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For the wrestling fans here, thought I'd start this little thread to discuss our favorites all time heels of the industry. Sure, there are hundreds of bad guys to boo, but for me the ones that come right to mind are...

Rick Rude - the embodiment of arrogance and douche baggery, Rude thought he was God's gift to women, wore airbrushed tights to the ring, and topped it all off with a bad porn mustache and a white man Jerhi Curl!

Shawn Michaels - when he turns heel and kicked Rockers partner Marty Jennety through the window of Brutus Beefcake's barbershop, man, I'll never forget that.

Demolition - two big freaky man monsters who dressed like extras from The Road Warrior. How can you go wrong?!

Shane McMahon - unlike his father who's just an ego, Shane's got cocky youthful exhuberance and actually has the wrestling skills to back it up! He's had some crazy matches over the years, not the least of which include his classic street fight with Kurt Angle and a disturbing match with Steve Blackman where both men took flying leaps from the top of the Titantron... insane.

Roddy Piper - always did his best work as a bad guy, whether it was sucker punching Hulk Hogan or cracking a coconut over Jimmy Snuka's skull. The man who made wearing a kilt and being a total dickhead cool.

I always regarded the Nasty Boys as the Heel Variant of the Bushwhackers, especially the Trademark Move "pit Stop" whereby the enemy is confronted with the sweaty armpit was pure genius.

And I'm tied between Mankind and Vader. The Later physically more impressive, the first with an ultrahigh Pain endurance.

For my money, most of the best heels are/were members of the power stables back in wrestling's glory days.  Groups like The Four Horseman, Money Inc., The Faces of Doom (w. Sullivan), and, of course, the late great NWO.  Nothing built up a hero character like taking on an entire "family" of douchebags who, most times, held all the titles and power anyway.

That said, one of the best in recent years has to be Edge, who always appears to be the smartest guy in the room - his recent title win (at a house show no less) should be proof enough that he is the preeminent heel in wrestling today.

Too bad his "brother" Christian (now with TNA) and and his old pal Chris Jericho aren't around to see it...

Undertaker - In his prime or when he was new. he was the best bad guy!
Rick Rude - had some good battles with the Ultimate Warrior. super rude.
Mr. Perfect - Had the Perfect Plex! Great Wrestling skills.
Earthquake - The big bad guy. He was that. Put Hogan away for some time.
Demolition - The bad Tag Team. Hard to forget them.
Roddy Piper - I dont need to tell you why. This guy is a Legend.
Ted DiBiase - The Million Dollar Man! He IS forever a heel.
Randy Macho Man Savage - when he was a bad guy he was Great at it!

Wrestling In the 80's was the BEST time EVER! Now today you got big cut prettyboys with no skills and are easy to forget.
(http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/3060/t15ti8.jpg)
REST IN PEACE! *note* See that belt? thats when he kicked Hogans ass. Yeah yeah I know Hogan beat him later on Tuesday in Texas 1991. Hogan had to cheat tho. We will always remember Prime UNDERTAKER. Good topic! tombofanubisdotcom
Also did you know Undertaker put the great Ultimate Warrior in a body bag once? I have that match. heres some trivia for you TOMB do you remember why Undertaker turned good? back in the day? I do. hint - Something to do with Randy Macho Man Savage.

Some of them were so good at being bad they were popular.

The Fabulous Freebirds
Kevin Sullivan
Greg Valentine
Don Muraco
Superstar Billy Graham
Jesse Ventura
Mr. Fuji
The Shiek
Brusier Brody (So bad he was good)
Abdullah The Butcher
Stan Hanson
The Masked Superstar (who later became part of Demolition)
The Anderson Brothers (Gene & Ole)
The Sheepherders
The Iron Shiek
Sgt. Slaughter (early years)
Raven
Mankind

I do indeed Venom: when Randy Savage and his then vallet Miss Elizabeth got married, Jake "the Snake" Roberts had enlisted the help of the Undertaker to make Savage's life a living Hell. It's gotten a little foggy in my mind as it happened so long ago, but I remember the Undertaker turning on Roberts either because he felt that The Snake had gone too far or because Jake had turned on him at some point. I want to say it was because Jake trapped him in a pit full of snakes at one point, but I just realized that happened to the Ultimate Warrior, not the Undertaker.

I'm reading Mick Foley's second book "Foley is Good"  right now, and though I've always enjoyed Foley as a performer, I respect the hell out of him as an author. His writing style flows so well that I've burned through 100 pages before I know it and his life's so interesting both in the ring and outside of it that it's impossible for me not to like him.

 Your half right and theres more ... Later Randy Savage started to be really mean to Miss Elizabeth. Show after show It got really bad. I forgot who Undertaker was fighting at the time maybe Jake ... Later after the show , In the back Savage was fighting with Miss Elizabeth again this time Randy Macho Man Savage had a steel chair in his hands ready to hit poor Miss Elizabeth. Now I forgot how clear this happened but when Randy started to swing the chair Undertakers arm came into screen! grabbing the chair
saving Elizabeth. I will never forget that part. Later Undertaker started fighting heels I think the Berserker was the 1st "hussss -  hussss" the crazy Viking remember Him? Also Miss Elizabeth Just passed away some time ago rip.

Vince McMahon is the biggest heel in today's wrestling which shows just how sad it's gotten and how much it's fallen from its glory days. The real heat machines of yesteryear had fans ready to riot they riled up the fans so much. Some great heat getters in wrestling were:

The original Sheik
The Iron Sheik
Kevin Sullivan (especially his devil-worshipping gimmick)
The Four Horsemen
Greg "the Hammer" Valentine
Nick Bockwinkel
Ray "the Crippler" Stevens
Ken Patera
Killer Kowalksi
Mad Dog Vachon
Baron Von Raschke
Fritz Von Erich
Gorgeous George

You have some good taste in your bad guys JaseSF. I haven't seen FRITZ VON ERICH in his hay-day, but the others that I didn't mention are some of the greats.

Nick Bockwinkel
Ray "the Crippler" Stevens
Killer Kowalksi
Mad Dog Vachon
Baron Von Raschke
Gorgeous George

The AWA has some good ones and the whole Kevin Sullivan in Florida years where the ultimate. Without him I don't think you would have seen THE UNDERTAKER years later. Waiting for someone on Youtube to put up a video of Sullivan raising Mark "Purlple Haze" Lewin from the sea and when Sullivan come up from underneath the center of the ring during a Dusty Rhodes cage match. Sullivan was actually banned from Catholic High School wrestling events in Florida during that time.

(http://www.froggysfitness.com/images/170px-Kevin_Sullivan.jpg)(http://www.solie.org/sullivn.jpg)
(http://www.wrestlingmuseum.com/images/photos/sullivn1.gif)
(http://www.hollywoodsuccess.com/KevinSullivanAndJakeRoberts.jpg)

Here you see a younger Jake Roberts with Kevin Sullivan. It's said that Jake Roberts actually went crazy during his time with Sullivan.

Scott Thats a good rare pic of Jake.  :thumbup: JaseSF Yes Ken Patera and Greg "the Hammer" Valentine. Also great heels!
and dont forget this heel , the Honky Tonk Man. and please dont forget Kamala and Sika.
(http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/1864/honkytonkmangq1.jpg)(http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/2689/ndvd006xi7.png)

I actually met HONKY TONK MAN in Atlantic City. Another fan wanted to shake his hand and he said "I'm not shaking your hand. I don't know where its been". His real name is Wayne Ferris I believe.

Afa and Sika were one of my all time favorite tag teams. Sika was hampered in later years with an ankle injury leaving Afa to do all the work till they stopped. Back in the 70's The Samoans where also know as the Islanders like their children and relatives in more recent times.

(http://www.wrestlingworld.it/Historical/Biografie/afasika/samoanslogo.jpg)

The Sheepherders were also great "bad guys" at one time. Causing riots in the arenas and being arrested for real.

(http://www.jrsbarbq.com/IMAGES/GALLERY/JR32.jpg)

yes I really mis Capt Lou Albano and the Wild samoans!  :bluesad:
(http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/4654/captloualbanoml4.jpg)(http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/150/wildsamoansij8.jpg)
The good old days! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dR4ot4n7sA

Oh yeah and dont forget Blackjack Mulligan ... remember the red X the tv screen when he did his claw move? I guess to block out the blood lol. thats like the late 70's

How could we have gotten this far and not yet mentioned "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert? His feud with Jerry Lawler is stuff of legend. He was able to truly rile up fans like few others in both Memphis and the Mid-South/UWF. Also how could one forget Tommy Rich, Paul E. Dangerously and Austin Idol's  scheme to rob Jerry Lawler of his Southern title and shave his head bald in Memphis? I honestly wonder how they got out of there alive.

The first time I saw Eddie Gilbert was about 1982 when he had a brief stint in the WWF and he even teamed once in a while with a very young Curt Henning. Later caught him in the UWF (Mid-South/Louisiana region) when he seemed to have mastered his craft and I loved those flying falls when he would get punched which was a real trademark for Tennessee style wrestling.

(http://www.jrsbarbq.com/IMAGES/GALLERY/JR46.jpg)

"Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert in the UWF with Sting, Rick Steiner?. and a younger looking Jim Ross.

First saw Tommy "Wild Fire" Rich on Georgia Championship Wrestling around 1980-81 when he made his return to Georgia, helped save Junk Yard Dog, and later won the NWA title from Harley Race. Actually got to see him in person around 2000 in Atlantic City during an ECW show where he was managing the FBI (Full Blooded Italians). It was really something seeing Tommy Rich in person 20 years after his biggest year in Georgia. I was never a big fan of his back then, but always remembered how much the crowd cheered him. He was never really a star outside Georgia and Tennessee.

Austin Idol is another one who never ventured out of the Tennessee/Georgia area. Only saw him once on Georgia wrestling and he gave quite an interview. Later I watched a few videos of him and he really wasn't that great.

How can you say heels and not mentioned the dirtiest player in the game.  The stylin', profilin', limo ridin' Ric Flair (in his years with WCW), Triple H, "Psyco" Sid Vicious, The Dudley Boys (when they made busting though wooden tables famous on WWE), and Mr. Chip-on-his-shoulder himself, Chavo Guerrero to name a few.

Ric Flair is definately one of the greatest heels ever. Especially in the 80's.

(http://www.wrestleinfo.com/Img110.png)(http://www.antiradio.net/images/pics/Lano.FlairSTL1978.jpg)

I also gotta mention steroid case Scott Steiner. Between his constant posturing, his muscle-bound bully stereotype, the various stupid nicknames he gives himself, that stupid chainmail hood he wears and his inability to go ten minutes without making out with the tumors on his biceps, you can't help but hate the guy with a passion.  :hatred:

but it is no fun hating Steiner, he is too one-dimensional. Shawn Michaels for instance seemed to like the hate brought towards him and he makes a way better show. Stone cold never really changed his act but enough attitude that you simply had to admire him.

Yea, they were a great act. They were also brothers. Saw them in Atlantic City against Rob Van Dam/Sabu, but it was The Dudleys who got put through the tables that night.

(http://www.voote.com/images/00004/Reg.461.1.jpg)

As I'm typing this, I'm watching WWE Madison Square Garden Classics on MSG. Hulk Hogan's doing this bit where he's wearing a yellow ski mask and goggles and going by the name of "Hulk Machine" as he teams with two other masked men calling themselves "Big Machine" (Blackjack Mulligan) and "Super Machine" (Bill "Demolition Ax" Eadie). The trio are about to take on Bobby Heenan, Big John Studd and King Kong Bundy in a six-man tag.

Is it just me, or do Kane and King Kong Bundy look a lot alike? What's the point of all this? King Kong Bundy was a great heel.  :teddyr:

I remember the Super Machines from Japan. One of them was Andre The Giant.

You know lately they have been looking closer in appearance with the bald heads.

(http://img.search.com/5/52/Kane4.jpg)(http://blogs.dfw.com/startle_grams/images/bundy.jpg)

On the topic of Raven (AKA Johnny Polo... heh heh), did he gain 60lbs over the last couple years, or has he always been a tub o' guts and we just never realized it because he was always wearing heavy metal tee-shirts? I just saw him on TNA and I think he's let himself go worse than when Road Warrior Animal came back last year...

Ric Flair
Roddy Piper (I was 5 and sporting a Piper lunchbox)
Raven (especially his ECW stuff in the mid 90s, like brainwashing Sandman's kid)
Undertaker
HHH (especially during his run from '99-mid 2001)

And, I liked Vince as a heel, but mostly when he was the chicken heel, who'd challenge people to a match, but would have like, 15 guys accompany him to the ring and then give them special jobs, like "Guest ring announcer, guest commentater, manager" etc, then wouldn't even wrestle a match. 

But to be honest, I only watched in like, the late '80s and through out the '90s.

Ric Flair...one of the all-time great heels.

Randy Savage - Even as a heel, he still had a lot of charisma and in-ring ability.  He could turn a simple elbow drop into an event. 

Vader - In his WCW days, he could draw a lot of heat.  The WWF never really gave him a chance, but at least he found some success over in Japan. 

Mr. Perfect - Another natural born heel who combined his heat-drawing talent with remarkable wrestling ability.  The "Perfect-plex" is still one of the all-time most impressive finishers in my book.  RIP Curt Hennig. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EloX-k6ikFY&feature=related

(http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz144/jaec_12/BobbyHeenan.jpg)
Bobby "The Brain" Heenan needs to be mentioned in any list of heels.  Dude was a great heel manager, and a heel announcer too.

(http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x310/The_Ultimate_Wrestling_Gallery/Shane%20Douglas/ShaneDouglas003.jpg)
The Franchise Shane Douglas

(http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x310/The_Ultimate_Wrestling_Gallery/Big%20Bossman/BigBossman010.jpg)
Big Boss Man- I dunno if I'd put him at the top...but growing up, I used to not like him.  First, he attacked Hulk Hogan...then years later he killed Al Snow's dog, then cooked it up and fed it to him.  Shortly thereafter, he made fun of Big Show's dad dying, going so far as to crash the funeral and attach the casket to his cop car and drag it out of the cemetary with Show on top. :teddyr:

"Rowdy" Roddy Piper was a red hot heel in the 80s in the WWF...his feuds with Jimmy Snuka, Bruno Sammartino, Hulk Hogan and even Mr. T come to mind immediately. Who will ever forget him smashing a coconut over Snuka's head and smooshing bananas in his face.

Chris Jericho is one of the best heels out there today... the fans legit seem to loathe him. He's one of my top faves.

Hollywood Hulk Hogan- people can say what they want, but the dude got a lot of heat when he was a heel.

Kurt Angle- A heel for a considerable amount of his career, the guy is great in all aspects: ruthless heel, play-it-up-for-laughs- chickensh*t heel, Patriotic All American good guy, or goofy guy next door.

Honestly Jericho was f'n awesome as a heel in WCW.  He acted like the fans still loved him when they hated him.  It was a beyond great run at it. 

Honestly, in my opinion, Jericho is the most underrated performer of the decade.  Recently saw him at a tv taping here in Philly about a month ago for SmackDown.  He was great live, even at the end of the show.  Everyone's leaving, and he looks up where me and my friends were.  Grabs a mic, and starts barking up at us, "Hey you in the red jacket, where you going?  You don't leave til I say you can leave.  Hey old man, sit down and shut up, stop giving me the finger and appreciate the greatness of me."  On and on for a minute or two, which culminated in a special 'dark match' just for the arena where one of the good guys came out and beat him up for berating us. :teddyr:

Jericho I honestly feel is the best current heel in wrestling today. Randy Orton is a close second but is much blander by comparison although I like the snake-like characteristics he's taken on lately.

One of the best old-school heels was Larry Zbyszko. He was a major heat getter for constantly delaying a match, getting in and out of the ring and constantly avoiding his opponent but he was truly at the heights of heatdom after turning on "mentor" Bruno Sammartino and waffling him with a chair.

Triple H- Particularly the late 90's, after he left DX and joined the Corporation. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OF3zoiJdvwI

Chris Jericho- He always was pretty funny, face or heel.  I remember some of his great name twists like Stinko Malenko, Tajunior (rip on Tajiri), Kirk Angel (vs. Kurt Angle), or phonetically pronouncing Benoit's last name. 

New Age Outlaws

Mankind- When he first got to the WWE and feuded with Jake "the Snake" Roberts and Undertaker.

Goldust- During his initial Intercontinental Championship run, back when he feuded with the likes of Razor Ramon, Shawn Michaels, and Ahmed Johnson. 

Yokozuna

British Bulldog

Owen Hart

Ric Flair

Jerry Lawler

Switching gears a little...just a tad.

My favorite "heel" female WWE wrestler was Ivory
(http://www.gerweck.net/ivory.jpg)

She was never one of their more popular female wrestlers, which was a shame.  I thought she had more personality and skill than most of the ones they had at the time.

She was a great wrestler, which was the problem.  At the time, the WWE was doing their "Attitude" campaing, marketing pretty much soley to the horny, 18-35 year old male demographic.  Which meant, unfortunately, that women's wrestling was on the backburner, and you had to be a 5'3" blone "Diva" with big boobs, ready to jump into a catfight as opposed to, you know, wrestling.

If she were around in the WWF now, where they are kinda pushing wrestling...she might be utilized more.


Oddly I love the goofy, sweatsock on his hand as a puppet, cheap pop plugging Mankind to heel Mankind.  Although, I loved his days in ECW, where everyone else was using chairs.  He came in as this 'hardcore' guy just from Japan, setting himself on fire.  Then he goes to ECW, and decided to be a heel, so he comes out and straight up WRESTLES, going on this anti-hardcore stance.  His promos were very well spoken on the ways of NOT being hardcore, despite being a top star in a HARDCORE promotion. :teddyr:

I like the goofy Mankind as a face, but I thought his twisted, pig-screeching heel persona was one of my favorite heels. 

He was good as the twisted pig screeching version, but I preferred the goofier version for some reason.  I liked him from the get-go, and it worked.  But I liked his heel work as Cactus in ECW better.

Well, yeah.  Cactus was good in any form.   :teddyr:

I loved when he first showed up as Cactus in the WWF, during a match with HHH.  It was supposed to be Dude Love, but the Dudester wasn't a violent guy.  Then you see Mankind like, "I'm not going out there."  Then all of a sudden you see Cactus, and he's like, "Cactus Jack...is BACK!"  The crowd reaction was great, and I loved how HHH reacted.

Abdullah the Butcher got a mention here before but he deserves more a mention as a top wrestling heel. He was really great as a madman on the loose. He was truly one of the most terrifying bad guys of his era (especially during the 60s and 70s when he could still move fairly quickly). A monster of a man and one of the very best at using foreign object after foreign object (usually a plastic knive or a fork?!! :buggedout:) and constantly getting away with it. Outside of the ring, he often terrified fans by wildly swinging and throwing chairs and sometimes chewing on raw chicken and other meats in interviews. His feuds with Brusier Brody, Carlos Colon, the Funks and Dusty Rhodes are the stuff of wrestling legend as is his teaming and feuding with the Original Sheik. While past his prime by the early 90s, he still proved a nasty surprise for fan favorite Sting on numerous occasions. At one point, he and Cactus Jack emerged from boxes as hired henchman to take the Stinger out!

(http://www.cantstopthebleeding.com/img/abby0605.jpg)

(http://cdn2.ioffer.com/img/item/830/418/26/GoShkHvOtAokuwb.jpg)

Apparently he owns two restaurants, called Abdullah the Butcher's House of Ribs and Chinese Food.  Cause apparently, Ribs and Chinese Food serve each other well.

Reportedly, both are successful and he's a very friendly guy.  I'd just hate to be eating and have him try to stab me with a fork or something. :buggedout:

Side note on this thread.  I LOVE a great heel turn, especially when it initially happens.  While you hear the sounds of fan's hearts breaking, I often cheer.  Hogan's heel turn was one of the greatest and monumental ever. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwr1dTrLbY0

You know who else I really liked, even though a lot of people will disagree with me...

IRS

Everyone hated him, though he was a solid wrestler.  He seemed to win a lot, and I was surprised he never won the IC title.  He seemed like it would fit him. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLTzjryNbPE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1UodSI68Fg

I  always recall her as Tina Ferrari of GLOW who was very much the "Hulk Hogan" of that pormotion at the time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Juqm94sUV_E