WWE has always loved its monster heels. There is nothing quite like an unstoppable Goliath, tearing their way through the rest of the roster with no one even having a chance at stopping them. Until of course, David steps up to slay the giant, putting an end to their reign of tyranny.
It is one of pro wrestling's classic stories. Over the years, WWE has booked several monster heel champions. Some have been fantastic with the gold, while others have failed to inspire, putting together woefully short or disappointing reigns. In this context, a heel champion doesn't have to be one of the largest people in their division; a monster heel would be a seemingly unbeatable, dominant heel.
10 Good: Shayna Baszler, 2018-2019
At NXT TakeOver: New Orleans in April 2018, Shayna Baszler defeated Ember Moon to win the NXT Women's Championship. She then proceeded to have a fantastic run with the belt, beating pretty much everyone who stood in her path, sometimes with a little help from Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke.
She dominated the NXT Women's Division, even beating Becky Lynch and Bayley at Survivor Series last year. She played a pivotal role in Rhea Ripley's rise to the top, as The Nightmare took down the Queen of Spades in December 2019, to end her reign at a whopping 416 days.
9 Lame: Kane, 1998
At King of the Ring in 1998, Kane rolled into arguably the biggest match of his career when he earned a shot at 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin's WWF Championship. At the event, Kane defeated The Texas Rattlesnake, to win the championship for the first and only time in his career.
Fans had hoped that the Devil's Favorite Demon would embark on a great run as a heel champion, but that wasn't to be. Kane dropped the championship back to Steve Austin the next night on Raw, bringing his reign to an end after just 1 day.
8 Good: Brock Lesnar, 2014-2015
After beating The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXX and ending the streak, Brock Lesnar turned his attention to the WWE Championship. In the main event of SummerSlam in 2014, Lesnar squashed Cena to win the championship and embarked on a truly monstrous run as champion.
Lesnar was unstoppable, an absolute tour de force whenever he was on programming. Even though he didn't wrestle that often, his reign was a success overall, primarily due to the great title defenses he put together, before dropping the gold to Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 31.
7 Lame: Sheamus, 2009-2010
Soon after making his Raw debut, Sheamus won a breakthrough Battle Royale, which earned him a shot at John Cena's WWE Championship. He beat The Franchise Player at TLC to win the big one, just weeks after making his main roster debut.
The reign that followed was a bitter disappointment. WWE tried its hardest to present the Irishman as a monster heel, but fans could not have cared less about his character. He didn't even have any memorable defenses before dropping the gold back to Cena at Elimination Chamber in 2010.
6 Good: Yokozuna, 1993
Yokozuna beat Bret 'The Hitman' Hart in the main event of WrestleMania IX to win the WWF Championship, before dropping it just moments later to Hulk Hogan in an impromptu match.
A few months later, with Hogan on his way out of the company, Yokozuna won back the championship and declared that he had put an end to Hulkamania. He held onto the gold for almost 300 days as a truly dominant monster heel, before doing the right thing and giving The Hitman his win back the next year at WrestleMania X.
5 Lame: Tommaso Ciampa, 2018
Tommaso Ciampa shocked the WWE Universe when he turned heel, taking out Johnny Gargano with a brutal attack and bringing an end to DIY. After a brief injury layoff, Ciampa won the NXT Championship in July and embarked on a fantastic run as champion.
Despite not being the most physically intimidating character, Ciampa was still very much a monster heel. He kept finding ways to win big matches, while consistently delivering on the mic as well. He was the backbone of NXT for several months; the ultimate heel to carry the black and gold brand on his back.
4 Good: Roman Reigns, 2020
Roman Reigns shocked the world when he returned after the main event of SummerSlam earlier this year and took out The Fiend and Braun Strowman with a brutal attack. In the weeks that followed, Reigns repackaged himself as The Tribal Chief, turning heel for the first time as a singles star on the main roster.
With Paul Heyman by his side and the Universal Championship on his shoulder, Reigns is having the best run of his career. Reigns has been indomitable for the last several months and is perhaps the greatest heel champion fans have seen in a long, long time.
3 Lame: Andre The Giant, 1988
There is no denying that Andre The Giant is the greatest big man of all time. But it is also difficult to ignore that he had only one reign as the WWF World Heavyweight Champion. That solitary reign was a massive disappointment.
After beating Hulk Hogan for the championship, fans hoped that The Giant would have a great run as a mammoth heel champion. But instead, he turned around and 'sold' the championship to Ted DiBiase. It was a massive disappointment, as the transfer was not recognized, leading to the championship being declared vacant.
2 Good: Superstar Billy Graham, 1977
Before the late' 70s, the promotion only used heels as transitional champions, instead choosing to feed them to the biggest faces the roster had to offer. Superstar Billy Graham beat Bruno Sammartino to stun audiences around the country, as for the first time, a heel champion was the top star in the company.
He held onto the championship for almost 300 days and became a cool heel at a time when they didn't really exist. Graham was a trailblazer and ultimately laid the foundation for what it means to have a monster heel championship run.
1 Lame: The Great Khali
When The Great Khali first debuted, he made a huge impression on fans by taking out The Undertaker. Though he eventually lost that feud, it looked like WWE had found its next monster heel. But soon, it became apparent that he was a terrible in-ring worker, who struggled to walk from one end of the squared circle to another.
Still, that did not stop him from winning the World Heavyweight Championship in 2007. The reign was absolutely terrible. Khali did absolutely nothing of note before he dropped the gold to Batista at Unforgiven.