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The Ten Greatest Heels of All Time
DougMaynard.com
Doug Maynard

As part of my regular feature, the Ultimate Wrestling Q&A, exclusively presented at my site, DougMaynard.com, I was asked this question. On his latest podcast, Dutch Mantell listed who he believes are the Top Ten Heels of All Time. He listed Mr. McMahon, Bobby Heenan, Roman Reigns, Ole Anderson, Sgt. Slaughter, Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts, Randy Savage, Roddy Piper, Abdullah the Butcher, and Terry Funk. So who would you list as your Top Ten Heels of all time?

Rather than my usual glib answer, quickly throwing out ten names at random, I gave this one some intense thought. I thought about how they made me feel, the reactions from the fans, and just the general feeling as each person made an appearance. And well, I came up with ten names. I’ll throw out a few honorable mentions and then we’ll get to the nitty-gritty of the matter. This is strictly my opinion as a fan of over fifty years and a long-term student of the world’s greatest sport.

Honorable mentions go to the great Ox Baker, Captain Lou Albano, Paul Jones, Paul Orndorff, and The Sheik, just because of the nature of their characters and how they could control and manipulate an audience with their tactics or words.

And now, let’s talk about the best of the best. The most vile, disgusting, and contemptible villains in wrestling history. These are the heels that the other bad guys look up to. The ones that made your blood boil and steam blow out your ears. Let’s do this.

Ole Anderson:
What can you say about “The Rock” Ole Anderson that hasn’t already been said? He’s pro wrestling’s original Grumpy Old Man and even 9/10 of the people in the locker room hated him. And when he cut a promo and talked, it was believable and real. Ole was a great heel because he was just that, unlikeable and a total ass most of the time. He wasn’t being a character. He was being Ole. It wasn’t about winning or losing so much as it was about just beating up and hurting an opponent. Ole was a bully and damn good at it. Very few did it better.

Vince McMahon:
If there was a better character that just represented a power trip, manipulation, and being a piece of garbage than Vince McMahon, I can’t think of who it might be. And when more recent revelations about his real life are added to the mix, he’s even more unlikeable than ever. Vince should probably be the number one heel, but I just preferred Ole. It’s a matter of taste. But the Mr. McMahon character is vile, evil, and as nasty as they come. He’s someone you can’t help but hate. And that’s why he was so damn good.

Ivan Koloff:
The evil Russian who beat Bruno. It’s hard to believe such a good guy can be so despised and hated, but that just shows how good a heel he truly was. The role of foreign heel was a time-honored character in professional wrestling for so many years and Uncle Ivan was one of the very best. Behind the scenes, Ivan was truly a sweetheart of a guy, but when he went into character and the accent started, he was ruthless and so very contemptible, determined to bring honor to himself and Mother Russia. A true legend and one of the best of his era.

Larry Zbyszko:
Wrestling’s living legend. Just listen and watch Larry in his early WWE and AWA days and the first impression will always be, “What an asshole!”. He turned on his hero and mentor, Bruno Sammartino. He “bought” the Georgia National Championship from Killer Tim Brooks. He turned Nick Bockwinkel into a babyface by being so obnoxious. And that damn stalling in the matches and refusing to hook up or make contact with his opponent. Everything about Larry was there to piss off the fans and make him seem to be as obnoxious as possible. And he played it to the maximum with every match or interview. When it came to making fans angry, Zbyszko was truly a Living Legend.

Fabulous Moolah:
While I have much respect for Moolah, she was a great example of holding on too long and was, both in character and reality, a real-life female version of Vince McMahon. In the ring, she’d cheat, use the ropes or tights, pull the hair, or do whatever it takes to win matches and keep her championship. She just wasn’t likable at all and to see her steal win after win always kept the fans angry and coming back for more. A great heel who was always about the money and herself, hence the name. A true legend.

Roddy Piper:
No one could generate heat like Piper. All Hot Rod needed was a microphone and an audience and the boos would commence. He would say anything and do anything, including nailing someone in the head with a coconut or spraying them in the face with a fire extinguisher. Piper was the bad guy’s favorite heel and no one could push the envelope better than the Rowdy One.

Hollywood Hogan:
When a man, after almost fifteen years of being the role model, telling kids to say their prayers and take their vitamins, turns on his partners and tells the fans to shove it, he goes from being the biggest babyface of his era to the most hated heel. Hogan betrayed us all and even now, almost thirty years later, it still stings. Part of me, and the late, great Bobby Heenan, feels that Hogan was just revealing his true colors and was always a bad guy at heart. Maybe he was and maybe he wasn’t, but it was a work of art and cemented Hogan’s legacy as one of the best heels of all time. Hollywood Hogan was more than a character. He was a stroke of genius that extended Hulk’s career easily for another ten or so years.

Jim Cornette:
If Piper was a great talker, Jim Cornette was the Michaelangelo of talking smack and stirring up a crowd. Just by his look, Cornette could have a crowd ready to riot, and then when the infamous tennis racket and a few insults were added to the mix, possible murder was on the agenda. Even now, several years after his retirement, Cornette’s very name can piss people off, especially fans of ‘Outlaw Mud Shows’, and AEW. Cornette is a very intelligent man who knows wrestling better than most and can hold the audience in the palm of his hands with the slightest of ease.

Ernie Ladd:
It could be through his condescending insults to the other wrestlers, the announcers, and the fans, or the infamous taped thumb used to cheat and steal wins, but Ernie Ladd was a force of nature. A big man who could easily win by his physical prowess alone, Ladd would rather cheat, play dirty, and ridicule everyone than fight and win cleanly. He detested the fans and they returned the love in kind.

Col. DeBeers:
A racist and White Supremacist before it was a thing, DeBeers was playing off the politics of the time and Apartheid in South Africa. DeBeers would regularly spew racial insults at the crowd while refusing to wrestle opponents because they were of color or non-whites. A gimmick like that would never be allowed today and people would boycott or riot. It was barely tolerable back in the 80s and that’s what made it so good and effective.

And there you go. So what do you think? Who are the bad guys you loved to hate as a wrestling fan? Who made your blood boil and steam coming from your ears? Let me know in the comments along with any thoughts or questions. And with that, let’s wrap it up. Thanks for reading. Have a great one and let’s go boo these heels and let them know how much we appreciate their wicked and dastardly ways. Take care and I’ll see you at the matches.

Ubuntu!