Most Viscerally Hated Heels

[Dooley]

In terms of a visceral, hate-filled reaction, I've never seen another heel consistently get the reaction Shawn Michaels got in 1997 during the last few months of the year.

I was there for Raw in Ottawa the night after Montreal. That was the most molten I've ever seen a crowd in terms of pure hatred. First Rude came out to do his spiel and the place was drowning him out just as bad as they were at Superbrawl. Then HBK/HHH came out and the place went nuclear. After the first segment when they had gone to commercial, HBK and HHH were taunting some fans and doing the "towel flick" at them with their t-shirts. One guy tried to climb the rail and they thought that was funny. Then a couple of others started attempting it and they got the hell out of dodge

[Strummer]

Yeah Shawn late 97/early 98 has to be up there. For whatever reason people tend not to focus on that point in his career. More attention is paid to his failures in 96 and his comeback. It's like a lost point in his career despite it being a point where the company was about to launch

[JerryvonKramer]

I never knew Rude did promos during his time with DX.

[Loss]

It's a shame Shawn had broken down so much by the end of 1997, because they finally had him in the perfect role.

[Loss]

And GOD was that European crowd insane when he faced Davey Boy!

[El-P]

It's a shame Shawn had broken down so much by the end of 1997, because they finally had him in the perfect role.

Yep. He was an immature manipulative asshole in life, so it fit him perfectly. This is also my favourite Michaels era as far as character goes, from the Summer of 97 to WM 14.

[rainmakerrtv]

Maybe it's polluting the discussion to bring in Mexican crowds, but they really seemed to despise Los Gringos Locos. I remember Love Machine slowly turning his head and blowing out cigar smoke at the audience and they damn near rioted.

[Matt D]

I fully believe that Lanny Poffo almost caused riots in Texas. (I may be getting my facts wrong there)

[Russellmania]

HHH when the McMahon/Helmsley era was in full swing. Remember the false finish where Jericho won the title from him on RAW only to have HHH force Hebner to reverse the decision? I also can't imagine anyone in recent WWE history getting 'ASSHOOOLE' chants like clockwork every time they touch a mic.

[goc]

HHH when the McMahon/Helmsley era was in full swing. Remember the false finish where Jericho won the title from him on RAW only to have HHH force Hebner to reverse the decision? I also can't imagine anyone in recent WWE history getting 'ASSHOOOLE' chants like clockwork every time they touch a mic.

I'd say that's as much a shift in the audience demographics as the booking, but it has been quite a while since there was an "Asshole" chant.

[Mr Wrestling X]

I definitely agree with those who mentioned Sgt. Slaughter during his Iraqi Sympathiser gimmick, I've seen matches and promos from that period and the audience absolutely loathed him. I've also read interviews where Slaughter mentioned that people tried to attack him on a regular basis.

 

I also agree with those who mentioned Shawn Michaels in 1997/1998 - the post-screwjob reactions were just a bonus to an already stellar amount of hatred generated by the WWF fanbase. The fans at ECW One Night Stand 2006 absolutely detested Randy Orton more than any of the other WWE performers and there were numerous slurs (mostly suggesting that Orton was homosexual) directed at Orton, who actually seemed to relish in the attention like all good heels.

 

I think it was Vince McMahon and Triple H who recieved the most asshole chants, I seem to recall Triple H usually recieving them during his first promo after a screwy title defense. The asshole thing phased out when Austin started to punctuate "what?" in his promos, which quickly took off with the audience and became a generic chant directed at anyone who cut promos that were boring or were being spoken by someone that was in uber heel mode with the crowd.

 

Hall, Nash and Hogan were pretty resented during the beginning of the NWO angle, people would throw rubbish in the ring and there would even be the odd person who would run out and try and attack them!

[El-P]

I never saw the "asshole" chant as a sign of getting hot heel heat. Maybe at first, but after a while, it quickly became a pavlovian reactions to McMahon and affiliates. It's not like Hogan being covered in trash at the beginning of the nWo angle or Michaels getting booed the fuck out in late 97/98.

[artDDP]

I never knew Rude did promos during his time with DX.

He did quite a few, both solo and with the group.