A Turn You Didn't See Coming

[The Brain]

It’s always exciting when a wrestler turns from heel to face or vice versa. Many times we’ve been able to see the turn coming several weeks or even months ahead of time. Other times the turn has seemingly come out of nowhere and catches us by surprise. What is a face or heel turn that you didn’t see coming? I have a couple but I’ll just list one for now and wait for some responses.

In 1989/1990 Ted Dibiase was feuding with Jake Roberts. At one point during their feud Roberts stole the million dollar belt from Dibiase and kept it in his bag with Damien. During a match between Roberts and Dibiase on Superstars The Big Bossman came to the ring and attacked Roberts eventually handcuffing him to the ropes. The Bossman, Dibiase, and Slick left Roberts in the ring and headed to the Brother Love set to offer an explanation. The Bossman thought he was doing a good deed by returning stolen property, but when it was revealed that Dibiase paid Slick to do the job Bossman became upset (for some reason). Dibiase began to berate the Bossman and accuse him of being too scared to reach in the bag and get the belt. Bossman proved Dibiase wrong by reaching right in and pulling the belt out but then he announced he could not be bought and put the belt back. He took it to the ring and handed the key to the handcuffs to Roberts. On his way back to the dressing room Bossman shoved Slick to the floor solidifying his face turn.

Before this incident Bossman was a hated heel. He had a lengthy feud with Hulk Hogan and also worked a lot with Dusty Rhodes. I don’t recall any indication that a face turn was coming. This caught me completely off guard and although there were some plot holes in the turn it was a memorable moment. What are some other turns that came out of nowhere?

 

[Bernkastel]

I started watching wrestling in 1997 and I just kind of went with the flow until about 2006 where I was corrupted, then uncorrupted by the internet. Following 2001 my family didn't have cable, so I was stuck watching Smackdown on UPN Thursday's nights. My favorite wrestler during that time was Brock Lesnar, and I remember him being extremely hated with Paul Heyman as his manager.

The two of them seemed like an unbeatable team with Lesnar dishing out the beatings and Heyman providing the promos. When Brock first won the title, he looked unstoppable, and when he beat down the Big Show right before their big match I thought Brock actually had a shot of winning. I watched in disbelief as Lesnar F5'ed the Big Show at the PPV... only to have Heyman turn on him moments later. I was just in disbelief watching the whole thing. I just became so enthralled in the product after that.

 

[ProPainScott]

There was one turn that I marked out for big time, in my 20 years of watching wrestling. On RAW on July 9, 2001... a few months after Vince bought out WCW and after ECW went under, some of the talent from the defunct companies were slowly making their debuts in WWE...


It was Kane & Chris Jericho vs Mike Awesome and Lance Storm in a WWE vs WCW themed tag match. RVD and Tommy Dreamer came running through the crowd and attacked Kane and Jericho. I was always a huge ECW mark, and was ecstatic that my favorite wrestler RVD, had just made his WWE debut.

Then a crew of WWE wrestlers came out to shield Kane and Jericho from the beat down they were receiving from the gang of WCW/ECW guys. Before I could even realize that the gang of WWE guys that came out for the save were ALL FORMER ECW wrestlers (Tazz, Dudley Boyz, Justin Credible, Rhino, & Raven)... They all turned around and began a huge beatdown on Jericho and Kane.

And thus, the Alliance was born. It was such a well executed segment, and it all happened so fast before you could even realize who was in the ring and what was happening. To see all these former WCW and ECW stars in a WWE ring, all beating the crap out of Kane and Jericho, and declaring War on WWE was an image that will never be forgotten.

Say what you will about how the whole Invasion angle played out in the coming year, but on that night the storyline was officially born, and it gave me goosebumps. The crowd was white hot, and it was one of those moments in wrestling when your jaw drops to the floor, and you are truly in disbelief. Similar to when Shane was on Nitro, and when CM Punk shot on Vince.

Those moments are few and far between.

 

[D-Blaze]

I know it's probably an underrated turn, but Trish Stratus' heel turn at WrestleMania XX. That one caught me completely off guard. Looking back now, I can see where they were planting the seeds for it, but at the time, I had zero idea it was coming and was shocked when it went down. The sloppy, aggressive kiss between her and Christian at the top of the ramp with a beaten down, almost in tears Jericho watching on from the ring sealed it as a memorable moment.

 

[KoC417]

For me it was the Austin heel turn at WM17. I know some people "claim" it was obvious and all but looking back at it. Austin/McMahon hated each other on screen. Rock and Vince had a previous partnership and if anyone could run as a heel it would be Rock. When Vince walked that aisle at WM17 and stood/sat ringside for those brief moments I honestly had no idea what was happening. Even when he helped Steve win I was still skeptical about the whole thing. Then they shook hands. JR flipped his top went absolutely bonkers at the announce table and everything.
Then the following night on Raw Austin played to the crowd for a moment that he was just using Vince to get the title. I thought Austin would return to his face ways and annihilate Vince in the ring, BUT he completed the heel transformation. Then joined up with HHH as well. NEVER expected that.

 

[FanSince99]

I have to say Stephanie turning on her dad at Armageddon '99. It was daddy's little girl becoming the Million Dollar Princess. I actually felt sorry for Vince as he had to watch Stephanie embrace HHH.

 

[justinept]

A few good ones have been mentioned

I was at the United Center in 1994 when Tatanka turned on Lex Luger. As a 9-year old, I remember feeling completely betrayed. It's one of the first times a WWE superstar made me feel that way. So that turn always carries a special place for me.

The Road Warriors turning on Rhodes. That was one of the most gruesome turns I've seen. In fact, I just saw it again the other night while watching the Dusty Rhodes DVD on Netflix.

The Trish Stratus heel turn was also great - seriously, there was nothing hotter than the thought of a bad, ****ty Trish Stratus. In fact, even now, I'm not sure there's anything better than that.

Other ones that surprised me:

The Rock joining Vince McMahon at Survivor Series 1998. The crowd had been cheering The Rock throughout the Fall and his face turn was finally completed at the beginning of November. The quick heel turn really came out of nowhere for me.

Hogan joining the NWO. This one goes without saying - I just can't believe I haven't seen it on the thread yet.

Triple H turning on DX at WrestleMania 15. This wasn't the greatest heel turn of all time, but I remember it because it ended the DX era. There were a few reunions over the next 10 years, but for me, DX officially ended at WrestleMania 15.

And the BEST FACE TURN OF ALL TIME: WrestleMania 7. The Macho Man. Can anyone on this board say they weren't jumping up and down when Elizabeth and Randy Savage re-united in the middle of the ring?

 

[Da Prophet]

Hulk Hogan turning by a mile. Nobody thought it would happen and it wasn't supposed to happen. It was going to be Sting joining the nWo but the change came last minute when Hogan decided to go with the heel turn. You can hear the crowd cheer as Hogan comes down to the ring and when he drops the leg on Savage everyone is shocked. I'll repeat, nobody saw this coming. It was brilliant because Hogan was the one guy you never thought would be a bad guy. We all know what happened next for the wresting business and a lot of it can be attributed to this moment.

 

[THE SWAG]

in sticking with hogan i would have to say the match with him and rock at wrestlemania 18 that was just classic, even hogan didn't see it coming, and the rock was totally shocked on what was happening

 

[The Third Man]

Hogan turning was it for me. I would have bet dollars to donuts Luger was faking the fake injury and would return to join Nash and Hall. Totally epic. And it would not have been nearly as huge if it was anyone other than Hogan at that point in time.

 

[berlinbrawler]

Hmm. Not many come to mind. I used to piss off my friends by spoiling heel/face-turns to them. Konni refused to believe me that Tatanka was going to turn on Lex Luger. Ferdi said I was crazy and that Sting would never, ever turn heel. Later on he said the same thing about Goldberg. David thought I was joking when I said Hulk Hogan would be the "third man." By the time I predicted Stone Cold's turn Nicolas trusted in my "gift" enough to believe me (or maybe we all had gotten too old to really care).

The one heel turn that truly shocked me was Shawn Michaels. Looking back it was painfully obvious that he was going to turn on Jannetty, but hey, I was young. I hadn't watched for long. I think it may have been the first heelturn I have ever seen.

Years later HBK managed to surprise me again when he superkicked Hogan. (But that was because that heel turn made absolutely no sense and ended the day after that particular feud...)

I'm sure there are others I didn't see coming,but right now none come to mind. To be fair, many heel turns were so unspectacular that you would barely even notice them. For example Mark Henry's sudden heel turn at the last draft. Or many of Big Show's inexplicable turns that happened from one day to the next. Suddenly he decides to start smiling again. Or to be mad again. Didn't see it coming, because it was just utterly random and no one cared.

 

[Lucky Dearly]

Well being a Wrestling fan for over 20 years (first started back in 1989) I've seen many memorable heel turns

1) Rick Martel walking out on Tito Santana at Wrestlemania V and breaking up Strike Force, I remember it well and the stuff that went on with that feud. including Santana attacking Martel's manager Slick on the Brother Love show

2) Big Bossman's face turn - this I remember well watching on Superstars when Bossman turned face on Ted Dibiase and Slick. That was pretty awesome.

3) Four Horsemen turn heel - This one was kinda expected since Sting was going to challenge Ric Flair at Wrestle War 90 for the title and the Horsemen fired Sting at the Clash of the Champions for targeting Flair's title, that led to Sting botching his run in during the cage match main event featuring the Horsemen vs the J-Tex Corporation managed by Gary Hart. Sting blew his knee out and put Lex Luger back into the main event scene at Wrestle War.

4) Andre the Giant turns face - I remember this well watching Wrestlemania VI on PPV, Demolition captured their third World Tag Titles that night and after the match Bobby Heenan went off on Andre blaming him for the loss, Heenan then slapped Andre in the face, a fatal mistake as Andre grabbed Heenan and smacked him around and then nailed the Brain with a big right hand, Andre turned and caught Haku's attempt at a thrust kick and threw Haku out, and then Andre cleared the cart out of both Heenan and Haku and rode back alone to the dressing room with a huge facepop. Sadly that was one of Andre's last WWF matches.

5) Macho Man turns face - This one was a classic as Savage turned face after Sensational Sherri beat him down after he lost his career to The Ultimate Warrior, shockingly enough Miss Elizabeth rushed down to make the save and chased Sherri off, Liz and Macho reunited that night thus turning Macho face in the process, loved Mean Gene Okerlund's reaction afterward.

6) Jake the Snake Roberts turns heel - This one I didn't see coming, this was in the summer of 1991 and coming off the heels of The Undertaker locking the Ultimate Warrior in a coffin on superstars, Jake appeared on Paul Bearer's Funeral Parlor and told Paul he was going to show the Warrior the darkside in order to face the Undertaker, the weeks that followed on Superstars and Wrestling Challenge vingettes aired showing first Jake locking the warrior into the same coffin the Undertaker locked Warrior in as the first test in understanding the darkside, the second vingette at a graveyard at night Jake had warrior dig up a grave then Roberts buried Warrior in the same grave leaving Warrior up to his head in dirt, Roberts then left Warrior till sunrise as part of the second test. The last test saw Roberts lock Warrior in a room full of snakes saying that Lucifier the snake in the middle of the room rested on a small coffin held the secret to beating the Undertaker, Warrior opened the small coffin only to find a cobra inside which then lashed out and struck Warrior in the face, the Warrior staggered and fell taking the door down, Warrior reached out only to see The Undertaker and Paul Bearer looking down upon him, Warrior turned toward Jake whom left the warrior with these chilling words "that's right warrior, trust me, I'm a snake, you never trust a snake" That was a classic heel turn from Jake.

7) Hulk Hogan turns heel - Arguably the biggest heel turn of all time (till John Cena turns heel) nobody saw this coming, I remember it well and all the rumors and speculation about whom the third man was, when Hogan appeared the crowd went wild but Hogan silenced the crowd by dropping the big leg three times on Randy Savage and pinned him for the win. Hogan then told the crowd "you all can stick it brother!"

8) Vince McMahon turns heel - We all knew this one was coming when Stone Cold Steve Austin first hit a stunner on McMahon on Raw, the heel turn finally came at Survivor Series 97 when Vince screwed Bret Hart out of the WWF title and then on the Raw after Survivor Series gave an interview with Jim Ross saying "his side" of the story and of course this all lead to the infamous Austin vs McMahon feud that started the Attitude era.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Obviously the famous one if the Hogan heel turn when he joined forces with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall forming the New World Order. However, I didn't see that live so I am not going with that pick.

For me, it has to be the moment when RVD and Tommy Dreamer made their WWE debuts, interfearing in a WWE (Y2J and Kane) vs WCW (Awesome and Storm) tag team match and attacking the WWE team. The WWE defenders came rushing out and stood nose to nose with the invaders, before turning around and assaulting Jericho and Kane.

While this was happening, I realised that all these WWE "defenders" had all been ECW wrestlers, just like the debuting Van Dam and Dreamer. Then, when Paul Heyman got up out of his chair and announced that the invasion had just been taken "to the Exxxtreeeeme!" it was clear what had happened. The WWE guys had turned on the Federation to join forces and ressurect ECW. It was a phenomenal moment, probably my favourite moment in wrestling history, and kicked off what should have been the greatest storyline of all time.

 

[akrassikauda]

I have four that I didn't see coming.

1)The Undertakers face turn against Jake Roberts. Roberts was about to hit Ms. Elizabeth with a chair and Taker grabbed it. The next week on Superstars Roberts asked him who's side are you on,"Not Yours". Then they feud until WM.

2) Exit H to the third power and enter The Game. WM XV when HHH turned on DX nobody seen that one coming. We were lead to believe that roll DX was on was going to continue for a very long time but a pedigree ended all of that.

3) Thumbs down Randy Orton. When Evolution celebrated with Orton and the thumbs down by HHH, Batista drops Orton and the beatdown begins.

4)Heartbreaker. Hogan is doing Hogan then KLIQ,Sweet Chin Music RAW goes off air in dead silence.

 

[PunkNation26]

I can think of two that actually caught me by suprise.

1. The Rock faces Mankind at the 98 Survivor Series. Towards the end of the match Rock locks in the Sharpshooter and Vince rings the bell. Afterwards Rock is the new WWE Champion and embraces Vince in the ring. I was truly hurt and pissed. I wanted to break the television. I was a huge Mankind fan so it actually hurt me pretty bad seeing him almost win the title only to be screwed over.

2. The other turn that really caught me be suprise was Stone Cold Steve Austin at Wrestlemania 17. I remember having a bet with a friend of mine who was a massive Rock fan, while I was the massive Austin fan. I don't remember the specifics of the bet but I guess that doesn't matter. I remember Rock kept kicking out of the Stunner, and I couldn't believe it. Then Vince comes down to the ring, and I was thinking "Damn it!, He's gonna screw Austin out of the title!" However he gives Austin the chair, Austin uses it, covers Rock, wins the title, and he and Vince celebrate. Strangely though, I didn't care. It shocked me, but I wasn't pissed because all I cared about was Austin winning the title. It's strange to me because I was a mark at the time, and believed that wrestling was somewhat real so it should have pissed me off that my hero did such a douchy thing.

 

[J.J.]

To me the Steiner Brothers go down as one of the best tag teams I watched growing up, of course after Road Warriors/LOD. I believe Scott Steiner turning on his brother and taking on his "Big Poppa Pump" persona was huge not just for him but for WCW at the time. I never ever imagined the Steiner Brothers breaking up.

 

[rob198807]

wow...out of all the turns in the world, I can't believe someone said Trish Stratus. I guess that beats Hogan's heel turn, Hart/Austin double turn (wm 13), Chris Jericho turning on team WWF, Paul Bearer turning on the Undertaker, Austin joining up with vince. nice!

 

[StraightEdge]

I am going to mention one nobody hasn't mention yet. Stevie Ray turning on his brother Booker and joining the NWO. Granted I was only like 7 years old at the time, the Harlem Heat was my favorite Wcw tag team. When Booker didn't come out to Bret's challenge, they showed Booker backstage on the ground. I was pissed, I was even more pissed when they showed Stevie Ray coming to towards the ring to confront Bret, but when bret brought out most of the NWO, he convinced Stevie to join the NWO. I never saw that turn coming.

 

[stmarks2002]

I agree with a few of these posts but I remember three, 2 in particular, that changed the landscape of wrestling. I was at WM17 when Austin sided with Vince and I remember watching on PPV when HHH killed DX at Mania 15. He had just beat Kane with Chyna's help and they gave that awesome DX is back and stronger than ever promo with everyone all unified and serious; XPac and Shane are next and MSP keeps interfering then out comes Trips with the Pedigree on Pac. The 2 that really stand out to me is HBK kicking Jannety and throwing him through the glass at the barbershop; the rest was history...BATB 96 when Hogan joined the NWO; that rocked pro wrestling to the core and proved Dibiase's motto "Everyone's got a price"...never thought in a million years that Hogan would be heel but he was great as Hollywood.

One turn that I'd like to mention that I have seen in this forum yet was Scott Steiner turning on Rick to join the NWO at Superbrawl 98; I could not believe it. Scott went on to be WCW champ and a relevent singles competitor as Rick stayed as curtain jerker.

 

[brighamosity]

Hmm. Not many come to mind. I used to piss off my friends by spoiling heel/face-turns to them. Konni refused to believe me that Tatanka was going to turn on Lex Luger.

This one. As a ten year old, I was completely shocked that Tatanka turned on Luger. Had that happened now, I would have seen it coming a mile away because Tatanka was so persistant in accusing him. A reasonable face would have trusted their friend. It would be like Zack Ryder accusing John Cena of alligning with Kane, even with Cena swearing up and down he's not. (Which could happen, by the way.)

Did this turn work? I don't think so. It was really weird to see a character like Tatanka as a heel, essentially using the same gimmick. Even when I've rewatched it in modern day, the whole thing seems out of place to me. But for what it's worth, I was completely shocked by this turn.

The Fingerpoke of Doom was also a complete surprise to me. The Wolfpac was selling a lot of merchandise and was really popular with the teenage crowd, so I really didn't see that one coming.

 

[Shakin' Abe]

Andre the Giant's heel turn in the 80's was the first time I was actually shocked. He had been a face in every promotion since I could remember. His turn gave Hulk Hogan the wrestling world on a platter and it was then known that he was THE NUMBER ONE guy. Andre passed the torch and was a class act, as always. Hogan's heel turn in WCW was awesome as well, and like others have said, not many saw it coming but it made people talk about wrestling!!!

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Mine was Austins turn at WM17.

For myself he was just a guy I didn't see turning heel considering how popular he was not to mention aligning himself with Vince. It was totally unexpected and shocking. I'm glad he didn't stay heel for too long because its just impossible to hate that guy.

Another one that comes to mind is when the Undertaker turned heel in '01 by making JR kiss McMahon's ass. That one was another turn that completely came out of left field and completely unexpected. I personally liked what the Undertaker became as a heel when he was the American Badass, it just fit that particular character more and he did a good job as a heel.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Randy Savage's turn that resulted in the formation of the Mega Powers was the most exciting face turn I've ever seen.......and I didn't see it coming.

Actually, there were a few indicators that Macho Man might be changing, mostly due to the increasing influence of Miss Elizabeth, but I didn't truly think it would ever fully happen because Savage was the baddest of the bad: one of the most evil characters ever to show his face in WWF.

Many of us had long held hope that beauty could tame the beast, yet the two of them went a long time without it happening. Really, before Liz brought Hulk Hogan to the ring at that fateful Saturday Night Main Event, there wasn't much indication that Savage would be undergoing such a complete metamorphosis. Yet, even after he became a good guy, his ring tactics were virtually identical to what they had been before; the chief differences in his character were that: (1) He now had allies among the faces, whereas before, he walked alone through WWF, and (2) He treated Elizabeth better, which was exciting in itself.

I never saw a face change that was more satisfying to watch, nor more unexpected.

 

[justtxyank]

Tie for me:

Curt Hennig's turn on the Horsemen after taking Arn's "spot" to join the nWo. This was a back breaker for me. I've always been a Hennig fan and an Arn fan, so Curt joining the Horsemen was such a natural fit for me. When he turned on them and basically destroyed the Horsemen it was big time for me.

Second, Buff Bagwell's "return" to the nWo after coming back from the broken neck. I thought he was poised to be an epic babyface to take on the nWo at that time. Steiner was bullying him and Rick came to his rescue. Then Bagwell turns on Rick and buddies up with Steiner? Didn't see it coming and think it was a huge mistake. Bagwell never again had the opportunity to be that big.


Also want to correct something. People often say that Hogan's turn was so shocking because no one ever imagined him being a heel. This only means you weren't watching in late 95 early 96. WCW was teasing him as a heel at that time. He was wearing all black trying to be a quasi heel and it wasn't working. They dumped the whole thing and put him back in red and yellow and then he turned heel at BATB in epic fashion of course.

 

[BronZville33]

I'm old school as well, I remember so many face/heel and heel/face turns, some more than others. But I have a few that some of you should remember:

6: The truly "Gorgeous" side of Jimmy Garvin: During a match with Ronnie Garvin & Barry Windham Vs the Midnight Express, Jim Cornette threw a fireball in Ronnie Garvin's face. Several faces came out to help and then Jimmy ran out and helped take him to the back. Jimmy flew into a rage and stormed into the heel dressing room and brutally attacked Cornette and it took several wrestlers, heel and face, to pull him off of him. Ron and Jimmy (real life step father and stepson) then became a tag team and feuded with Cornette's Express.

5: "Hands of Stone" Turns to Darkness: To be honest, I didn't see this one coming. During a match between Dusty Rhodes Vs Barry Windham for Windham's US Title, Garvin ran in, and after words were exchanged, Garvin knocked out Rhodes. It was later revealed that Ric Flair paid off Garvin to keep Rhodes from winning the title.

4: The hated Russian embraces America: In what has to be the coolest-never-seen-it-coming face turn, Nikolai Volkoff faced his former tag team partner Boris Zukov in a match. Zukov, after being introduced, would sing the Russian national anthem. Volkoff came out and after running down Zukov, he sand the Star Spangled Banner to a massive pop, and was embraced by Hacksaw Jim Duggan on an episode Superstars which led to:

3: Sgt Slaughter, Real Iraqi Hero: Former AWA Heavyweight Champion Sgt Slaughter returned to WWF as a hated villian who went after Nikolai Volkoff and other WWF faces, and fans, for embracing the now American flag waving face Volkoff, going so far as to allign with former enemis General Adnan and Col Mustafa (Iron Sheik). After a sound drubbing at the hands of Hulk Hogan, Slaughter became an American flag waving Patriot again.

2: Now on the side of Good, The Four Horsemen?: It started with a Terry Funk attack on Ric Flair after Flair defeated Ricky Steamboat at WrestleWar when Flair refused Funk a title shot. Flair returned at The Great American Bash and defeated funk then reformed the Horsemen (w/Sting) to feud with the J-Tex corporation. Which lasted untill the Horsemen turned on Sting

1: "Howdy Doody" becomes Scrooge: This shocked me even. After losing a match to WWF Champion Bret Hart, a clearly dejected Bob Backlund, after Bret extended his hand for a handshake, slapped the champ and put him in the Crossface chickenwing with a demented look on his face, releasing it and looking at his hands in shock. He would go on to put this move on WWE writer Lou Gianfriddo, and his former manager Arnold Skaaland who he blamed for costing him the World Title 11 years earlier vs the Iron Sheik