As fans of the WWE, we can, at times, get lost in the gimmicks of the Superstars we see on television. Even hardcore fans forget that Elias doesn’t randomly drift away, instead, he’s off to the next town and lives a regular life like the rest of us. In this article, we pull back the gimmicks of our favorite wrestlers, both the good and bad guys. We instead switch the roles showing them in real-life situations and how they come across as different people compared to their on-screen personas.

On the “good” side of things, we look at the likes of Seth Rollins, Sasha Banks and Randy Orton, just to name a few, and we’ll look at their heelish ways alongside the WWE fans. On the opposite end, we’ll look at the biggest heels such as Miz, Carmella, Kevin Owens and several others, highlighting photos of them looking like the biggest babyfaces in the company (whether it be hanging out with family or with the fans).

Enjoy folks and like always, be sure to share the article with a friend. Without further ado, here are eight photos of good wrestlers looking like heels in real-life and eight villains looking like softies. Let’s begin!

16 Heel In Real-Life – Bayley

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This one is extremely rare as Bayley is one of the best wrestlers in the WWE when it comes to fan interactions. Being a super-fan herself and meeting lots of wrestlers as a kid, Bayley surely knows the importance of putting a smile on the face of a fan even when things aren’t going too good on-screen. Nonetheless, she’s great with the younger audiences especially during live events. Though, during an episode of Raw while entering the ring, the hugger provided us with one of the most cringe and heelish moves we’d ever see from the former Women’s Champion.

Making her way to the ring, Bayley embraced one of her young fans. A dude just beside was waiting with his arms wide open and that’s when Bayley just completely snubbed him.

You can find the footage online as it went absolutely viral via Twitter, so much so that it caught the attention of the hugger and she even apologized for the incident;

“My bad dude, I was caught up in da moment between me and that little girl. Next time!”

She even went out of her way to apologize which shows the type of person she really is. However, it’s a rare real-life moment that showed Bayley as less of a babyface and more of a heel! Maybe she can use this gimmick of snubbing fans when she finally turns?

15 Villain Looking Soft – Kevin Owens

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One of the best natural heels in the company, Kevin’s actually one of the biggest softies outside of the ring - especially when it comes to his family. He has a close relationship with his wife Karina Elias and when he’s off the road the two are enjoying adventures alongside one another with their two kids. Owens has stated he owes all of his success in the wrestling business to his family;

“If my wife hadn’t been supporting me from the start none of this would happen. When we met, I’ve been doing this for six years. She was with me during the ups and downs in my career. And there were times where I thought maybe retiring would be a wise choice when on the indies and it wasn’t going my way. She stuck with me and told me I’d make it. If it wasn't for her backing me I wouldn’t be here now. My kids are so great and enjoy the WWE so much. Leaving my wife and two children behind to go on the road is never easy. All three really understand this is for the future of the family, and taking care of us financially. It’s always been my passion and it’s real important to go after your passion and it’s been incredible and so great to share that time with them. It wouldn’t mean anything if they weren’t a part of that.”

14 Heel In Real-Life – Asuka

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Hardcore fans believe Asuka is a better heel than face in the ring. Prior to her days with the WWE, she used the villainous gimmick for the most part. However since joining the WWE, she’s rarely turned heel aside from a brief run with NXT prior to her call up. She took on the heel persona during a feud with Ember Moon.

Outside of the ring, Asuka also seems like a babyface, here’s a comment she made about her move to the US from Japan;

“American people are very friendly, cheerful and kind to me. So I’m really thankful to the American people.”

She’s great both in and out of the ring, however, we do have a rare photo of Asuka looking more like a heel than a face.

Cosplay seems to be very popular especially in Japan. However judging by Asuka’s reaction, this fan might have taken things a little too far with his cosplay dedication to the Empress. Instead of looking impressed, Asuka seems to look terrified. The photo went absolutely viral given the hilarious nature of the picture. Note to all the dudes out there, dressing up as Asuka won’t impress her in the slightest, even if you dressed up like her to a tee.

13 Villain Looking Soft – The Miz

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He’s a massive heel in the ring, however outside of it, few are classier than The Miz. For that reason, WWE continues to push him, Vince loves the guy and his professionalism has a lot to do with it. Surprisingly, he’s great with the fans.

Seriously, it’s not every day you see a heel pose for a selfie alongside a massive line of fans.

He’s a really cool dude and he touched up on his approach with the fans during the Sam Roberts podcast. Here’s what he had to say:

“I just remember back in the day when my Dad took me to the Cleveland municipal stadium to see the Indians play and we would wait outside for players to come through and players would just walk by and there would just be one or two and it would make my day. I always remember that day. Whether it's an adult asking for an autograph or a kid, whether eating or doing something that I don't want to do - they want my autograph. It's a privilege and honour. I don't think I could ever get to a mode where I don't appreciate the person. Most of the time I'm always courteous to our audience, because they pay my bills.”

12 Heel In Real-Life – Seth Rollins

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You can argue Seth Rollins is the most over Superstar in the entire company these days. He gets the biggest pop every show and it seems like he’s in the upper echelon at this point.

Despite his popularity, Seth can be kind of heelish in real-life and that’s especially true when it comes to fan encounters.

Just last year Seth posted to Twitter discussing his displeasures pertaining to fans waiting for him at the airport:

“Gathering intel on flights. Staking out baggage. Intrusively demanding autographs. That's called stalking. It's not okay. Stop doing it.”

Seth clarified the situation a couple of years back. He discussed that he doesn’t mind meeting fans, as long as it’s totally random and a surprise. The dude just doesn’t like fans stalking him and trying to track him down, which kind of makes sense. Here’s what he had to say about the matter:

“I’m not mean to fans because I’m a bad guy. I’m mean to them because they’re rude. If they stalk me at the airport at 4 in the morning, don’t expect to get a picture. That’s not OK. They can’t hang outside my hotel or come to the gym and stare at me for a half hour and expect me to be like “Cool. Awesome.” My favorite thing is to just run into fans coincidentally.

11 Villain Looking Soft – Carmella

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Don’t be fooled by Carmella’s Twitter rants, they’re more catering to her gimmick that the person she actually is. A little known fact, Carmella is surprisingly one of the biggest and shyest sweethearts behind the scenes. Lilian Garcia shed some light on the real Carmella backstage and it shocked a lot of people. No, she’s nothing like her loud annoying self on-screen, that’s just 'Mela playing a character folks.

One of her earliest problems was actually the inability to break out of her shell. When going to the PC for a tryout, the trainers knocked Carmella for her lack of personality, feeling she was holding back. Well, from that day on she turned the volume up a couple of notches and it has resulted in the heel we see on screen today.

Along with being great to her peers behind the scenes, Carmella is also one of the best when it comes to dealing with fans. Now the WWE doesn’t show these type of interactions all the much when it comes to the heels, however Carmella is great in dealing with little girls that aspire to be like her one day. You could knock her wrestling ability but you can’t knock the person she is behind the curtain.

10 Heel In Real-Life – Sasha Banks

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The first name you likely thought about when reading the title of this article is Sasha Banks. She’s a face on television but doesn’t have the greatest real-life reputation. Take the photo above for example, it looks like a nice, innocent photo. However, Banks bashed the poor dude who thanked her via Twitter, here’s what she had to say;

“No, thank you for being a airport creeper! Those are my fav”

Like Seth earlier in the article, Banks hates the pre-planned part of fans, pretty much stalking her more than anything else;

“I grew up a wrestling fan, so I knew that I wanted to meet all my favorite wrestlers. But always in the back of my head I never thought in my life to be like, ‘Hey, they’re gonna fly in. Maybe I should wait at the airport for like 12 hours at a gate. Hey! They don’t want any sleep. Maybe I’ll go find their hotel they’re staying at and let me bother them.’ Like to me, that’s stalking. I don’t tweet out what hotel I’m at. I don’t tweet out what airline I’m flying. I do tweet you what arena I’ll be performing at, so I do expect fans at the arena, and I’m so happy to sign at the arena, that’s fine because I’m telling you where I’m going to be at. If I see you in public, that’s fine.”

9 Villain Looking Soft – Triple H

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Triple H has done a lot for women’s wrestling and one would think a big reason for that was the birth of his three daughters. Triple H is a total softie around them, a sentiment even his mother admitted. Although he has a packed schedule on the main roster, with NXT and at the WWE HQ, Hunter still finds the time to be a great dad. We’ve also seen countless photos of Hunter looking soft alongside his children. It’s still a confusing sight to look at given he’s one of the biggest heels in WWE history.

His daughters also aspire to be the business, Stephanie touched up on what role they want to have;

“They do watch it, my oldest and youngest in particular. My oldest would love to be the women’s champion and my youngest wants to marry John Cena – so she needs to hurry up because he and Nikki Bella are now engaged.”

Hunter himself also posted an emotional tweet most recently discussing how proud one of his daughter’s make him, here’s what he had to say;

“The moment I knew my daughter could change the world was when she told me she didn’t want to be a part of something, she wanted to take it over”

8 Heel In Real-Life – Randy Orton

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When it comes to dealing with fans, Orton doesn’t have the best history. Take this picture above for example, it was recently taken in Saudi Arabia. The person who took the photo tweeted out that Randy said no pictures, but hey, you can’t blame the person for taking a photo regardless. Wouldn’t you do the same? With so many selfies being taken on that week, it was a bit confusing to hear Randy turn down a photo.

He’s a lot calmer these days both on and off screen. Gone are days of the brutal Viper and in are the days of the PG RKO King. He’s also one heck of a family man off-screen, it’s believed his new attitude has a lot to do with that.

However, Orton still blows up on fans from time to time.

He had a gym incident with a young fan last year and it is safe to say Orton wasn’t apologetic in the slightest about the altercations. Here’s what he had to say via Twitter;

“Apparently I hurt a fans feelings when I told him to F off at the gym yesterday. That's news? Been happening for 15 years. I paid to train. In between every set, I can't take pics. He needs to suck it the F up and go to the gym to train not be a fan boy. My sentiments exactly. Not to mention he had nothing to say then. Had to wait to use twitter like a B$$$$ Wait till I'm done? Then cool.”

7 Villain Looking Soft - Akam & Rezar

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This is totally random but it seems like the young superstars might be a lot softer than you’d think outside of the ring. Scroll down their Instagram accounts and both have a lot of family related photos. Akam has an emotional photo alongside his brother, in the caption he describes his sibling as his mentor and trainer. Rezar also has a slew of photos alongside his parents expressing his gratitude for them. Remember folks, although both look very mean, they’re still kids after all. Akam just turned 25 days ago while Rezar’s only 23.

The WWE doesn’t choose the duo for Make-A-Wish campaigns, however, they’ve been spotted at WrestleMania meet and greet events and it is said that the two are quite humble and down to earth type of dudes.

Still relatively green to the business, the duo is now working their craft on Monday Night Raw, recently ditching long time manager Paul Ellering. Don’t expect a babyface turn, even though they appear to be nice guys. Given their size and skills, you can expect Vince to push them to the moon during their run on the main roster. They’ll be holding the Raw Tag Team Championships at some point in 2018 and that’s almost a guarantee.

6 Heel In Real-Life – Chris Jericho

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Chris Jericho happens to be one of the most popular pro wrestlers in the world. The so called “marks” love Y2J for various reasons whether it be his on-screen gimmick, ability to constantly recreate himself or his podcast in which he exposes the business from time to time. All of these factors make him one of the most popular wrestlers today even if he’s with New Japan at the moment.

However, like Randy, Jericho has a huge temper when it comes to fans. Who can forget the altercation Jericho got in with a couple following a live event, heck he nearly hit a woman in the exchange. Well, back in the summer of 2017 he was up to his old antics during a dispute with a fan, this time, the situation took place while on the road with Fozzy.

It happened following a show in NYC. Chris signed a couple of autographs but fled half way. It left one of the fans infuriated which caused the altercation. Jericho opened up about the situation and here’s what he had to say;

"David Z was a good friend of mine and I was mentally and emotionally shattered after paying tribute to him and essentially saying goodbye to him Friday night. I was not in a good state of mind at that time and instead of ignoring a pushy (aka rude) fan which is what I would usually do, I snapped. My apologies to all involved and God bless David Z."

5 Villain Looking Soft – Alexa Bliss

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Similar to Carmella, Bliss plays the role of a heel on-screen, however off, she’s nothing like the gimmick. Instead, Alexa’s very shy and a sweetheart. The real Alexis Kaufman credits others for her success. She calls Bayley on the biggest influences on her run with the company. Bliss discussed the early struggles in having to play a heel;

“It’s a lot of work. When I was first in NXT and I was told I had to be a bad guy I was like “oh my gosh, I don’t know what I’m doing.” I knew being a good guy on NXT wasn’t working out for me, I wasn’t relatable, I wasn’t getting anywhere and I was just getting very bland. So I knew this was one of those opportunities. I had to run with it and if not, it’s not going to come back. Now it’s become so much fun and it’s to the point now where I think “how much further can I go? How much can I get away with? How far can I push the envelope with this character?” and WWE has been amazing with giving me the freedom to do that and help me develop this character to what she is now. And she’s very mean! [laughs] But it’s a lot of fun. It’s so fun because it’s so opposite of who I am”

The photo above is another example of who Alexa really is. She broke character in the moment when it was announced that she would be getting the call up to SmackDown from NXT during the draft.

4 Heel In Real-Life – The Undertaker

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Undertaker is one of the most beloved figures both by the fans and his peers. Even Triple H recently stated that when it comes his future, ‘Taker is the one that’ll make the decision, he’s earned the right;

"I think, I've said this recently and I will say it on here. If it is one person that has earned the shot to call it the way he would like it is The Undertaker. I think this will all depend on him and it should all depend on him. It should be what he wants to and what he feels comfortable doing. I know him, as a performer always wants to give it his best, and if he can't he won't do it. I think that when he is in a position where he is now, he wants to be out there and show The Undertaker to the world, but it comes down to what he wants to do, and it should."

When it comes to fan interactions, Undertaker has to be one of the most giving wrestlers of all-time. Search for candid wrestler fan pics and the majority of them feature 'Taker.

However, in this 2016 photo, Taker looks none too pleased in having to take the picture, looking like a grumpy old man.

Of course, with the cane in the photo, the fan pic spread like wild fire. It was a rare instance in the legend not wanting to take a picture but being the pro that he is, he still did.

3 Villain Looking Soft – Elias

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Elias might be the hottest act in the WWE right now. He continues to get the best reactions. Although he seems new to most fans, Elias has been a journeyman in the business, he’s been a wrestler for more than a decade. Along with working the indie scene, Elias had several failed tryouts with the WWE and what stings even more is that fact that he paid with his own money to get those WWE auditions, yikes! Nonetheless, his persistence paid off and he’s now a massive attraction.

Back in his NXT days, we got a glimpse of nice guy Elias off camera whether it was greeting fans or just hanging out with Bayley.

Now on the main roster, given the popularity of his gimmick Elias continues to do his best in keeping kayfabe alive. He recently discussed his popularity boom when joining the main roster;

"You know, I've heard that. In fact, I've heard Triple H himself say that in interviews, that Elias is maybe made for Monday Night Raw. But I can remember very clearly times in Full Sail where I'd sing songs and I couldn't hear myself sing because the crowd was so loud for it. So it's definitely an interesting dynamic, that's for sure, being on Raw and hearing the way the crowd interacts with me. So I don't know if that's how I'd describe it, but I'm on Raw now and I'm doing my thing."

2 Heel In Real-Life – Ronda Rousey

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Ronda was shocked to hear cheers during her WWE debut. There’s a reason for that, lots of fans saw Rousey as way too arrogant during her prime run with the UFC and she was also viewed as a sore loser, as evidenced by the photo above. Rousey took her first UFC loss terribly and the photo above had her looking like an even bigger heel hiding her wounds.

Rousey opened up about how different it is these days to be getting the types of cheers that she does with the WWE;

"I wasn't expecting that to be honest. In judo I've been booed in 30 different countries over 10 years. I never heard anyone cheer for me once, ever. I didn't know what it sounded like until MMA and even then, I would get booed and cheered, I would never get an overwhelmingly positive response. And I loved that, it was always the crowd competing with each other. I really thought like coming over into WWE, that a lot of people would resent me for it and feel like I didn't deserve the opportunity and try and do everything they could to sabotage it. I walked out honestly expecting the worst in people. And I received the complete opposite.”

1 Villain Looking Soft – Brock Lesnar

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The WWE might be ribbing us when it comes to Brock Lesnar and his real-life self when it comes to his fellow co-workers. We’re led to believe that he simply doesn’t give a damn but during an overseas tour in Saudi Arabia, we really didn’t get that kind of vibe. Whether it was laughing and showing the L to Roman across the table during at a WWE Saudi Arabia dinner or shooting a soccer ball around outside with wrestlers Seth Rollins and Cesaro, Lesnar looked far from a villain and more so, a big time softie.

We even get that vibe when he takes photos alongside the fans. Again, for a guy that hates people, he has lots of fan photos and he’s up there for the most among his peers.

Yes, sometimes he does look uninterested but he still takes the picture which says a lot about who he really is.

As for his in-ring self, we might see even less of Brock as he transitions out of the WWE and back to the UFC. However, he recently signed a deal in accordance to appearances, meaning we’ll see him from time to time even after his UFC stint coming up.