Best WWF/E heel turn

[Australian Pride]

It's been over 20 years since Vince/Hulk kickstarted the Rock'n'Wrestling era, and took the business in a new direction. There's been a lot of changes since then but several things have remained constant. These are probably the most memorable heel turns from then to now, though there are plenty of others to choose from (HHH/2002, Rikishi/2000, Dude Love/1998 to name just 3).

 

Historically, i think Andre was the biggest (no pun intended), but my personal favourite is Bret Hart from 1997. They built it up and then executed the pay-off perfectly at WM13. Close second to the Rockers break-up. The split was not unexpected, but the brutality of it certainly was.

[Toshiaki Koala]

I know everyone will vote for HBK, but Stephanie was the most memorable for me so I gotta be honest.

[Papacita]

Damn...a lot of good choices.

 

For me, it's really a tie between HHH/Chyna from WMXV and Rock's from SS. Rock's turn gets enough praise, so I'll choose the other one.

[Guest Ray]

Probably Bret's 1997 turn, because it was so believable and meaningful. Not the USA vs Canada stuff, the original turn. Bret's growing frustration, from getting repeatedly screwed by Austin, and from the fans supporting this man Bret despised so much.

[Guest NiTR0]

Austin against The Rock.

 

1. Brought Out Psycho Austin

2. Was a classic match

3. Austin sides with his arch enemy, but it made sense

[Lil' Bitch]

Stone Cold, it was great to have him as a heel again....until they turned his character into a pussy...

[TheOriginalOrangeGoblin]

Andre is the most significant. Bret's was the best executed and most logical.

[DMann2003]

I voted for Bret, just because of how well it was executed, but may I ask where is Jake Roberts turn from 1991?

 

When you boil it down, the man turned heel for 2 reasons

1)He went mad after Damien was squashed

2)He was turned away from Randy Savage's bachelor party

 

And locking Ultimate Warrior in a room full of snakes is sinister.

[CanadianChick]

I don't see how Austin turning can be considered great. Had it occured in a different city, then yeah, it would have been awesome. But the crowd absolutely killed the turn for me. They were cheering the evil Austin. Not good.

[Guest Staravenger]

Now this is a tough one...simple thinking I'd say Steve Austin in 2001, because I didn't expect that one at all. But after thinking it over, it was kinda forshadowed....A LOT with his desperate desire to win the World Title.

 

Too bad this isn't WCW, or I'd say Hulk Hogan in 1996 hands down. That ripped the heart out of Hogan fans and took a big steaming shit on it.

 

Anyway, since it's WWF/E...Davey Boy Smith's turn in 1995 REALLY shocked me. I've never seen him work heel before, and didn't see it coming.

 

Shane McMahons return at No Way Out 2000 had me marking out, and then he turned heel 5 seconds later. Not too surprising when thinking about it.

 

Larry Z. turning heel on Bruno back in the day was probably a big thing, but it's DQed since I wasn't born to actually see it.

 

BUT THE WINNER IS...

 

Vince McMahon. Yup, the horrible babyface ring announcer screwing Bret over and becoming the biggest heel of all time. Never saw it coming, and it changed wrestling.

[chaosrage]

Bret Hart, without question. Here's a little refresher for those who don't remember it. From John Petrie's monday night recaps on the night it happened.

 

Bret Hart's heel turn has been one of the most deftly

crafted angles the WWF has done ... maybe ever. There's nothing "standard"

or cartoonish about it. We saw his return in November ... his vow to "clean

up the WWF" and how the fans balked at this. We saw him claim he was being

"screwed" by the WWF, and to a certain extent he was right. He WAS screwed

out of a win at the Royal Rumble. Even after finally winning the belt again,

he lost it due to Steve Austin's interference. Virtually everything Hart

said in his speech this week was true, and that's what makes his turn so

genuine and relevant. We've actually seen Hart's frustration build. Taking

into account his inability to re-attain the top, and seeing the fans stop

cheering for his "type" of wrestler, has made his turn logical, realistic,

and perhaps, inevitable.

 

Compare this to Hulk Hogan's heel turn at "Bash at the Beach": he walks out

to the ring ... he drops a leg ... he's a bad guy! Sure it was a shock, but

was it logical? Did it make sense? All his turn had to draw on was what the

fans have always percieved as a huge ego-which Hogan identified as the

basis of his turn ("I made wrestling what it is today!"). If you hated

Hogan before, the turn gave you no reason to stop hating him. Even if you

liked him, it was his actions that followed more than his words that made

you, as a fan, turn on him. Sneak attacks from behind, and cowardly retreats

are all that keep the fans booing him. He has gone from being the shallowest

babyface in wrestling history to the shallowest heel. Any words he speaks

sound more like prewritten speeches than anything indicative of the "real"

Hulk Hogan. We hate him because we are supposed to, according to WCW.

 

Hart, on the other hand, has earned his new heel status. We've seen a once

admirable person-one who'd only get "extreme" if pushed too hard-go

completely over the edge. What most other wrestlers would merely accept,

Hart has lingered over and dwelled upon. He still hasn't accepted his loss

at last year's Wrestlemania. He still blames Michaels for his loss to Sid at

last December's In Your House (the only real weak part of the whole buildup

to this turn). He blames the refs for his loss at the Royal Rumble. What

started as a minority view by a few wrestling fans ("Bret is a crybaby")

became apparent to the majority. Despite Bret's own claims to the contrary

of moving beyond those setbacks, it's apparent that he hasn't. He still

cannot stand Shawn Michaels, even though Shawn was clearly the better man at

WrestleMania XII. If Hart were "the better man," he wouldn't keep bringing

up the fact that he "didn't lose that match."

 

The whole turn has been draped in realism. Hart's comments about the

American fans sting because they smack of the truth. Hart won the match

versus Steve Austin at WrestleMania, yet he was booed. Would Shawn Michaels

have been booed as loudly? The Undertaker? Probably not. Steve Austin is as

despicable a character as there's ever been in wrestling and the fans

cheered him on. Any criticisms Hart levels at the American fans are dead-on

in that respect.

 

But Hart has gone beyond that-he's had to-to complete the turn. The above

only establishes him as unpopular, (to American fans), but not a heel. What

completed the turn, fleshed out the canvas if you will, was the attack on

Michaels. Even if you believe that Shawn "faked" his injury, (a notion the

average fan will probably dismiss), his attack from behind shows just what a

fundamental change Hart has undergone. The "old" Bret Hart would never

attack someone from behind, not to mention doing so to a person who was

supposedly injured already. This was the furtherance of the actions began at

the end of his match against Austin.

 

Add in to all this Hart's personal verbal attacks against the WWF's other

upper echelon wrestlers: calling Sid a fraud, his disparaging remarks aimed

at the Undertaker. He went just short of outright accusing Shawn of being

gay, for crying out loud! This wasn't simply empty name calling like we see

so often by heels (WCW's in particular). These were comments delivered with

conviction, perhaps seeming more genuine because (just perhaps) Bret

actually believes some of these things. Bret Hart is now accusable of being

everything including a "crybaby," a "sore loser," a "bigot," and "jealous."

Whether any of these labels are accurate or true, Hart has established that

we, as fans, are entitled to call him such.

 

Unfortunately, we've seen the high point of all this already. No doubt that

from now on Hart will play the more conventional heel, doing run-ins, saying

how much better he is than everyone else, etc. What would be even worse is

if the WWF turns Austin into a pandering babyface (like Michaels) to counter

this. My hope is that they won't. What can't be denied, though, is the

emotion that Hart's rallying cry "the Best there is ... " will raise in the

minds of those that hear it. Never has something that once seemed so true

become something so vile, venemous, and ugly.

[Guest JMA]

I have to go with Bret Hart's heel turn. It was just so masterfully done. The fact that he was still treated as a babyface OUTSIDE of the United States made the whole angle much more sweet.

[Mrnoitaull]

I voted The Rock cus in my short period of just starting to watch wrestling, that was the first Heel turn I'd seen where the Heel didnt run making him convincing enemy.

[Guest Prof_Plague]

...What a toss-up. I voted for Bret. But close was Andre, Owen, Michaels, and Savage. ...Owen might make second.

[Guest Rrrsh]

The real winner is Paul Orndorff.

 

But of the choices, I say Bret. Shawn is a close second,

 

 

As a mark, I always thought Robert's was the best. Its still a top 5 IMO.

[Krankor]

Owen turning on Bret. Not that it was majorly shocking at the time, but the fact that Owen was turning on the biggest face in the company at the time.

[The Niggardly King]

Owen turning on Bret, followed by the Bret turn

[Guest ally mccoist]

I'd go for the Rock turn. I was never a WWF fan (always prefered WCW) and this was around the time I started getting into WWF thanks to Austin etc. I liked how throughout the ppv Rock was getting all these wins due to backfired McMahon interference, but it was, as JR would say, a set up all along, and a very clever one at that.

 

Austin's turn in 2001 was good in the "I can't believe they just did that" sense. It was just a stupid place to do the turn (I guess the thinking was the Texan fans would riot over their hero turning, but it backfired obviously).

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

WHERE THE HELL IS THE ORNDORFF TURN ON HOGAN?

 

This list sucks.

[Australian Pride]

WHERE THE HELL IS THE ORNDORFF TURN ON HOGAN?

 

This list sucks.

This list does not suck!

 

C'mon, you only get 10 options. That's why there's a category called 'Other'. It's not rocket science.

[BHK]

Bret Hart, without question. Here's a little refresher for those who don't remember it. From John Petrie's monday night recaps on the night it happened.

 

Bret Hart's heel turn has been one of the most deftly

crafted angles the WWF has done ... maybe ever. There's nothing "standard"

or cartoonish about it. We saw his return in November ... his vow to "clean

up the WWF" and how the fans balked at this. We saw him claim he was being

"screwed" by the WWF, and to a certain extent he was right. He WAS screwed

out of a win at the Royal Rumble. Even after finally winning the belt again,

he lost it due to Steve Austin's interference. Virtually everything Hart

said in his speech this week was true, and that's what makes his turn so

genuine and relevant. We've actually seen Hart's frustration build. Taking

into account his inability to re-attain the top, and seeing the fans stop

cheering for his "type" of wrestler, has made his turn logical, realistic,

and perhaps, inevitable.

 

Compare this to Hulk Hogan's heel turn at "Bash at the Beach": he walks out

to the ring ... he drops a leg ... he's a bad guy! Sure it was a shock, but

was it logical? Did it make sense? All his turn had to draw on was what the

fans have always percieved as a huge ego-which Hogan identified as the

basis of his turn ("I made wrestling what it is today!"). If you hated

Hogan before, the turn gave you no reason to stop hating him. Even if you

liked him, it was his actions that followed more than his words that made

you, as a fan, turn on him. Sneak attacks from behind, and cowardly retreats

are all that keep the fans booing him. He has gone from being the shallowest

babyface in wrestling history to the shallowest heel. Any words he speaks

sound more like prewritten speeches than anything indicative of the "real"

Hulk Hogan. We hate him because we are supposed to, according to WCW.

 

Hart, on the other hand, has earned his new heel status. We've seen a once

admirable person-one who'd only get "extreme" if pushed too hard-go

completely over the edge. What most other wrestlers would merely accept,

Hart has lingered over and dwelled upon. He still hasn't accepted his loss

at last year's Wrestlemania. He still blames Michaels for his loss to Sid at

last December's In Your House (the only real weak part of the whole buildup

to this turn). He blames the refs for his loss at the Royal Rumble. What

started as a minority view by a few wrestling fans ("Bret is a crybaby")

became apparent to the majority. Despite Bret's own claims to the contrary

of moving beyond those setbacks, it's apparent that he hasn't. He still

cannot stand Shawn Michaels, even though Shawn was clearly the better man at

WrestleMania XII. If Hart were "the better man," he wouldn't keep bringing

up the fact that he "didn't lose that match."

 

The whole turn has been draped in realism. Hart's comments about the

American fans sting because they smack of the truth. Hart won the match

versus Steve Austin at WrestleMania, yet he was booed. Would Shawn Michaels

have been booed as loudly? The Undertaker? Probably not. Steve Austin is as

despicable a character as there's ever been in wrestling and the fans

cheered him on. Any criticisms Hart levels at the American fans are dead-on

in that respect.

 

But Hart has gone beyond that-he's had to-to complete the turn. The above

only establishes him as unpopular, (to American fans), but not a heel. What

completed the turn, fleshed out the canvas if you will, was the attack on

Michaels. Even if you believe that Shawn "faked" his injury, (a notion the

average fan will probably dismiss), his attack from behind shows just what a

fundamental change Hart has undergone. The "old" Bret Hart would never

attack someone from behind, not to mention doing so to a person who was

supposedly injured already. This was the furtherance of the actions began at

the end of his match against Austin.

 

Add in to all this Hart's personal verbal attacks against the WWF's other

upper echelon wrestlers: calling Sid a fraud, his disparaging remarks aimed

at the Undertaker. He went just short of outright accusing Shawn of being

gay, for crying out loud! This wasn't simply empty name calling like we see

so often by heels (WCW's in particular). These were comments delivered with

conviction, perhaps seeming more genuine because (just perhaps) Bret

actually believes some of these things. Bret Hart is now accusable of being

everything including a "crybaby," a "sore loser," a "bigot," and "jealous."

Whether any of these labels are accurate or true, Hart has established that

we, as fans, are entitled to call him such.

 

Unfortunately, we've seen the high point of all this already. No doubt that

from now on Hart will play the more conventional heel, doing run-ins, saying

how much better he is than everyone else, etc. What would be even worse is

if the WWF turns Austin into a pandering babyface (like Michaels) to counter

this. My hope is that they won't. What can't be denied, though, is the

emotion that Hart's rallying cry "the Best there is ... " will raise in the

minds of those that hear it. Never has something that once seemed so true

become something so vile, venemous, and ugly.

God I miss Bret.

[Slayer]

Close tie between Michaels and Bret

 

Michaels had a singular defining moment (superkick followed by toss-through-window)

 

I don't remember such moment for Bret, but the overall result/effect of the turn was beyond memorable

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

WHERE THE HELL IS THE ORNDORFF TURN ON HOGAN?

 

This list sucks.

This list does not suck!

 

C'mon, you only get 10 options. That's why there's a category called 'Other'. It's not rocket science.

Orndorff's turn on Hogan is one of the most famous of all time. It should have a spot, not fucking OTHER.

 

It's not rocket science.

[Guest Rrrsh]

WHERE THE HELL IS THE ORNDORFF TURN ON HOGAN?

 

This list sucks.

This list does not suck!

 

C'mon, you only get 10 options. That's why there's a category called 'Other'. It's not rocket science.

Dude, half of those options suck man. Way to many from the 1998-1999. The Orndorff turn might have lead to the most profatable fued in WWE history. Thatt option needed to be added.

[Australian Pride]

WHERE THE HELL IS THE ORNDORFF TURN ON HOGAN?

 

This list sucks.

This list does not suck!

 

C'mon, you only get 10 options. That's why there's a category called 'Other'. It's not rocket science.

Orndorff's turn on Hogan is one of the most famous of all time. It should have a spot, not fucking OTHER.

 

It's not rocket science.

Each to his own.

 

In all honesty i never saw his actual turn on Hogan, have only ever read about it and saw a cage match between them. Sorry if something i never saw doesnt stick in my mind, but that's life. We didnt have the coverage of WWF down here that you guys had/have, and again, that's why there's a category called 'other'.

 

I never claimed this was a definitive list of heel turns, but since every single one of them has gotten at least one vote then it cant be too bad.

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

WHERE THE HELL IS THE ORNDORFF TURN ON HOGAN?

 

This list sucks.

This list does not suck!

 

C'mon, you only get 10 options. That's why there's a category called 'Other'. It's not rocket science.

Orndorff's turn on Hogan is one of the most famous of all time. It should have a spot, not fucking OTHER.

 

It's not rocket science.

Each to his own.

 

In all honesty i never saw his actual turn on Hogan, have only ever read about it and saw a cage match between them. Sorry if something i never saw doesnt stick in my mind, but that's life. We didnt have the coverage of WWF down here that you guys had/have, and again, that's why there's a category called 'other'.

 

I never claimed this was a definitive list of heel turns, but since every single one of them has gotten at least one vote then it cant be too bad.

Dude, it's not MY fault you forgot one of the greatest WWF turns in history. To put this shit on me.

[Australian Pride]

Never said it was your fault, all i was doing was just explaining why it wasnt on there. Nobody's perfect.

 

I'm happy to admit that in hindsight it would have been better on the list than maybe HHH/Chyna or the Stephanie turn, but you cant deny that both of them also had some shock value which got attention.