Heel (professional wrestling)

"[5] To gain heat (with boos and jeers from the audience), heels are often portrayed as behaving in an immoral manner by breaking rules or otherwise taking advantage of their opponents outside the bounds of the standards of the match.

[7] In the world of lucha libre wrestling, most rudos are generally known for being brawlers and for using physical moves that emphasize brute strength or size, often having outfits akin to demons, devils, or other tricksters.

[9] More theatrical heels would feature dramatic outfits giving off a nasty or otherwise dangerous look, such as wearing corpse paint over their faces, putting on demonic masks, covering themselves in dark leather and the like.

Starting in the 1940s, he invented an extravagant, flamboyant "pretty boy" gimmick who wore wavy blonde hair, colorful robes and ritzy outfits, and was accompanied by beautiful valets to the ring for his matches.

[11] During his period as the leader of The Ministry of Darkness, he appeared as a priest of the occult in a hooded black robe and literally sat in a throne,[12] often in the shape of the symbol used to represent him.

Such characters often (but not always) become nudged into becoming villains over time or retooled to present a different public image, such as The Rock's turn from a clean-cut face to self-absorbed narcissist in the Nation of Domination heel stable,[16] or Tetsuya Naito's fan rejection of his babyface causing him to drastically form Los Ingobernables de Japon.

For instance, a "closet champion" in particular is a term for a heel in possession of a title belt who consistently dodges top flight competition and attempts to back down from challenges.