Everyone loves to be the bad guy. In the world of professional wrestling, many have admitted that they prefer to be the heel over the face. That seems to track, as names such as legends such as The Iron Sheik were able to stay villains for nearly their entire careers.

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However, while a lot of wrestlers will embrace villainy long term, that isn't the case for everyone. Over the years in the WWE, there have been many high-profile names that have turned heel, only to return as the good guy not too long later. Others, meanwhile, decided to stay a villain for good.

10 Long-Term: Wade Barrett

Wade Barrett is interesting because he was a heel for his entire time as an active wrestler. Seriously, from the moment he debuted as a member of the Nexus until his retirement in 2016, he's played the bad guy.

Now in retirement, Barrett has become a face on commentary and on the WWE's pre-show. That's for the best because the Brit has a lot of personality and humor that wasn't seen in his long time as a heel.

9 Short-Lived: Chyna

Chyna is interesting because she was only officially a heel for a very short time. As a member of The Corporation in 1999, that was the only official time that she was a villain. After the dissolution of a stable, she returned to being a tweener, and later a face.

Chyna is interesting because she absolutely had the ability to be a great heel, and it felt like she had a longer run as one. However, despite that ability to be a no-nonsense villain, she didn't embrace it long-term.

8 Long-Term: The Miz

The Miz is considered one of the greatest bad guys in WWE history for a very good reason. While he's had brief face runs, they've mostly been brief or forgettable. Besides his WrestleMania match with Shane McMahon, has there been a single memorable Miz face moment?

While not bad as a face, fans are lucky that The Miz realized his role as a villain. As a bad guy, he's been one of the best to ever appear on WWE television.

7 Short-Lived: Diamond Dallas Page

For what it's worth Diamond Dallas Page mostly worked as a heel during his days as a manager. However, whenever he was a wrestler, he was mostly a face, save for a few brief moments. In the WWE, Page even debuted as a heel for his feud with The Undertaker.

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Page was squashed in that feud, and almost instantly again became a face. Furthermore, he remained that way until his retirement in 2020, confirming that the villain life wasn't really for him.

6 Long-Term: Jinder Mahal

Jinder Mahal has consistently been a bad guy since debuting in the WWE. Oddly enough, he's also played just about every role that a villain could, from being a dominant champion, to a lowly member of 3MB.

While Mahal has had a pretty wild career in terms of heights and lows, the one thing that has stayed consistent was his villain role. As of now, he's still a heel, and it's hard to see that changing anytime soon.

5 Short-Lived: John Cena

Despite fans badly wanting to see it happen again, John Cena only went heel once. Early in his career, the future 16-time champion became a villain. While there was praise for his time as a heel from 2002 to 2003, that was essentially it.

Thanks to his popularity as the face of the WWE, Cena never went heel again. While that was likely the best business decision, that doesn't mean that fans didn't want to see him be a villain long-term.

4 Long-Term: Brock Lesnar

Brock Lesnar has essentially been a tweener, or a heel for his entire WWE career. Arguably the only time when he was a straight-up babyface was last year. He wore a cowboy hat and showed more of his personality than ever before.

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Then, he turned on Cody Rhodes the night after WrestleMania, and fans were back to square one. While he's back to being a tweener, one has to imagine that Lesnar will be back to his villain ways before long.

3 Short-Lived: R-Truth

For a few brief moments in 2011, R-Truth was a serious character. While it sounds crazy in hindsight, he became a ruthless heel, even challenging John Cena for the WWE Title.

Furthermore, he teamed with The Miz in the main event of Survivor Series 2011 against John Cena and The Rock. While he was back to being a babyface by the end of the year, R-Truth's short-lived heel run was fun.

2 Long-Term: Mr. McMahon

Vince McMahon was such a good villain that all he had to do was play himself. Following the Montreal Screwjob, it only felt right for the boss to embrace the role of a heel on television. That turned out to be an extremely profitable decision.

Over the following decades, the Mr. McMahon character would become one of the greatest villains in wrestling history. While there were brief moments of him being a face, they were brief and hard to find.

1 Short-Lived: Jeff Hardy

Jeff Hardy's WWE heel turn is likely so brief that most fans missed it. In early 2003, the future world champion turned heel, attacking Rob Van Dam and Shawn Michaels. While a heel Hardy had potential in WWE, it wasn't for long.

All in all, Hardy was only a heel for a month, becoming a face after an attack by Christian. While he had a solid run in Impact as the bad guy, this was his only memorable time in WWE being one.