7 Ways Modern WWE Heels Created 'Bad' Heat

To preface: Stephanie McMahon is a great performer. At her best, she portrays an absolute brat who is ready to get her comeuppance in any way possible.

It’s been a while since we’ve seen Stephanie as a figure on TV, but since her return around 2013 until her disappearance after WrestleMania 33, her presence was not welcome among hardcore fans. The big reason why was that, in her new role, Stephanie would regularly emasculate and berate performers not because it was building to an angle where she would get comeuppance, but because she was Stephanie McMahon, and she was better than everyone. At least, that was what it felt like to many fans. Aside from the bumps she would take at WrestleMania, Stephanie would never face any retribution, physical or otherwise, for her mistreatment of babyfaces.

It stood in stark contrast to her father. Vince would always sell for the top babyfaces. Never would an episode of RAW from the Attitude era end with Vince standing triumphantly over Austin. Instead, Austin and other top babyfaces were allowed to dominate the McMahons and make them look like a pack of jaboronis. Again, a world of difference to Stephanie’s portrayal from 2013 to 2017.

Whether by accident or by design, Stephanie’s character on TV at that time was the quintessential example of WWE generating heel heat in a backwards manner.