Heel

In wrestling, a **heel** is a villain character. Heels are portrayed as behaving in an immoral manner, breaking rules or otherwise taking advantage of their opponents outside of the bounds of the rules of the match. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are often the "bad guys" in pro wrestling storylines. They are typically opposed by a face (crowd favorite). Some tweeners exhibit heel mannerisms.

The term "heel" is most likely is derived from a slang usage of the word that first appeared around 1914, meaning "contemptible person". The Spanish term, used in lucha libre, is "*rudo*".

Common heel behaviour includes cheating to win (e.g., using the ropes for leverage while pinning or attacking with foreign objects such as folding chairs while the referee is looking away), attacking other wrestlers backstage, interfering with other wrestlers' matches, and acting in a haughty or superior manner.

Once in awhile, faces who have recently turned from being heels will still exhibit some heel characteristics. For example, in TNA, The Naturals, though they turned face after the death of manager Chris Candido, sometimes still used the ropes for pins and used the megaphone of former manager Jimmy Hart to gain victories. Kurt Angle is also a good example; even after turning face for his feud with Mark Henry, at the Royal Rumble 2006, Angle used a steel chair, an exposed steel ring peg, and leverage from the ropes during his pin to get the victory over Henry.

It is possible to use aspects of different types of heels in one character to add dimensions to the character.

## Examples

While behaving as a heel is often part of a wrestler's gimmick, many successful heels fall into one or more of the following categories. Often these traits will overlap with one another.

### Crazy heel

Definition: A raging madman, dangerous and unpredictable - may attack others for no apparent reason, or blame others for being "held back" from championship opportunities and other privileges. Sometimes psychotic behaviour is displayed.

* Rowdy Roddy Piper
* The Sheik
* Ox Baker
* George "The Animal" Steele
* Brian Pillman (loose cannon gimmick)
* Terry Funk
* Bob Backlund - 1993 - 1996
* Johnny Nitro - early 2007
* Luna Vachon
* Victoria
* Mickie James - Early to mid 2006
* Sid Vicious (as Sid Justice in early 1992 when he blames Hulk Hogan for pulling him out of the ring in the 30-Man Royal Rumble Match for a chance to face Ric Flair for the WWE Title at Wrestlemania 8 and berates WWE President Jack Tunney for picking Hulk Hogan to be the #1 contender to face Ric Flair for the WWE Title at Wrestlemania 8 he would later become Sycho Sid in the WWE from 1994 to 1997)
* Stone Cold Steve Austin - 2001
* Mankind - 1995 to 1998
* Abdullah the Butcher
* Daffney
* Billy Kidman
* Eugene - 2006
* Owen Hart - 1998
* Heidenreich
* Kane
* Mike Knox
* Bruiser Brody
* TARU
* Edge - late 2004 to mid 2005 and mid 2007
* Eddie Guerrero - mid 2005
* Chavo Guerrero, Jr. - 1998 in WCW
* Chris Benoit - mid 2002
* Abyss
* Ken Shamrock - 1998 - 1999
* Raven
* Snitsky
* R-Truth - 2012
* Alan Funk - as "Angry Alan" in WCW
* Chris Jericho - 1998 in WCW, mid 2001 for WWF
* Kurt Angle - mid 2004
* Sabu - in ECW
* Jillian Hall - first heel run in WWE
* Daniel Bryan - Late 2011-Mid 2012
* AJ Lee - December 16, 2012 – June 30, 2014
* Alicia Fox
* Randy Orton - Late 2008 - 2009
* Paige - 2014
* Taryn Terrell - 2015
* New Jack
* Necro Butcher
* Toby Klein
* Balls Mahoney
* Mad Man Pondo
* Dean Ambrose
* Matt Hardy, in his "Broken" gimmick
* Jeff Hardy, as Brother Nero
* Eric Young
* Nikki Cross
* Davey Boy Smith aka British Bulldog- 1999 (event occurred at event called WWE Rebellion in the UK when he comes in Vince Mcmahon's office and condemns him for not giving him a title shot at the WWE Title and snaps and thorws a garbage can at her daughter Stephanie causing her to be unconscious and have amnesia)
* Dolph Ziggler- 2017
* Shinsuke Nakamura - 2018 (at Wrestlemania 34 losing to A.J. Styles for the WWE Title)
* Drew McIntyre
* Solomon Bundy

### Comic heel

Definition: A person with a dark comic gimmick.

* Kurt Angle
* D-Generation X (during their first heel run from mid-late 1997 to early 1998)
* Edge and Christian
* Adrian Street
* Randy Savage (as Macho King)
* Booker T (as King Booker)
* Vince McMahon
* Eddie Guerrero
* Right to Censor
* John Cena (during his heel run from late 2002 to 2003)
* JBL
* Carlito
* Hornswoggle
* Molly Holly - 2002 to 2004
* Rico
* Jonathan Coachman
* Michael Cole
* The Rock - 2003
* Al Snow
* Doink the Clown
* Matt Striker
* Alex Shelley
* Jillian Hall - second heel run in WWE
* Santino Marella
* Chavo Guerrero, Jr. (as Kerwin White)
* Chris Jericho (during most of his heel run from 1999 to 2005)
* Jerry Lawler
* Owen Hart (as the Blue Blazer)
* Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco as Vince McMahon's "Corporate Stooges"
* Brian Christopher - 1997 to 1998
* Goldust
* Cody Rhodes, during his "Dashing" persona and later as Stardust
* Bobby Heenan
* Val Venis
* Kizarny
* The Brian Kendrick
* Team LayCool
* The West Texas Rednecks
* Billy and Chuck
* The Honky Tonk Man
* Jimmy Hart
* Brother Love
* Balls Mahoney
* The Spirit Squad
* Eric Bischoff
* Paul Heyman
* Alan Funk
* The Blue World Order
* Bertha Faye
* Armando Alejandro Estrada
* The New Day
* Simon Dean
* The Miz
* Damien Sandow, as "Damien Mizdow"
* Zach Ryder
* Fandango
* Tyler Breeze
* Daffney, as "The Governor"
* Mick Foley (as Mankind in mid-late 1998 and again in 2006)
* Matt Hardy, as "Big Money Matt"
* Eric Young
* James Ellsworth
* Billy Gunn, as Mr. Ass

### Monster heel

Definition: An unstoppable juggernaut who squashes his or her opponents.

* Gorilla Monsoon
* Abdullah the Butcher
* Bruiser Brody
* Sid Vicious
* Zeus
* Yokozuna
* Giant Gonzalez
* Umaga
* Big Van Vader
* Kevin Owens
* The Predator
* Rhyno
* Kamala
* King Kong Bundy
* Tazz
* Ricky Banderas
* Sheamus
* The Great Khali
* Kane
* Big Show
* The Undertaker
* Brock Lesnar
* Chyna - 1997 to 1999
* Snitsky
* Batista - 2002 to 2003
* Aja Kong
* Rhonda Singh
* One Man Gang
* Earthquake
* Bull Nakano
* Naoya Ogawa
* Test
* Mark Henry
* Samoa Joe
* Abyss
* Shaniqua
* The Esperanza
* Awesome Kong
* Beth Phoenix
* Rusev
* Big Daddy V
* Vladimir Kozlov
* Kurrgan
* Ryback
* Kōji Kitao
* Haku
* Ezekiel Jackson
* Big E Langston
* Mason Ryan
* Titus O'Neill
* Nailz
* Los Psycho Circus
* Sienna
* Bull Dempsey
* Baron Corbin
* Jazz
* Nia Jax
* Brodus Clay
* Albert
* Braun Strowman
* Moose
* Solomon Bundy

#### Facts

Sometimes, monster heels violently "injure" other wrestlers (sometimes through rulebreaking tactics), terrorize valets (injuring them on occasion), and commit other extremely heinous acts in order to set up a feud with a promotion's lead face. One example is the feud between The Giant and Hulk Hogan in 1995 when The Giant broke Hogan's neck. Another example is when The Undertaker was behind a reign of terror that led to his feud with Steve Austin in 1999. Also, during Kane's heel runs, he often targeted innocent people such as Jim Ross, Linda McMahon, and Lilian Garcia.

### Egotistical heel

Definition: An obnoxious and self-important character who is arrogant or cocky; some wrestlers play on their own fame, achievements, or good looks. This is probably the most common type of heel.

* "Macho Man" Randy Savage
* Ted DiBiase
* Superstar Billy Graham
* Randy Orton
* Ric Flair
* Greg Valentine
* Harley Race
* Lex Luger
* Paul Orndorff
* Hollywood Hulk Hogan - 1996 to 1999
* Shawn Michaels
* Jesse Ventura
* Scott Steiner
* Jimmy Garvin
* Vince McMahon
* Shane McMahon
* Stephanie McMahon
* Bryan Danielson
* The Rock
* Minoru Suzuki
* Rick "The Model" Martel
* Sensational Sherri
* Gino Hernandez
* Triple H
* Brock Lesnar - late 2003 to 2004
* D'Lo Brown
* Jeff Jarrett
* Chris Sabin - late 2006 to early 2007
* Rob Van Dam
* Chavo Guerrero
* Edge
* A.J. Styles - 2007
* Christian Cage
* Chris Masters
* Bobby Roode
* John Cena - late 2002 to mid-late 2003
* Alex Shelley
* Monty Brown
* Kurt Angle
* Dawn Marie
* Shane Douglas
* William Regal
* Torrie Wilson
* Melina
* Sable
* Trish Stratus
* JBL
* Batista
* Shelton Benjamin
* Montel Vontavious Porter
* Chris Jericho
* Chris Benoit
* Booker T
* Ken Kennedy
* Elijah Burke
* Candice Michelle - surrounding the release of her *Playboy* cover
* Michelle McCool
* Jillian Hall
* Gregory Helms
* Kristal Marshall
* MNM and their individual members
* La Résistance and their individual members
* The Miz
* Cody Rhodes
* Heath Slater
* Alberto Del Rio
* Lana
* CM Punk
* Mr. Perfect
* Christopher Daniels
* Rick Rude
* Marc Mero
* Wade Barrett
* Alexa Bliss
* Drew McIntyre
* Damien Sandow
* Dolph Ziggler
* Seth Rollins
* Vickie Guerrero
* Paul Heyman
* Eric Bischoff
* Antonio Cesaro
* Jack Swagger
* Kevin Owens
* Nikki Bella
* Kenny Omega
* Jinder Mahal
* Curtis Axel
* Maryse
* Paige
* Sasha Banks
* Becky Lynch
* Charlotte
* James Storm
* Ethan Carter III
* John Laurinaitis
* Antista
* Billionaire Ted
* Barbi D

### Sinister heel

Definition: A cold, calculating heel, one step short of being a crazy heel. Often a cunning mastermind, and calmer than a crazy heel, sometimes depicted as having sociopathic traits (though it is possible for a Sinister heel to be a crazy heel at the same time too.) Often sinister heels make use of psychological warfare (AKA, playing "mind games") against their opponents. Also can be wrestlers with a gothic or macabre-like gimmick.

* The Undertaker - Ministry of Darkness era
* Matt Hardy - 2009
* Randy Orton
* Triple H
* Chris Jericho - 2012, during his feud with CM Punk
* Kevin Sullivan
* Father James Mitchell
* The Jackyl
* Raven
* Mordecai
* Vince McMahon
* Eddie Guerrero - 2005
* Paul Bearer
* Gangrel and The Brood
* Jake "The Snake" Roberts
* Rosemary
* Diamond Dallas Page - 2001
* Kevin Thorn
* Mankind
* Abyss
* Judas Mesias
* Kane
* The Black Family
* Vampiro
* Christopher Daniels (Fallen Angel gimmick)
* CM Punk, as the leader of the Straight Edge Society
* Bray Wyatt and The Wyatt Family
* The Boogeyman
* Roxxi
* Sting
* Jeff Hardy - 2010 to 2011
* Paul Heyman
* Harley Race
* Victoria
* Sinn Bohdi
* Doink the Clown - early 1993
* William Regal
* Rikishi - 2000
* Goldust - 1996
* Dean Ambrose
* The Revolution
* SAnitY
* Mike Knox - late 2009 until his release from WWE
* Stone Cold Steve Austin - 2001
* Brian Pillman (loose cannon gimmick)
* Malus

### Popular heel

Definition: a term in which the fans cheer for a wrestler who competes as a heel.

* Stone Cold Steve Austin
* The Rock
* The Undertaker
* Sable - 1999
* Triple H
* Mick Foley
* Kane
* Edge
* "Macho Man" Randy Savage
* Shawn Michaels
* Chris Benoit
* Superstar Billy Graham
* Kevin Nash
* Scott Hall
* CM Punk
* The Road Warriors
* D-Generation X
* nWo
* Mickie James
* Chris Adams
* Kurt Angle
* Ric Flair
* Owen Hart
* Sting
* Terry Funk
* Monty Brown
* D'Lo Brown
* Trish Stratus
* Mr. Kennedy
* Batista
* Eddie Guerrero
* Chris Jericho
* JBL
* Christian Cage
* Rob Van Dam
* Sabu
* Latin American Exchange
* Randy Orton
* John Cena - in his heel run
* Alex Shelley
* Fit Finlay
* A.J. Styles
* Tazz
* Karen Angle
* Natalya
* Brock Lesnar
* The Sandman
* Mr. Perfect
* Balls Mahoney
* Scott Steiner
* The New Day
* Dean Ambrose
* Sycho Sid
* Bullet Club
* Becky Lynch
* Chuck Lester
* Adam Black

#### Facts

The Road Warriors, originally booed by the fans, gained new fans worldwide and eventually became faces around 1985 after they lost the AWA World Tag Team title to the team of Jimmy Garvin and Steve Regal due to interference by the Fabulous Freebirds.

Chris Adams was booed heavily when facing any of the Von Erichs, but was wildly cheered when wrestling other heels during his September 1984-January 1986 heel run; Adams would still greet fans afterwards and sign autographs. He eventually became Texas' most popular wrestler after turning face in 1986, and the 5th most popular wrestler in the world overall by 1987.

Shawn Michaels is cheered by the fans in show of respect, as well as his "HeartBreak Kid" persona (except in Canada). Triple H is extremely popular despite displaying classic heel tactics and is cheered upon appearing.

Kurt Angle is widely considered as having been a heel for most of his career, but he wrestled a number of the best technical matches in the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and was often cheered out of respect.

Chants of "wooooooo" always echoed during Ric Flair's entrance even though he was a heel member of the Four Horsemen and Evolution.

Kane has also received cheers upon appearing or when delivering his chokeslam finisher, despite being a morbid and violent character.

The Undertaker has a large following despite his tendency to rough up opponents after a match has ended, especially if he is the loser.

The Rock is also frequently cheered (most notably at WrestleMania XIX) whether he's a face or heel, in large part due to his natural charisma.

### Delinquent heel

Definition: A troublesome and disrespectful character who verbally and visually displays uncivilized conduct such as profanity, vandalism, violence and associated "criminal" behaviour. Sometimes the wrestler will harass or bully opponents and rebel against authority.

* **Wrestlers**
	+ Stone Cold Steve Austin
	+ Diesel
	+ Brian Pillman
	+ John Cena - in his first heel run from late 2002 to 2003
	+ Eddie Guerrero
	+ Rodney Mack
	+ Jazz
	+ Carlito
	+ CM Punk
	+ Sting - early career and briefly in 1999, as well as during his "Joker" run in TNA
	+ The Rock - mid-late 1997 to early 1999
	+ The Undertaker - in his Big Evil persona beginning in late 2001 after the Invasion storyline and during the first half of 2002
	+ Edge & Lita's "Rated-R Superstar" gimmick
	+ Akira Maeda
	+ Cactus Jack
	+ SUWA
	+ Super Dragon
	+ The Sandman
	+ New Jack
	+ Dean Ambrose
	+ A.J. Styles
	+ Razor Ramon
	+ Big Boss Man
	+ The Brooklyn Brawler
	+ Shayna Baszler
	+ Taz
	+ Bully Ray
	+ Solomon Bundy

* **Tag Teams**
	+ The Road Warriors
	+ The Nasty Boyz
	+ APA
	+ Three Minute Warning
	+ The Two-Man Power Trip
	+ The New Age Outlaws
	+ Public Enemy
	+ Team BAE
	+ Los Guerreros

* **Stables**
	+ nWo
	+ D-Generation X
	+ Mean Street Posse
	+ DOA
	+ Los Boricuas
	+ Voodoo Murderers
	+ Latin American Exchange
	+ Beat Down Clan
	+ The Shield
	+ Bullet Club
	+ Aces & Eights
	+ The Nexus

### Foreign heel

Definition: in United States wrestling, foreign heels are often portrayed as being anti-American.

* **Russians**
	+ Nikolai Volkoff
	+ Ivan Koloff
	+ Nikita Koloff
	+ Vladimir Koloff
	+ Krusher Kruschev
	+ Kortsia Korchenko
	+ The Russian Assassins
	+ Vladimir Kozlov
	+ Rusev
	+ Lana

* **Iranians**
	+ Iron Sheik
	+ Khosrow Daivari

* **Arabs**
	+ The Sheik (original)
	+ Sheik Ali Hassan
	+ Abbuda Dein
	+ Muhammad Hassan
	+ The Sheik (current)

* **Indians**
	+ Tiger Jeet Singh
	+ Gama Singh
	+ The Great Khali
	+ Jinder Mahal
	+ The Bollywood Boyz

* **Canadians**
	+ Bret "the Hitman" Hart
	+ Owen Hart
	+ Christian Cage
	+ Edge
	+ Test
	+ Lance Storm
	+ Team Canada

* **Japanese**
	+ Mitsu Arakawa
	+ Tor Kamata
	+ Prof. Toru Tanaka
	+ Mr. Saito
	+ Kendo Nagasaki
	+ The Great Kabuki
	+ Akio Sato
	+ The Great Muta
	+ Kai En Tai
	+ Mr. Fuji
	+ Yokozuna

* **Latin Americans**
	+ Cuban Assassin (original)
	+ Cuban Assassin (Florida)
	+ Latin American Exchange
	+ Latino World Order

* **French**
	+ René Duprée
	+ Sylvain Grenier
	+ Frenchy Martin
	+ The Tribunal

### Anti Foreign heel

Similar to a foreign heel, which is an American heel, who would talk down about another country.

* + The Rock - Back in early 2003 when he put down Canada for previously booing him and cheering for Hollywood Hulk Hogan a year earlier (despite The Rock being a face and Hogan being a heel at that time) at WrestleMania X8 (2002), despite being part Canadian himself in real life.

* + Brock Lesnar - When he made fun of Mexicans and made a stereotype about them during his feud with Eddie Guerrero.

* + JBL - When he feud with Eddie Guerrero and ranted about Mexicans.

* + Vince McMahon-During an episode of Raw in Italy where he put down Italians.

* + Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter - For a period of time in 2013 during Swagger's feud with Alberto Del Rio, Swagger and Colter both took on the gimmick of being Tea Party supporters and strongly denounced Mexicans and immigrants in general.

## Common heel tactics

The tactics of a kayfabe heel were perhaps best summed up by Jesse Ventura's famous quote: "Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat." However, it can backfire and eventually lead to the heel's defeat. Such tactics include:

* Using the ropes or grabbing the opponent's tights during pinfalls.
* Sticking thumbs, throwing powder/salt, or spitting foreign substances into an opponent's eyes.
* Removing the padding on turnbuckles to expose the steel underneath it, then smashing an opponent's head, face, or body onto it. During a steel cage match, smashing the opponent's face or body into the mesh also counts.
* Use of concealed weapons (brass knuckles, rolls of coins, etc.). Some heels are less subtle when deciding to use a weapon, sometimes grabbing a chair from ringside in full view of the referee with no regard for the consequences.
* Dragging an opponent's face across the top rope.
* Low blows. Hard legal tactics, such as shoot kicks to the face, may also count if done repeatedly and with the intention to make the face wrestler look weak.
* Utilizing an "arrogant pin," such as posing for or mocking the crowd while making a clearly ineffective pinfall attempt.
* Holding a forearm down on an opponent's face during a pinfall attempt.
* Lifting an opponent off the mat during a seemingly effective pinfall attempt (generally by pulling the opponent's hair) in order to continue the match (and to continue "beating up" on the opponent).
* Bringing a valet, manager, or another wrestler to the ring who helps the heel with cheating.
* Using the outside of the ring to rest, or ducking into the ropes to slow the match down.
* When defending titles, intentionally getting himself/herself disqualified or counted out to lose the match without dropping the title that the wrestler is defending.
* Insulting the fans or mocking the city in which he or she is performing during promos. Heels might also mock local sports teams or players on said teams who have suffered disappointing results.
* Assaulting the opponent after a match, or interfere in a rival's match in an attempt to cost them the win.
* Purposely getting themselves counted out in order to avoid a clear pinfall loss.

Despite all the information given above, a face can also use some of these heel tactics as well as a form of counterattacking.

## See also

* Face
* Turn
* Wrestling slang
* Tweener