5 pro wrestling heels that garnered heat even with smart fans

CM Punk was one of the industryâÂÂs best heels of all timeHeels make the world go round in professional wrestling. Some fans love the bad guys as they are considered to be not only cool, but often times, trendsetting. However their main appeal lies not in how much they can pop a crowd with an unexpected positive reaction, it’s more about the work they put in while in character. The truth is without strong heels, pro wrestling companies would simply not be in business for very long.The most important element of any promotion is its ability to draw fans. That is accomplished primarily by the stars and the feuds they are involved in. The more intense and more believable a rivalry is, the more likely fans are to pay good money to see the action unfold in the ring. Heels are at the center of it all.There is no drama in babyface wrestlers constantly coming out on top and never being legitimately challenged for their championships or their spots on the roster. Fans may cheer them for a while but it would not last long; guys need rivals to push them, to make them work to be better wrestlers and bigger stars. Nothing can do that the way a strong rulebreaker can.Solid antagonists make for solid protagonists and everyone wins in that scenario. When the antagonist in question is so good he’s hated despite how ‘smart’ some fans claim to be, even that’s better. Those heels blur the lines between fiction and reality, making it virtually impossible to know what the truth is. Drawing heat is essential for good heels and drawing heat even when they are not in the ring can be considered an art form indeed.

#5 CM Punk

CM Punk drew heat simply by opening his mouth and speaking his mind

CM Punk speaks his mind and that generates heat like no pro wrestling storyline ever could. Punk’s insistence on being himself and pushing the envelope when it comes to his character has put him in a very small class. He did it his way and had major success doing it.

As the Straight Edge Saviour, he parodied Jesus Christ. The Straight Edge Society were his apostles and the ring was his pulpit. He spewed forth hate and vile toward everyone in his way and he did so with a devilish smile on his face. He worked fans like any old school wrestler would and he managed to put them in a rage filled frenzy; they called him the devil and he loved every second of it.

Even the famous pipebomb moment on Raw drew heat for Punk, as many fans believed he was doing nothing more than complaining. His storyline with The Undertaker brought down controversy and hate thanks to the notorious urn spot in which The Deadman was supposedly covered in Paul Bearer’s ashes. Even though fans knew this was not the case, it did not stop Punk from heeling out even more and provided him with more detractors than he perhaps ever had before.

Punk’s departure from WWE brought heat as well. Instead of trying to understand where he was coming from, many fans called him a quitter and turned on him for it. His arrival in UFC was met with criticism and anger from two separate fanbases that wanted nothing to do with him. The fact is no matter where Punk goes, heat follows. Even the smartest of fans can’t help but join the chorus and Punk surely loves it all.

#4 Shawn Michaels

Attitude Era Shawn Michaels is one of the most arrogant heels of all time

Shawn Michaels was lewd, he was crude and he was rude. He was a teenager in a man’s sport and he cared about what he wanted, what felt good and what seemed right. Most of the time, all of that directly contradicted what WWE and its owner wanted.

Vince McMahon gave Shawn the platform and The Heartbreak Kid took full advantage of it. He had spotlight in the ring and he had heat in the locker room. Shawn was hated because of his attitude and his behavior, which often led many fans to also hate him away from the ring. HBK was unapologetic for his actions and while he cited Ric Flair as his primary inspiration, he seemed to show no respect for the business the way The Nature Boy did.

But any heat Michaels ever had paled in comparison to the heat he earned after The Montreal Screwjob. It was that night that set HBK’s path for years to come and brought down the hate from an entire country for his role in Bret Hart’s WWF title loss. Smart fans that believed they were above it all even hated Shawn, without ever stopping to consider both sides of the story before passing judgement.

While Shawn’s heat has died down over the years, it will likely always be there in some form. WWE knows this and has run with it, as HBK screwed Daniel Bryan out of the WWE Championship and even attacked Sting at WrestleMania 31. It seems that no matter how popular he is, he will always have that edge to him and it will always be exploited.

#3 Ric Flair

The Nature Boy was arguably the best at being bad

There has arguably been no one with as much passion and love for the business than The Nature Boy Ric Flair. During his prime, there was also no one arguably as good at being bad.

Flair defined what the classic pro wrestlng heel is and it’s a model used to this day. He flaunted his wealth in front of hard working blue collar fans. He smiled in the face of his opponents’ pain. He strutted and screamed to the whole world he was the best in the game yet he relied on his friends in The Four Horsemen to have his back in many matches. He treated women like sex objects and he spent money like a king. While he has always been entertaining, it was all of this that caused fans to truly hate him.

This was especially true during Ric’s feud with Dusty Rhodes. The two men could not be more opposite in terms of character and it was the love fans had for The American Dream that caused them to despise Flair as much as they did. Dusty fought his way to the top while Ric had an easy path. Dusty never had guys interfering for him yet Ric always had the Horsemen on his side.

The night Dusty’s ankle was broken, fans stormed the ring and The Four Horsemen narrowly escaped harm. Fans that may have been skeptical of the product or perhaps even liked Flair due to his character, turned on him that night and it remained that way during his feud with Rhodes.

When Ric was a heel in TNA, many fans criticized him for still wrestling. He was believed to be taking valuable air time from younger stars. It made little difference that TNA was trying to get as many eyes on the company as possible or that Flair truly loves the business and didn’t want to stop wrestling because Vince McMahon said so. Fans hated him and some still hate him to this day for not walking away.

#2 Triple H

The Game is a heatseeker simply because of the family he married into

How big of a heel is Triple H? He still carries the hate to this very day even though he hardly wrestles anymore.

Much like Mister McMahon, Hunter has heat because of his character. The corporate Game is shrewd, conniving, devious and self-serving. He steps on one WWE Superstar after another to get what he wants and he does it under the guise of commitment to the business. Every week he gets his way and every week fans hate him just a little bit more for it.

But many fans feel this is not a character; they believe it’s truly who Triple H is. As a full-time wrestler, Hunter was viewed as the guy holding others down. The infamous “bury” term has been used so many times in relation to him that it’s become part of his character. Despite who pinned Triple H or how many matches he lost, he refused to put anyone over and only cared about how he looked; this is what countless fans have believed for years.

Trading in his tights and sledgehammer for a suit and tie has only added to this notion. Despite the good work he’s done with NXT, he still catches the blame for guys like Cesaro not getting a main event shot and for Seth Rollins constantly being bested by John Cena. If he’s so smart and so innovative with NXT, then why does he allow bad things to happen on Monday Night Raw? If anyone could talk to Vince and make him see the light, isn’t it Hunter?

However those questions are often met with declarations of his selfish involvement in one bad storyline move after another. Fans hold a level of respect for The King of Kings but it will always be tempered with what he’s believed to have done in the past as well as what he’s believed to be doing now. Marrying the boss’s daughter and getting a perceived free ride to the top has only encouraged that belief.

#1 Vince McMahon

No one can draw heat in WWE quite like the boss can

Mister McMahon is believed to be one of the best heels WWE has ever known. The Montreal Screwjob led to the creation of the character and that character went on to oppress Stone Cold Steve Austin throughout his entire first run. Crowds watched as Vince yelled, screamed, threatened and attacked Austin and his supporters every week. Fans wanted to see The Texas Rattlesnake and Mister McMahon wanted him gone; that was instant heat for WWE’s owner.

At the end of the day, fans recognized the incredible job Vince was doing in that role and ultimately respected him for it. But along with that respect came hate.

Vince is the boss and as long as he’s got air in his lungs, he will be the man calling the shots. That means he has the last word on storlyines, angles and championships. Whenever something goes wrong, fans often point to Vince as the culprit.

Despite how many times the blame could be placed with WWE creative, fans know that Vince has the last word. So when someone needs to bear the brunt of fan attacks, he’s more than up for it; it’s nothing he hasn’t heard before. Many fans believe Vince has lost touch with the product and is incapable at this point of making decisions that can truly move WWE forward. He’s likely heard that one too.

However that has not stopped him from doing what he wants, the way he wants to do it. This has created a divide between WWE and the fans, who believe Vince does not care about what they want at all. He may get a nice response when he appears on TV but the fact is fans hate him right now even though he’s not in the storyline anymore.