grippedchimp said:
No mention of Jake Roberts? Some wrestling critics have said how much of a vile heel he was in his heyday. He got pet snake Damien to bite Randy Savage at one point (I think) and used his snake to instill fear into biggest of opponents (Andre the Giant for one).
Damien was a python, the snake that bit Randy Savage was a cobra. Also something wasn't right. A viper (like the cobra) snaps in, bites and is out again in a second waiting for it's poison to do its job. That snake was snogging his arm. Some bugger had whipped either its fangs or poison sacks out and the snake got confused. Obviously they weren't going to let a really armed cobra bite him, but it's a dead giveaway.
Jake Roberts had the "X-Factor". It's indefinable. Some wannabe gets on stage, dances his heart out, sings till his lungs are raw and the crowd boo him off, even if he can perform. Frank Sinatra ambles on, fag in mouth and jacket slung over one shoulder, cocks an eyebrow from under the rim of his hat and the audience are on the edge of their seats before he's sung a note. That's the "X-Factor". It's like a 10 inch dick, you're either born with it, or you aren't. No amount of surgery will give it to you, only make a floppy imitation that looks crap in a porno.
Jake Roberts has this "X-Factor" more than any bloke I've ever seen in the ring. Some skinny, pot-bellied, balding old arsehole had more charisma than 10 other top performers you could name. He'd just stand in mid-ring, glare out over the top rope, point into the crowd and the atmos would kick like nothing you could imagine.
I do agree about him getting dominated though. The Tuesday in Texas match was a huge anti-climax after the cobra incident, as was how the Wrestlemania 8 match with Taker was handled.
My favourite heels...
1/ Ted Dibiase, because he was Hogan's opposite number for years.
2/ Sid Eudy (Sid Viscious/Sid Justice/Sycho Sid) Because I loved his personality as a heel. The raging, psychotic, deranged and unbelievably violent style was probably close to how I'd have handled a heel run.
3/ The Taker! He's gotta be there!
4/ Yokozuna. You remember how many people in the audience were crying on the night he almost collapsed Jim Duggan's chest cavity? Old Ronny was terrifying in his day. They didn't have a face to equal him. I'm a lifelong Bret Hart fan, but I found the match and culmination of Zuna's term as Federation Champion at WM 10 to be really crap and unbelievable.
5/ Bret Hart! When this guy turned heel after WM 13 I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. And I actually pissed myself laughing the night he took the title off Taker at the following Summerslam! That angle with Shawn twatting Taker with the chair was hillarious.
