10 Most Effective Wrestling Heels Of The 21st Century

Batista was an easy fit for a babyface push in WWE. His incredible musculature alone compelled the company to instal him as a star-in-waiting in both storyline and reality. His stoic cool and slow refusal to acquiesce to Triple H's ever more desperate orders, in late 2004, earned him the love of crowds and a sustained run with the World Heavyweight Title.

The potential for a great heel run was always there. Batista hardly endeared himself to the wider wrestling fandom when he picked a fight with AJ Styles in the papers. His curmudgeonly stance over his treatment in OVW - considered by Vince McMahon as more or less a glorified gym for a man of his immense size - gave him an unearned sense of entitlement.

In late 2009, he pulled it off.

His work was absolutely stellar. He transmitted such an air of arrogance that he didn't have to berate the audience to get them to hate him; an early 2010 edition of SmackDown saw him effortlessly rile the crowd up by not deigning to even address them, serving as the template for Roman Reigns' awesome work on the post-'Mania RAW.

Whether he was a consummate professional - or possessed absolute zero f*cks in the face of his imminent departure - is immaterial. Batista's selfless work - bumping like a mad man for a fledgling Daniel Bryan character, and his hilarious neck brace and wheelchair job on his last day in - were the stuff of money-printing heel legend. His run was short-lived, for sure, but the impact of it resonated because or in spite of its brevity.

And yet, WWE still pushed him as a face upon his 2014 return. As the reaction to him all but confirmed, he was a natural villain.