Underneath all the flash and theatrics, pro wrestling is simply storytelling. Despite most of the focus being on the action inside the ring. The real magic that keeps fans hooked is the story behind the physical combat. Every good story has a protagonist and an antagonist. Without an element of evil to oppose good, a story has no conflict.
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A wrestler can be the ultimate babyface but without a heel, there's nothing to overcome and conquer. This makes heels extremely important. During the 80s, WWE featured some of the best heels ever. Each one brought their unique brand of evil to the table and helped define the decade.
10 Jesse "The Body" Ventura
As a wrestler, Jesse "The Body" Ventura was an excellent heel. However, if it were solely based on his time as an in-ring competitor, Jesse wouldn't be on this list. "The Body" cracked the top 10 for his work as an announcer. During WWE's Golden Era, Jesse was the voice of the heels. As the lead color commentator in WWE, Jesse had the ears of millions of wrestling fans.
Jesse wouldn't be the first heel announcer in wrestling history, but he would be the first to leave a lasting legacy. His strong dislike towards Hulk Hogan came through every time Jesse called one of The Hulkster's matches. Today, Jesse is still considered by many fans to be the best heel announcer ever. Only Bobby Heenan and Jerry Lawler are in the same class.
9 Sgt. Slaughter
Today, when most fans talk about 80s wrestling, especially in WWE, they mean 1984 and beyond. Every year, the number of fans who remember what wrestling was before Vince McMahon and Hulk Hogan shrinks. Despite what modern-day fans think, the wrestling business existed before Hulkamania kicked off the 80s wrestling boom.
During the early 80s, Sgt. Slaughter was one of WWE's top heels. He had a marquee feud with Bob Backlund over the WWE Championship. After failing to win the title from Backlund, Slaughter would enter a brutal feud with Pat Patterson. Eventually, in 1985, Slaughter would turn babyface and get over huge. Sometimes, the best heels end up making the best babyfaces.
8 The Iron Sheik
Historically, WWE has mostly been a babyface territory. This means that over the years, the WWE Champion was usually a babyface who had to fend off continuous heel challengers. From Bruno Sammartino to Bob Backlund to Hulk Hogan, WWE's early days always featured a dominant babyface champion.
In late 1983 however, a heel performer broke through and managed to win the WWE Championship, The Iron Sheik. The Iranian would beat Bob Backlund at Madison Square Garden to become the first heel WWE Champion of the decade. His reign would be cut short by Hulk Hogan in early 1984. It would take nearly five years for WWE to feature another heel World Champion.
7 Honky Tonk Man
Sometimes in wrestling, the best heels end up becoming some of the best babyfaces. On some rare occasions, characters that were originally slotted to be babyfaces end up making incredible heels. Case in point, The Honky Tonk Man. What some fans might not know is that the Honky Tonk Man character debuted in WWE as a babyface.
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The gimmick failed to catch on with fans and even received some boos. In a brilliant move, WWE would steer into the skid and turn Honky heel. He would go on to be a heat magnet with fans. He'd capitalize on that heat to become WWE Intercontinental Champion and hold that title for 454 days.
6 Andre The Giant
Pro wrestling feeds off of emotion, be it love or hate. The worst thing that can happen to a performer is for fans not to care about them either way. Andre The Giant never had that issue. Despite his enormous size, in his younger days, Andre was quite the babyface attraction. He was arguably WWE's top babyface before Hulk Hogan.
In 1987 though, the unthinkable happened when Andre turned his back on Hogan and the fans. He would link up with the dastardly Bobby Heenan and enter an epic feud with Hogan. Andre's heel run in WWE would only last until 1990 but during that time, he was undoubtedly one of the company's top heels.
5 Bobby "The Brain" Heenan
Legendary play-by-play announcer Jim Ross has said many times that he believes Heenan was the greatest overall talent in pro wrestling history. That's a bold statement but JR might be right. Heenan could do it all as a heel. He could get himself over but more importantly, he could get his clients over.
In his younger days, Heenan would even step into the ring occasionally and take a beating like a champ. There's an argument that can be made for Heenan being Hulk Hogan's greatest rival ever. Additionally, when Heenan started doing commentary he was just as good, if not better than Jesse Ventura at providing the heel point of view. We might not ever see a performer as versatile and talented as Bobby Heenan again.
4 "Ravishing" Rick Rude
Nobody likes a self-centered arrogant jerk. Those feelings only get compounded when that jerk has an amazing physique and starts hitting on your significant other. That was the magic behind "Ravishing" Rick Rude. "The Ravishing One" could rile an audience up as few other performers could.
First, he'd run down the men in the live audience. Then, he'd tell them to pipe down so he could show the ladies in the audience what a "real man's" body looked like. That was instant nuclear heat. The cherry on top which made Rude such an incredible heel was the way he would troll his opponents with his ring gear. That element of Rude's character was way ahead of its time.
3 "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase
It's been said that money is the root of all evil. If that's indeed true, then there's perhaps no bigger heel in WWE history than "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase. In 1987, DiBiase hit the scene in WWE and immediately became one of the promotion's top antagonists. DiBiase would throw his money around to get his way. He'd often pay fans to degrade themselves for his amusement.
RELATED: 10 Things You Should Know About Ted DiBiase's Wrestling Career In The 1980s
At one point, DiBiase would use his money to briefly acquire the WWE Championship through underhanded methods. This led to the incredible evil twin referee storyline that many fans remember so fondly. At his peak, everybody had a price for The Million Dollar Man. (Insert evil laugh).
2 "Rowdy" Roddy Piper
Throughout the years, many fans have argued about who was mostly responsible for WWE's success during the 80s. Many people think Vince McMahon's vision and business savvy was the key driving force. Others, point to Hulk Hogan's insane popularity and see that as the catalyst behind the 80s wrestling boom. One person who hardly gets the credit they deserve is "Rowdy" Roddy Piper.
At a minimum, Piper should get a lot of credit for being the catalyst behind the Rock 'N' Wrestling Connection and WrestleMania 1. Without Piper antagonizing Cindy Lauper and Mr. T, the first WrestleMania might not have happened. Piper was the Joker to Hogan's Batman but he rarely gets the credit he deserved for being such a great villain.
1 "Macho Man" Randy Savage
Some heels are great wrestlers. Other heels are great talkers. Very few heels or babyfaces ever had the presence of "Macho Man" Randy Savage. In an era full of peacocks, Savage stood out from the crowd. He was an excellent babyface but he might've arguably been at his best as a heel. During his first couple of years in WWE, Savage played the role of the controlling and domineering man in Miss Elizabeth's life.
After a run as a babyface which took him to the top of the WWE mountain, Savage would revert to his heel ways. He ended the decade as the "Macho King" and proved that he was as versatile as it got in the wrestling business. He's one of the few performers who seemed genuine as a high-level heel or a babyface.
