10 Beloved Wrestlers Who Fans Initially HATED 

One I was looking for was Sheamus. Kind of an afterthought in the dying days of ECW and then rocket shipped to a title win before he was ready. Absorbed the hate for the Daniel Bryan squash and stuck in the heartless League of Nations. But then The Bar and finally the last two years of Banger after Banger and the guy is can’t miss now.

As someone who started watching again around mid 2014, it’s astounding how far Roman has come. Hell, it’s astounding how far all these people listed and some mentioned in the comments have come. Proof that a god heel turn can do wonders for anyone’s career.

Mandy Rose. How she went from being one of the Total Divas to becoming one of the most popular thanks to her unlikely romance with Otis plus taking a massive level in badass in NXT winning the NXT women's championship until her abrupt sacking.

That opening joke got me off guard and man was it funny

Mine was the Miz. Perfect example of “Put in the hard work till your haters ask for your autograph”. Absolutely hated him in the beginning, now I will admit the guy is HOF material.

Watching the fans' consensus on Jay White go from "in over his head replacement goldfish" to "arguably the best heel of our time" has been one of my favorite real life wrestling storylines of the past five years.

I'm so happy for where Jay White and the New Day are now. And to think, Jay is a rather literal case of growing the beard.

Honorable mention: Kurt Angle. His situation was kinda like Cena’s but in reverse

DDP could be on this list if you go back to 90s.

You should do an opposite list like this! 10 wrestlers that people once loved but now hate!

The John Cena United States Championship Open Challenge was awesome

Honorable mention: Tommy Dreamer. When he debuted in ECW in 1993 as a "pretty boy", the hardcore fans booed him. Of course, when he became The Innovator of Violence, everything changed.

Braun Strowmen was actually a part of Adam Roses entourage way before the Wyatt family. That was his first appearance on WWE TV.

Goldust was the first wrestler I ever saw on Monday Night Raw when my dad showed me it and he is the reason I'm a wrestling fan today and am forever grateful to Dustin. Also my first live event was MITB 2015 aka the Dusty tribute show so the Rhodes family has a very special place in my wrestling heart

Personally liked Brawn when he debut with the wyatt family, the black sheep look was cool and well im a fellow superman fan so that was added points

I went to a house show at MSG in 1997 (after the Montreal Screwjob) and there were "Rocky Sucks" t-shirts at the merch tables.

Aww yes back when What Culture was watchable 😁

For my experience as fan, it’s Wade Barret when he became Bad News, “I Got Kids” Heath Slater, and Drew McIntyre

I would go as far as putting Sheamus on this list. a guy who was pushed to fast too soon and who no one really got behind initially. It wasnt until his team with Cesaro and beyond where people really started opening up to him. And since then the guy has put on some of his best work and is now a beloved veteran

7:08 = "White toppled Tanahashi for The IWGP Title." Shows a picture of Okada🤣 That said, this is a fantastic list. Seeing some of the biggest Pro Wrestling stars ever ascend to unparalleled heights of adoration & success despite all of them having very awkwardly bad starts is a great topic to feature on the channel. Honorable Mentions: 1). Drew McIntyre. In his first WWE stint, a young Drew McIntyre was vince's chosen one and quickly ascended up the ladder to become IC Champion. No one could deny that Drew was a talented wrestler & his feud with John Morrison was great but Drew's mic skills were pretty weak & even though he was working as a heel, people didn't seem to take Drew serious and as is usually the case with vince & Superstars he initially pushes, vince quickly got bored of Drew whose main event future soon devolved into him being stuck in the laughably awful 3 Man Band stable before Drew ended up being fired from WWE. However Drew's sad time in 3MB might've actually been the best thing to ever happen to Drew as shocking as that might sound as it was during his 3MB days that Drew accidentally stumbled upon his now iconic finisher The Claymore Kick during a match against Ryback & was encouraged backstage after the match to try to perfect the move as it could be a great addition to his skill set. After his WWE departure, Drew re-dedicated himself completely as a Pro Wrestler by packing on tons of muscle, further sharpening his in-ring abilities, becoming alot more confident & comfortable on the mic and fine-tuning The Claymore Kick into one of the most legit-looking devastating finishers in all of Pro Wrestling. When Drew finally made his return to WWE via NXT after traveling the world working for various other promotions, he was now the complete package & was instantly embraced by first the NXT fans than finally the Main Roster crowds who would ultimately cheer loudly for Drew when he famously eliminated Brock Lesnar at The 2020 Royal Rumble which Drew won & had it not been for that dam pandemic, Drew would've undoubtedly received an even bigger more deafening pop from the fans at Wrestlemania 2020 when he finally fulfilled his destiny as The Chosen One by capturing The WWE World Championship from Lesnar and carrying WWE on his back thru out one of the most depressing & frustrating years ever. Thank You Drew. 2). The Miz. Going from obnoxious reality TV guy to WWE hopeful looked like one big unfunny joke to everyone who tuned into that one season of Tough Enough when The Miz joined for a shot at a WWE contract. No one took Miz seriously & everyone thought he was just trying to prolong his 15 minutes of fame from his time on MTV's The Real World. Miz lost to eventual Tough Enough winner (& inevitable Royal Rumble whipping boy & failed MMA fighter) Daniel Puder but impressed WWE officials enough that he still scored a developmental contract and the fans definitely weren't happy to learn that the former Real World star would be staying on in WWE. Miz was so good at playing the cocky spoiled narcissistic heel in front of the WWE cameras & crowds that fans everywhere genuinely hated his guts & wanted so badly to see him get the crap beaten outta him everytime Miz showed up & opened his mouth. Fans everywhere also scratched their heads whenever Miz won Tag Team or IC gold to the bewilderment of everyone watching WWE TV whether live or at home. & than of course there was all the numerous stories being reported of Miz legitimately pissing off countless of his fellow WWE Superstas in the locker room with his immature cocky antics but as the years passed, Miz's in-ring skills consistently evolved proving to everyone that he really was putting in all the hard work & taking Pro Wrestling very serious, his already good mic skills were increasingly better & more razor-sharped and his character work was entertaining to no end that Miz ultimately became one of the quintessential Pro Wrestling villains you can't help but like and now Miz is regarded as one of WWE's greatest ever IC Champions with multiple reigns on his resume, has feuded with a who's who all-star collection of talent from day 1, is now respected by not only the fans but also by everyone in the locker room who once wanted to beat the crap outta him for real and is undoubtedly a future WWE Hall of Famer. If it wasn't for The Miz, there would probably be no MJF at all.

Dwayne 'The Dwayne' Dwayneson made me laugh far more than warranted.

Love the Braun Strowman Ricochet tag team

Hey everybody thats a german sign. It says Thee Rocky Thee.

I guess we dont have the same definition for "initially", most of the list doesnt concern the starts of their careers, the title of the video should have been "superstars loved now once hated", it's way more accurate

I think you fail to remember that we were fans of Roman at first, we didn’t even turn against him after the shield broke up, it still took a bit!!

Honorable mention to Tetsuya Naito. Dude went from a Tanahashi clone that got the worst reaction you could think of in absolute silence, to a charismatic anti-hero who cared little for his opponents, the company or even championships. All he wanted was to steal the show and fans in Japan loved it.

Lmfao the WhatCulture reference 😂

babe hold up new top ten cultaholic vid

Good list mate. Very entertaining.

Great video Adam 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

*I’m pretty sure we all knew that Roman I was going to be at the top of the list*

I guess there had to be a time limit on this list, but a part of me expected Hogan to be in there somewhere. He was a hated heel in both his first WWF run and during his time with AWA. It was only when he came back to the WWF and won his first world title (which was about a month after his return) that he was pushed as a baby face. In fact, the only reason Andre was seen as a heel in his later years, after a career long run as a face, was because he went up against Hogan.Of course, if this hadn't happened, chances are the industry would look nothing like it does today, but still a fact worth mentioning.

I still can't believe Triple H kept those promising up and comers like Booker T, Rob Van Dam and Goldberg down. No telling how their careers would have turned out if he hadn't. They might have made the HOF. 🤔

Man in 2018-19 I remember every wrestling RU-vid comment (including mine) bashing Roman as a babyface. Then he turned heel and MY god he’s a top tier wrestler!

There is a glaring omission here. Kurt Angle was absolutely despised when he debuted. Yes it changed but never forget there was a reason everyone still sings "you suck" in tune with his music.

GOLDUST uses Gay Panic It's super effective!

I would place Sheamus and The Miz somewhere on this list too. Maybe even Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes

Is this a re-upload? The transition from Rock to Roman felt very familiar.

need a 10 video list of loved to hated

Thought The Miz would make this list ahead of someone like Goldust

I loved Goldust, and let’s have more gay panic comedy, I find it hilarious 😂😂😂😂

About Triple H, his reign of terror was only until 2004 as Chris Benoit got the Raw World title off of him at Wrestlemania 20 and managed to hold onto it until Summerslam 2004 when Randy Orton beat him for it. Sure, Triple H got the title back but he wasn't dominant like he was earlier and had big feuds with Orton and later, Batista over the world title.

It's crazy to think that I've witnessed the tide turn in the favors of both the New Day and Roman Reigns.

I remember not Liking Kurt Angle as a kid, but now I can only appreciate how good he was at his job you know

good video

I laughed at Dwayne The Dwayne Dwayneson 😂

Imagine being told in 2014 New Day would still be a group in 2023 and two of them went on to become WWE champion without ever leaving the group

Man I really hope that we see Goldust as the head of next year's Hall of Fame class with Dustin retiring. It's in Philly and I don't think he'd get a bigger reaction anywhere else

I'd say honorable mention: The Uso's. While not hated, they certainly weren't very likable at first, more so boring. But just like their cousins, turning heel turned them into one of the best tag teams of all time!

Almost all of this is Vince McMahon’s fault (not crediting the Triple H part).

I just want to see Roman backstage sometime in the future and from out of completely nowhere, we just hear, “I’M NOT FINISHED WITH YOU!!”

thanks!

Dwayne “the dwayne” dwayneson

How could you not have Austin on the list?

To me Rock is the CLEAR #1 here. He went from legitimately being hated to being the most over wrestler of all time. There is no better example of this list than the Dwayne.

Dreamer was loathed by the ECW faithful when he arrived. He then became the heart of the band of misfits.

The Horsemen, nWo, Kurt Angle

A controversial opinion but I'm still not seeing what everyone else is seeing in Jay White. As far as Bullet Club leaders go he is so far below Balor, Styles, and Omega. To be fair maybe that has more to do with NJPW falling off over the pandemic? Like Jay just didn't get a fair go in the spotlight? I don't know, I'm willing to give him more time.

Reigns was liked in the Shield initially.

Kurt Angle im sure is #1

Were wrestlers really enhanced by Cena’s US Challenge or was Cena himself enhanced? Did all those opponents really got a good or even decent push outside of KO?

Almost every time a guy is started as a great heel he turns out to be an even greater face

Santino was hilarious n I think hes underappreciated

The rock Hell turn with the nation save him.

Bloodline rules

What about the MIZ

I like triple H before nxt . And now people say Goldberg bury young talents

Kurt Angle was an omission of Olympic proportions.

Every NXT Take Over (from the golden NXT era) was HHH paying all his sins and the bad things he did in the past.

Roman can never turn Babyface again he can't because it won't work with him as a Babyface again he would get booed like crazy

Wrestlers we initially loved but now can't stand

"... I'll see myself out.."

You forgot to mention how many talents buried by Cena

11:12 Good joke, the walkin sedativa is still hated assfak..

What happened with Braun and twitter?

Now, I don't disagree that Roman belongs on the list he absolutely does for his turn around. But putting him over The Rock feels like recency bias.

Honorable Mention: Dominik Mysterio

If only people didn’t take everything so seriously, maybe Braun Strowman would be respected today… we’ll never know.

Interesting.

D'X New Age Outlaws Radicalz

This channel just isn’t the same anymore

i like this video

Pieee

BRAWN STROWMAN IS THE MONSTER AMONG MONSTERS NOW ADAM OMG DO YOU EVEN WATCH SPORT ENTERTAINMENT???

Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson Rock "the Dwayne" Johnson John "the Rockson" Dwayne The "Johnson Rock" Dwayne

Who else loves double turns?!

Roman reigns from the most hated baby face to the beloved heel

That's not Die Rocky Die, that's German for The Rocky The

How is Kurt Angle not on this list?

AJ Hazzard anyone?

The Miz because he was an asshole and still is but we love him for it and it all started with the real world because I remember how he used to be on that show because I watched that season and he had to transform and be someone else because initially he was cancel culture and he would say things that would piss other castmates off and once he transformed into the miz that's when people started liking him and after the show he would get casted in real world road rules challenges and then used that $$ he made for wrestling school and do tough enough and the rest is history

Many, many mistakes were made with James Ellsworth but his match against Braun was one of the great jobber squashes in wrestling history

When HHH was the D generation x highschool prat I hated him and Shawn....every other version of HHH was meh to me. Did not like him but no longer hated him so he never really got heat or love after that. I did lose what respect I had for him when he used his backstage power to squash wrestlers that should have been put over to keep himself champ....

I have always hated Santino Marella

And then comes new day and Charlotte doing same crap for the past 7-8 years

I initially liked Rocky M, I never liked the Rock.

Triple H was way over-hated. He is as good as any wwe wrestler & had draw about him. RVD proved to be unreliable whenever he did get the title. Booker t I agree with, the storyline especially Booker should have won. But then he also put over Shawn, Benoit, Batista, Orton, Cena, Bryan. When it benefitted the company he was always down to do business. A few title reigns from 02-05 is fine. Why isn't Charlotte critiqued the same way he was?

People actually like Braun strowman? Jay white was the start of Japanese fans losing interest in njpw

The hate for Rocky was highly overrated. WWE used the shot of the guy with the “Die Rocky Die” sign so much in videos to push the false narrative that Rocky was hated before becoming The Rock. In actuality the crowds were just somewhat indifferent about him.

whom