SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
The greatest couple in all of professional wrestling is back! With all that’s going wrong in the world, at least there’s the glimmer of hope in knowing that Dominik Mysterio and Liv Morgan are still together. I’ve become a massive fan of both and think that they are two of the best heels working in wrestling right now.
The heel was often the character I enjoyed the most. From the age of 11 when I first discovered professional wrestling, I paid attention to the bad guys. Like the Star Wars kids who were obsessed with Darth Vader, I thought the lines coming from Bobby “The Brain” Heenan were way more entertaining than the generic babyface catchphrases. I enjoyed seeing Cactus Jack bring chaos to WCW.
I was at the perfect age when Hulk Hogan put on the black & white and made me interested in what this Hollywood version of Hulk for the first time. Sometimes the appeal is the character saying what’s really on their mind. Maybe it was the sheer confidence, or the more fleshed out character with motivations you’d understand made them the way they are, but something about the heel captured my interest.
My list this week is my personal favorites. It has nothing to do with being the best by drawing money or having the best in ring work. These were characters that resonated with me over the years. Some of these have had babyface runs as well, but when they were a heel, that was where my imagination was hooked. I also wanted to limit to those with careers behind them.
JBL
John Bradshaw Layfield is a special case. I didn’t like him in his heel run. I felt like they went with him too quickly into Eddie Guerrero’s title run, and left it on him longer than I would have liked. He was offensive, cocky, and often wrong about everything. And that’s exactly why I’ve come around on his run. I was too much of an “insider” fan and would read stories by people with an anti-JBL agenda, or one side of a story. Bradshaw never defended himself, so you just assume all of it to be true that has been said about him.
Then came his commentary run, where I was very entertained by what he did. I thought he was very good in how he put over new talent in his color analyst role. Add to that his fill-in stint on “Something to Wrestle” when Bruce Prichard was too overwhelmed to continue the show for a while. I really started to appreciate John Layfield.
The historian who loved to be hated on stage, but didn’t mind that heat carrying over backstage. JBL has said there was times he went too far backstage, admitting to being young, bored, and not having the internet to spend their free time on. Then I learn that the man helps orphaned children and homeless cats.
His job during that run was to be hated and be on top long enough that when he was defeated, all the heat JBL created was passed onto the babyface that took it from him. That John has stated that one of the greatest moments of his career was the day he was able to pass his equity on and leave it in the hands of who he’d hoped would take the title to higher heights. He was very proud for that to have been John Cena.
Vader
The man was simply a beast. In an era where there was still a little shading of grey in my understanding how this worked, I didn’t understand if this man could be beaten. He crushed Sting. The hero of WCW. There wasn’t anyone better where they could beat someone Sting couldn’t!
Sting became among my personal favorite wrestlers, and at that time, he and the Steiners were the only babyfaces I liked more than heels (with one heel exception). Because Big Van Vader was the first man to lay Sting out that I saw when it was a fair fight, I hated him as a kid!
Later in life, I loved having the opportunity to meet Vader at a local indie show just to tell him how much I hated him as a child. Without a villain, a hero has no meaning, and Vader was one of Sting’s great opponents.
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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Ric Flair
How can you have any top five heel list and not include “The Dirtiest Player in the Game?” He had the most expensive clothing and jewelry, rode in limousines, guys wanted to be him and many women wanted to – and apparently did, well….you’ve heard the phrase…
He talked a big game, walked a big game, and knew he always had a plan, even when he alone wasn’t up to task. As a young boy who wanted to learn how to talk to girls without being laughed at, Flair seemed so cool. He was often the man walking around with the gold and was in charge.
Of course, he was the bad guy, so his motives were off, he was selfish and didn’t care about rules, and those girls were always changing or not treated well, which kept him from being a role model and getting widespread cheers.
Scott Hall
The entire wrestling industry changed on a Memorial Day when Scott Hall came out of the WCW Nitro crowd, interrupted a match in progress (I wonder if they ever got a make-up match), and announced that he was there to take over. An Eric Bischoff idea, and used Hulk Hogan to make it legendary, but it took Scott Hall to make it work.
Very cool, very confident, Razor Ramon oozed machismo. Stealing influence from “Scarface” (a top five film that should be seen and studied by anyone who loves story and character), he had a look, sound, and bad-ass catchphrases already developed for Scott Hall in that role.
Fans had connected with Razor, especially after he showed some vulnerability by loosing unexpectedly to the 1-2-3 Kid. Scott was brilliant and showed that in when he lost, how he lost, and having the respect of many to listen when he made a suggestion. Hall is always a favorite personality to listen to when breaking down wrestling. What makes a crowd react? When can you subvert expectations and make it matter?
A man we missed so much genius from not being able to work consistently, then taken from the world. I love all of the legacy he left in matches, promos, and long-form interviews that can be enjoyed by generations.
“Ravishing” Rick Rude
My absolute favorite wrestler as a kid. My wrestling introduction was Rick Rude winning the U.S. Title from Sting at a Clash of the Champions. So when I describe how cool I thought the man looked, we aren’t talking about that goofy Afro-head era.
Rude was built like he was chiseled in stone. The man without a shirt was perfect for learning muscle anatomy because they were all on display. He had tights that would mock his opponent, had a manager who, while he seemed sleezy, had the right plans in place to make his team winners.
He also had who I thought was the most gorgeous of women in wrestling in that era in Madusa, who would be in his corner as well. As a natural contrarian, I knew I was supposed to root for Sting. He was the obvious kid character (and I got there, he won me over to be a huge fan), but I couldn’t cheer for a guy I thought was going to lose. Sting had already been attacked earlier in the night by Lex Luger; Sting’s knee was in a way that he barely made it to the ring to fight this bad ass of an opponent.
(Griffin is a lifelong fan of wrestling, superheroes, and rebellious music of all forms. He is the owner of Nerdstalgia, and you can shop online, learn about visiting the store in Colorado Springs, or catch him at a comic con in the Rocky Mountain area by going to http://nerdstalgia.shop.)
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