January 11th, 2011
Galley Friend A.W. sent along this clip of Terry Taylor in his sad WWF gimmick as the Red Rooster. I never thought much of the Red Rooster, but in his heel days in the WCW, Taylor was a great mid-card guy.
I’ve been thinking a little bit about the great heels of my time but I can’t put together any coherent group. Any list would have to include Roddy Piper, Macho Man, Triple H, Bobby Heenan, and be topped by Ric Flair. But a whole bunch of slots would be open for discussion.
Suggestions welcome.
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Rick Rude, for all the reasons laid out in Deadspin’s recent post: http://deadspin.com/5729733/dead-wrestler-of-the-week-ravishing-rick-rude
Also Larry Zybysko. I see him occasionally on ESPN Classic’s reruns of mid-1980s AWA cards in the middle of the night. (Sad but true.) The guy could work a room.
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Andre the Giant? But what is the different between a heel and a villian? Or are they the same?
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Mouth of the South, Jimmy Hart: Even though he was not in-ring WWF talent, he was still a fantastically irritating heel. Always enjoyed when he used the megaphone to dish some punishment and when he retrieved the Honky Tonk Man’s guitar from under the ring for HTM’s finishing move.
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Heenan’s a great call — he was the WWF’s primary heel against Hulk Hogan, for the duration of Hulkamania.
As sad as WWF’s misuse of Terry Taylor and countless other Crockett alums was, it paled in comparison to Heenan’s time in WCW. He had virtually nothing to do — he was a shadow of his past self.
jl02 January 11, 2011 at 2:11 pm
Rick Rude could generate more heat than anyone else on the card during his time, which is one reason he never stayed where he deserved to be in terms of persona, mike skills, wrestling ability, and athleticism – at the top.
And, as the deadspin article correctly points out, his heat wasn’t cheaply gained.