Wrestling's most despised personas take center stage as we dive into the wrestlers who drew the most heat, betrayed fans, and became legendary villains in the world of professional wrestling. Get ready for a countdown of controversial characters that made audiences rage!
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're counting down our picks for the most hated wrestlers
00:15of all time.
00:16For this list, we'll only be looking at despised performers' personas and backstage
00:21actions rather than things they did away from the ring.
00:35In 2019, Dom joined the WWE and formed a team with his father, Rey Mysterio.
00:40All was well, until 2022's Clash at the Castle.
00:45After Edge and Rey beat The Judgment Day, Dom celebrated with the two.
00:49Then he booted Edge below the belt before clotheslining his father, sealing his heel
00:55turn as he joined Judgment Day.
00:57Renamed Dirty Dom Mysterio, he soon formed a special bond with his mommy, Rhea Ripley.
01:13Despite this, fans still hated Dom for his underhanded tactics and arrogance.
01:18That only got worse when he turned on Ripley to hook up with Liv Morgan.
01:22Due to his volatile history, Dirty Dom has been awarded Pro Wrestling Illustrated's
01:28Most Hated Wrestler of the Year in 2023 and 2024.
01:41Nowadays he's one of the industry's most popular wrestlers in the WWE.
01:46But during the latter part of his AEW days, it was very different for Rhodes.
01:57As one of the brain children who created the brand, his feud with Anthony Ogogo, especially
02:03the awful weigh-in segment, caused a backlash.
02:06On top of relentless booing, even though he was seemingly a babyface, the fans really
02:11showed their displeasure at Rhodes' character in 2021.
02:26During a tag match, he threw his weight belt into the crowd, only for them to toss it back
02:31at him.
02:32Yikes.
02:33Months later, while he stated it was due to personal reasons, Rhodes left AEW.
02:50When he returned to the WWE ring from a serious back injury in 2002, the heartbreak kid began
02:56showing why people today call him one of the best.
03:07However, while Michaels was talented before that, his reputation in and out of the squared
03:14circle was vastly different.
03:171997 was a particular highlight in Michaels' hatred.
03:21At WWF One Night Only in Birmingham, England, he controversially beat home country hero,
03:27the British Bulldog, to win the European Championship, causing the crowd to cover the ring in litter
03:33as Michaels taunted them.
03:34Two months later at Survivor Series, HBK was involved in the infamous Montreal Screwjob,
03:41where he controversially won the WWF Championship from Bret Hart.
03:45Canadians still haven't forgiven Michaels.
04:00When the Iranian-born wrestler returned to the then-WWF in 1983, he soon began carving
04:06out his name in heel legend.
04:17With his pro-Iran stance and spitting on the floor, whenever he had to mention the US,
04:23Sheik was a heat magnet with the crowd.
04:36When he faced off against American heroes like Hulk Hogan and Sergeant Slaughter, it
04:41only got worse as fans rained booze upon him and sometimes garbage.
04:46Occasionally they would go too far, as they sent the Iron Sheik death threats.
04:51The peak of Sheik hatred was when he controversially beat Bob Backlund for the WWF Championship
04:57in 1983.
05:00Thousands of people in Madison Square Garden shouted abuse and booed as he taunted them.
05:17Nowadays it can be difficult for a heel to generate heat without being beloved by some
05:22for being cool.
05:23Yet, that's not an issue for Maxwell Jacob Friedman.
05:32With his arrogant, brash and cowardly attitude, alongside constantly telling other wrestlers
05:37and the crowd that he's better than them, he became one of the industry's most despised
05:43characters.
05:51Starting from the days of betraying Rhodes during his AEW Championship bout against Chris
05:56Jericho in 2019, MJF has drawn further ire with his mistreatment of Wardlow and tossing
06:03Jericho off the cage.
06:05Whenever MJF interacts with the crowd, it usually ends with an insult to them or him
06:10grabbing their drink to throw over them.
06:24There's nothing wrestling fans hate more than when a character is forced down their
06:28throats – case in point, Super Cena.
06:41Since rising to the top with his first WWE Championship win in 2005, a large portion
06:46of the fanbase has despised him.
06:49Some of their reasons for hating him include Cena's undefeatable positioning, his child-friendly
06:54appearance, the Five Moves of Doom and his mantra.
07:05The most anti-Cena experience happened in 2006's ECW One Night Stand.
07:11While facing Rob Van Dam to defend his title, he was greeted with signs saying,
07:15If Cena wins, we riot.
07:18Multiple times, Cena threw his shirt into the crowd, only to get it chucked back.
07:23Thankfully, Cena lost.
07:24Otherwise, we dread to think what would have happened.
07:29In recent times, WWE took the successful plunge of making Reigns a heel.
07:35But for years, they positioned him as Cena 2.0, infuriating the audience.
07:48Still wearing SHIELD attire and using the theme tune post-breakup, Reigns was thrust
07:53into the top of the company, even when fans felt others were more deserving.
08:03One such beloved wrestler was Daniel Bryan.
08:06When he was unceremoniously eliminated from the 2015 Royal Rumble, the crowd turned on
08:11the pay-per-view as they knew what was to come – the coronation of Reigns.
08:16And the big dog getting the rub from The Rock didn't settle the crowd's loathing.
08:21The backlash against Reigns would continue for years, with a highlight being the night
08:25after WrestleMania 33, where he was relentlessly booed.
08:36During the 80s, you couldn't get much more American than Sgt.
08:40Slaughter defending the nation against the anti-U.S. hatred of The Iron Sheik and Nikolai
08:46Volkov.
08:47Yet, when he returned to the then-WWF in 1990, Slaughter did the unthinkable.
08:53With real-life tensions between Iraq and the U.S., which led to the Gulf War, Slaughter
08:58betrayed his country by becoming an Iraqi sympathizer.
09:14He would criticize Americans calling them puke and maggots, while wearing Arab attire
09:20and teaming with The Iron Sheik.
09:22The hatred, which only got worse when Slaughter won the WWF Championship, was so intense that
09:27Slaughter received many death threats, and reportedly had to wear a bulletproof vest.
09:34Understandably, after only a year with the gimmick, he switched back to the U.S.
09:49No wrestler has won more of Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Most Hated Wrestler of the
09:53Year awards than Triple H.
09:56With Fife to his name, he spent the majority of his career as a heel for a good reason.
10:11Whether he was a cool baddie, like with D-Generation X, or an overpowered authority figure, Triple
10:26H has drawn a lot of hate, even from fellow wrestlers, for backstage politics.
10:39Certain moments where the animosity for him increased were when he won a racially charged
10:44feud with Booker T, as well as the terrible Katie Vick angle with Kane, and dominating
10:50the heavyweight title picture for way too long.
11:04Back in the 80s, Hulkamania was running wild, brother.
11:24Even outside of the ring, as the media jumped on the bandwagon, Hogan with his 24-inch pythons
11:30was a national treasure, even when he jumped from the then-WWF to WCW.
11:35Yet, at 1996's Bash at the Beach, not only was his legacy altered forever, but so was
11:43wrestling's.
11:44In the main event, with the Outsiders' Scott Hall and Kevin Nash being sneaky against Lex
11:49Luger, Randy Savage and Sting, Hogan seemingly came down to the ring to confront them.
11:54Instead, he attacked Savage and joined Nash and Scott to form the New World Order.
12:01Hulkamaniacs were livid as they chucked trash at the trio, who were instantly turned into
12:05the industry's biggest bads.
12:15Which wrestler persona moments do you hate the most that we haven't mentioned in this
12:20list?
12:21Let us know in those comments below.