8 Great Babyfaces Who Never Turned Heel

Posted by Colin Hunter on January 9, 2013 at 10:13 AM

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In wrestling, as in life, it’s no fun to be nice all the time.

Since wrestling is a stripped-down microcosm of society, every aspect of human nature — the good and (especially) the nasty — is laid bare.

It only makes sense that, sooner or later, every grinning golden boy forsakes popularity for power by seeking the easy, illegal path to victory. It’s a pattern as old as wrestling itself, because it sells tickets.

It’s exceedingly rare that a wrestler spends his entire career as a babyface, especially in the contemporary era of popular anti-heroes (CM Punk) and widely despised good guys (John Cena).

But it’s not unprecedented. Some wrestlers are practically impossible to hate, and have survived long careers without ever making the so-called heel turn.

Here are eight members of that rarest of breed: the babyface who never turned heel.

Hillbilly Jim

8. Hillbilly Jim

The country boy from Mudlick, Kentucky was a beloved figure during the WWF’s mid-1980s boom in popularity. He was a kid-friendly bumpkin who was so pure of heart, he received his ‘rasslin’ boots from the one and only Hulk Hogan. Although he was mostly used as cannon fodder for a gauntlet of monster heels, Hillbilly Jim was a perennial favorite among kids (the WWF’s target audience back then) and earned a big ovation during his cameo in the Gimmick Battle Royal at WrestleMania X-Seven. Although he flirted with heeldom when the team he managed, the Godwinns, turned evil, he parted company with them instead.

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About The Author: Colin Hunter

Colin Hunter is a print and online journalist who was named the best sportswriter in Canada by the National Newspaper Awards in 2008. He is a longtime contributing writer (as C.F. Hunter) for Pro Wrestling Illustrated, The Wrestler and Inside Wrestling, and has been a regular writer for SLAM! Wrestling. Career highlights include drinking beer with Fit Finlay, chasing a cat with Christian in his backyard, and gluing a wig onto the bald head of the late Missing Link.