I was thinking tonight in my head, about certain face and heel turns that have occurred in wrestling, and I was compiling a list of certain ones that really made fans notice, made fans go "wow!", or just plain left fans in shock.
Y!A Wrestling community, tell me in your opinion what you think are the Top 5 face or heel turns of all time in wrestling
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Favorite Answer
* THE TOP 5 TURNS OF ALL TIME *
5. "MACHO MAN" RANDY SAVAGE (1989): Savage had spent the early part of his World Wrestling Federation career as a heel. Then, in 1987, he slowly became a good guy. What eventually ensued was Savage teaming with Hulk Hogan to form The Mega Powers, and Savage even winning the WWF Title at WrestleMania IV. Everything was fine, until the 1989 Royal Rumble where Hogan accidentally eliminated Savage (of course). Savage exploded on Hogan and became a heel, putting Elizabeth in the middle of the confrontation. The Mega Powers broke up and fought each other at WrestleMania V, where Savage lost the WWF Title to Hogan (of course).
4. - 3 WAY TIE - THE ROCK (1997), THE ROCK (1999) & THE ROCK (2002): What makes all of the Rock's turns so interesting is that they were all purely fan-driven. He debuted in 1996 as the clean-cut Rocky Miavia. Despite him being a face, the fans booed him, and he was turned heel in 1997. During his time as a heel, the Rock found a great deal of charisma, and the fans cheered him, so he was made a face. Then starting with his match with "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania 18, fans started booing him again (probably for leaving to do movies). He thus became a heel. Each of the turns was completely dictated by the fans, not the storylines, which makes the Rock one of the more interesting cases in wrestling history, since fans apparently don't like being told how to feel about the character.
3. ANDRE THE GIANT (1987): For the better part of his career Andre the Giant became internationally known as an unbeatable wrestling attraction. Fans loved him. However, after almost 15 years of being the good guy, Andre turned against Hulk Hogan in early 1987, setting up the most memorable wrestling match of all time at WrestleMania III.
2. "STONE COLD" STEVE AUSTIN (1997): When coming to the World Wrestling Federation as the Ringmaster in 1995, Austin became a misanthropic bad guy in 1996. He crushed the dreams of Jake Roberts at King of the Ring and went on to be a major heel. That is, up until a double-turn at WrestleMania 13 where, in a submission match, Bret Hart became a heel and Steve Austin became a beer-swilling, bird-flipping, boss-stunnering face. What ensued was the WWF Attitude era.
1. "HOLLYWOOD" HOGAN (1996): It seems to be the consensus here and, in truth, its the correct answer. In truth, Hogan had flirted with a heel turn in 1995, but WCW held back, trying to find the right way to do it. And its great that they did. No wrestling turn has ever meant more than on July 7, 1996 when Hulk Hogan, after over a decade of Hulkamania, turned heel and joined Scott Hall & Kevin Nash to form the New Wolrd Order (nWo). It set the wrestling world upside down and helped fuel the Monday Night Wars and brought the sport to new heights.
NOTE: The Randy Orton face turn could be a big deal if properly executed. The same thing goes for Jeff Hardy's heel turn in TNA, which actually seems to be going decently. Ken Anderson's face turn has been successful, but I really wish he'd go back to being a heel. I think we all can't wait for a legitimate John Cena heel turn.
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5. The double turn with the Powers of Pain and Demolition at the first ever survivor series. One ditched Mr. Fuji, and the other picked him up.
4.David Arquette turning on DDP. This falls strictly under the category of shock, as all this angle did was fill me with a psychotic rage at how asinine and cheapened the WCW title had become.
3. Shawn Michaels turning on Marty Janetty. We all saw the breakup of the Rockers coming, it was a nice slow build up. What we didn't see was Shawn throwing Marty through the glass window.
2. Jake the Snake Roberts teams with the Undertaker. Jake had been a classic western hero for so long, (getting his snake crushed by Earthquake, getting 'blinded' by Rick Martel, getting a near constant beatdown from Andre the Giant) only to get back up again and keep going that it was surprising the powers that be finally made him a bad guy. Having him hold a cobra that bit Randy Savage made us all squeamish as kids too.
1. Hulk Hogan joining the NWO. Growing up, Hulk was an idol to all of us. True, he couldn't out wrestle a plastic baggie, but it didn't matter to us kids, he was larger than life. To see him come down the aisle to save the day once again only to turn on everyone and spray paint 'NWO' on people, that's the kind of heat money can't even buy. To watch the fans pelt the ring with trash, that is the reaction that makes timeless moments.
The Enigmatic Creature (N-6)
Well i don't know how long you have been watchin wrestling so im going to go with some recent ones
Heel Turn
Jeff Hardy Hulk Hogan Jeff Jarrett/Immortal 2010
It was a total shock to me i would have never thought TNA would build a 7 month storyline but it turned out to be a good one and i hope it comes down with a Big Bang!
Heel Turn
Matt Hardy 2008
Well i think i speak for everyone in the WS when i say i never saw this one coming it does not get better than brotherly hate and jealousy i like how they had Matt make the Heel turn because if it was Jeff it would have been so Idiotic.
Face Turn
Matt Morgan 2010
He was with Forture and Immortal and who would have thought he would have turn on them for The So Called "Asshole" and his concusion so that was a shock to me when he wipped Jarret's *** at the end of impact and signed that contract for the title shot.
Face Turn
Kurt Angle 2010
After the stints with the Godfather of the Main Event Mafia i never saw a Angle Face turn coming so it was a shock to me and i also thought that there was nothing left with him as a heel so it was a good move to turn him Face.
Last One was a toss up between Batista's Heel turn and Aj Style's Heel turn but i will go with Batista's
Heel turn
Batista 2009
I thought batista would never do it but he did and i loved it batista was a great heel and it was nice to see him heel and not some ones lackey (Triple H) it was unexpected and shocking so it was a good move and WWE also got a WM main Event out of it.
Anonymous
TNA Faces: Kurt attitude, Matt Morgan, Sting, Hernandez, & Bobby Lashley TNA Heels: The Band, AJ types, Eric youthful, Desmond Wolfe, & Scott Steiner WWE Faces: John Cena, DX, element, Brothers of Destruction, Rey Mysterio WWE Heels: Batista, Chris Jericho, enormous practice The Miz, Randy Orton and Legecy
King of SlapShot
Face
Batista in 2005
Triple H in 2006
Heel
Randy Orton in 2005
CM Punk in 2009.
Heel
Steve Austin (WM 17, 01)
Face
Eddie Guerrero (05)
Heel - HBK throwing Marty Jannety through the window on 'Barber Shop' ,
Hulk Hogan joining the 'Ouutsiders' at Bash at the Beach
Jericho on HBK in 2008/Jericho during the 'Invasion' in 2001