00:00Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're counting down our picks for the most hated wrestlers
00:15of all time.
00:16For this list, we'll only be looking at despised performers' personas and backstage
00:21actions rather than things they did away from the ring.
00:35In 2019, Dom joined the WWE and formed a team with his father, Rey Mysterio.
00:40All was well, until 2022's Clash at the Castle.
00:45After Edge and Rey beat The Judgment Day, Dom celebrated with the two.
00:49Then he booted Edge below the belt before clotheslining his father, sealing his heel
00:55turn as he joined Judgment Day.
00:57Renamed Dirty Dom Mysterio, he soon formed a special bond with his mommy, Rhea Ripley.
01:13Despite this, fans still hated Dom for his underhanded tactics and arrogance.
01:18That only got worse when he turned on Ripley to hook up with Liv Morgan.
01:22Due to his volatile history, Dirty Dom has been awarded Pro Wrestling Illustrated's
01:28Most Hated Wrestler of the Year in 2023 and 2024.
01:41Nowadays he's one of the industry's most popular wrestlers in the WWE.
01:46But during the latter part of his AEW days, it was very different for Rhodes.
01:57As one of the brain children who created the brand, his feud with Anthony Ogogo, especially
02:03the awful weigh-in segment, caused a backlash.
02:06On top of relentless booing, even though he was seemingly a babyface, the fans really
02:11showed their displeasure at Rhodes' character in 2021.
02:26During a tag match, he threw his weight belt into the crowd, only for them to toss it back
02:31at him.
02:32Yikes.
02:33Months later, while he stated it was due to personal reasons, Rhodes left AEW.
02:50When he returned to the WWE ring from a serious back injury in 2002, the heartbreak kid began
02:56showing why people today call him one of the best.
03:07However, while Michaels was talented before that, his reputation in and out of the squared
03:14circle was vastly different.
03:171997 was a particular highlight in Michaels' hatred.
03:21At WWF One Night Only in Birmingham, England, he controversially beat home country hero,
03:27the British Bulldog, to win the European Championship, causing the crowd to cover the ring in litter
03:33as Michaels taunted them.
03:34Two months later at Survivor Series, HBK was involved in the infamous Montreal Screwjob,
03:41where he controversially won the WWF Championship from Bret Hart.
03:45Canadians still haven't forgiven Michaels.
04:00When the Iranian-born wrestler returned to the then-WWF in 1983, he soon began carving
04:06out his name in heel legend.
04:17With his pro-Iran stance and spitting on the floor, whenever he had to mention the US,
04:23Sheik was a heat magnet with the crowd.
04:36When he faced off against American heroes like Hulk Hogan and Sergeant Slaughter, it
04:41only got worse as fans rained booze upon him and sometimes garbage.
04:46Occasionally they would go too far, as they sent the Iron Sheik death threats.
04:51The peak of Sheik hatred was when he controversially beat Bob Backlund for the WWF Championship
04:57in 1983.
05:00Thousands of people in Madison Square Garden shouted abuse and booed as he taunted them.
05:17Nowadays it can be difficult for a heel to generate heat without being beloved by some
05:22for being cool.
05:23Yet, that's not an issue for Maxwell Jacob Friedman.
05:32With his arrogant, brash and cowardly attitude, alongside constantly telling other wrestlers
05:37and the crowd that he's better than them, he became one of the industry's most despised
05:43characters.
05:51Starting from the days of betraying Rhodes during his AEW Championship bout against Chris
05:56Jericho in 2019, MJF has drawn further ire with his mistreatment of Wardlow and tossing
06:03Jericho off the cage.
06:05Whenever MJF interacts with the crowd, it usually ends with an insult to them or him
06:10grabbing their drink to throw over them.
06:24There's nothing wrestling fans hate more than when a character is forced down their
06:28throats – case in point, Super Cena.
06:41Since rising to the top with his first WWE Championship win in 2005, a large portion
06:46of the fanbase has despised him.
06:49Some of their reasons for hating him include Cena's undefeatable positioning, his child-friendly
06:54appearance, the Five Moves of Doom and his mantra.
07:05The most anti-Cena experience happened in 2006's ECW One Night Stand.
07:11While facing Rob Van Dam to defend his title, he was greeted with signs saying,
07:15If Cena wins, we riot.
07:18Multiple times, Cena threw his shirt into the crowd, only to get it chucked back.
07:23Thankfully, Cena lost.
07:24Otherwise, we dread to think what would have happened.
07:29In recent times, WWE took the successful plunge of making Reigns a heel.
07:35But for years, they positioned him as Cena 2.0, infuriating the audience.
07:48Still wearing SHIELD attire and using the theme tune post-breakup, Reigns was thrust
07:53into the top of the company, even when fans felt others were more deserving.
08:03One such beloved wrestler was Daniel Bryan.
08:06When he was unceremoniously eliminated from the 2015 Royal Rumble, the crowd turned on
08:11the pay-per-view as they knew what was to come – the coronation of Reigns.
08:16And the big dog getting the rub from The Rock didn't settle the crowd's loathing.
08:21The backlash against Reigns would continue for years, with a highlight being the night
08:25after WrestleMania 33, where he was relentlessly booed.
08:36During the 80s, you couldn't get much more American than Sgt.
08:40Slaughter defending the nation against the anti-U.S. hatred of The Iron Sheik and Nikolai
08:46Volkov.
08:47Yet, when he returned to the then-WWF in 1990, Slaughter did the unthinkable.
08:53With real-life tensions between Iraq and the U.S., which led to the Gulf War, Slaughter
08:58betrayed his country by becoming an Iraqi sympathizer.
09:14He would criticize Americans calling them puke and maggots, while wearing Arab attire
09:20and teaming with The Iron Sheik.
09:22The hatred, which only got worse when Slaughter won the WWF Championship, was so intense that
09:27Slaughter received many death threats, and reportedly had to wear a bulletproof vest.
09:34Understandably, after only a year with the gimmick, he switched back to the U.S.
09:49No wrestler has won more of Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Most Hated Wrestler of the
09:53Year awards than Triple H.
09:56With Fife to his name, he spent the majority of his career as a heel for a good reason.
10:11Whether he was a cool baddie, like with D-Generation X, or an overpowered authority figure, Triple
10:26H has drawn a lot of hate, even from fellow wrestlers, for backstage politics.
10:39Certain moments where the animosity for him increased were when he won a racially charged
10:44feud with Booker T, as well as the terrible Katie Vick angle with Kane, and dominating
10:50the heavyweight title picture for way too long.
11:04Back in the 80s, Hulkamania was running wild, brother.
11:24Even outside of the ring, as the media jumped on the bandwagon, Hogan with his 24-inch pythons
11:30was a national treasure, even when he jumped from the then-WWF to WCW.
11:35Yet, at 1996's Bash at the Beach, not only was his legacy altered forever, but so was
11:43wrestling's.
11:44In the main event, with the Outsiders' Scott Hall and Kevin Nash being sneaky against Lex
11:49Luger, Randy Savage and Sting, Hogan seemingly came down to the ring to confront them.
11:54Instead, he attacked Savage and joined Nash and Scott to form the New World Order.
12:01Hulkamaniacs were livid as they chucked trash at the trio, who were instantly turned into
12:05the industry's biggest bads.
12:15Which wrestler persona moments do you hate the most that we haven't mentioned in this
12:20list?
12:21Let us know in those comments below.
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