8 Best Anti - American Heels in WWE History

There have been thousands of baby faces through WWE’s history out there but no one would be as big as America. The nation itself is the biggest baby face the company has at its disposal and they have banked on this factor a lot of times.Producing heels who have an anti – American gimmick is a money worthy idea if pulled of right and while some have fell flat on the ground, others went on to make a name for themselves with the gimmick.Currently, Rusev is all set to take the centre stage with his feud with John Cena and before we get involved in yet another Anti – American centered storyline, here is a look at some of the best performers in the role.

#8 La Resistance

When WWE had the idea of putting together a trio of midcarders with a non-American flag, La Resistance was born. The faction ran between 2003 and 2005 and was loyal to France even though none of the three superstars were French.

France was having a lot of legitimate heat in the real world as the media projected them for being weak. The country had nothing to do with what was happening in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and WWE banked in on this heat.

The team which consisted of Rene Dupree, Sylvain Grenier and Rob Conway held the tag team titles on four separate occasions and was disbanded when France was off the headlines.

#7 Yokozuna

Anyone with a slight knowledge in Wrestling would know that Yokozuna was not really Japanese. He belonged to the Samoan family from which names like Rikishi, Usos, The Rock and Roman Reigns came but WWE portrayed him as an anti-American.

Yokozuna was accompanied to the ring by his manager Mr. Fuji who almost all the time had a Japanese flag with him. The giant was pushed to the main event right from the start and even went on to headline WrestleMania with Bret Hart.

The memorable body slam challenge angle involving Lex Luger was the biggest success story of Yokozuna’s anti-American run which also saw him become the WWE champion.

#6 Ludvig Borga

Borga did not have a hall of fame worthy career in the WWE but his anti-American gimmick was spot on. He was bought into the WWE from Finland to become a real threat for the then All-American Lex Luger, but unfortunately for him, Borga never reached that level.

He started off his career by squashing jobbers and his promos were centered on the problems that the United States faced rather than shooting random insults.

Borga is also known for being the one who ended Tatanka’s undefeated streak. His career was soon derailed due to an injury and Borga spent his remaining time in Finland as a politician before committing suicide.

#5 Nikolai Volkoff

Playing a Soviet gimmick back in the 1980s was a sure shot heat gainer. This was the idea behind Nikolai Volkoff’s character. Volkoff did everything in his power to make the American fans angry even if required going to the extremes.

Volkoff spent majority of his career as part of tag teams with his first partner being the Iron Sheik and second being Boris Zukhov. The easiest way in which Volkoff attracted heat as by singing the Russian National Anthem before all of this match.

He was never known for his in ring performance in the wrestling business but the way he managed to cause some unsettlement around the fans was one of his biggest trademarks.

#4 Sgt. Slaughter

Back in the late 80s Sgt. Slaughter was an American Hero. He was loved by all the children due to his association with the GI Joe cartoon series but Slaughter broke everyone’s heart when out of nowhere, he turned heel.

The Gulf War was making headlines back in 1990 and WWE capitalized on this by making Slaughter an Iraqi sympathizer. It was a blind shot against the Americans who built up Slaughter as a hero and things were only getting started.

He received death threats and needed security all the time just to be safe. Slaughter headlined WrestleMania 7 alongside Hulk Hogan with this gimmick but the idea was soon dropped but it was fun while it lasted.

#3 Muhammad Hassan

Muhammad Hassan’s stay in WWE was not long but still he was probably the most controversial Anti-American in the history of the company. He actually played the character of an Arab- American who was not happy with the way everyone treated him after the 9/11 incident.

It was a cheap move from WWE to cash in on the real life trouble of the Americans. Hassan was a real life Italian but he came across as a Middle Eastern guy who hated everything about America.

The character attracted a lot of heat in a short span of time and his character was eventually cancelled by the WWE when UPN did not want such controversy on their network.

#2 The Iron Sheik

The modern Era WWE fans might only know The Iron Sheik as a foul-mouthed old guy who shoots on YouTube videos but back in the 1980s he was an instrumental figure in WWE’s rise.

He rose to stardom with his championship win over American Hero Bob Backlund. It marked the end of a four year reign from Backlund and Sheik was all of a sudden the top heel in the company. He ripped Americans in all his promos and pushed people to the brink.

Sheik’s mission was to put over Hulk Hogan as the new face of WWE and he did it without much difficulty. Along with his singles run Sheik also had a tag team run alongside Nikolai Volkoff as mentioned earlier.

#1 Bret Hart

Bret Hart might be known for the babyface work he did, but his heel work was equally impressive. Hart turned heel after his match with Steve Austin in WrestleMania 13 and went on to assemble a team with Owen Hart, Davey Boy Smith, Jim Neidhart and Brian Pillman. The faction was known as the Hart Foundation and was based around how the Americans cheered superstars like Steve Austin.

Bret came across as someone who did not like the lack of respect he had from the WWE fans and delivered some of the best promos in his career as a heel.

The angle reached its highest point when Hart won the WWE Championship in SummerSlam but the fans soon forgot it thanks to Vince McMahon’s infamous Montreal Screwjob which happened just months later.