As much as everyone loves a good wrestling heel, they tend to have a pretty thankless job. They work hard, take beatings, and suffer the catcalls of the fans, while the babyfaces get all the cheers, the merchandise revenue and, of course, the world titles. Even though wrestling bookers have long recognized that there's money in "the chase" - watching a babyface pursue a heel for the championship - most successful promotions in history have used a pattern where the program revolves around a babyface champion. The proof is evident - Rick Rude and Roddy Piper are only two of the all-time great heels who never got runs as a World Champion, and were instead forced to play supporting roles to face champions. Still, there are exceptions - heels who subverted the wrestling paradigm, amassing runs as champion that would make any babyface jealous. Those men, draped in gold, became the focal points of their promotions. Some of them didn't even have to marry the boss's daughter to do it! Here are the cream of the crop - the ten best heel world champions from across the world and throughout the history of wrestling. All of them used their talent to carve out a new niche in the sport, and they'll be remembered as innovators by everyone who came after them.
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013
