Loose Cannon
03-21-2008, 12:30 PM
Going by the years when you first started watching wrestling or actually the years in which you can make a good case for your picks (cause most of us have went back and watched a lot of stuff that we missed), who would you say the top heels in the WWF have been for a particular year.
Keep in mind, it doesn't have to be the World Champion or the heel feuding with the champion per say. Just the best all around preformer.
I'll start with mine.
1984/1985: Roddy Piper: Easy choice here. The guy owned the sport at this time and was the lead antagonist in the very hot Rock/Wrestling angle with Cindy Lauper in '85. The heat he got was a real as could be and people wanted to see him get his ass kicked by just about anybody who could get thier hands on him.
1986: This year belonged to the man that Pearl Harbored Hulk Hogan during a Tag Match against the Heenan Family, Paul Ornorff. Orndorff started theyear off as a babyface and was best buds with Hogan. Then in another hot angle, Orndorff slowly started to turn heel by becoming jelous and envious of Hogan. The plan was finally put in place during a TV tag match pitting Hogan and Orndorff against Studd and Bundy. Orndorff helped Hogan to his feet after an assualt by Studd and Bundy and then KO'ed him with a hard closeline. Orndorff joined the Heenan Family and the feud took off.
1987: Tough year to make a call, but I have to give it to Andre just because the heel turn and the match was epic. Great build, great story, epic match at Mania 3 and then even the lasting fued afterwards was great. You had people like Heenan, Ventura, Dibiase involved in this.
Runner up goes to Savage and that's a very close runner up. He carried a ton of heat with him with his throat attack on Steamboat and his lasting feud with George Steel.
Another Runner up I need to mention is Honky Tonk Man. Again, great preformance by Honky. People were literally begging for his head on a silver platter at times. The way he would escape match after match after match by the skin of his teeth was great TV. Say what you will, but the man worked the crowd to perfection here. If not for Andre, he would be my #1.
1988: This year belonged to Dibiase. Nobody could touch him and he just played his gimmick to a tilt. It's sucks he never got the title due to some whining, but it was a night off with Dibiase in the other corner. Himself and Savage saved Mania 4 from being a huge borefest.
1989: Randy Savage gets the number one spot here. The whole Mega Powers storyline was one of the best storylines the WWF ever did. To compare it to something more recent for the post attitude fans, I would compare it to the HHH/Batista storyline, although one sparked a heel turn and the other a babyface turn.
1990: Tough call for the heels. I'm going to have to give it to Dibiase again. He had some great programs with Rhodes and Roberts and would play a part in bringing in Taker later in the year.
1991: Oh how sweet this year was for Jake Roberts. The man was phenominal and one of the best performances I've ever seen. He scared the shit out of me and still today when I go back and watch, he's so fucked up. I always maintain he was literally on coke on camera for this entire run. He got shitted on when Warrior left, but him and Savage would go on to have one of the most amazing feuds in wreslting history. Great year.
1992: Come on, Ric Flair. done
1993: I'm going to give it to Lawler. I actually had Yoko, but thought about it and changed it. Lawler had incredible heat this year and made for some entertaining TV. His feud with Hart was very real to life and made to a classic encounter.
1994: Bob Backlund takes this year. The man really reinvented himself from being such a goodie babyface to a pyschotic heel. The way he would snap and, put someone in the chicken wing and then look at this hands was awesome. He played his character perfectly and deserved the run he got with the belt.
Honarable mention goes to Owen Hart.
1995: This year belongs to HBK as a heel. This is where he started moving up in the world and making a name for himself. His feud with Razor was gold.
1996: Manking takes the nod this year. Undertaker finally met his match with Mankind. It was the perfect opponent for him. Foley was incredible with the character and an awesome heel turn by Paul really made things interesting. Never thought I'd see that.
1997: Bret is an easy choice for me. The Canada vs USA angle is an all-time top storyline.
Runners up would be HBK and Kane at years end.
1998: Vince is the pretty obvious choice here. McMahon/Austin had a ton of heat and pretty much put the WWE out in head of the ratings war.
1999: The Year of the Ministry of Darkness. Undertaker gets the nod here and he reinvented himself and became a Satan-like character. IMO, the best character and angle Taker has ever been involved in. The TV had great writing and it really kept the audeince on its feet.
2000: Nobody could touch HHH at this point. The guy had an incredible run as worked his ass off. GREAT year all around.
2001: Steve Austin gets the nod. The whole alliance with Vince and the comedy with Kurt and Vince was gold. All topped off by him joining the Alliance
2002: I wanna say Brock here. He had a terrific run and pretty much was unstoppable. His win over the Rock at Summerslam cemented it.
2003: John Cena put himself on the map with this run. Took a comedy gimmick that wasn't suppossed to get him over and turned it into one of the most over characters the 2000 era has seen. The whole thug life thing with the freestyles and the handsigns, the throwback jerseys and the in your face attitude propelled Cena to the top real quick. His feud with Lesner was one of the best feuds of the year. awesome stuff.
2004: ah, 2004. The year everyone remembered the name Orton. Then quickly forgot it by the end of the year. Orton hit his mark this year and he was the hottest heel going on the Raw brand. He had a tremendous feud with Foley and outshined everyone at Backlash PPV. Like Cena the year before, he started getting face pops from the audience. He won the belt at Summerslam and then everything went downward after that. I still think Orton hasn't been the same since.
Honrable mention goes to JBL and HHH, but you know I have to go with my boy Orton here
2005: hmmm, the year of the babyfaces with Cena and Batista, but two guys really stepped up thier game. And surprise surprise they were one of the greatest tag teams of all-time. Edge and Christian as a tie here.
Both of them totally took off in 2005 as singles competitors. Christian was over as hell with his Captain Charisma gimmick and Edge had the whole Lita thing going, which played to the internet fan base a lot. Matt Hardy/Edge was an awesome feud for a little while.
Honrable mention goes to Eddie Guerrero.
2006: Edge again here as the Rated R Superstar. Had tremendous heat from the crowd and excelled at the top. I think Cena had his best feud with Edge.
2007: jeez, I can't even remember what the hell happened last year. I know Cena won a lot. Orton I guess? I dunno. The babyfaces seemed to rule this one.
Keep in mind, it doesn't have to be the World Champion or the heel feuding with the champion per say. Just the best all around preformer.
I'll start with mine.
1984/1985: Roddy Piper: Easy choice here. The guy owned the sport at this time and was the lead antagonist in the very hot Rock/Wrestling angle with Cindy Lauper in '85. The heat he got was a real as could be and people wanted to see him get his ass kicked by just about anybody who could get thier hands on him.
1986: This year belonged to the man that Pearl Harbored Hulk Hogan during a Tag Match against the Heenan Family, Paul Ornorff. Orndorff started theyear off as a babyface and was best buds with Hogan. Then in another hot angle, Orndorff slowly started to turn heel by becoming jelous and envious of Hogan. The plan was finally put in place during a TV tag match pitting Hogan and Orndorff against Studd and Bundy. Orndorff helped Hogan to his feet after an assualt by Studd and Bundy and then KO'ed him with a hard closeline. Orndorff joined the Heenan Family and the feud took off.
1987: Tough year to make a call, but I have to give it to Andre just because the heel turn and the match was epic. Great build, great story, epic match at Mania 3 and then even the lasting fued afterwards was great. You had people like Heenan, Ventura, Dibiase involved in this.
Runner up goes to Savage and that's a very close runner up. He carried a ton of heat with him with his throat attack on Steamboat and his lasting feud with George Steel.
Another Runner up I need to mention is Honky Tonk Man. Again, great preformance by Honky. People were literally begging for his head on a silver platter at times. The way he would escape match after match after match by the skin of his teeth was great TV. Say what you will, but the man worked the crowd to perfection here. If not for Andre, he would be my #1.
1988: This year belonged to Dibiase. Nobody could touch him and he just played his gimmick to a tilt. It's sucks he never got the title due to some whining, but it was a night off with Dibiase in the other corner. Himself and Savage saved Mania 4 from being a huge borefest.
1989: Randy Savage gets the number one spot here. The whole Mega Powers storyline was one of the best storylines the WWF ever did. To compare it to something more recent for the post attitude fans, I would compare it to the HHH/Batista storyline, although one sparked a heel turn and the other a babyface turn.
1990: Tough call for the heels. I'm going to have to give it to Dibiase again. He had some great programs with Rhodes and Roberts and would play a part in bringing in Taker later in the year.
1991: Oh how sweet this year was for Jake Roberts. The man was phenominal and one of the best performances I've ever seen. He scared the shit out of me and still today when I go back and watch, he's so fucked up. I always maintain he was literally on coke on camera for this entire run. He got shitted on when Warrior left, but him and Savage would go on to have one of the most amazing feuds in wreslting history. Great year.
1992: Come on, Ric Flair. done
1993: I'm going to give it to Lawler. I actually had Yoko, but thought about it and changed it. Lawler had incredible heat this year and made for some entertaining TV. His feud with Hart was very real to life and made to a classic encounter.
1994: Bob Backlund takes this year. The man really reinvented himself from being such a goodie babyface to a pyschotic heel. The way he would snap and, put someone in the chicken wing and then look at this hands was awesome. He played his character perfectly and deserved the run he got with the belt.
Honarable mention goes to Owen Hart.
1995: This year belongs to HBK as a heel. This is where he started moving up in the world and making a name for himself. His feud with Razor was gold.
1996: Manking takes the nod this year. Undertaker finally met his match with Mankind. It was the perfect opponent for him. Foley was incredible with the character and an awesome heel turn by Paul really made things interesting. Never thought I'd see that.
1997: Bret is an easy choice for me. The Canada vs USA angle is an all-time top storyline.
Runners up would be HBK and Kane at years end.
1998: Vince is the pretty obvious choice here. McMahon/Austin had a ton of heat and pretty much put the WWE out in head of the ratings war.
1999: The Year of the Ministry of Darkness. Undertaker gets the nod here and he reinvented himself and became a Satan-like character. IMO, the best character and angle Taker has ever been involved in. The TV had great writing and it really kept the audeince on its feet.
2000: Nobody could touch HHH at this point. The guy had an incredible run as worked his ass off. GREAT year all around.
2001: Steve Austin gets the nod. The whole alliance with Vince and the comedy with Kurt and Vince was gold. All topped off by him joining the Alliance
2002: I wanna say Brock here. He had a terrific run and pretty much was unstoppable. His win over the Rock at Summerslam cemented it.
2003: John Cena put himself on the map with this run. Took a comedy gimmick that wasn't suppossed to get him over and turned it into one of the most over characters the 2000 era has seen. The whole thug life thing with the freestyles and the handsigns, the throwback jerseys and the in your face attitude propelled Cena to the top real quick. His feud with Lesner was one of the best feuds of the year. awesome stuff.
2004: ah, 2004. The year everyone remembered the name Orton. Then quickly forgot it by the end of the year. Orton hit his mark this year and he was the hottest heel going on the Raw brand. He had a tremendous feud with Foley and outshined everyone at Backlash PPV. Like Cena the year before, he started getting face pops from the audience. He won the belt at Summerslam and then everything went downward after that. I still think Orton hasn't been the same since.
Honrable mention goes to JBL and HHH, but you know I have to go with my boy Orton here
2005: hmmm, the year of the babyfaces with Cena and Batista, but two guys really stepped up thier game. And surprise surprise they were one of the greatest tag teams of all-time. Edge and Christian as a tie here.
Both of them totally took off in 2005 as singles competitors. Christian was over as hell with his Captain Charisma gimmick and Edge had the whole Lita thing going, which played to the internet fan base a lot. Matt Hardy/Edge was an awesome feud for a little while.
Honrable mention goes to Eddie Guerrero.
2006: Edge again here as the Rated R Superstar. Had tremendous heat from the crowd and excelled at the top. I think Cena had his best feud with Edge.
2007: jeez, I can't even remember what the hell happened last year. I know Cena won a lot. Orton I guess? I dunno. The babyfaces seemed to rule this one.