10 Wrestlers Who Drew The Wrong Kind Of Heel Heat
1. X-Pac
You can’t talk about wrestlers drawing the wrong kind of heel heat without mentioning Sean Waltman, whose ring-name has become a pejorative for situations like this.
Though a talented performer in his own right, X-Pac saw his popularity decline as the Attitude Era dwindled away, and while he was rarely pushed beyond the midcard, he was regularly booed out of the building, particularly when competing against wrestlers far more exciting than he was. X-Pac’s matches became the show’s bathroom break spot, and the hatred escalated beyond straight-forward heel heat.
People had grown to despise Waltman on a personal level thanks to his lack of evolution, tiresome gimmick, and regular victories over white-hot acts. He was so loathed that “X-Pac sucks” chants became commonplace during shows that he wasn’t even booked to wrestle on, and his 2002 release was met with celebration from those sick of his skin-crawling presence.
A series of off-screen problems saw X-Pac’s reputation diminish even further in the aftermath, though he has been able to repair some of the damage after taking an extended break from the spotlight and cleaning-up his personal life. Still, his name will always be associated with crowd reactions gone wrong, and the term ‘X-Pac heat’ shall live on forever.