Being a heel 24/7 isn’t easy. In a world almost devoid of kayfabe, many modern heels have one personality in the ring and another on social media. Being a true heel, a heel that doesn’t want to be cheered because they are “cool” is a dying art. Thankfully, these four wrestlers working the scene today have no desire to be cheered. They are proud heels, and they are all damn good at it.
MJF
MLF is the closest thing you will find on the books of any major wrestling promotion to a heel character of years gone by. The setup is easy – he is an egotistical maniac with a privileged upbringing from Long Island – but the way he makes the character work is special. He is that worst type of heel, one that is cowardly and always scheming to the point that fans will pay to hope to see MJF lose.
His feud against CM Punk showed that he was every bit the talker of one of the greatest ever with the mic. He can go in the ring – AEW smartly books him strong – and he has the most hated scarf in wrestling history this side of prime Chris Jericho. MJF is so damn good it is sometimes hard to believe he is just 26-years-old.
Roman Reigns
When people cried out for years to turn Roman Reigns heel they could not have expected the Tribal Chief to morph into the monster heel he has become. Reigns has everything you need in a top heel. His look is peerless. His athleticism and penchant for violence is near unmatched. His ability to switch from cowardly to dominant in an instant is like nothing we have seen in decades. Reigns moves the needle. He makes everyone in his orbit better and other wrestlers immediately feel more of a big deal just by being there. That is what a top heel does and in Reigns the WWE has a generational heel on its hands.
Chris Jericho
I love the new version of Chris Jericho. The man of constant reinvention has done it again and this time he has found a way to rile the AEW fanbase by tapping into everything they hate. Making a stable dedicated to the promotion of sports entertainment within a company known for its pure wrestling is honestly genius. Only someone as established as Jericho – with as many previous runs as Jericho – could pull this off. Judas will never not be over, but as soon as the song stops the AEW fans turn against Jericho in an instant. That is amazing heel work.
Bonus – Minoru Suzuki
Pretty sure he would kill me with forearm strikes for not putting him on this list.
The Miz
The level to which The Miz has risen after his disaster at Wrestlemania 27 is beyond impressive. That was supposed to be it for Mike Mizanin at anything like the sharp end of the WWE roster, yet somehow he has endured.
His heel skill comes down to his unwavering arrogance towards himself. It certainly doesn’t hurt that The Miz has a wife to play off of that looks like Maryse, but he is more than just that. The fans don’t respect him as a wrestler in any way. For most heels that would be a death knoll. The Miz, however, feeds into that and somehow uses it to make his character even more unlikable. There is nothing cool about The Miz – but The Miz himself thinks he is the coolest. That dichotomy makes for a great modern heel and fans love to see him lose.
Always remember folks. Pro Wrestling is Real.
