5 MLB players who would be great wrestling villains

They are, without a doubt, men and women who draw some of the strongest emotions from fans any time they make an appearance. They are “the heels” of professional wrestling, those in-ring villains who do their best to play the spoiler and do whatever it takes to come out on top.

With CM Punk returning to the wrestling circuit and Major League Baseball inking a deal with WWE recently, it seemed like the perfect time to mix MLB and WWE together and look at which players could make the transition quite easily into being “the bad guy” in the ring and drawing the ire of the fans.

Here are the 5 MLB players who would make great villains in the professional wrestling ring

With boos raining down upon them as they enter the ring, the heels are used to being hated wherever they go. That’s the reason why we’ll start the list with Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros.

Trash cans and boos have followed the Astros around all season, and Altuve has seemingly been in the center of the storm. After winning the American League MVP in 2017 and helping his team win the World Series that year, plenty have asked about Altuve’s involvement and knowledge in the scandal.

Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees and other MLB players have voiced their opinions about it. Altuve got a bit of revenge earlier this season against those accusing him by hitting a walkoff homer against the Yankees (and having his jersey ripped off to prove a point that he wasn’t wearing a buzzer). He embraced the moment against the Yankees and has dealt with the hate since the scandal first came out. Yes, he would make the perfect heel in the ring.

Come on, look at the picture above and tell me that Amir Garrett wouldn’t be a great villain in the ring. On that memorable night in 2019, the Cincinnati Reds reliever left the mound and charged the Pittsburgh Pirates dugout and then basically took on the entire team by himself.

Amir Garrett has never been shy to let his feelings known on the mound

He’s also never afraid to hold on to a memory as well. Let’s not forget Garrett’s numerous run-ins with another division rival, the Chicago Cubs, including the exchange with Anthony Rizzo below.

It’s almost a “six degrees of Kevin Bacon” when you think that this exchange with Rizzo was part of the reason why Garrett was the target of jawing from Javier Baez after Baez hit a walkoff homer for the Cubs.

For his verbal and physical altercations, Garrett seems like a natural choice to be a wrestling bad guy.

When Bryce Harper signed a 13-year, $330 million contract, he immediately became Mr. Money in the Bank (right, WWE fans?). He also became someone loathed by Washington Nationals fans who couldn’t believe he not only wouldn’t sign with the team with which he debuted, but also (gasp) would dare sign with the rival Philadelphia Phillies? Oh the horror!

Now, when you sign a contract for that much money, much is expected of you. So far, Harper hasn’t led the Phillies to the postseason, let alone the promised land of a World Series title. That puts a target on his back with Phillies fans as well. Will that change in 2021?

Bryce Harper seemingly loves to be hated

All of that being said, Harper has embraced who he is and how his career has gone. He’s also learned how to embrace the hate from opposing fans and give it right back to them at the perfect moment.

Bryce Harper, one of the most talented players in baseball today … and a perfect villain.

OK, maybe Tony La Russa isn’t playing right now, but the manager of the Chicago White Sox has certainly shown a penchant for playing the role of the bad guy this season.

Let’s remember back in May when he and Yermin Mercedes had a disagreement on a home run that Mercedes hit off a position player in a White Sox blowout win. There were even rumors that the incident was causing Mercedes to step away from the game (spoiler alert, he didn’t).

Not all MLB heels need to be players

And let’s not forget this fine moment from La Russa when Jose Abreu was hit in the head during a game against the Cleveland Indians and La Russa shuffled from the dugout to strangely get in the face of Cleveland catcher Roberto Perez, who was tending to Abreu. Benches would clear because of the incident.

So maybe La Russa himself couldn’t be a wrestler right now, but he could make a great manager of one of the villains. La Russa could distract the hero or referee just long enough to have the heel get the upper hand.

La Russa has been an agent of chaos this season on Chicago’s South Side, so why not carry that over into the ring?