Most Satisfying Heel Losses In Wrestling History

A key part of wrestling has always been seeing the heel lose. Granted, some places weren’t always about that, as WCW often had the bad guy coming out on top. It’s carried over the years as there is business sense in the heel dominating for a while to make his loss more important. Yet sometimes, it can go on too long (see Roman Reigns in WWE today), so fans are more than eager to see the heel finally lose.

8 Teased Heel Turns In Wrestling (That Didn't Happen)

Over the decades, wrestling has made some great payoffs on a heel getting their big loss, some bigger than others. A few are almost historic for being part of epic shows, while others were lower-key but still got fans going. From ending long-standing feuds to the heel getting a beautiful comeuppance, here is how ten of the best long-awaited heel losses in wrestling history ranked to show how great it is when the bad guy goes down.

10 Batista’s Triple Win Over Triple H

Batista Beat The Game At Wrestlemania 21, Backlash 2005 & Vengeance 2005

• Batista won a disputed 2005 Royal Rumble
• Triple H had been World Heavyweight Champion for 84 days
• Batista's first reign as champion lasted 282 days before he vacated it due to injury

Fans like to rant about Triple H’s “Reign of Terror” from 2002-2004, where he dominated RAW and drove fans off with his reigns as World Heavyweight Champion. So it says something that he did do the right thing not once but three times in 2005.

First, the expertly set up WrestleMania 21 match where Hunter cleanly lost the World title to Batista. Most expected Hunter to get it back at Backlash, but instead, Batista won another nice battle. Finally, at Vengeance, Batista won in Hell in the Cell. Each time, Hunter put Batista over well and moved out of the title scene, showing he did do right for the business, letting himself get beat at last in triple style.

9 The Wrestlepalooza 1997 Two-Fer

Raven & Shane Douglas Got Exactly What They Deserved

• Dreamer and Raven had been feuding since 1995
• Raven always managed to come out on top without being pinned
• Douglas had held the ECW TV title for 329 days

Leave it to ECW to put two heel comeuppances for one show. At 1997’s Wrestlepalooza, after two years of epic feuding, various bait and switches and turns, Tommy Dreamer finally pinned Raven. The fans loved it, seeing Raven sent out even as it was muted by a brutal attack on Dreamer by Jerry Lawler and others.

10 Most Unlikable Wrestlers In ECW History, Ranked

But ECW made up for it as Taz showed up to chase the heels off. Taz then got into it with TV champion Shane Douglas, vowing he’d make Douglas tap out in five minutes or he’d leave the company. The impromptu match had Taz living up to his word, ending the Franchise’s nearly year-long title reign. So, whatever else, the ECW fans were happy to see two heels losing big time.

8 CM Punk Cashes In On Edge

Punk Captured His First World Heavyweight Championship That Night

• Edge made the first ever MITB cash-in on John Cena at New Year's Revolution 2006
• Edge also cashed in on the Undertaker to win the World title in July 2007
• This was Punk's first World Heavyweight Title win

There are few things more delicious than watching someone getting a taste of their own medicine. On the June 30, 2008 episode of Raw, World Heavyweight Champion Edge came out to brag about defeating Batista, mocking Jim Ross, and more. As he was about to leave, Batista came out and annihilated Edge in a brutal attack.

That would have been enough, but as Batista headed out, CM Punk raced to the ring with a ref to cash in his Money in the Bank contract. One GTS later and Punk was the champion. Seeing Edge lose in the same way he’d won two titles was delicious irony, and the shot of him slinking out as Punk celebrated was the icing on the cake.

7 Magnum TA Makes Tully Blanchard Quit

They Wrestled In A Steel Cage "I Quit" Match

• Tully had won the United States Championship from Magnum in June of 1985
• This was Magnum's second reign as champion
• The title was vacated in May 1986

His career cut short far too early, Magnum TA was one of the hottest guys for Jim Crockett Promotions in 1985. He and Tully Blanchard had a major feud for the U.S. title, with Blanchard as perfect as possible playing the hated heel who drove fans crazy. After cheating his way to wins, Tully found himself in an I Quit cage match with Magnum at Starrcade.

10 Things You Didn't Know About WCW's Starrcade PPV

The bout was one of the most brutal and bloody imaginable, both guys going all out in a way rarely seen at the time. Tully tried to use a broken piece of wood only for Magnum to gouge it on his forehead and force Tully to yell out he quit on the mic. It was the top moment of Magnum’s career to emerge victorious from that brutal cage war.

6 Malenko’s Masked Deception On Jericho

They Had A Great Feud Over The Cruiserweight Championship

• Jericho was in his third reign as Cruiserweight champion
• Malenko had supposedly been driven out weeks before
• This was after a #1 Contenders battle royal

For all of WCW’s faults, they could provide a great showcase now and then. Few were better than in 1998, with Chris Jericho taking off as the arrogant Cruiserweight Champion. That included driving Dean Malenko out of the company and mocking everyone in sight.

At Slamboree, Jericho watched a battle royal of Cruiserweights to get a shot at his title. It was won by Ciclope, who then unmasked to reveal himself as Malenko. The crowd went nuts as Malenko proceeded to demolish Jericho, finally making him tap out to win the belt. It was a wonderful moment that put Jericho in his place beautifully.

5 Mick Foley Wins The Big One

Mankind Defeated The Rock For The WWE Championship

• This was an impromptu rematch from the previous month's Rock Bottom PPV
• Taped on December 29, 1998
• Combined with the "Fingerpoke of Doom," a turning point of the Monday Night War

The Rock is so beloved today that it’s sometimes hard to forget how wonderful he was as a heel. Having teased a face turn in 1998, the Rock instead went back to a heel as the Corporate WWE Champion. He was goaded into a no-DQ match against Mankind which was given away by WCW in the infamous “butts in the seats” comment.

Mick Foley's Definitive 10 Best WWE Matches, Ranked

The fight was heated, with both the Corporation and DX getting involved in a brawl. Then the sound of shattering glass echoed with the crowd erupting in one of the biggest pops of the Attitude Era as Stone Cold Steve Austin marched down, hit the Rock with a chair and let Mankind win the title. Seeing Mick Foley finally get his due as a champion was wonderful, more so beating the Rock like that.

4 The Dragon Slays The Macho Man

Ricky Steamboat Became Intercontinental Champion At WrestleMania 3

• Savage had won the IC Title from Tito Santana in February 1986
• Voted 1987 Match of the Year by The Wrestling Observer and Pro Wrestling Illustrated
• Steamboat's reign ended three months later to the Honky Tonk Man

Few feuds in 1980s WWE were set up as perfectly as Ricky Steamboat and Randy Savage. Already a hated heel, Savage crossed the line with his brutal assault on Steamboat that seemed to crush his throat. Steamboat built up a big recovery before returning to challenge for Savage’s IC title.

The result was the now classic WrestleMania 3 match, still one of the best ever. It was amazing how brilliantly the two worked it out with near-falls that had the crowd gasping. Steamboat finally rolled up Savage to end his reign, a glorious moment in wrestling history and the perfect payoff to the feud.

3 Goldberg Achieves Victory Over Hogan

Goldberg Defeated The Hulkster For The WCW World Title On Nitro

• Hogan was in his fourth reign as WCW World champion
• Goldberg was the second man to win WCW World title while also U.S. champion, after Lex Luger
• The match was announced just days earlier

Given the arrogance Hollywood Hogan had in spades, any victory over him was a big deal. But this is likely the all-time biggest of the bunch. In front of a huge Georgia Dome crowd, Hogan defended the WCW World title against the hottest guy in the company, U.S. champion Goldberg. With the crowd at a fevered pitch, Goldberg was ready to crush Hogan.

8 Wrestling Heel Turns That Were A Slow Burn

It was a wild battle with interference from the NWO, DDP, Karl Malone and others. It all came down to Goldberg hitting the spear and Jackhammer, winning the belt for an eruption unlike any in WCW. Granted, Goldberg’s reign would be a bit short-lived, but that was a spectacular moment.

2 Hulk Hogan Attains Hulkamania Over The Iron Sheik

The Night Hulkamania Was Truly Born

• Sheik had won the title from Bob Backlund in December 1983
• Hogan was coming off a run in the AWA where he was denied the World title
• Hogan had returned to aid Backlund a few weeks earlier

In terms of sheer importance to wrestling, it’s hard to top this. In December of 1983, the Iron Sheik shocked the wrestling world by defeating Bob Backlund, ending Backlund’s six-year reign as WWE Champion. The Sheik was the perfect foreign heel to rile fans up, and folks were upset to see him as the champion.

Fortunately, the Sheik was never meant for a long run as the red-hot Hulk Hogan had entered WWE. Just a month later, in a packed Madison Square Garden, Hogan defeated the Sheik to kick off the era of Hulkamania. Harder to beat that when it comes to a huge heel defeat.

1 The Ultimate Warrior Crushes Honky Tonk Man

Honky Tonk Man's IC Title Reign Finally Ended At The Hands Of Warrior

• Honky Tonk Man won the IC title from Ricky Steamboat in June 1987
• His 424-day reign was finally broken by Gunther in September 2023
• This was the first edition of SummerSlam

Fans today don’t get just how aggravating the Honky Tonk Man’s Intercontinental title reign was. A joke wrestler who won the belt on a fluke, Honky Tonk Man managed to cheat his way to keep it, constantly getting himself counted-out or disqualified to retain. He set the record for the longest reign, but fans hated it all.

At SummerSlam 88, Honky was set to face Brutus Beefcake, only for Beefcake to be injured. Honky Tonk arrogantly challenged anyone from the back to come after him. Cue the Ultimate Warrior, who destroyed him in 30 seconds to finally end his reign. It’s one of the biggest pops imaginable to pay off that reign in the best way possible.