10 Most Effective Wrestling Heels Of The 21st Century
3. Edge
Edge's Rated-R Superstar character was a ratings sensation when he entered the headliner bracket, but his work leading up to it, sometimes forgotten amid how quickly he adapted to the main event scene, was impossibly entertaining.
His annihilation of Ric Flair prior to their match at New Year's Revolution 2006, in which he poked fun at Flair's recent road rage arrest, was an absolute riot. Edge performed the skit as if Flair was in character the entire time, crying out "Woooo!" and clutching at his heart before trapping the beleaguered victim in a Figure Four Leg Lock.
Edge was as effective as he was hilarious, though; he never ventured too far into dreaded cool heel territory. His work as a slimy escapist, drawing from an endless reservoir of counters in the ring and an ability to remove himself from perilous situations outside of it, saw him become the most reviled man in wrestling for years.
The mandated wrestler-becomes-babyface-after-lengthy-injury-layoff trope put paid to it. When Edge returned in 2010, he never recaptured the presence with which he emerged as a true headliner - but his work in the preceding years, particularly with the Undertaker, was a considerable success in terms of box office and engaging episodic television.