Bret Hart and the 25 Biggest Whiners in Wrestling History

Pro wrestling is a cloister of paranoia and ill will.  With backstage politics as typical as a headlock, wrestlers must constantly be aware of their surroundings as lobbying, politicking and, yes, strategic complaining all serve as potent tools that at times ascend pro wrestling careers. 

Whether it be part of a character, or a real-life trait that is not-so-coincidentally shared by some of the all-time greats, the art of complaining is a necessary evil that a who's who in pro wrestling have perfected to one degree or another. 

25. Randy Orton

Despite a recent surge in goodwill that has seen Randy Orton work with and put over a host of young talent, Orton's reputation as a snake-like character is as prominent in real life as it is in the ring. 

Orton's feuds with Legacy (Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase) and Kofi Kingston both resulted in the subsequent halting of other-wise red-hot careers. 

Orton has also had childlike tantrums during matches upon miscues, with one of his more infamous moments coming at the expense of Kofi Kingston on an episode of RAW. 

24. Chavo Guerrero

Chavo Guerrero earned his keep as a complainer throughout his career as Eddie Guerrero's sidekick-turned whiny heel nephew as well as a disciple of Vickie Guearrero. 

Chavo continued his cavalcade of complaints when he was released from his WWE contract as he has fired off a harsh string of tweets directed at John Cena since his departure earlier this year. 

23. Marc Mero

Marc Mero never amounted to much as Johnny B. Badd or as "the WIldman" Marc Mero, but he was mildly entertaining as the abrasive and jealous husband of Sable during the Attitude Era.  

Constantly patrolling what his wife wore, Mero's obsession with censoring the legendary WWE Diva came at the expense of his in-ring success.  As the losses continued to pile up, Mero continued to belly ache right up until suffering his final and most embarrassing loss to Duane "Gillberg" Gill. 

22. Matt Hardy

Matt Hardy's whiny tendencies outside of the ring have taken on a life of their own and combined to ruin his in-ring career for all intents and purposes. 

Hardy infamously took to the WWE airwaves in 2005 to voice his displeasure with his ex-girlfriend Amy "Lita" Dumas and her infidelity. 

Lita's scandalous relations with Adam "Edge" Copeland originally lead to the firing of Hardy for handling the situation unprofessionally.  Hardy was since brought back by popular demand, but in the last few years his life has seen a violent downward spiral with a bogus excuse and/or complaint to follow each troubling incident that has ranged from driving while impaired to drinking while rehabilitating. 

21. Gail Kim

It must be something in the air in Canada, but Canadians have earned a reputation as some of the most notorious whiners in wrestling. 

Frustrated with her lot of obscurity in an already obscure WWE Divas division, Kim infamously exited a diva's battle royal early. 

Kim refused to show up for work following the incident, and lobbied for her own release on Twitter.  Kim's complaining worked, as she was eventually released for her WWE contract, making an unheralded return to TNA where she shed her previous babyface gimmick in favor of a rather whiny heel character in her own right.

Perhaps TNA was impressed with the whining that lead to her WWE release? 

20. CM Punk

Some say he's revolutionary voice of the voiceless, while others can rightfully claim that CM Punk's entertaining tirades that coincided with his contract expiring earlier this year was nothing more than well-dressed whining. 

There are very few subjects that are taboo for CM Punk as Punk has talked about and bemoaned about a multitude of subjects, most notably the Rock and his recent involvement with the WWE. 

19. Stephanie McMahon

Stephanie McMahon is known as the "Billion Dollar Princess" for a reason, with the princess tag in reference to her character's diva-like behavior. 

McMahon has been the butt of many stunts and gags, and her over-the-top reactions to many of her more embarrassing moments have become somewhat of a trademark for the WWE's heir apparent. 

18. Raven

Raven shined in his gimmick in WCW as a psychologically ruined former rich-kid who managed to see the dark and gloomy side of every situation. 

With most of his complaints wrapped in an intriguing and intense sermon of mean-spirited quotes, Raven was one of the darkest whiny heels that pro wrestling ever saw. 

17. Melina

Melina's backstage career in many ways overshadowed anything she did inside the ring, including winning multiple Divas Championships. 

Perhaps her real-life whining is the reason Melina was so good in her heel role as a screechy manager of the MNM tag-team on-screen. 

During many matches featuring the former standout tag team, Melina could be heard ringside screaming at the top of her lungs in as annoying of a fashion as possible. 

16. Paul Heyman

Paul Heyman is one of the all-time greatest talkers in history, and part of his brilliance was as an obnoxious heel character.

Heyman's boohooing was most prominent as a heel color commentator in the WWE in 2001 alongside Jim Ross.  The loquacious former head booker of ECW was quite entertaining as a commentator as his aggressive opinions were often showered in whiny hilarity. 

15. Karen Jarrett

Karen Jarrett is a very good talker in TNA, but tends to be a bit grating as the vice president of the Knockouts division. 

Jarrett's high-pitched demands directed at babyface knockouts have made her one of the top female heels in TNA, as she is, in many ways, a poor-woman's Vickie Guerrero. 

14. Andy Kaufman

Many wrestling fans remember Andy Kaufman for his iconic feud with Jerry "the King" Lawler as the two tricked most into  believing that their animosity for one another was real. 

Kaufman, a former self-proclaimed inter-gender champion, portrayed an annoying and obnoxious heel character who antagonized Lawler with help from hall-of-fame manager Jimmy Hart.

In response to being shown up by Lawler on occasion, Kaufman famously threatened to sue the legendary pro wrestling performer.

Their most infamous encounter came during the Tonight Show with David Letterman, where Kaufman spilled coffee on Lawler in retaliation to a slap in the face delivered by the King. 

13. Kurt Angle

Kurt Angle's original gimmick as a demonically wholesome Olympic gold-medalist was the impetus for a brilliant pro wrestling career. 

Angle is one of the better heels in the WWE mainly for his interaction with fans.  Angle is just as effective as a babyface as he is a heel due to very strong in-ring work to match his colorful personality. 

Angle, who is often filled with excuses, has shown off his whiny tendencies as a heel in both the WWE and TNA. 

12. Vickie Guerrero

It all started with two words, and love her or hate her, Vickie Guerrero had the WWE Universe at "excuse me."  

Guerrero has forged an unlikely career as the top heel manager in this era of the WWE, and her unmistakable squealing has made her one of the most heat-seeking managers of all time. Beneficiaries of Guerreros antics include Edge, Dolph Ziggler, and Jack Swagger.  

11. Madison Rayne

Madison Rayne's voice alone makes her a candidate for one of the whiniest personalities in wrestling. 

With Rayne fully embracing her "killer queen" gimmick, Rayne plays the part of a spoiled diva who knows no limits when it comes to abject bewailing. 

10. Jim Cornette

It is common for some of the better talkers in pro wrestling history to spend much of their time on the mic whining. 

Jim Cornette, both in and out of the ring, has an affinity for such behavior, and his fiery personality has caused him to be the victim of many firings from multiple national wrestling promotions. 

Staying true to form, Cornette often takes his frustrations public following what seem to be obligatorily messy divorces from wrestling companies, never leaving a dull moment in all his acrimonious glory. 

9. The Miz

The Miz has already earned the distinction of loudmouth whiner as Miz never met a microphone he didn't like. 

Miz constantly reminds the WWE Universe of his early career strife in the WWE as a locker room castoff who was not initially accepted by his peers due to his previous stint as a reality show star. 

Miz is currently back in the WWE title picture, meaning there is even more potential to see and hear Miz lament his displeasure with the WWE superstars and fans. 

8. The Iron Sheik

Mention Hulk Hogan or Brian Blair around the Iron Sheik and one will quickly learn of Sheik's propensity for complaining. 

Often taking the form of an entertaining, yet seemingly never ending rant, the Iron Sheik has spent his post-WWE career as one of pro wrestling's favorite grumpy old men. 

7. Christian

Christian heel persona has always been of the whiny variety, but he has taken that persona to another level with his recent heel antics as a disgruntled, injured, and litigious WWE Superstar. 

Christian spent much of the summer feuding with Randy Orton in what may have been the feud of the year.  During the feud, Christian suffered multiple losses to Orton, yet always seemed to have the legal resources at his disposal to force a rematch. 

Christian recently suffered a leg injury at a WWE live event, and he has since used the injury to his advantage as he has exploited it like only an excuse-prone heel could. 

6. Edge

Edge career as a heel is defined by constant bellyaching as the future hall-of-famer brilliantly complained his way out of the hearts of WWE fans at the inception of his 2004 heel run. 

Edge's obsession with winning the WWE Championship for the first time not only added value to the championship, but it brought out an ugly, unlikeable side in a man who came to be known as the Rated R Superstar. 

5. Bret Hart

Bret Hart will never be known for strong  mic work, but he was most effective as a talker while portraying an anti-American heel. 

When he wasn't rhapsodizing about all that was wrong with America, he was constantly complaining about being screwed by the WWE, a sentiment that proved to be prescient leading up to what was thought to be his final match with the WWE at Survivor Series in 1997. 

4. Owen Hart

Owen Hart pulled off his whiny heel gimmick with perfection as the whiny little brother of Bret "the Hitman" Hart. 

Following a big win over Hart to open WrestleMania X, Owen Hart was vocal in his angst with Bret Hart winning the WWE title shot that very night despite suffering a loss to his younger brother earlier.  This was just one of a series of understandable, yet obnoxious, protests that came from Owen. 

3. Michael Cole

Michael Cole's constant babbling on commentary has severely subtracted from the quality of the WWE product. 

Cole, however, shines as a television character due to the fact that he's so easily detestable.  Heel Cole's antics lead to a match against Jerry Lawler at WrestleMania XXVIII in Lawler's first WrestleMania match and what was one of the top matches on the card. 

Cole, as talkative and irksome as he is, has drawn comparisons to another legendary complainer in Bobby "the Brain" Heenan. 

2. Bobby Heenan

Bobby Heenan has enjoyed a prolific WWE career as arguably the greatest manager of all time.  Heenan's mouth was his most powerful weapon, and he used his gift of gab to get heat on talent while making himself a chief antagonist. 

Heenan's biased commentary in both WWE and WCW added to his heel persona, as he often sympathized with the villains and added a more perspective to their intentions. 

1. Chris Jericho

Chris Jericho perfected the art of the whiny heel long ago in his WCW days as an up-and-coming cruiserweight. 

As a long-reigning cruiserweight Champion in WCW, Jericho pulled off many entertaining yet antagonizing stunts designed to get into his opponents head. 

After losing the cruiserweight Championship in 1998, Jericho claimed there was a conspiracy in WCW designed to bring about his demise. 

During a long losing streak at the tail end of his WCW career in 1999, Jericho became notorious for throwing post-match tantrums where he would emphatically smack turnbuckle posts with a steel chair. 

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