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Professional wrestling has seen its fair share of good guys and the bad guys. Much like in the comics, the business usually is cut and dry. But there comes a point when there is a need for someone with a different character, a grey shade in an otherwise black and white world of professional wrestling. They’re termed the outsiders, the outlaws in the industry. The fans look at them as being “cool” and different. These are the people who go against the rules and make the product interesting, by turning on the establishment.
There have been quite a few anti-heroes or rebels in the WWE. Although they do what the bad guys usually do, their character and gimmick makes it different. From the Hogans to the Pipers, wrestling had the good and the bad. But with the grey shade in professional wrestling, a different dimension was added. Soon, the fans started loving these characters, and emulated them. In this article, we take a look at the top five rebels in WWE history.
5. The Outsiders
We start off with one of the most notorious factions in the history of professional wrestling, The Outsiders – Scott Hall and Kevin Nash. Nash and Hall went to WCW as the “informers sent by Vince McMahon” and wrecked havoc in the organization. Although they later returned to the WWE, they weren’t nearly as impactful, and were later released.
As a part of the now famous New World Order (NWO), they were also the founding fathers of the faction. Nash and Hall made it “cool” to be bad, and became a hit with the wrestling fans who were tired of the same monotonous storylines in professional wrestling. Nash and Hall were also responsible for WCW beating the WWF in the ratings back during the Monday Night Wars.
4. CM Punk
At number 4 is the current rebel, CM Punk. With one promo, Punk shattered the proverbial glass ceiling and became a megastar overnight in the WWE. The ‘Summer of Punk’ storyline in the WWE saw him becoming the number 2 face in the organization, as he went on to hold the WWE title for 434 consecutive days in the organization.
Punk’s “pipe bomb” promo brought a new era in the WWE, and was responsible for shaking things up in an otherwise uninteresting period in professional wrestling. With CM Punk being the new “anti-hero”, many have since compared him with Steve Austin, and rumour has it that the two could possibly face each other at WrestleMania next year!
3. D – Generation X
Triple H and Shawn Michaels joined forces to be known as the degenerates in the WWF, and had named their group as D–Generation X. It was a direct answer to the New World Order storyline in WCW, and DX was the anti-establishment group in the WWF. With Triple H and Shawn Michaels making a mockery out of the system, the crowd started to love the faction.
As time passed, Triple H took on the reins from Shawn Michaels, and the group expanded. In the end, the faction will go down as the precursors to the Attitude Era, and as one of the most loved and outrageous factions in the WWE history.
2. Brian Pillman
Pillman is considered to be the true rebel in professional wrestling. After adopting the “Loose cannon” gimmick, Pillman took on the authority figures in every promotion he went to, and cut some intense promos. It is also said that the Stone Cold gimmick was taken from Pillman’s character, and although Pillman never truly achieved greatness in recognition, he is considered to be one of the best talkers in the business.
People have also wondered how Pillman would have fared in the Attitude Era, as his gimmick and character would have been perfect for that time period. In the end, Pillman will always be remembered as one of the true rebels in the wrestling business.
It wouldn’t be fair to put anyone else in this spot except for Stone Cold Steve Austin. Austin’s rise to fame in the WWF was because of his anti-hero gimmick, as he tore through the WWF management and locked horns in an intense feud with the chairman of the WWF, Vince McMahon. The Austin era saw WWF achieve more success than any other period, and the fans loved Steve Austin for going against the WWF management.
Austin’s blue collared redneck gimmick inspired the fans to live through him, as he took on his boss and annihilated Vince McMahon on more than one occasion. With Austin becoming arguably the biggest superstar in the history of the industry, he was and will always be considered the greatest ‘rebel’ in professional wrestling.
Honourable mention: Roddy Piper.
