promoters and they've made countless enemies within the wrestling industry. I've heard Bischoff & McMahon both referred to as the "devil", the other heels in the list are great but I don't think it can get any worse than being called a "devil".

 

[boozinjedi]

How can you have heel Andre all the way down at #45??

It was his turn that help build up WrestleMania 3!!

Sure,Hogan's "face power" was a leading factor to selling 93,000 seats,BUT

Andre's "heel power" was just as important!!

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

While it is always subjective, I do find some of this list baffling:

• Three of the wrestlers in the top 10 (including the number one) never won the big one which is baffling to me. Yes, they where great characters but the fact that they were always foiled makes them ineffectual. Flair's crowning achievement was that he backed it up, automatically placing him ahead of Piper.
• Ric should NOT be lumped in with the Horsemen and which Horsemen are we talking about? Is that why Sid doesn't make the 50? Arn Anderson deserves a spot to himself - he was the definition of making lower level belts look a million bucks.
• No Larry Zbyszko or Stan Hansen?
• Freebirds included... no problem but what about the Midnight Express? Or Demolition? Natural Disasters? The Outsiders? There have been many great teams across the years, only two make this list?
• No Christian? King Booker? Big Show? Kurt frickin Angle?
• No version of Austin? What? Surely with his 'Stunning' years, his 'Hollywood Blonds' period and the Invasion period he deserved a nod?
• No Rock? No HBK? No Mick Foley? No Hitman? No HTM?

I could go on but I think I'm risking tl:dr territory already so I'll just skip straight to my personal Top10:

1. "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan - biggest face ever tells the fans to stick it.
2. "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair - "Dirtiest Player In The Game"
3. Eric Bischoff - I give Easy E the Edge over Vince because, unlike Mr McMahon, his heel boss actually dominated all the faces for a sustained period; whereas McMahon was continually thwarted by the Rattlesnake.
4. Mr McMahon - The strut, the exaggerated mannerisms, the sadistic nature, the scary fact that it isn't meant to be that far from the truth!
5. Randy Savage - From his war with Jerry Lawler to the Macho King to warring with DDP and Kimberley, Savage always made his heel runs memorable.
6. Bret Hart - Would Austin have been as big a success if it hadn't been for Bret's Anti American stance?
7. Raven - People forget the sheer nastiness that the former Johnny Polo was capable of because of the watered down WCW and WWF versions. Eloquent and sadistic in equal measures, he was the best heel in the history of ECW.
8. Triple H - Strangely, while many would pick Harley Race as Hunter's biggest influence (and stylistically, they would be right), I feel that the Cerebral Assassin persona actually owes more to Mr Levy.
9. The Outsiders - Scott Hall and Kevin Nash changed the face of wrestling when they insinuated that the WWF was attempting to overrun WCW.
10. Edge - Like Hart / Austin, I would ask everyone if John Cena would hold the position he does if it hadn't been for the Rated R Superstar (I'm actually very surprised he only got listed at 20)

 

[Pedigree1]

I only looked at the top 10 list. Now as far as being no1 goes Rowdy Rowdy piper for his day i dont have a problem with him being no1. The stuff he pulled back in the day was unheard of. As a little kid back then i didnt quite understand what was going on but as i got older the shock value of what he pulled was astounding.

From him bashing the coconut into the head of superfly,shaving the head of Little Haiti etc the stuff was just pure magic. Now i also wouldnt have a problem with HHH being the top spot either but Piper being no1 suits me just fine.

 

[DarkLordFett]

Pretty decent list. There are a few guys I feel are in the wrong spots and rather surprised at some of the people that aren't here. The Rock during his Nation and Corporation days was second only to Mr. McMahon as the guy to hate. Michaels super kicking Marty Jeanetty into a heel turn as HBK was legendary. Austin drew decent heat has a heel, but nobody ever bought into it. It was more comic than anything else. Lex Lugar was a pretty hot commodity as The Narcissist what with the "metal plate" and all. Foley as Mankind.

 

[BigThunder]

Old school heels, not unsurprisingly, are underepresented. In the era before kayfabe, the best heels really garnered spectacular reactions. Back watching wrestling as a kid, I swear Bulldog Bob Brown had the fans on the edge of a riot every night, and he certainly paid the price for their hate a few times. Of course, so did Roddy.

I wouldn't mind a pre-territory collapse and a post-territory collapse list, just to take into account the generational shift. I have to say the wrestler I'd like to have seen higher is the original Sheik, and the one most conspicuous by his absence is Kiniski. But all in all, this is a pretty decent list.

Also, Andre never turned heel. The fans just booed the wrong man.