10 best heels in wrestling history

Superman needs Lex Luthor, Batman needs the Joker, and in wrestling, every babyface needs a heel.

Even during the Attitude Era in the WWE, there was still a dividing line between what the fans cheered and what they booed.

Being a great heel takes more than wrestling acumen or good insults; They should represent something fundamentally wrong with society or culture, and parade about as the avatar of evil--all to rile up the fans and invoke their ire!

Here are ten of pro wrestling's greatest villains.

#10 Gorgeous George

Gorgeous George threatened the masculinity of audiences in wrestling's golden age.

We begin the list with one of the first well-known heels in wrestling, Gorgeous George. The skilled amateur wrestler made the transition to the professional ring and created a sensation with his over the top, effeminate antics.

Gorgeous George would refuse to enter the ring until it had been sprayed with perfume. If the referee dared to touch him during a check for foreign objects, he would claim "Get your filthy hands off me!"

Even though George's wife accompanied him to the ring as a valet, he still drew heat from the homophobic 1940s crowds, who hated any depiction of men being 'fruity'. With the advent of television, George's fame exploded. He garnered mainstream media attention and put pro wrestling on the map.

Gorgeous George set the standard for heels, and his flamboyant ways have been copied by everyone from Ric Flair to Muhammed Ali.

#9 "Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibasie

Believe it or not, Ted Dibiase was once a beloved babyface!

The Freebirds once beat down Ted Dibiase in the old WTBS studio. They beat him so badly, the audience can be seen in tears!

It wasn't until late in his career that he would be given the role that defined him; The Million Dollar Man. Rumor has it that Vince McMahon once considered using the gimmick for himself, but was talked out of it by Pat Patterson. Patterson instead selected the veteran Dibiase for an epic heel run, with one catch--Dibiase would not be told about the gimmick until he signed.

Dibiase signed, and the rest is history. The Million Dollar man was the most hated heel of the late 1980s, taking over from Roddy Piper when the rowdy one's role diminished with the company due to age and injury. Dibiase represented vile corporate greed, and he was perhaps the ultimate paragon of wealthy white male privilege.

Here's Million Dollar Man at his heel best, destroying the dreams of a young inner-city child.

#8 The Great Muta

Keiji Mutoh's most beloved character was the Great Muta

Keiji Mutoh was a military commander and a martial arts black belt before taking professional wrestling as his career.

He went through a variety of gimmicks over the years and almost all of them involving ninjas. It wasn't until he debuted for the NWA as Great Muta that he finally found his mojo.

The Great Muta was, in many ways, the NWA's version of the Monster Heel trope. Muta was a bad guy, but he was a bad guy who was very, very good at wrestling. Muta's fisherman suplex, innovative submission holds, and martial arts strikes combined with his face paint and mysticism created an unstoppable force that chewed through the NWA's mid and upper card, even defeating the legendary Sting.

After a run with the Television Title captured from the Stinger, Great Muta headed back to Japan, where he would largely wrestle as the face. From time to time he would bring out the Great Muta to the ring and hit his foes with his trademark venom spit and moonsault.

Here's Muta using his mist on the unwary.

#7 The Big Boss Man

Ray Traylor made a name for himself in the southern territories as Big Bubba Rogers. When he came to the WWE in the late 1980s, Vince McMahon came up with his Big Boss Man character.

The WWE had become a multi-million dollar corporation, and us such had turned to collecting data about its audience. Vince was amused to learn that a great deal of the WWE audience had either been incarcerated, was incarcerated, or had relatives who were incarcerated.

Thus, he figured that the greatest heel ever would be a prison guard. It was kind of lame, but Traylor's speed and power made up for the weak gimmick, and Bossman even feuded with Hogan for the WWE World heavyweight championship.

We salute one of the greats with his pulse pounding cage match vs the Icon Hulk Hogan.

#6 The Iron Sheik

"Iran number one! USA, Ach-tooey!"

If you remember this quote, then your childhood was awesome. The Iron Sheik was perhaps the biggest heel on the planet following the Iran hostage crisis.

The Iron Sheik's career actually stretches back to 1972, but most are familiar with his brief WWE title run. He took the title off babyface veteran Bob Backlund only to lose it to Hulk Hogan a month later.

While the Iron Sheik possessed no redeeming features whatsoever, the man who played the character, Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri, is well beloved by his wrestling peers. A great practical joker and feisty curmudgeon, Vaziri kept most of his cohorts in stitches. He once spent ten minutes ridiculing Big Van Vader when the Mastadon wasn't around. As soon as Vader walked into the locker room, Vaziri went over to him and excitedly pumped his hand, declaring Vader his favorite wrestler. No doubt Vader wondered why this statement made the locker room erupt in laughter.

Here's the Iron Sheik in his first, and only, successful title defence.

#5 Yokozuna

A member of the world famous Anoa'i family--which includes the Rock, Rikishi, and Nia Jax among others--Yokozuna was perhaps the most hated heel of WWE's In your House Era.

Along with his manager Mr. Fuji, Yokozuna went on a tear through the WWE, winning the world heavyweight title and defending it with seeming ease. Yokozuna was a great monster heel, and his foreign appearance and gimmick stirred the pot in America.

Though Yokozuna is no longer with us, we salute the former WWE champion as he defeats Bret Hart for the title.

#4 Big Van Vader

Big Van Vader, later shortened to just Vader.

Billed at 450 pounds--and the reality wasn't much lighter--Vader perhaps coined the phrase 'monster heel' when he tore through Japan and WCW in the early 1990s.

The big, powerful American could pull off moonsaults, and his powerbombs shook the very ring posts. Though he had to tone down his 'strong' style in the United States, he was still the most fearsome wrestler to ever hold the WCW world heavyweight championship.

His later run in WWE was not nearly as impressive as what came before, but he was forced to tone down his style even more as many of the WWE wrestlers were afraid that the monster would legit injure them.

How tough was Vader? When Stan Hansen knocked Vader's eyeball out of the socket, the big man shoved it back in and continued the match!

Recently Vader has suffered a lot of health problems. We wish him the best of luck as he battles this latest foe.

#3 Abdullah the Butcher

Lawrence Shreve was billed as being from Sudan, but the reality is he's from Canada. A master of Judo and Karate, the big man could have been a great technical wrestler but chose to pursue a career as the most hardcore brawler of them all.

Abdullah's forehead bears the scars of numerous engagements, and adds to his terrifying mystique. Fans didn't just boo Abdullah; They outright feared him hurting their babface favourites. If Abdullah was involved in a match, blood was almost guaranteed to flow.

While he never had a major run in either of the big two promotions of the 1980s, he did have a brief feud with Sting for the WCW world title. Then there was the time he was locked into an electric chair and Cactus Jack turned on the juice...

#2 Ric Flair

These days, Ric Flair is probably the most respected wrestler on the planet. Many still call him the G.O.A.T. of pro wrestling, which is no mean achievement. And in every promotion all over the world, the fans chant 'Whooo!' when someone uses Flair's signature chops.

But that wasn't always the case. During the 1980s, Ric Flair was HATED by the fans. They hated his cocky persona, they hated the way he rubbed his success in their faces, and most of all they hated the fact he kept cheating to retain his beloved NWA world heavyweight championship.

Here he is being utterly unrepentant that he gave Luger stitches...

#1 Hollywood Hulk Hogan

Though he spent most of his career as the most beloved babyface wrestler of all time, Hulk Hogan is also the greatest villain.

Perhaps it is because of his long run as a do-gooder superhero that made his heel turn so heinous. For many fans, watching their childhood idol turn bad wasn't just infuriating, it was heartbreaking as well.

No longer would Hogan tell them to do their best, and take their vitamins and train hard. Now, he bragged about his money and success and acted a complete and craven coward when he actually had to back up his bluster.

Hollywood Hogan would also tell blatant lies, and demand the fans worship 'the very ground he walked upon.' Simply put, the nWo would never have been the successful angle it was without Hogan's involvement. His heel turn probably saved his career, as WCW fans were beginning to reject Hogan and cheer for rival Sting instead, seeing him as their top babyface.

Here's Hogan cementing his new, heel status as he stands tall with Hall and Nash.