5 Wrestlers who played heel and face effectively

Edge was effective as both a heel and a faceA professional wrestler is always measured on his adeptness at performing as a heel and as a baby face.While there are wrestlers like Rey Mysterio and Jeff Hardy who spent almost their entire WWE career as faces and are still considered two of the greatest performers in the history of the business, they are merely exceptions that prove the rule.This list takes a look at those five WWE wrestlers who mastered the art of juggling between villain and hero almost seamlessly, but in a highly effective manner that went both ways.Honourable mentions go to Triple H whose Game persona drew boos or cheers based on how he was portrayed, C M Punk who did the same with his Straight Edge persona and the Rated R Superstar Edge who had no trouble in drawing a reaction, whether he was a face or a heel.

#5 Stone Cold Steve Austin

Stone Cold would be placed in a comedic angle with Kurt Angle and Vince McMahon in 2001

True, Stone Cold Steve Austin was the greatest face during the Attitude era as his battles with the villainous Vince McMahon were primarily responsible for turning the tide of the Monday Night Wars in WWE’s favour.

However, sandwiched on either side of this rebellious face persona were two widely different heel characterisations that make Stone Cold enter this list.

Austin initially came into main event prominence in the WWF as a heel after winning the 1996 King of the Ring and uttering the famous ‘Austin 3:16’ phrase. He was booked as a brash heel willing to go to any lengths to win the WWF Championship.

His feuds with Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts and Bret Hart were intended to push him as a hated villain – but they were so effective that the fans began cheering for him soon after.

This would be followed by the inevitable face turn and the beer drinking, McMahon stunning Texas Rattlesnake was born. However, if the fans thought that that was the only dimension to Stone Cold’s character, they were proved wrong during the Invasion storyline in 2001.

Austin transformed from a foul-mouthed face into a comedic, Vince McMahon ass kicker after the Two men Power Trip split up and was often displayed as a cowardly heel. His hilarious skits with Kurt Angle and Vince McMahon grew to be surprisingly entertaining and was eaten up by the fans.

Soon, he would revert to his old Stone Cold persona – this time as a heel. The way he pushed around the members of the Alliance and dominated fellow heels like Shane and Stephanie McMahon drew a lot of appreciation from wrestling observers.

He would eventually turn face once again – but no matter what, the WWE fans would greet him with loud cheers in any persona.

#4 Randy Orton

Randy Orton was vicious during his ‘Viper’ persona in 2010

Randy Orton finds a mention in this list because of the number of times he has fine-tuned his character during his WWE run – effectively portraying a fan favourite and a villain.

Orton’s initial foray into fame was as a member of Triple H’s Evolution stable. Orton would enjoy two years of his formative years with Evolution as a heel, winning the Intercontinental title and revelling in his ‘Legend Killer’ persona – a young, brash heel who disrespected the veterans of the business.

The up and comer would score victories over the likes of established stars like Shawn Michaels and Rob Van Dam during this period.

Orton would become the youngest World Champion in history after defeating Chris Benoit and would turn face, feuding with his former stablemates with the full support of the WWE fans.

He would again turn heel leading to a memorable feud with the Undertaker and would enter into the next phase of his career with Rated R-KO alongside Edge. The two were booked as talented heels at the top of their games and would have rivalries with the likes of DX and John Cena.

A couple of years later, Orton would truly reach the turning point of his career when he introduced his ‘Viper’ persona. Imitating the movements of a serpent – particularly lying prone on the ground before delivering the RKO – Orton would now be booked as an aloof and dangerous heel.

His feud with the McMahon family where he punt kicked or RKO’ed the entire members of the first family of the WWE was widely appreciated by wrestling critics mainly for the attention to detail Orton brought in to get inside the skin of his character.

‘The Viper’ persona became so popular that Orton would turn face keeping the very same persona intact.

He would be portrayed as the ‘Apex Predator’ who would focus his attention on heels and it is a testament to the success of his face turn that he became the most cheered superstar in 2011 when the brand was possibly having the greatest array of talent on its roster with the likes of John Cena, Edge, Triple H, Jeff Hardy and the Undertaker still going strong.

Orton would transform into a cowardly heel character as part of the Authority angle in 2013 and would remerge as a face in 2015.

#3 The Rock

The Rock was quite popular whether he was a face or a heel

The Rock’s career is a true testament to how effectively he could play a heel and a face.

The current Hollywood superstar started out as Rocky Maivia – a traditional face who always ‘fought the good fight’. However, pro-wrestling was becoming edgier at the time and the fans loathed Maivia for his ‘goody good’ persona. That would turn out to be the only time his character would ever be rejected by wrestling fans.

Having learnt his lessons well, Maivia soon adopted a brand new gimmick where he would refer to himself in third person and became a cocky, arrogant heel and voila; The Rock was born.

His entertaining promos quickly gained the attention of the public and his feuds with DX and later Stone Cold Steve Austin would elevate him to superstardom. Meanwhile, his charisma was becoming impossible to ignore and the WWF Creative soon turned him face and the Rock excelled in that role too.

Unlike his earlier Maivia character, the new babyface Rock hurled insults at his opposition, verbally and physically attacked heels like Vince McMahon and even Stephanie and retained most of the character traits that had made him popular as a heel.

Austin vs The Rock was the greatest feud for most of the Attitude era and they headlined two Wrestlemanias during that period. The Rock would lead the WWF to victory in the battle against an Austin led WCW-ECW alliance cementing his position at the top of the company.

So flexible was the Rock that during the final months of his 2003 WWE run, he would adopt a sell out persona in reference to him planning to leave WWE for Hollywood and even that would have fans crying out for more.

#2 Hulk Hogan

Hulk Hogan could captivate the fans irrespective of whether he was a heel or a face

Hulk Hogan was the squeaky clean babyface on whom Vince McMahon built the WWF brand in the 1980s.

The ‘Say your prayers and eat your vitamins’ superstar had already attained legendary status among wrestling fans and could easily have ended his career in the mid-nineties when he parted ways with the WWF and decided to try his luck in Hollywood.

However, Hogan soon moved to WWE’s ambitious rival WCW. His persona remained the same, though – the dominant baby face who always triumphed over evil and offered himself as a role model to his millions of fans. That is, until Bash of the Beach 1996.

That day marked a turning point in the history of pro-wrestling as the Outsiders introduced Hogan as the final member of their stable which became the legendary New World Order. As over as Scott Hall and Kevin Nash were, it is arguable that the nWo would never have reached the heights they would achieve if it wasn’t for the Hulkster.

Eric Bischoff convincing the perennial babyface Hogan to become a heel and adopt the ‘Hollywood’ persona is still perceived as the biggest turn in wrestling history.

The move breathed a second life into Hogan’s character which was becoming stale that time as a one dimensional face and the villanious nWo, helmed by the Hulkster led WCW to finally overtake WWE in the ratings war and almost put McMahon’s company out of business.

After more than half a decade in the Hollywood persona, Hogan would turn face in 2002 in WWE and the crowd reaction was so great that McMahon would have the newly crowned Undisputed Champion Triple H drop the title to the 54 year old Hogan – a testament to Hulk’s effectiveness as both a heel and a face.

#1 Shawn Michaels

The hatchet was buried and dusted away eventually

Fans that started watching Shawn Michaels on WWE TV from 2003-2010 would never guess how drastic his persona had changed since the mid-nineties.

The 03-10 Michaels was a real life born again Christian who had accepted Christ into his life and was portrayed on-screen as a perennial babyface. He went on to have exciting feuds with villains like Triple H, Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle and also with the likes of John Cena and the Undertaker.

Even more impressive, HBK acted as a mentor to young wrestlers backstage and agreed to put over up and coming singles wrestlers like Edge, Randy Orton and Jeff Hardy.

In fact, Michaels did not win the World title during his last seven years with the company - despite the fact that he was part of the main event on countless occasions. Compare this with his 'Boytoy' persona of the mid-nineties when he accumulated championships and refused to lose on screen to Bret Hart.

The 90's Michaels had made a reputation for being difficult to deal with and held vast clout backstage. His edgy antics led to the birth of the 'Attitude Era' and was all in all considered to be a very unpleasant and cocky person.

The character he displayed on screen was actually a blotted version of his original self and the fans loved to hate the cocky new face of the WWE who was leading the company away from a family oriented product to a new edgier recipe.

The real life beef he held with fan favourite Bret Hart, his supposed involvement in the Montreal Screwjob and his non-repentant nature following the PPV would make the fans hate him more.

The cheers that Stone Cold Steve Austin received for beating the heel Michaels for the WWF title at Wrestlemania 14 in what would prove to be HBK's final match in his initial WWE run would be matched - ironically - five years later when a baby face Michaels would win the World Heavyweight title at the first ever Elimination Chamber match in 2002.

He would underline his commitment to turning over a new leaf when he and Hart would have a genuine reconciliation in the ring in 2010, putting an end to their real life rivalry.

Michaels deserves the top spot in this list because his mid-nineties heel persona and the 2000s face persona were actually fair reflections of his true self and the fans accepted both.