10 Times WWE Babyfaces Were Heels Backstage

9. Hardcore Holly

Bradshaw Shawn Michaels Randy Orton
WWE.com

By the tail-end of his WWE main roster career, Hardcore Holly was a defacto babyface on tenure alone.

A tolerable pr*ck to some and intolerant one to others, Holly knew himself and his place in the company enough to do and say exactly what he felt best even if his overtly traditionalist values were becoming increasingly archaic in a changing industry.

Despite a short run as a old workhorse seeking vindication from top heel Brock Lesnar in late-2003, Holly was still the man others sought bitter revenge against. Late Tough Enough competitor Matt Capotelli took a face-and-a*se kicking for real after giving his body to big banter Bob in a televised training session, whilst Rene Dupree grossly misjudged his etiquette infraction in 2004 after borrowing Holly's rental car.

The former 'Two Sports Superstar' was class at crashing and burning when he lived the gimmick, but when Dupree didn't cough up for a speeding ticket in Holly's name, the 'Alabama Slamma' gave the 20-year-old more than a few sharp lefts.

A house show match turned ugly enough with a raft of very real punches and kicks, but the beating continued backstage until Fit Finlay got in between them.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett