12 Best Heels In WWE History, Ranked
All of our lives, we're taught in movies to cheer for the good guys and hate the bad guys. Through the years, WWE has built a media and entertainment empire on this simple storytelling concept, separating the "babyfaces" from the "heels". Every hero needs a villain, and perhaps nowhere this is as clear as it is in pro wrestling.
Regardless of what decade or era, all fans have their favorite heels of all time. It's subjective, because everyone enjoys different things, and all heels have their own unique style. The beauty of wrestling, too, is that some of the greatest heels only came in certain phases of their respective careers. Some of the best babyfaces also had incredible runs as a heel. Going through WWE's history, there are twelve heels that stand out more than the rest.
12 Kane
Whenever a Monster Was Needed, Kane Was There
Kane aka The Big Red Machine went back and forth between face and heel arguably more times than any other wrestler in history (except Big Show). Before he even became Kane, he was a heel known as Isaac Yankem. But it was his re-introduction to the WWE Universe as Kane that was one of the best heel debuts of all time. At 1997's In Your House: Badd Blood, Kane debuts and costs his “half-brother” The Undertaker the win against Shawn Michaels in a Hell in a Cell match.
After his memorable debut, he would spend most of his career toeing the line between good guy and bad guy. Anyone who turns on their “brother” as many times as Kane did has to go down as one of the top heels. In 2003, Kane was forced to unmask, which gave us another side of him we’d never seen before. He literally set commentator Jim Ross on fire on live television on Monday Night Raw. He had some great babyface runs, but his runs as a heel is what resonates most with his career.
11 Charlotte Flair
The Queen Is a Natural-Born Heat Magnet
Charlotte Flair is coming off a return at the 2025 Royal Rumble, which she won, and is now on her way to WrestleMania 41 for a chance to win her 15th championship. Her recent return is a perfect example of why she is one of the greatest heels of all time. She’s supposed to be a babyface and has once again organically become a heel.
Since joining WWE in 2012, Flair has spent most of her career as a tweener. She works well as a babyface, but she works much better as a heel, given her natural presence and arrogance. She literally broke down crying on Raw after winning the Rumble, and the crowd’s boos still overpowered her, forcing her to almost turn heel on the spot. Noticing how easy and seamless it was for her to do so is an indicator that she is one of the best heels ever.
10 The Miz
Awesome at Being Hated
The Miz’s journey to WWE was unlike any other before him. Going from starring as an actor in The Real World, to finishing as the runner-up in Tough Enough, The Miz instantly joined WWE as a dislikeable character. On the screen, he is cocky, he is arrogant, and he is a snake. We’ve seen it firsthand recently with the hell turn on his former tag team partner R-Truth after they lost the World Tag Team Championships.
Since The Miz signed with WWE back in 2004, he has been mostly known as a heel. He works better that way and has said so himself that he “likes being the bad guy.” In his career, he’s won a total of 21 overall championships. When it is all said and done, he has to go down as one of the best heels of all time.
9 Nia Jax
The Unstoppable Force Was Built to Be Bad
Nia Jax is currently in one of the best eras of her career. After being released from WWE in 2021 and returning in 2023, she’s having one of the best heels runs in the company now. Since she returned, she’s won Queen of the Ring and celebrated with a 153-day reign as WWE Women’s Champion. Due to her being a part of the popular Anoa’i family, her character naturally has a chip on her shoulder that makes her a fantastic heel.
Nia Jax Reveals Her Dream Match Against Rumored WWE Newcomer & Hypes Historic TNA Deal: "I Think It's Incredible"
Nia Jax spoke with Screen Rant about the WWE/TNA deal and her expectations for the Netflix era, as well as dropping a new dream match.
Since signing with WWE back in 2014, she has been the WWE Women’s Champion twice and the Raw Women’s Champion once. Other than a six-month run in 2018 as a babyface, Jax has always been a heel. and it's easy to see why. She is bigger and stronger than any other woman in the division, and she likes to let hem know that. Perfectly playing the bully character on screen, Jax is an invaluable resource for the WWE:
8 Randy Orton
The Legend Killer Is Just That Good
It’s always tough doing these kinds of rankings when one of their superstars is in a babyface run. When it comes to Randy Orton, he is approaching the final stretch of his career, so it only makes sense for him to be beloved by the WWE Universe before he leaves. But make no mistake about it, the Legend Killer Randy Orton was one of the greatest heels of all time. He really didn’t care who you were, he was punting your head, stomping your head into some steel steps, RKO’ing you out of nowhere. In hindsight, it was one of the greatest character runs in modern wrestling history.
In addition to his Legend Killer era, his run with Evolution and Legacy were both solid runs as heels as well. Both factions were really hated for two different reasons. Evolution was hated for just being too good. They had all the gold. Legacy was hated because Orton, Cody Rhodes, and Ted Dibiase Jr. all came off as spoiled kids of Hall-of-Famer wrestlers. There is no conversation to be had about the best heels of all time without mentioning Orton.
7 Eddie Guerrero
Lying, Cheating, and Stealing to the Top
Let’s be real here, the man Eddie Guerrero’s theme song in the mid-2000s included the lyrics, “I lie, I cheat, I steal.” Eddie changed the definition of what it means to be a heel, to the point that the fans began to love him for being such a dastardly character. The fact is that Guerrero was so entertaining that the run that led him to his first (and unfortunately, only) WWE Championship would be better considered as a babyface run.
However, Guerrero turning on Rey Mysterio was arguably one of the most heartbreaking heel turns in modern wrestling history. His, “I’m Your Papi” promo has gone down in history. Not to mention, don’t forget when he cheated on China. Looking back, he was just so phenomenal at everything he did, but as a heel, Latino Heat was one of the all-time greats.
6 The Rock
The Final Boss Is the Best Heel, Even If He Doesn't Like It
Don’t let the debut of Raw on Netflix earlier this year fool you. The Rock is still one of the greatest heels of all time. After becoming a huge star in Hollywood, Rock has spent most of his WWE appearances as a babyface, understandably. But let’s not forget his Nation of Domination era. In addition to that, his self-proclaimed People’s Champion era gave us one of the most egotistical wrestlers of all time.
While all of those are great reasons to include him on this list, his run as The Final Boss has been one of the most enjoyable heel runs in years. From trying to take Cody Rhodes’ match against Roman Reigns from him at WrestleMania 40, to whipping Rhodes with a belt live on Monday Night Raw, to his scathing live concerts, Rock has shown that he shines as a heel, even if he currently tries to avoid that role.
5 Trish Stratus
Truly Finding Her Call in Being a Heel
In terms of women wrestlers, Trish Stratus is widely known as the best heel of all-time. Her heel turn back in 2004 provided her with some of the best matches and feuds of her career, including a feud with Lita that was revisited most recently in 2023. Turning on Chris Jericho at WrestleMania XX brought out a side of Stratus we’d not seen yet. It brought out a confident, arrogant, and manipulative woman who would do whatever it took to get what she wanted.
Trish's character truly began to shine once she began verbally embarrassing the women’s locker room, like her “You’re no champion” reveal of Playboy’s cover of Christy Hemme, or crashing Lita’s wedding. Trish Stratus will always be remembered as a trailblazer in womens' wrestling, but her heel work was surely the highlight of her career.
4 Ric Flair
The Blueprint of All Heels
Known as “The Dirtiest Player in The Game” for most of his career, Ric Flair belongs on this list more than anyone else. The WWE Hall of Famer’s entire personality is a heel. He walks it, and he talks it arguably better than anyone else. He wasn’t the biggest, he wasn’t the toughest, but he was the smartest and dirtiest wrestler to ever grace a wrestling ring.
Flair perfected every aspect of being a wrestling heel. He was arrogant, sneaky, and vicious at times. He knew how to work in a way that would make the babyface shine, even when he was the NWA champion and basically never lost the belt. Another thing that set him apart from so many other heels were his promos. He’s arguably one of the best promo cutters in pro wrestling history, and every student of the game should watch them to learn how to be a good heel.
3 Triple H
Bow Down to the King
The Game aka Triple H, now better known as Paul “Triple H” Levesque is one of the greatest heels in professional wrestling history. He remained a master manipulator and betrayer throughout most of his career. He created some of the most memorable heel factions in wrestling history, D-Generation X and Evolution, and was such a dominant heel champion that his time as such is remembered as "the reign of terror".
When it came to Triple H, he was best at setting cunning traps for his opponents, which earned him the nickname "cerebral assassin". No matter what, he always had a backup plan. His historic feuds with Shawn Michaels (former DX teammates), Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Daniel Bryan were all legendary heel runs in three different eras that will resonate with fans forever.
