11 WWE Heels That Were So Good They Became Babyfaces

6. Shawn Michaels

From the moment he threw Marty Jannetty through Brutus€™ Barbershop window (we Jannetty fans still haven€™t forgiven or forgotten), Shawn Michaels became a great mid-card heel as the cocky, brash, egotistical, narcissistic Heartbreak Kid. Shawn would defeat Davey Boy Smith for the Intercontinental Title (again, we Davey Boy fans still haven€™t forgiven or forgotten) and then spend the next few years being a guy who was in the upper part of the card yet not quite a main eventer. He€™d be fighting for the IC belt one week, then would unsuccessfully challenge Bret Hart for the WWF Championship the next week before dropping back down to a mid-card feud. Returning as a good guy after a post-WrestleMania XI break, it would be his journey to WrestleMania XII and win over The Hitman that cemented Michaels as a truly great babyface. For me personally, as someone who sees Bret Hart as the single greatest wrestler who ever lived, it€™s hard to say this, but after that €˜Mania, Shawn became the most popular performer in the company, embracing the undersized, underdog element of the Heartbreak Kid and embarking upon against-the-odds victories over gargantuan opponents like Sid and Diesel. Michaels was likely best as a cocky prick (hey, Brad Maddox!) heel, but his run as the WWE€™s top babyface in the mid-90s marked him as one of the best good guy performers of his generation.
Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.