Best Heel

Award Description:

To be given to the person who was the best villain this past year. This
person should bring out the fans' wrath. Match quality is not paramount
here; this award should be based primarily on how over the wrestler was in
the past year.

Previous Winners:

  1990: Ted DiBiase
  1991: Cactus Jack
  1992: Jake Roberts
  1993: Big Van Vader
  1994: Bob Backlund
  1995: Big Van Vader
  1996: Steve Austin (Ring Master)
  1997: Shawn Michaels
  1998: Mr. McMahon (Vince McMahon)

**1999**: Triple H

349 first place votes
340 second place votes
329 third place votes

105 52 39  759   Triple H
 66 52 33  552   Mr. McMahon
 55 45 32  474   Chris Jericho
 24 31 33  279   Jeff Jarrett
  9 23 25  164   Steve Corino
  8 16 22  132   Hardcore Holly
 12 12 13  122   Rock
  5 17 19  114   Undertaker
 11  6  8   89   Shane McMahon
  4  8 13   70   Ric Flair
  5  5  6   52   Big Bossman
  4  7  5   51   Raven
  3  4  4   35   Buh Buh Ray Dudley
  1  7  4   34   Eddie Guerrero
  1  6  4   31   Lance Storm
  1  4  6   29   Justin Credible
  1  6  1   25   Don Frye
  1  2  7   25   Cat
  0  4  6   24   Ivory
  2  1  5   23   Bret Hart
  2  2  3   22   Sid Vicious
  2  2  3   22   Shinjiro Otani
  3  1  1   20   Lenny
  1  3  3   20   Owen Hart
  3  1  0   18   Lioness Asuka
  0  3  4   17   Shane Douglas
  1  1  3   14   Scott Steiner
  0  2  4   14   Diamond Dallas Page
  2  1  0   13   Mr. Gannosuke
  2  0  0   10   Arn Anderson
  1  1  1   10   Masahiro Chono
  1  1  0    8   X-Pac
  1  1  0    8   Vince Russo
  1  1  0    8   Shocker
  1  1  0    8   Abismo Negro
  1  0  1    7   Taz
  1  0  1    7   Curt Hennig
  1  0  1    7   Cima (Shiima Nobunaga)
  0  1  2    7   Scott Hall
  0  2  0    6   Yoshihiro Tajiri
  1  0  0    5   Vader
  1  0  0    5   Randy Savage
  1  0  0    5   Pete Murphy
  1  0  0    5   Leilani Kai
  1  0  0    5   Kurt Angle
  1  0  0    5   Etsuko Mita
  1  0  0    5   Brandi Alexander
  0  1  1    5   Val Venis
  0  1  1    5   Total Package
  0  1  1    5   Mayumi Ozaki
  0  1  1    5   Dean Malenko
  0  0  2    4   Eric Bischoff
  0  0  2    4   Acolytes
  0  1  0    3   Hollywood Hogan
  0  1  0    3   Great Muta
  0  1  0    3   Blue Blazer
  0  1  0    3   Amanda Storm
  0  0  1    2   Scott Norton
  0  0  1    2   Scorpio Jr.
  0  0  1    2   Rodney
  0  0  1    2   Rick Michaels
  0  0  1    2   Masao Orihara
  0  0  1    2   Gangrel
  0  0  1    2   David Flair
  0  0  1    2   Chris Benoit
  0  0  1    2   Al Snow

CHRIS BIRD: Chris Jericho is a paragon of smarmy evil. So is Eddie
Guerrero. So is Steve Corino.

EDC: Best heel is a tough one to decide, because everyone has been jumping
back and forth between heel and face status all year. With that said,
Triple H is the only heel so far who I can't stand, which must mean he's
doing a good job. Vince McMahon played his over the top heel persona
greatly enough, and Ric Flair as the Psycho President wasn't great, but
Ric Flair sure made me laugh in them.

CYBERAL33: There is no bigger bitch then Lioness Asuka. She is so great at
being a heel and this comes years after her "retirement" which basically
served to bury her face character and 1999 was her resurgence as a great
wrestler. She plays to the crowd so well, and both matches with Chigusa
were pure hate! I was lucky enough to see Bret Hart work heel live and it
was great! He'd choke Booker T across the ropes all while giving the crowd
the finger. It's unfortunate that he's a face, but I'm sure a turn will
come soon. Orihara is one of the best heels ever. He gets some slack for
his work at times, but his attitude is so grungy and swarmy. Plus he uses
all the taunts from the double middle finger to the "I'm flying" pose. See
his match with Otani for an example of how to be a complete and total
dick.

RFLAGG13:  When The Rock was a heel, there was none better. I have never
seen someone with the ability to make a crowd despise him like The Rock
had, Vince McMahon aside. Eddy Guerrero gets the number 2 spot, which may
be a little high considering his heel heat is diluted by his affiliation
with the vomit inducing Filthy Animals. I freely admit this is a vote
mostly based on potential. Third goes to Vinny Mac, whose act got a bit
old this year. Still, the Higher Power thing drew heat, but I think he
should stay a face for a while.

K. CANZANELLA: Abismo Negro is inherently evil. He draws terrific heat,
and really knows how to be a jerk or completely viscous. See for instance
when he chained Kuije, a midget side kick, to the ring post and went wild
with chair shots. Shocker was awesome as a heel. Once again, being a heel
is all about having an attitude or being viscous, and Shocker had tons of
the first. Once he lost the mask he became even better as a heel because
of the english-speaking bleach blond heel gimmick. Scott Steiner only had
a hot streak for about 3 months but those three months were great.

GREG DILLARD: As far as best heel goes, I have to give this award to
Triple H.  Somehow the guy managed to evolve from getting massive face
pops as the leader of DX, into the guy getting "Asshole" chants while
leading the reincarnation of DX.  The process along the way painted Hx3 in
a number of different roles including psychotic vigilante, cowardly heel,
pathetic paper champion, and The Game.  By managing to get through all
that and bring a little credibility to the WWF title while still getting
booed out of buildings, Hx3 is my #1 heel for the year.

SVEN MASCARENHAS: Being a good heel relies more on mic work these days
than an actual change of style in the ring, which is why I put the man
everyone loved to hate, Shane McMahon, into the top slot. Eddy is a god
second pick, although he's more of a dick than an outright heel. Bob Holly
AMAZED me by going from clueless putz (no offense, Stevie) to heat machine
almost overnight, and that has to be recognized.

FALCONARROW: Jericho is simply the best at being Arrogant

MATTHEW CLEARY: Etsuko Mita's size and dominance over smaller women in Neo
Ladies makes her a great heel.

AARON: I pick Triple H, Hardcore Holly and Steve Corino because these guys
go out there and get, you know, heel heat, which is unheard of these
days...

DON BECKER: A heel has to be able to generate a good chunk of hatred
because of his in-ring actions, and who better from the nominees than
Shinjiro "Dickhead" Ohtani?  I mean, that smug grin of his makes *me*
wanna slap him silly, and I like the guy!  The anti-hardcore Steve Corino
is a great slap in the face for ECW fans, and he's entertaining on the
stick to boot.  And Owen Hart worked because he was trying so hard to be a
babyface.

SHAWN MULLIN: Vince is an awesome heel.  The fans consistenly hated him
more than anyone, and this year was the "Vince finally gets his" year, and
I don't think I've seen a heel sell his own destruction better than Vince
does.  He got killed at the Massacre, his family fell appart and his face
would tell the tale, and at Fully Loaded, he bloody well cried as he
finally got beat for good. That's a perfect end to a classic heel
character.  Triple H never tried to be cool, he was a heel, and he finally
made it work.  Bob Holly gets booed more consistently than any midcarder.

MAX CHITTISTER: HHH is just about the only heel around who still really
does bad guy stuff. I don't like him, but he's a very good heel.

PAUL SHOCK: I can't believe all the heels that weren't on this list!  No
Justin Credible, no DDP, no Kurt Angle.  Not even the Bossman, and he
stole a corpse and killed a dog, for God's sake!

BLOB: Triple H is easily the best heel of the year. He's not a great
worker, but has great charisma and mic work. The Game was the most
successful gimmick for all heels in 1999. DDP delivered the goods and
secured my #2 vote for best heel, getting rid of his TERRIBLE babyface
gimmick. Chris "Bad Mamma Jamma" Jericho get #3 for his unparalleled humor
that he adds to his interviews and wrestling matches.

BRUNO PULVER: Flair is still the man, he got way over both heel/face.

JOHN C.:I'm not a big fan of Triple H but he did excellent work this year
to become wrestling's top heel. His run started back in March and it
rejuvenated his career not to mention propelling him into superstardom.  
Vince was good again this year but as the year wore on the character got
stale and that's probably why he didn't get my number one vote. Bret Hart
got my third vote because the heel heat he got before his face turn was
fantastic. His speech at the Nitro in Toronto (intended to be heelish but
got face heat) and the spear with the steel plate on Goldberg were magical
but it's a shame that he couldn't stay heel for a little longer. I would
have put Jericho here too but since he wasn't doing anything for about
five months he just wasn't around long enough.

RICHARD BEAUBIEN: 1999 can be best summed up as the year of week heels, or
simply the fact that all the good heels are being cheered as baby faces
(go fig?). Still, Chris Jericho was the best of the lot cutting super hot
promos and getting crowds to hate him instantly (A fine example is his
story about the Hildebrand Memorial show...). Eddy Guerrero works superb
as a heel, and so does Malenko. WCW should take notice and let them be the
new heels to terroize Baby Faces into the next millenium.

JAN-MORTIZ KAEDING: Is there anybody who didn't want to see Shane McMahon
getting his ass handed to him?

JOE GENTILE:  1st to Jarrett. Simply put, he was THE most hated man in the
WWF. HHH, his heir apparent is second. Shane takes third as he was a
MEGA-heel during the Test wars.

CHANCE50JR: I put The Rock as best heel and babyface, because when he was
a heel, people, myself included absolutely hated him.  And the second he
made the face turn, people loved him...there was no awkward transition
period in between.  The most electrifying man in sports entertainment can
do it all.

DONALD SEMACK:  Triple H does what heels are suppose to do, do evil things
that make people hate them.

NATE PERRY: After Jericho and McMahon, I couldn't think of anyone else who
really stood out as a good heel, so I put Gangrel as 3rd just to piss off
Scott Keith

JOE GAGNE: In the "extreme" environment of ECW, the "old school" mentality
of Steve Corino was sure to make the fans hate him.  And Corino plays the
part excellently.  Triple H really grew into the WWF's top heel.  And Jeff
Jarrett finally drew some good heat with his "woman-hating" gimmick.

DAVID HANNA: Hard to be a good heel these days.  Triple H who was very
over as the leader of babyface DX, and probably collecting nice royalty
checks, traded it all in to be a heel.  And a real heel.  Not a suck to
the crowd heel like Hollywood Hogan or Nash.  HHH was old school.  He
wants to be hated, and does not try to be cool or hip.  It's not been a
strong year for heels. Steve Cornio is funny to watch and you enjoy seeing
him get beat around.  An excellent foil to Taz, to bad that feud never got
a chance to really get going.  Vince would be #1 but was not evil enough
this year.  I guess he spent more time being a heel then face this year,
but how could you follow up last years peformance?  The higher power was
an over angle, and I give him a vote for 3rd.

C. BENSINGER: Rick Flair -- Lifetime achievement

MYKLL42:Jeff Jarrett deserves this category for being one of the few heels
in the business who didn't go out to get cheers... now that has changed in
WCW, but his heel work in WWF was great.  Ric Flair gets my 3 vote because
he is Ric Flair.

SEAN FLYNN: It seems like forever ago, but the first half of the year it
was still all about McMahon/Austin.  And the Survivor Series Screwjob of
98 gave the Rock major heel heat.  And again I reiterate, Jericho is God.

LUCAS HARRIS: Flair could have won if WCW didn't do that stupid mental
patient thing.

BEN MILLER:  Chris Jericho trails HHH, but he could be tops given the
right push.

B. SZPAKOWICZ: Steve Corino gets it.  I haven't actually seen him
*wrestle* (cause he doesn't seem to do that much :) , but the gimmick is
excellent, and all the ECW fans really hate his guts. Hardcore Holly gets
second--did anyone ever realize he had a *personality*? And the Y2J gets
third for playing the cowardly, arrogant heel to the hilt, and also cause
he kicks ass and all.

LORIE:  Ivory is the best new heel for 1999!  WWF needs to let her be all
that she can be!

RYAN GRANT:  The year started slowly for HHH, muddling around in the "Who
owns DX?" angle, but I thought he did a great job of building heat and
making the fans hate him.  Similarly, the year ended crappy for the
Undertaker, but the Higher Power angle had hellish heat while it was going
on.  In third, the most consistent heel of the year, Ivory. Most every
time she touched the mic it was pure gold.

RICK SCAIA:  Triple H is just about the only heel who actually WANTS to
get booed. And he's good at getting results.  Kudos to him, that makes him
the run-away Heel of the Year.  Vince McMahon also enjoys the jeers, and
his part-time heel stint in '99 get him second.  Jeff Jarrett was a heat
magnet in the latter stages of the voting year and gets third.

JEREMY SORIA: Aside - why was HHH listed multiple times in your list of
nominees (as Triple H or Hunter Hearst Helmsley) ? Anyway, The top two
heels in this business are Jericho and HHH. Both these guys just make you
want to kick their ass. The whole McMahon thing got old as the summer of
'99 wore on, but he was still the guy you just want to hate 'cause of
holding back SCSA and not wanting him to be champ.

JUSTIN JONES: Is it any surprise that Ric Flair could be one of the top
heels as well as one of the top babyfaces in the same year?

SELENA KYTE:  Leilani Kai has been a rulebreaker for so long, I don't
think she knows any other way to be.

JASON BALDWIN: Jeff Jarrett's last months in the WWF re-opened the book on
the "classic" heel with enough of a twist to be fresh. He reminded
everyone that it's still possible to get over with traditional heel
tactics and not as a bad guy you like to cheer for (Austin) or a smart-ass
with an anal fixation ("If you smell...?") . Hardcore Holly was the same
way, but Jarrett was just better. McMahon ... well, McMahon was just damn
good, as a heel, anyway. Much more convincing than as a face.

ROB EVANS: Best Heel - Nice to see Jarrett final get any kind of heat.  
He's 2nd only to Rock, who was the best heel during his feud with Mankind.

MDB: Lest we forget, Ric Flair got people to cheer the red and yellow
Hogan. Case closed on best heel.  The braintrust at WCW doesn't know what
to do with Eddy.  Too bad they don't just let him be the superdick rudo he
could be.  No 3rd place since almost no one else in wrestling today
actually tries to get heel heat.