Awesome Pro Wrestling Heel Turns
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Over the years many wrestling fan favourites have turned into villains and there's been quite a few notable heel turns that shaped careers. Hulk Hogan turning heel in WCW and forming the nWo, for example, was such a big deal that it altered the direction of an entire company.
Turning heel can let a superstar become a completely new character. In the WWF Shawn Michaels turned his back on Marty Jannetty which, in turn, led to the Rockers tag team breaking up. Shawn would then become "The Heartbreak Kid", completely rejuvenating his career and letting him try something new. Along with this, the doors get opened to new matches; a new heel can work with babyfaces that they couldnt work with previously because it wouldn't have made sense. It boils down to heel turns and changes of persona being a fundamental part of professional wrestling - it creates evolution in both the superstar in question and the company itself.
This video looks at a bunch of my favourite heel turns in WWF / WWE and WCW.
00:00 - Intro
00:51 - Shawn Michaels turns on Jannetty
02:28 - Steve Austin sides with Vince McMahon
04:03 - Hulk Hogan forms the nWo
05:28 - Bret Hart vs America
07:52 - Kane gets Unmasked
09:44 - "Plan B" Seth Rollins
11:21 - Corporate Champion Rock
12:43 - Owen Hart vs Brother Bret
14:19 - Andre The Giant on Piper's Pit
17:11 - Triple H Ends A DX Reunion
19:04 - Randy Savage & The Mega Powers Explosion
21:19 - Final Thoughts / Credits
#WWF #WCW #WWE - กีฬา
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Shawn didn't turn heel, Marty tried to escape through the window.
Sir Robert Heenan.. R.I.P, Brain.
"What an act of cowardism."
What an act of cowardism.
He don’t need Jannetty, I told you that off and on.
🤣🤣🤣
For me Bobby Roode hitting Storm with that beer bottle to become champ had me reeling.
For me, the greatest heel turn ever in wrestling is still without a doubt when Hulk Hogan shocked the world by dropping a leg drop on Randy Savage to join Hall & Nash. It turned the entire world upside down and the heat Hogan gained from the turn was absolutely nuclear. It was the best thing that ever happened to him as it helped reinvigorated his career and freshened up the character to become Hollywood Hogan as he went from the biggest beloved hero ever to the most hated villain. Nothing will ever come close to this moment because no on saw it coming
I just wish Heenan wasn't saying "but whose side is he on" over and over.
Yeah i know, i got really annoyed with that because he pretty much gave the whole thing away that Hogan was going to turn heel
@@jameswarner5878 To me that worked. Had Heenan suddenly said "THANK GOD HULK HOGAN IS HERE TO SAVE US!!" That would have made me even MORE suspicious! So I felt Heenan was spot on here, as he never trusted Hogan . lol
The turn itself I could careless but what he became was the best
@@toptenguy1 it made if you knew the Brain's history with Hogan. The Brain always hated him so it made sense he would doubt Hogan's alliance.
I'll never forget Shawn Michaels heel turn throwing Marty Jannetty through the Barbershop window and what Bobby Heenan said after that "Jannetty tried to fly out of there"
I remember that slime ball Marty trying to escape out the window. What do you mean Shawn threw him through it?
@@BlueLighteningGojo he tried to give him a boost
BC 4 L
Jannetty dove through the window to escape out of an act of cowardice
I think Heenan said "that Marty Jannetty is a coward. He just jumped through that window to get away from Shawn".
Orndorff turning on Hogan was the first heel turn I experienced and will always be my favorite. Loved when Orndorff used Real American as his theme song.
Absolutely. That was great.
He actually did a sequel video to this one. And that heel turn was in the video.
Then Orndorff was teaming with him a year later at the first Survivor Series 😂
I had the WWF MicroLeague Wrestling game for my Commodore 64 computer back in 1987 (I was fifteen at the time).
One of the matches on the disk was Hogan vs. Orndorff and Orndorff used the "Real American" theme. My friend who was more into wrestling than I was really got ticked that Orndorff would come out to that.
I thought they just used that music in the game because they didn't have any music for Orndorff, but my friend knew that Orndorff was using that music to mock Hogan.
I was at the first Televised show after the heel turn, Mid Hudson Civic Center, and I remember myself and the entire crowd mixing cheers and confusion when Real American came on - is Hogan actually here?!? And then it was Orndorff...brilliant. I remember he ended up losing the match to a jobber by DQ with an outside the ring Piledriver and then just walking out and I don't think I've ever heard louder Boos in-person in my life.
The Andre turn made me smile (I was fed up with Hogan at that point). The only shame was that Andre's health wasn't good enough to allow him to have a short run with the belt (squashing all the faces) leading up to WrestleMania 3.
Hulk was the heel in the Savage rivalry. Savage was justified in reacting how he did.
It is one of the earliest examples in my lifetime of wwf gaslighting the fan base into cheering for who they felt like pushing at the time.
Some things never change.
I said that for years...Hogan did alot of heelish stuff in the 80s...Bobby heenan was right about hogan from the beginning
They didn't have to gaslight anyone into cheering Hogan. He was the man back then
Macho Man was the man. He was better than Hulk: *better Mic skills/promo *more natural charisma *more athleticism *better at selling opponent moves *better in ring moveset *better gas tank;could wrestle longer matches without blowing up *didn't have to be a champ to get over
Negatives: *not as good at politics *not as good at kissing McMahon ass
Hogan was a better ass kisser. So he got the big opportunities. The wwf machine "pushed" him [aka: gaslit the fans]... It still happens today.
@@J0nny_Ch1mp0 Mic skills is debatable, and Hogan is at the top of list of wrestlers with the most charisma. Savage was the better worker, but he has been overrated in that department since. Hogan wasn't the man because he was the best in overall ability. That was Ric Flair.
Hogan was the man because he was clearly the most popular wrestler, and the biggest draw. He got the push from Vince because he was so popular by 1983, before he worked for Vince, that it was obvious he was the right buy for Vince to build behind. That "WWF Machine" wasn't the same when Hogan won the title 1984, as it was over a year later when Randy Savage showed up. By the time Savage got there most of the tough work had already been done in the WWF's national expansion. So Savage benefited from the WWF machine.
One heel turn that was not "epic", but is still worth a mention is Rick Martel's turn on Tito Santana at Wrestlemania 5. Martel's "Model" character lasted from 89 till around 1993, which is fairly impressive considering the circumstances.
To this day I'm mad about Strike Force breaking up. They were great! Tito went with the El Matador gimmick which ruined his career. He still wrestles today!
@@ModernDayRenaissanceManI wish Tom Zenk would have stayed
Underrated heal turn, absolutely
good call
Barry Windham's heel turn when he joined the Horsemen was fantastic
Kane's mask removal is a perfect example of not being able to put the genie back in the bottle. Once it was done, the mystique was gone and there was no way back to his Iconic status.
I don't know, Kane/Glen Jacobs had one of the most awesome faces in history. Heck he even turned it into a slightly profitable movie!
Bald Kane is amazing also
I liked it. This idea of the scars being in the mind was one of the cleverest I can remember from the 'E. They could have taken it further (doubtless Vince stopped that because it wasn't in any movie he'd seen in the 1950s) but conceptually, it was great.
At 9:12, Kane and Jim Ross missed an opportunity to stand up straight and shake hands to re-enact the Pink Floyd album cover Wish You Were Here.
@@toptenguy1 Nooooo. Once they took that mask off it was over. Typical Vince ruining something that got WAY OVER by accident in the first place.
Bret Harts heel turn was so awesome.
The transition from all around good guy to bitter heel worked. Especially since Bret had legit reasons to be mad.
The 2nd genius part was "Heel only in the USA." that was probably a 1st.
Here in the UK. He remained an anti-American babyface.
Hart started heel with the Hart foundation. He flipped with the wind.
@@boltelectric Undertaker was a full hero who took on and killed Hulkamania to us Brits. You've also just pulled out my No1 and No2 wrestlers in history. I hated it when them 2 wrestled each other as a kid. lol
I love that Bret hasn’t dropped the bitterness. I don’t blame him either.
@@JM1993951 He’s extremely committed to kayfabe.
Let me find out this is really Sheamus narrating these videos 🤣🤣🤣🤣👍🤨
🤣🤣🤣
never thought about that lol
Best face turn either Perfect turning on Heenan or Jarrett joining the good guys with that guitar shot to AJ!
Here are a few others that are worth mentioning:
1. Larry Zbyszko turning on Bruno Sammartino in 1980.
2. The Fabulous Freebirds turning on Kerry Von Erich in Kerry's NWA World Championship match against Ric Flair. This would start the long-standing rivalry between the Von Erichs and the Freebirds in World Class Championship Wrestling.
3. Ric Flair turning on Dusty Rhodes in 1985. This would lead to not only their world title match at Starrcade but also the formation of The Four Horsemen.
Finally - someone who knows some real heel turn heat. Golly-these are legendary!
@@mikehunt4986 Thank you. LOL
The Ole Turn on Dusty in 1980 in the Omni…started a riot. Barry Windham turning on Lex Luger…
deep cuts
@@jeremywilliams5141That wasn’t a compliment.
Hogan coming out for Andres Trophy was totally just to hot dog it up. Sort of like when Macho Man wins the title and Hulk definitely showboats in what should be Savages spot.
A good face turn for me would be Batista turning face against Evolution. The pop he gets from it is brilliant.
Wrestling Bios with the constant content despite being “on a break” What a legend 😮
I know right?
Swerve bro
This is his face turn
Ryan will turn heel once he returns and he agrees to a lucrative Horsemen contract offered by Conrad Thompson to start a new podcast called "Save With Chinlocks, You Rude!"
His vacation is the first week of December
Jericho’s WCW heel turn was epic and it led to some of the most memorable promos and matches in WCW history - definitely should be on this list.
Armbar!!!!
@@chihollywood9379 Introducing Bore Us Malenko - he has one more more than you Dean….he only has one move.
@@JohnYomtovJr although he was a face at da time but Malenko disguising himself as Ciclope during a battle royal maybe considered also
The man of 1004 holds 🤣
Yeah & technically, that was when "Y2J" was born.
Ole turning on Dusty is one of the greatest turns ever.
Best face turn has to be Jarrett becoming the 5th member of team Joe 👌🎸
Paul Orndorff turning on Hulk Hogan will always have a special place in my heart...and I was a Hulkamaniac! Also, Batista's face turn was as close to perfect as you can get. I love the fact that his face turn happened gradually and then we got a huge, huge payoff in the end.
I was so confused as a kid when Mr Wonderful turned on Hogan on SNME 😮 completely shocked 😮
Lol,I was so shocked and upset as a kid when that happened. I mean it really affected me.
@@jaychild78 Wasn't SNME it was one of their syndicated shows on Saturday either Challenge or Superstars.
I loved all these heel turns but my favorite was Hulk Hogan with that leg drop to savage. You could feel the nuclear heat he received when he joined the Outsiders. Then the in ring promo, fans throwing trash and other things they got their hands on. The formation of the New World Order helped WCW in the ratings for nearly 2 years over WWF/E. Hall and Nash gave the build in this storyline the edge it needed with how real they made it. Hogan becoming the most hated villain after the most beloved rejuvenated his character.
Hogan's heel turn changed the course of wrestling. It also gave the WCW the advantage in the Monday Night wars.
Cactus Jack's heel turn in ECW was a great one. The 'Cane Dewey' promo is still unbelievable.
Still the highest rated promo of all time on Cagematch.
Oh man the "Anti-Hardcore" Foley was SHEER GENIUS. Love it. Cause YOU KNOW Foley was actually probably shooting for real about how Hardcore was nothing but garbage....
@@coreyhall1150 He was right. ECW fans were mostly horrible human beings. Foley talks about how a wrestler did a dive over the top rope and landed on his head on the concrete and those cretain fans just yelled “you f-cked up!”
don't forget Tyson kidd turning
on davy hart smith.
man the jtg an shad one was unexpected.
r.i.p. shad
Wrestling and football 🏈 love it r.i.p Jason David frank aka Tommy green ranger forever
@@DaCosmicPrince this really went over your head look what bios wrote on Twitter. This is no different than people writing rip to Kevin Nash son or any other death on these videos
I loved Tugboat's turn when he went on to be Typhoon
I agree, that was underrated,
6 man tag turns into
The Natural Disasters
Am I wrong, or was Tugboat/Typhoon at one time The Shockmaster?
@snerd Terguson he was
Andre turning heel was HUGE! The following week when Piper asked Hogan if he accepted Andre's challenge, and he did, that was it! I called my buddy with the projector TV (because I knew he was watching) and he already convinced his folks to get the WrestleMania III PPV! 😁 Huge turnout at his house that day! lol
Takers heel turn as Big Evil was awesome, but also his baby-face turn after the Jeff Hardy fight when he gave him huge respect. So memorable
Family?😮
Brother from another mother
How about Paul's turn?
What's really interesting is that I was in the live crowd at X-Seven. Without commentary there was a huge group of us who thought that Vince McMahon had actually turned face. There were a lot of cheers from various sections. Guess we couldn't of fathomed Stone Cold turning heel. Was only the next night on Raw that we realized what actually went down.
Which was dumb
Bob Backlund snapping and becoming Mr Backlund was one of the highlights of 1994 for me, he went from being in the background to being along with Owen, the best heel in the company that was entertaining and scary to watch in equal measure.
That's another one I remember well, and actually should've been on this list
Larry Zybysko's heel turn on Bruno Sammartino was epic!
Heel turns such as Jericho on Shawn, Eddie on Rey in 2005, Batista on Rey at Bragging Rights, have to be up there in terms of great heel turns.
Batista as well as Eddie destroyed Rey
@@chihollywood9379 The Jericho heel turn in 2008 was awesome. It was the last time he was cool, at least in my eyes. The things he did to Shawn was truly despicable and made him a top heel
Don't forget the heel turns of Pretty Paul Roma and the mighty Hercules that led to the formation of Power and Glory under the tutelage of The Doctor of Style Slick. They were one of the top contenders for the tag-team titles.
i was shocked when slickster came into the shot
There finishing move always looked so impressive back in the day. The superplex with Roma landing the splash from the top rope with perfect timing.
Shawn’s short heel turn in 2005 was pretty well done also. The promos especially in Montreal were done to perfection and gave us a taste of 1997 HBK.
Shocked the Rock's first heel turn to join the Nation is not on here. One of the most impactful moments in wrestling history, turned the Rock's career around after his generic babyface run put it on damn near life support and was the first step in a true birth of a mega star.
The first heel turn I ever saw with my own eyes was Scott Steiner's turn on Rick. I didn't watch wrestling much before that time but I knew their names enough that they were identified as a solid tag team and when I saw the turn happen, I was shocked in a way teenage marks would be at the time. I never cared for the tag team as a whole or even Scott's singles runs going forward, but the main takeaway from all that was "don't trust even your own flesh and blood" in wrestling.
Loved the ROCKERS. when Shawn turned heel was the shock of my young life.
Cena at One Night Stand was basically a heel, and it was beautiful
Cena was a heel that night that was nuclear heat
I hardly call that a heel turn. Cena just work the crowd, because understand the business and did the job for RVD in order to leave the crowd happy going home.
Besides when he was actually in the process of having his heel ring attire designed/theme created, that might be the closest we’ll ever get.
@@mrdude88 ah I loved the way he worked that crowd up though it was great
@@Kas58223 It was pretty good and the next night he was the same ole goody two shoes Superman-like Boy Scout character he is.
I remember that Mega Powers explosion! I loved the build up and everything about it. Saturday Night's Main Event was such an awesome show as well because you knew something was going down every episode. This was such an amazing trip down memory lane! Thanks so much!!!
Hogan turning is THE heel turn. My personal favourite is Mark Henry though, that was pure gold
YOU THIIIINK THIS IS EAZZZZZZZY.................... I GOTTA LOT LEFT IN THA TANK!!!
One of my favorite heel turns was Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff turning on Hulk Hogan in 1986. The heat that Orndorff received was nuclear.
Most people don't remember before Wrestlemania 1. The Orndorff / Hogan tag team & subsequent Flower Shop segments are a little too old school for some.
Seth turning on the shield was
like omg.
Andre turning on hogan?
The Orndorff Hogan cage match from Saturday Nights Main Event was much better than Hogan Bundy at Wrestlemania 2. If Andre hadn't turned, I wonder if Mr. Wonderful would have headlined Wrestlemania with Hogan.
Mega Powers explosion was so well done. Hogan had lust in his eyes.
Stone Cold's heel turn was great because when you look back at it, there were a lot of foreshadowings: Austin failed to beat HHH, had a hard time against other new main eventers like Kurt Angle, and a desperate "win-at-all-cost" attitude when he realized he was no longer in his prime compare to The Rock. The build-up to the turn was very logical.
The problem was after Rock went away for filming, Stone Cold had no credible babyface to challenge him. That guy should has been Triple H himself, but instead they allied with each other.
I agree. Him being protrayed as coward at points didn't help. Though his work was great as he showed a ton of range. He could be a bully, pyscho, and funny.
I think they were building to a feud with HHH, but Hunter wound up tearing his quad.
Another foreshadowing (At least imo) was Vince McMahon's interview with Michael Cole just before his match with Shane at Mania 17. "You want shocking? Tonight, you'll get shocking. I guarantee it." - At first blush, he seems to be talking about how crazy the match is going to get. But with the way he was looking at the camera and how he phrased it, "Tonight", I always felt he was talking about the heel turn to come.
@@Cableguy15 Austin still got it
Doubt was the major theme about Austin's return to glory hell irl he really was considered retiring which was incorporated into that Smackdown interview with JR after WM there's also the fact that Austin would attack Heels after the match when they actually won it clean as a whistle
If you watch the ending of his NWO match with HHH he attack him not only that but JR actually took note at The sheer disappointment in Austin face but wave it off as nothing not realizing it affected the Rattlesnake more than we know
If you're looking for a second top heel turn list here are some recommendations: Jake Roberts turning heel in 1991, Shawn Michaels in 1997, Scott Steiner in 1998, Triple H in 1999, JBL in 2004, Christian Cage in 2006, Kurt Angle in 2007, Chris Jericho in 2008, CM Punk in 2009, Christian in 2011, Bobby Roode in 2011, Daniel Bryan in 2018, MJF in 2019.
Batistas heel turn in 2009 is easily my favorite. Probably the first time a babyface let you know he was turning before actually doing it. Plus his soft delivery made it more scary
It got leaked both in 2008 and 2009 he was gonna turn heel. But, both him and Cena got injured. So, they had to put it off til the next year. Where it was rumored it’d be his last Wrestlemania, full time.
poor Rey.
Andre's turn was so well put together, especially when it went on for several weeks in build-up. I always loved Jesse's reaction when Andre challenged Hogan, and when Piper asked Hogan if he'll accept the challenge and Hogan screamed "YESSSSSSS!" the crowd went ballistic. It was just so much fun back then.
~ Caretaker
The heel turn started at MSG after one of Hogan's victories over a challenger. Andre came into the ring after the match and held Hogan's belt in his hands while Hogan was too busy posing for the fans. When Hogan turned around, they were face to face and Andre just dropped the belt on the floor. Hogan acted as if nothing had happened but the fans started booing Andre for the first time (even before Piper's pit tapings).
2:03 I think you'll find Marty, in an act of disgraceful cowardice, jumped through the window to escape.
I keep saying this but it's important to comment to help the algorithms. I save your videos as workout videos so don't see them at the time. A great balance of humour, great facts and some smooth storytelling. The Reliving the War series has been a fantastic format. I've never been the biggest fan of actual wrestling, but I find the behind-the-scenes material much more interesting. Whether you are covering a storyline, event or someone's career. Your videos are always entertaining, well-structured and you give the performers respect when it's due. The love you have for wrestling always comes through. Fantastic work as always.
Maybe it already is, but this would make a great, wholesome copypasta for the sake of boosting wrestlingbios channel comments.
@@Lumpycpu I may say similar things but never copy and paste on any comments on any channel. Just slightly ashamed to admit how far behind I've fallen compared to the schedule after a couple of colds, Covid and a heavy work schedule.
This makes me love old wrestling even more. Fantastic coverage!
Sgt. Saughter heel turn in 90 pissed me off cause i was in desert storm and i remember wanting hulk hogan to beat him! Wow wrestling was so fun then❤️
I know this is not a memorable one but it is one that sticks out in my mind from when I was a kid. The British Bulldog turning heel on Diesel right before Summerslam 1995 and aligning himself with Jim Cornette. I remember what a shocker that was for me.
That was a heel turn no one seen coming
Excuse me... Marty jumped through the window trying to escape from Shawn's greatness.
That was a Marty Heel turn in my book. Cowardice to try and escape through the window.
He totally dived through that window. Such an act of cowardice hahaha
That spot was brutal for WWF. I remember being kind of shocked when the glass broke. Knew a turn was coming but I didn't expect the broken glass. 😆
Are you blind?!
the interesting thing about andre heel's turn is it was also a piper face turn. piper was getting cheered after WM2. when he showed concern for hogan, this solidified the turn.
Oh, my favorite face turn of all time is easy... Macho Man at WrestleMania 7. Also the best match of Warrior's career, imo. I also REALLY liked Perfect's face turn on Raw when Warrior was ousted (talk about not following up a great face turn with anything meaningful, though...). Taker's face turn on Jake when Jake was going to hit Elizabeth with a chair was one of the few turns that actually got me, too. Was on the phone with a friend at the time, and we both said, "What the hell...?" at the exact same time. 😂
Going way way back I loved the Freebirds turning on Kerry Von Erich in Texas. It lead to some record business at the time.
Also Barry Windham turning on Luger and then joining the 4 Horseman was another.
Konnan turning on the 4 live kru and beating down bullet Bob, introduced LAX and probably K dawgs biggest push
Great video, it really must have been fun to make.
Vincent finally standing up to The Million Dollar Man was a really good babyface turn although it lead to nowhere for him.
😄👍
Mark Henry's "I'm coming home" promo should be on here. That had me hook line and sinker.
He should've won the title off that promo alone
2:43 Austin’s work as a heel was amazing.
Austin’s turn to heel killed wrestling. In literally 1 week it went from everyone talking about Monday night raw (on Wednesday as I’m Australian so we saw it Tuesday when we got home from school.) but we all went from talking about it and being pumped for Austin vs rock. To literally not one person even watching it, and as far as I’m aware I’m the only one who regained the interest and even then it’s podcasts and channels like this, not current wrestling. So Austin’s heel turn was absolutely not awesome for the business.
Best babyface turn for me was the big boss man in early 1990 .... I never saw it coming but was so cool when it looked like slick had taken a bribe for his services by the million dollar man....
One of the best story-wise was when Ole Anderson turned on Dusty Rhodes in 1980. You can find Ole's promo after the turn on YT, it's a work of verbal art.
You can also hear both Jim Cornette & Brian Last go into detail about it
"I kicked your leg outta your leg" got me so good. That's one I actually hadn't heard yet. Reminds me of Shane Douglas' "I smashed your knee into obliverally."
I liked British Bulldog's heel turn on Diesel on Raw in 1995, it breathed new life into Davey Boy
Facts
Another awesome upload from the wrestling channel with the most jam on the planet!
I think a heel turn that somehow gets overlooked a lot is Paul Bearer turning on Undertaker, at Summerslam 96. I was legit shocked when that one happened. It played out through 97 and all lead up to Undertaker VS Kane and the debut of Kane.
Barry Windham turning on Lex Lugar and joining the Horsemen is conspicuous by its absence. Very subtle seeds were planted months before but most people missed them, so even though the turn was a stunner, the Horsemen were able to go on TV the next week and point out that they'd tried to tell everyone all along.
I remember being legit angry and betrayed when Stone Cold sided with Vince. I know it has it's detractors but I liked that heel turn.
Same here also alliance Austin's theme is one of my favourites.
It was actually good imo. I hate that Austin became a cowardly heed 4 a bit but he changed that part of his heel run not 2 soon after
Answering the original question off the top of my head, my favourite face turn is AJ Styles in TNA in 2013. He'd been doing a dark, tweener gimmick, and had been coming out to the great session track, 'Evil Ways'. (Aficionados should look up on TH-cam an excellent mashup a fan produced between it and his WWE theme, titled 'Phenomenal Ways'). AJ had been ambivalent but the faces needed a partner. Just after a multi-man match started 'Evil Ways' started and he came out. The song goes, to end the chorus, "And I can't hide - My evil ways." Well, he was standing hooded and bowed, but just as the first half of that line was sung the track went quiet and, sure as a button, he threw off his hood, put up his hand in his old and current signature pose and then his old music hit. "Get ready to fly! - I am I am...", etc. It didn't mean much for the wrestling landscape but as a well-crafted moment, I thought it was, well, phenomenal.
I remember Andre turning heel. That was shocking-but you forgot Larry Zybysko turning on Bruno Sammartino.
Bully Ray being revealed as the President of the Aces & Eights in Impact.
Geniune shocker. So well delivered.
I think the best part of Bret Hart's heel turn is he still played the face outside the United States, and portrayed the American fans as the villain.
Undertaker turning heel to start his big evil phase was pure gold. As was Austin's turn in 2001. Poor JR always seemed to get the brunt of these turns (also with Kane's) 😅🙏🏼
Im surprised this wasn’t covered in the video. Undertaker played the heel brilliantly. It was strangely watching taker in this manner compared to his previous gimmicks but it was very memorable
@@complexfellow4961 Me too. It is a glaring omission. The feud with Rick Flair was one of the greats. Undertaker made those punches of his look brutal, especially on David Flair
What about Paul bearers heel turn
HBK's heel turn was an amazing slow burn. Accidental elimination in the tag team championship contender battle royal, causing an elimination at Survivor Series, and other small in and out of ring things. I remember the barber shop segment when it first aired... it was shocking.
It was not planned for months of 1991.
Close was the Seth Rollins Heel turn but still very far away.
@@lexkanyima2195 huh?
Tatanka. The WWF made nothing out of it. But the turn at Summerslam 1994 was fantastic.
Bully Ray should feature surely?!
Jericho's first WCW heel turn wasn't memorable itself, but it led to some of the greatest heel stuff we've ever seen.
Heel Austin and Angle were great together so many funny moments I loved it
One of the greatest turns that doesn't get mentioned enough is Orndorff turning on Hogan in '86. There was some foreshadowing, but nobody saw that coming... Clothesline, then Pile-driver. CLASSIC!!!💪🏿
I remember mr wonderful turn on hogan in 86 man what a fued that was! Good stuff bro!
Definitely seen that coming especially the way he was acting the week prior against the Moondogs
I loved Kane's heel turn. The Big Red Machine definitely returned!
I know it's old school, but how do you not have Larry Zbyszko turning on Bruno? That was the ultimate turn. Very few if any saw that coming.
As a kid, the Andre the Giant and Shawn Michaels heel turns killed me as a kid.
Marty was given way more opportunities than any one to date in both wcw and the wwe
I loved the Austin heel turn. Especially because he totally committed to it. Plus his skits with McMahon and Angle backstage were hilarious.
McMahon :Angle is a dork, but he's OUR Dork."
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
The Andre Heel turn was fantastic. I was 8 years old at the time and seeing that was fantastic and Traumatizing
Man the mega powers were awesome! The most over tag team ever!!
You
Should have had Barry Windham turning on Lex Luger and joining the Four Horsemen that was one of the most shocking headlines turns I ever witnessed.
Man, you make some wonderful retrospectives. Great work. I love your content.
The fabulous Rougeau brothers turning heel was classic. And ought to be ranked high.
Funny thing is that I am a French Canadian and we had a Quebec feed in 1988. So they always gave the Rougeaus the legitimate benefit of the doubt for the most part! hahaha.
One of the best face turns was Mr. Perfect in 1992 on Prime Time Wrestling. Warrior was gone and Macho Man had to find a partner against Razor Ramon and Ric Flair. I do believe it was last minute, but the general idea made for some interesting content. It was worth watching through it. Heenan, the legend he was at the time, helped bring the whole thing together with his reactions and banter.
The Infamous “WHAT” chant that crowds still do to this day came from Austin’s Heel turn .
Biggest most memorable fsce turn for me was Hoganreturning to the red an yellow on Monday Nitro. I was there in person for that and the pop was enormous!
I’d honestly like to see the inverse of this list worst heel turns
You could make a list of all of Big Shows heel/face turns.
Best heel turns: Hogan nwo, Bully Ray aces n eights, Larry Z on Bruno, Samoa Joe joining main even mafia.
Best face turns: Bossman turning on slick, Owen becoming the Black Hart, Jarrett joining team Joe (never ever saw Jarrett turning face) and Perfect siding with Macho
Being old enough to see it happen, even to this day, watching the Hulk/Andre incident breaks my heart. I was a Hulkamaniac, and seeing Andre turn his back on Hulk destroyed me. Regardless of how folks feel about Hulk, for me, watching that still hurts.
Another great video from WrestlingBios!
I think one aspect of some heel turns that tends to get overlooked is the acting performances of the other wrestlers involved. RVD did a fantastic job with his expression during Kane's heel turn, holding a combination of concern, uncertainity, worry and fear throughout most of the segment. Seth Rollins' betrayal of The Shield also had top-notch acting from Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose. When he's hit with the chair, Reigns collapses while his face tells a story of heartbreak, sadness, and also a tragic acceptance as Ambrose conveys the look of a man whose mind is unable to even register what had just happened.
It's even more impressive when you take into account they aren't trained actors, yet they're able to display a more complex dramatic range than some Hollywood stars.
Triple H's face turn with the revival of DX was great.
The revival where they all eventually turned heel again…..Or, the “Dad Joke” version?
Owen's turn was my favorite, even if it was predictable. Even though he botched that line during his promo, I thought it kind of worked, seemed natural. Think of where his kayfabe mental state was at the time. I thought it made perfect sense that something so nonsensical would come out as he's venting his frustrations about his brother. Also this was a rare PPV with Ted DiBiase on color. Dibiase's laugh of approval to Owen's kick, and everything else Owen did and said, was fantastic.
I can’t believe Barry Windham’s heel turn is not on here. It was epic. I still see him holding up the 4 fingers
One I remember from my childhood was henning turning on the horseman, yes looks so obvious now but it stuck with me for so long for some reason
Kane's mask removal was one of the many dumb boneheaded moves from vince.
A really good babyface turn I can think of off the top of my head is the Daniel Bryan one when he attacked Bray Wyatt.
The way the crowd reacted to it, it was beautiful.
Royal Rumble 1992 was the first wrestling event I ever watched, and they replayed the Shawn/Marty breakup, so that was the first heel turn I ever saw. It’s a good one to establish the trope for you as a child.
"Kicked his leg out of his leg"
Owen was just ahead of his time. That's some 2012 humor. Lol
As far as hogan turns. What about Paul Orndorf? that one was HUGE.