Magnificent Bastard/Professional Wrestling

""Yeah, reach out for me! I'm a snake. Never trust a snake.""
 * Ric Flair was probably wrestling's prototypical Magnificent Bastard. "Limousine riding, jet-flying, kiss-stealing, wheeling, dealing son of a gun" that he was, he always had four aces up the sleeves of his impeccable suits and gaudy ring robes, and a couple of them in his boots too for when things got really desperate. As a Heel, he also delighted in constantly reminding the other wrestlers, and everybody watching, that they'd never, ever be like him, no matter how much they wished otherwise. Woooooooooooooo!
 * Rowdy Roddy Piper fit the bill better than any wrestler before or since. Magnificent? Despite never winning a World Title he was one of the top heels of the 80s. Charismatic? Oh yeah, just listen to one of his promos. Audacious? He hit Jimmy Snuka in the head with a coconut, you can't get more audacious than a random sneak attack with a concealed and slightly racist weapon. Bastard? Dear God yes. Trickster? To quote the man himself, "Just when you think you have the answer, I change the question!". And a Karma Houdini? Not always but frequently. Piper was a brilliant heel, but almost as good as a face, and he could shake karma by getting the fans back on his side.
 * Piper's successor might have very well been Stone Cold Steve Austin, especially between his win at King of the Ring '96 and his first title win at Wrestlemania XIV. Magnificient? Even Bret Hart was calling him the best in the business. Charismatic? Oh, hell yeah. Audacious? He was breaking into houses, randomly attacking officials, and threw the Intercontinental belt in a river just to spite The Rock. Nevertheless, people cheered especially after his famous Wrestlemania XIII match. After that, Austin could do pretty much anything he wanted and still get cheers.
 * Jake "The Snake" Roberts is a funny case. At the time, he was disqualified from being a Magnificent Bastard due to being a Complete Monster. However, the Moral Event Horizon of what keeps a heel from being cool has shifted much further back by now (compare Jake getting furious heat for slapping Elizabeth to the Dudleys getting over for powerbombing women through tables), and nowadays he comes across as a classic Magnificent Bastard.


 * Edge, in his "Ultimate Opportunist" Gimmick, has established himself as a dangerous threat to any world champion, and a cunning adversary for any respective challenger, with his ruthless exploitation of any circumstance he deems favorable. As such, even after the most embarassing of defeats, he almost always bounces back.
 * Shawn Michaels is another great Magnificent Bastard beloved by fans whether a face or heel. Egotistical yes, but far from being a Smug Snake due to his success. His colorful relationships with the likes of Marty Jannetty, Bret Hart and Triple H over the years shows he knows how to run the gauntlet. Always willing to put his livelihood or career on the line for the chance to win a championship or etch another notch in his amazing career. Did I mention he knows how to make an entrance?
 * Triple H begun transforming into this in 1999 and completed the process in 2000. His Face Heel Turn at Wrestlemania XV turned him from a fan favourite wrestler to one of the most hated on the planet, but he got his first WWF Championship win that August, though he lost, regained and relost it over the following months. He responded by beating the crap out of Vince McMahon at Armageddon `99 and marrying his daughter (kayfabe, later for real), who turned out to be Evil All Along. Fans unimpressed by him (as Edge later put it) "marrying his way to the top" were won over when, Champion again, he defeated Cactus Jack in two brutal matches at Royal Rumble and No Way Out, which each counts as a Crowning Moment of Awesome for both wrestlers. This was about the time he began to be known as "The Game" and "The Cerebral Assassin", and the rest, as they say, is history.