History Main / ForeignWrestlingHeel

-->-- '''The Foreigner''', ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', "Raging Bender"

* In ''VideoGame/PunchOutWii'', there is Aran Ryan, a proud Irish who will taunt Mac for not looking Irish. In this game only, he is also a very dirty cheater.

** Yokozuna and Wrestling/{{Rikishi}}, both Samoan wrestlers, were given "former sumo wrestler" gimmicks, and Yokozuna spent the majority of his career as a heel. Also, Yokozuna's character was Japanese, despite Rodney Anoa'i being Polynesian. You'll notice Yokozuna almost never spoke except for his catchphrase "BANZAI!"; this is because Anoa'i was actually born and raised in California and could not pull off a Japanese accent. As a result, Mr. Fuji did all the speaking for him.

* Wrestling/ClaudioCastagnoli got signed by WWE and became Antonio Cesaro and later just Cesaro, an evil rugby-playing polyglot from Switzerland who really doesn't like Americans. Until he was made part of a Tea Party piss-take known as the "Real Americans." While the announcers ''still'' played up his Swiss heritage (This was a bit of a retread to the "Real American Heroes" Wrestling/KarlAnderson and Wrestling/JoeyRyan vs "Los Luchas" feud in the NWA). It was explained that Cesaro loved America, but hated Americans. Averted now that he's in AEW and part of the Wrestling/BlackpoolCombatClub stable; while the stable has shifted from tweeners to heels, its gimmick pretty much ignores nationalities.

* Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' episode "The Blind Bandit": Among the line up of Earth Kingdom wrestlers in ''Earth Rumble VI'', there is a fighter named Fire Nation Man. He isn't ''actually'' from the Fire Nation, being an earthbender. His job was to go on stage with a Fire Nation flag, declare loudly his allegiance to [[EvilOverlord Fire Lord Ozai]], ask the audience to stand for the "Fire Nation National Anthem", and be thrown across the room by the Earth Kingdom contender "The Boulder" (voiced by actual wrestler Wrestling/MickFoley). His parody of a heel goes as far as having a Russian accent that violates everything known about people in the Asian-influenced Avatar world. On the DVD commentary they mention that he is actually an immigrant... from ''the deserts'' of the Earth Kingdom. [[FridgeBrilliance Which is pretty well fitting too,]] considering the whole thing was a send-up of Pro Wrestling, with 'Fire Nation Man' being a deliberate nod to this character, right down to his FakeNationality. Ironically, the notion of an [[http://avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Kori_Morishita earthbender who identifies more as a Fire Nation citizen]] (being born from mixed stock) became a major plot point in the sequel comic, ''The Promise''.

Lest the gentle reader think this is solely a gimmick for culturally insensitive Americans, this trope is OlderThanFeudalism. In Ancient Rome's GladiatorGames, it was common to advertise matches as representing a showdown between Rome's finest warriors and their Samnite/Gaul/Thracian opponents. In more modern times, consider the team of Art Barr, Wrestling/EddieGuerrero, and Louie "Madonna's Boyfriend" Spiccoli, who wrestled as Los Gringos Locos in Mexican federation Wrestling/{{AAA}}, and were Evil ''American'' Foreigners. Likewise, many Japanese promotions have had their fair share of evil foreigners: Wrestling/AllJapanWomensProWrestling using them extensively for the first ten years of its existence, especially women from the USA based WWWA and AGWA, and Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling used this as the defining concept that began the launch

** Yokozuna and Wrestling/{{Rikishi}}, both Samoan wrestlers, were given "former sumo wrestler" gimmicks, and Yokozuna spent the majority of his career as a heel. Also, Yokozuna's character was Japanese, despite Rodney Anoa'i being Polynesian. You'll notice Yokozuna almost never spoke except for his CatchPhrase "BANZAI!"; this is because Anoa'i was actually born and raised in California and could not pull off a Japanese accent. As a result, Mr. Fuji did all the speaking for him.

* Wrestling/ClaudioCastagnoli got signed by WWE and became Antonio Cesaro and later just Cesaro, an evil rugby-playing polyglot from Switzerland who really doesn't like Americans. Until he was made part of a Tea Party piss-take known as the "Real Americans." While the announcers ''still'' played up his Swiss heritage (This was a bit of a retread to the "Real American Heroes" Wrestling/KarlAnderson and Wrestling/JoeyRyan vs "Los Luchas" feud in the NWA). It was explained that Cesaro loved America, but hated Americans. Averted now that he's in AEW and part of the tweener Wrestling/BlackpoolCombatClub stable.

Lest the gentle reader think this is solely a gimmick for culturally insensitive Americans, consider the team of Art Barr, Wrestling/EddieGuerrero, and Louie "Madonna's Boyfriend" Spiccoli, who wrestled as Los Gringos Locos in Mexican federation Wrestling/{{AAA}}, and were Evil ''American'' Foreigners. Likewise, many Japanese promotions have had their fair share of evil foreigners: Wrestling/AllJapanWomensProWrestling using them extensively for the first ten years of its existence, especially women from the USA based WWWA and AGWA, and Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling used this as the defining concept that began the launch

* Claudio Castagnoli got signed by WWE and became Antonio Cesaro and later just Cesaro, an evil rugby-playing polyglot from Switzerland who really doesn't like Americans. Until he was made part of a Tea Party piss-take known as the "Real Americans." While the announcers ''still'' played up his Swiss heritage (This was a bit of a retread to the "Real American Heroes" Wrestling/KarlAnderson and Wrestling/JoeyRyan vs "Los Luchas" feud in the NWA). It was explained that Cesaro loved America, but hated Americans.

* Stampede Wrestling in the 80s had manager J.R. Foley, who dressed up as Hirohito and ''Hitler'' on the sidelines.

* Wrestling has a long history of the Evil Arab (which may even be a trope in and of itself.) Most of them are of the silent mysterious type instead of the obnoxious Foreign Wrestling Heel type however.

** Wrestling/GeneralSkandorAkbar (born Jim Wehba in Vernon, Texas, though of Lebanese origin) had a short wrestling career, but made up for it by becoming the Evil Arab Manager, and nearly inventing the heel stable during his feud with the Von Erichs in WCCW.

** Wrestling/GeneralSkandorAkbar (born Jim Wehba in Vernon, Texas) had a short wrestling career, but made up for it by becoming the Evil Arab Manager, and nearly inventing the heel stable during his feud with the Von Erichs in WCCW.

* [[Wrestling/VonErichFamily Fritz Von Erich]] (patriarch of the Adkisson wrestling family) used the "Von Erich" name as a gimmick with a tag team partner as "The Nazi Brothers."

* In the early days of wrestling in Japan, during a time where hatred and fear of the US is legendary (mostly due to the use of [[UsefulNotes/AtomicBombingsOfHiroshimaAndNagasaki atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki]]), white wrestlers were brought in to be beat by Japanese wrestlers, the pioneer being Wrestling/{{Rikidozan}}, himself Korean born, and later continued in the legendary Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling (created by Wrestling/AntonioInoki) and Wrestling/AllJapanProWrestling (created by Giant Baba.) This was averted eventually and many wrestlers have obtained fame and respect in Japan (as fan favorites, no less) who wouldn't get it otherwise, [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff way more than vice versa]].

** Many Westerners, by sheer force of talent, have gained acceptance in Japan, and have been allowed to win titles and beat established Japanese wrestlers. The list includes Wrestling/DrDeathSteveWilliams, Wrestling/ChrisBenoit, [=nWo=] Sting, [[Wrestling/JohnLaurinaitis Johnny Ace]], Wrestling/EddieGuerrero and many more.

*** Mil Mascaras, whose "thousand masks" gimmick and lucha stylings made him very popular with Japanese children at his peak.

* Averted by one of the devils later when she went solo as Wrestling/BullNakano, who was still heel but not of this type. Then inverted when Nakano took the WWF women's title to AJW. She emulated the [[Wrestling/HulkHogan Unstoppable]] All American Face, and [[Wrestling/{{Madusa}} Alundra Blaze]] the hopeless foreigner.

** The British Bulldogs (singles or doubles) were always brought back as faces. Wrestling/WilliamRegal has been a heel for most of his career (though he did have a brief face turn when he gained "special" wrestler [[Wrestling/NickDinsmore Eugene]] as a tag-team partner and MoralityPet), as well as Fit Finlay. Finlay was intended to be pure heel, but ended up having his share of face turns because the no-nonsense gimmick of an [[FightingIrish Irishman who "loves to fight"]] appealed to fans...and then the WWE teamed him up with a leprechaun. Really. [[Wrestling/ChrisAdams "Gentleman" Chris Adams]] started as a face and then took a long turn as a heel. The British Invastion (Brutus Wrestling/{{Magnus}} and Doug Williams) had a long heel run in [[Wrestling/ImpactWrestling TNA]]'s tag division; after the breakup, both wrestlers have gone from heel to face.

*** The most notable aversion of this trope is Tony Garea, the New Zealand-born wrestler who spent virtually his entire wrestling career in the WWF, all as a face; today, he is a road agent for what is now WWE and still makes sporatic on-camera appearances.

** TNA had their own Team Canada, though it included nobody who had been in either the Wrestling/{{FMW}} or the Wrestling/{{WCW}} groups with the same name.

* The Great Khali was an evil Indian with an evil Persian-American manager until Daivari was swapped out for another Indian.

* FWE made Sonjay Dutt into an evil Indian and billed him from Bollywood (he is from New Dheli and was born in the District of Columbia)

* Wrestling/TheFabulousKangaroos represented Australia and could provoke ''riots.''
* 2014 saw the WWE debut of Alexander Wrestling/{{Rusev|AndLana}}, a Bulgarian strongman (who was in fact actually born in Bulgaria) who often enters the ring accompanied by the Bulgarian national anthem, cut promos in Bulgarian and Russian and was presented as speaking almost no English, and was accompanied to the ring by Lana, a [[TheBaroness steel-hearted Russian villainess]] (played by CJ Perry, an American who lived in the USSR/Latvia as a child, who later married Rusev in real life.)

* The Puerto Rican IWA had the British Militia ([[Wrestling/DeanAmbrose who were not all British]]), The Dominican Revolution and the Arabians. They were big enough examples to turn El Illegal Chicano, a man who was openly acknowledged as not being Mexican but identified more with them after being told he looked like one, [[HeelFaceTurn into a baby face.]]