Best ever heel in WWF/E?

[IANdrewDiceClay]

I was watching 2000 WWF a few months back, and Triple H was really good over the years but he had nothing on his form in 2000. All through 2000 and the first few months of 2001, he was absolutely sensational. Like 50 levels above he is now, and he's pretty good now. If you want to see an example of how great HHH was at the time, watch when he bullies Earl Hebner into giving him the belt back and then firing him straight after. On that night, from the Jericho loss to the way he got the belt back to his reaction to Austin's announced return and then grabbing Linda McMahon by the hair and teasing a pedigree on her, he was fucking brilliant. That was all on one episode of Raw as well.

 

Vince McMahon in 1998-2000 was as good as any heel ever, as well. He was unreal.

[Jon-Carr_92]

Sgt Slaughter Iraqi Sympathiser is up there for sure. The guy legit feared for his life as a result of it.

[Snitsky's back acne]

Vickie Guerrero has got to be up there surely?
She had so much heat at one point that the crowd drowned her out when she tried talking on the microphone and the reactions to when she got Tombstoned by The Undertaker or whatever were crazy. Eddie was so beloved and died before his time so when his widow 'married' another hated heel, Edge, and revealed herself to be a manipulative and annoying bitch it went nuclear.

[WWFChilli]

Triple H in 2000 is outstanding. Glad it changed from the awkward late 99 DX run where they were date raping college girls etc (this happened) and made him more a super power mad end of game boss, but a coward. Basically how Rollins should be.

[air_raid]

I would consider Lawler, looking back. I hated him with a passion when he was working with Bret and loved him getting fucking annihilated by said same Hitman at SummerSlam 93... and was gutted when he came back. I seethed listening to his commentary as he supported that whining little ingrate Owen or the tub of guts Yokozuna and later on he was so tiresome in his assault on Jake Roberts (ironically) that I was livid when he didn't get his comeuppance at SummerSlam 96. Positively fuming.

 

Bobby Heenan for me, made my blood boil with his cheating and whining on the mike. Just a very unlikable character played perfectly whether in the ring or later on commentary.

 

Loses points for me for being hilarious, both bumping and talking. I loved him as a "pantomime villain" rather than hated him.

 

I think Triple H is the best heel ever. Besides the wrestling aspect, becoming a high placed office member/ practically the boss of the company by marrying the daughter of the owner always rubs people the wrong way in ways other wrestlers can not by being their wrestling persona.

 

That's got fuck all to do with how good a heel performer he is though. That's people deciding to boo him based on something utterly extraneous to his ability to play the heel - by the same logic, John Cena's been one of the best heel of the last ten years, even though he's played babyface the entire time.

 

Triple H. He was the heel when the top babyfaces were Rock and Austin, and he absolutely convinced at their level. If the boom period makes the top babyfaces the best babyfaces ever, the same applies to the top heel.

 

My favourite was Edge from 2005-2009, though. Slimy, cowardly, willing to go to any length to escape with a belt, and so entertaining with it.

 

The argument for Hunter there is sound and logical, and will probably be attacked by some dribblers that will insist Austin and Rocky would have done the same numbers working Jericho, Boss Man or Pete Gas.

 

Edge had an amazing record for ingenious bastardry or being a lucky twat.

 

 

• Cashes in the briefcase when Cena is knackered from an Elimination Chamber to win his 1st WWE title.
• Steals a pin in a triple threat match after someone else does the damage to win his 2nd WWE title.
• Cashes in the briefcase on an Undertaker fucked from a match with Batista AND an attack from Mark Henry to win his first Big Gold Belt.
• Wins the belt back from Batsta because two lads dressed as him interfere.
• Wins the belt back from Undertaker because half the roster interferes.
• Gets inserted really late into a triple threat match he wasn't even supposed to be in to win the WWE title at Survivors 2008.
• Regains the WWE title at the Rumble on the whim of Matt Hardy fancying betraying his brother.
• Picks up another Big Gold Belt because for some reason he's permitted to take Kofi Kingston's place in the Elimination Chamber for no other reason than he just beat the shit out of him. Heh.
• I can't remember how he won Big Gold back from Cena but I bet it was lucky as fuck.
• Wins a Rumble as a surprise entrant. OK, this was a "babyface comeback" but still... jammy bastard.

 

I'm not going to lie though.... I loved him beating Cena, and most of the above had me smirking and going "Oh, that's genius." That's probably just the difference between me as a child and me as a fully grown smark though.

 

If I could pick one example from recent days.... hmm, Big Gold Belt wearing Straight Edge cunt CM Punk certainly whipped up some crowds into a nuclear tizzy in 2009, from what I saw of that year's TV. Some fans in some front rows seemed to properly go for him, reminding me of old school heat when that kind of behaviour was more commonplace.

 

Jake Roberts as the Devil Incarnate from 1991 is my fave heel run.

 

HOT DOG, we have a wiener. What an irredeemable cunt. Well, until he came back in 1996 as a goodie, obviously. I hated this bastard when I was first playing catch up on the old tapes and if I hadn't been slightly late to the party getting into the WWF I'd have been terrified at the thought of Bret being made to defend the Intercontinental belt against a guy as evil as Roberts, with a finisher as lethal as the DDT, and the possibility my hero getting the cobra treatment. Jesus wept. A fabulous promo, this man could could you nightmares.

[andrew "the ref" coyne]

You forgot to mention Edge being the only guy to effectively goad the MITB winner to put the briefcase on the line, and winning it, prior to cashing it in THE NEXT NIGHT, on Taker.

 

I loved heel Edge. 

[PunkStep]

Triple H for me. I got back onto wrestling just as he'd been bumped to the top, and I was instantly a huge Rock fan-more the reason to despise Trips. He was just utterly despicable as a heel.

 

The thing that made me hate him most was the power that he had, the Jericho title win angle being the perfect example. The fans were super hot when he beat Triple H for the title, and went NUCLEAR when he reversed the decision. He retired Mick Foley, who was the most beloved wrestler in the world at the time. I've never wanted somebody to beat someone so much than I wanted The Rock to beat him for the title, so Backlash was a great moment.

 

The thing that helped him too, was that he came across as the best in the ring. There were only a few that could stand toe-to-toe with him, and if they came close to beating him then the regime would screw them over. He was as dominant as I've seen any heel in WWE, and was a right cunt with it. On his day, you could see him feasibly beating anyone, which agitated you even more knowing that he was 'that damn good'.

[Slapnut]

 

• I can't remember how he won Big Gold back from Cena but I bet it was lucky as fuck.

 

Big Show came out and put Cena through a big spotlight, so you're not wrong there.

 

"Big Show interfered" seems like the ending to every match ever.

[air_raid]

Big Show came out and put Cena through a big spotlight, so you're not wrong there.

 

"Big Show interfered" seems like the ending to every match ever.

 

I thought Show might have waddled out since he was (unwelcomely) involved in the Mania match and I have recollections after Edge moved onto Jeff Hardy of thinking "Was the world really crying out for ANOTHER round of Cena VS Big Show????"

[Grecian]

Edge would get my shout, for one simple reason:

 

The whole thing with Lita made us realise that he was an absolute shit in real-life too. the Ultimate Opportunist angle ran offscreen, when him and Lita are both injured together, Matt is on the road, he swoops in and nicks one of his friends ladies. It then stretching into his onscreen character wasn't a huge jump - if he'd go behind his mates back for a girl, what would he do to win the world title? The answer was simple - marry Vickie G, cash in MITB, goad someone into losing MITB, be entered into a triple threat at Survivor Series after Triple H and Kozlov had been fighting for a while, used lookalikes to win another triple-threat, snuck into an Elimination Chamber after blasting Kofi Kingston...

 

In short, a complete bastard. And you could believe it was real, too.

[air_raid]

Again, I don't think real-life stuff should factor in "how good a heel" a performer is. Grant Mitchell isn't the best EastEnders villain ever because you've heard Ross Kemp kicks his dog, is he?

[tiger_rick]

Some good shouts. I think Jake Roberts lacked the ring work that his incredible promos deserved. He also had the big shock angles that got him over quickly. For someone who talked (talks?) such a good game, his ring work was always seriously lacking.

 

Trips was incredible and as pointed out, hanging with the biggest babyface in history has to put him up there (same for Piper). However, he was over, I think, because of who he beat, who he hung around with and how dominant he was in the ring for a heel. Not a bad thing but compared to someone like Lawler who people just loved to hate in any and every scenario and who got everything over just by being a really irritating turd, I don't think it compares. I think Trips was a top worker booked as a great heel. I just think Lawler was a great heel.

 

McMahon is one I might concede. He was fantastic and showed arse in a massive way time and time again. Who else in his position would piss themselves on live TV, have their head shoved up a fat man's arse, etc? He was a brilliant antagonist and a fantastic promo who always knew what buttons to push.

 

Not sure quite the WWF wouldn't have hit the boom without his character though. Might have taken longer but with the popularity of Austin and the supporting cast of Taker, Rock, Trips, Foley, DX and Kane, the freshness and attitude around the shows and WW's inability to do anything beyond nWo at the top of the card - I'm certain they'd have still forged ahead.

[kostan]

I do think the real life stuff should count WHEN it is also used in a storyline.

 

Like HHH. Like Vince McMahon. In real life they have the power and in storylines as well. Which makes them (imo) better heels, because you KNOW they have the power to do whatever it is they want.

[tiger_rick]

I do think the real life stuff should count WHEN it is also used in a storyline.

 

Like HHH. Like Vince McMahon. In real life they have the power and in storylines as well. Which makes them (imo) better heels, because you KNOW they have the power to do whatever it is they want.

Yeah, if it's good. Vince actually being the boss enhanced the Austin/McMahon stuff. Steph actually being a McMahon enhanced the 2000 stuff.

 

Trips & Steph's real-life power hasn't stopped the Authority being worse than traipsing dog shit through your house and then being forced to clean it up with your tongue.

[Pinc]

Again, I don't think real-life stuff should factor in "how good a heel" a performer is. Grant Mitchell isn't the best EastEnders villain ever because you've heard Ross Kemp kicks his dog, is he?

 

Edge's heel persona is inextricably linked to his real-life actions. Especially early on, a big part of the reason he was so believable as a sex pest sociopath was because he really seemed to be that way. As with a lot of high profile wrestlers, I don't know how you can judge his character without reference to the real fella playing it.

 

If the Eastenders writers had written Ross Kemp's real life dog kicking scandal into his character by having him boot Tiffany's golden retriever out the window immediately after sleeping with her mum, then it'd definitely strengthen his claims to be the best ever soap baddy.