The Best WWE Heel From Each Year Of The 2010s

Heels are arguably more important than babyfaces because, without a serious obstacle to fight against, the babyfaces have no real reason for the audience to support them. If a heel is unconvincing, lousy, or just plain annoying, the audience won’t be nearly as able to invest themselves in seeing the heel’s downfall.

WWE has seen an incredibly wide range of heels in its time, from comedic and cowardly heels to terrifying, brutal monsters. Even within the 2010s, WWE showcased a broad variety of heel characters. Here is the best heel from each year of the last full decade.

10 2010: The Straight Edge Society

This heel faction was the brainchild of CM Punk, who in real life follows the straight edge lifestyle. His gimmick at this point was an exaggerated, evil caricature of his straight-edge personality; he would shame the audiences for their vices and liken himself to the second coming of Christ, here to enlighten crowds and bring them into his Straight Edge Society. The reactions he garnered from show to show were incredibly fiery and sometimes bordered on volatile. The heat he gathered and the performances he put on in his feuds against heroes like Rey Mysterio and Jeff Hardy make CM Punk the most infamous heel of 2010.

9 2011: Vince McMahon

Vince McMahon is simultaneously the owner of WWE and an on-screen character. His character is entirely based around the fact that he’s the owner of the company, and he’s most known for exploiting his authority to make life a living hell for certain unlucky babyfaces. In 2011, McMahon targeted the reformed, “Voice of the Voiceless,” CM Punk. This feud is what brought fans the iconic Pipebomb promo from CM Punk. It did an incredible job of blending fiction with reality in a way that only pro wrestling can. Given McMahon’s dual status as owner and heel, his presence really made the storyline as memorable as it continues to be.

8 2012: Chris Jericho

Chris Jericho, known for his constant reinvention of himself, hit a particularly hot gimmick in 2012. This was done through his feud with CM Punk (yes, he’s here again! The fact that he gave two heels some of their greatest runs speaks to how good Punk is at character work).

Jericho’s attacks on CM Punk were so dastardly that the audience couldn’t help but despise him. He did exactly what heels have to do: make the audience empathize with the babyface.

7 2013: The Shield

The Shield remains undoubtedly one of the most iconic trios in WWE history. They made their debut in November 2012 and started an undefeated streak that lasted until May 2013. The Shield was an incredibly well-balanced stable, with Roman Reigns acting as the brawn, Seth Rollins as the brain, and Dean Ambrose as the wildcard. The fact that The Shield is still inspiring storylines between Roman and Seth, two of WWE’s top heels to this day, means that the impact of their first year in WWE should never be underestimated.

6 2014: Triple H

Triple H has been a heel for the majority of his wrestling career. In 2014, though, he was the antagonist in one of the most beloved storylines in 21st century pro wrestling. This story was, of course, the rise of Daniel Bryan and the Yes Movement. While Triple H wasn’t doing anything too different in terms of character work, the fact that he was going against the ultimate underdog in Daniel Bryan made Triple H the most infamous heel of the year.

5 2015: Seth Rollins

In June 2014, Seth Rollins did the unthinkable and stabbed his brothers in the back when he betrayed The Shield. He went on to join Triple H’s Authority stable and won the Money in the Bank contract. At WrestleMania 31, Seth pulled off what Michael Cole dubbed “the heist of the century” when he cashed in his MITB contract on Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar during their main event match for the WWE World Championship. This moment alone cements Seth in WWE history, but the title reign he carried out after cashing in made him the best heel of the year.

4 2016: AJ Styles

AJ Styles made his WWE debut at the 2016 Royal Rumble. More hardcore wrestling fans already knew exactly who he was, since he was fresh off an incredible run with NJPW. Styles started out in WWE as a squeaky-clean babyface, and though he was popular enough to pull it off for a bit, WWE probably wanted to beat the inevitable staleness that was coming. Styles officially turned heel during a confrontation with the returning John Cena. He would go on to defeat Dean Ambrose for the WWE Championship that September.

3 2017: Kevin Owens

For Kevin Owens, 2017 was a standout year. It started with his feud against his former best friend Chris Jericho, who Kevin betrayed during their iconic “Festival of Friendship” segment. The feud established Kevin as a top heel in WWE.

Kevin's momentum would be carried through his later feud with Shane McMahon, whose authority Kevin repeatedly disrespected and tried to undermine. During this storyline, Kevin was also reunited with his long-term partner and rival, Sami Zayn. Thanks to their incredible chemistry, the duo became a pair of dastardly but lovable villains.

2 2018: Samoa Joe

For his history of hard-hitting matches and his incredible stage presence, it’s a wonder that Samoa Joe never won the WWE Championship. In 2018, he had a heated and personal feud with Jeff Hardy that took full advantage of Joe’s effortless mic skills and brutal in-ring style. Later, he feuded against the then-champion AJ Styles. Perhaps the most memorable moment of this feud was when Samoa Joe broke into Styles’ house. Though Samoa Joe never defeated Styles for his championship, he gave WWE some of its best heel promos of the decade.

1 2019: Daniel Bryan

If this was a list of the top babyfaces of the 2010s, Daniel Bryan would still be on it. That’s just a testament to how talented he is not only in the ring but in terms of his character work. The 2019 Daniel Bryan was effectively the antithesis of the Bryan of the Yes Movement. This heel iteration of Bryan was jaded and bitter against the WWE Universe and society as a whole. He made the perfect counterpart to the best underdog of the men’s division that year, Kofi Kingston. KofiMania remains an incredibly magical moment in pro wrestling history, and it likely wouldn’t have been so perfect without Bryan there for Kofi to defeat.