9 Wrestlers WWE Never Turned Heel

6. Tito Santana

Roman Reigns John Cena
WWE.com

Tito Santana wrestled in the first eight WrestleManias and lost in seven of them - such was the life of a fiercely reliable midcard babyface in the 1980s.

The affable former Intercontinental and Tag Team Champion was simply too well-liked to generate a negative response, but found himself constantly required to shore up undercards with mammoth megastars Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior substantially outstripping him in the charisma stakes on top.

Though it might have been welcomed at the time - and, on the strength of former partner Rick Martel's switch, broadly successful - a heel turn just wasn't particularly necessary back then. WWE's strategy of using television to drive house show business and ocasional pay-per-views was robust enough without tinkering with a carefully-curated and established selection of characters.

Furthermore, his stereotypical gimmick wasn't reduced further by an offensive anti-American stance. Commentators Bobby Heenan and Jesse Ventura may have talked about "The Flying Burrito" and "Chico" respectively, but that was their wont as heels, not something he perpetuated as an agreeable low level hero to the converted masses.

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Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 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 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, 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