Top 50 Greatest Wrestling Heels of all time

35. Greg Valentine

A properly old-school heel, there was nothing cool or likeable about Greg Valentine to the audience. A great in-ring technical worker with beautiful gold locks, he was a pure, traditional grappler who was hard as nails.

‘The Hammer’ started out as a heel in the 70s and 80s in the NWA in Mid-Atlantic and Jim Crockett Promotions, picking up tag gold with the likes of Ric Flair, Baron Von Raschke and Ray Stevens. He would become a US and TV champion whilst famously feuding with Wahoo McDaniel whilst wearing a t-shirt donning “I Broke Wahoo’s Leg” and Roddy Piper with whom he had the barbaric Dog Collar match at wrestling’s first PPV, Starrcade 1983.

When arriving in the WWF, he enlisted the help of manager Jimmy Hart (initially Lou Albano) and won the IC title off of Tito Santana and held it for 285 days – the 5th longest reign – whilst also becoming a top challenger to the WWF title (similar to how he had during previous WWF stints). Whilst feuding with everyone from Don Muraco to Ronnie Garvin, he became mostly embroiled in tag teams – being in duos with Brutus Beefcake, Dino Bravo and The Honky Tonk Man. Valentine would continue on as a heel in the UWF, WCW and the independent circuit where he was one of the first old-timers to take advantage of the growing Indie scene. He remains one of the classic examples of old school villianary to this day.