WWE is a land of opportunities for superstars and on-screen characters have their destiny in their own hands. From gaining the fans’ attention through different moves to the mic work, there are many ways through which a superstar can engage with the WWE Universe. Fans’ involvement plays a huge role in the success of a superstar.

A superstar’s on-screen persona also decides how far he goes. Roman Reigns enjoyed success as a ‘face’ but he has been an unstoppable force since turning the heel in 2020. The heel turn can sometimes help a superstar climb the ladder and garner fans’ attention. Today, we will have a look at the top 5 heel characters in the history of WWE –

One of the most successful actors in Hollywood now, The Rock had started his career as a WWE superstar. He debuted as Rocky Maivia at Survivor Series 1996. He did win a title as Rocky Maivia but this character failed to draw a positive reaction from the audience.

Rocky’s popularity started to rise when he joined the Nation of Domination as a heel and changed his name to “The Rock”. Apart from his in-ring work, The Rock’s heel promos saw his popularity sky-rocketing and he emerged out as the most successful member of the Nation of Domination.

Even though he turned face as his career progressed, it was his heel character that forced the fans to take notice of him. The Rock’s Hollywood career saw him stay away from in-ring action for a while and he performed the ‘Hollywood Rock’ gimmick when he made his return.

It was also a heel character that the fans loved to hate. No doubt, The Rock is among one of the best heels in the history of WWE.

Edge has been both face and a heel several times in his career. But it’s his heel character that played a huge role in his success during the “Ruthless Aggression” era. His heel tactics earned him the nicknames The Master Manipulator and The Ultimate Opportunist.Edge was involved in many memorable rivalries as a heel. But his best rivalry was probably with John Cena, on whom he cashed in the Money in the Bank briefcase. The winner of 31 titles in WWE, Edge is again playing a heel character in WWE as he attacked AJ Styles, who accepted his Wrestlemania 38 challenge on Raw.

Hulk Hogan was the biggest ‘face’ superstar in the history of WWE. And his heel turn at Bash at the Beach in 1996 was the biggest heel turn in the history of sports entertainment. Even though Hogan wasn’t a heel for a long time in WWE, he was the biggest heel of his time if we include his WCW run.

Hogan formed a group called nWo along with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. The nWo’s success played a key role in WCW’s domination over WWE and Hogan was the face of the group. Hogan, who was a heel in his match against The Rock at Wrestlemania 18, turned face after the bout.

Triple H was among the best heels in WWE and rose to fame as a heel character. He won multiple championships while working as a heel and drew huge reactions. “The Game” just didn’t play a heel superstar, he also played a heel as an on-screen authority figure and tried his best to stop Daniel Bryan’s championship win. Bryan went on to win 2 championships in the main event of Wrestlemania 30. He also turned on Seth Rollins and helped Kevin Owens win Universal Championship in 2016.