Best Heel Turns In WWE History?

[razerp]

A contendor has to Vincent Kennedy McMahon himself.

montreal Screwjob - Vince McMahon Commentator and yes the "known" owner of the WWF/E begins the change into "Mr McMahon".

That event leads to the Attitude Era kicking off, to austin/McMahon, the Corporation and the Corporate Ministry, etc etc.

Most influence ever by a WWF/E heel Turn was arguably by the owner. And we all love to cheer/boo Vinnie Mac

 

[Mustang Sally]

She's not a wrestler, but Stephanie McMahon's heel turn at Armageddon in '99 turned WWE on it's ear with ramifications that resulted in the formation of the McMahon-Helmsley Faction.

Remember? Stephanie was the ultimate "good girl" who was going to marry Test until Triple H stopped the ceremony. Then, at Armageddon, as we rooted for Vince McMahon to beat Triple H, we saw Stephanie shockingly turn to Triple H as her father lie beaten in the ring, shockingly bringing the swerve and changing the company's creative direction for a long time afterward. I was amazed; I had expected Stephanie to turn Triple H into a face, whether he was able to defeat Steph's father or not.

As I said, she wasn't a wrestler, but the long term implications of her swerve qualify it as one of the best heel turns the company ever had.

 

[sajsSAMynwa1892]

Andre The Giant....hands down!!! set up the biggest draw in the businesses history...HOgan vs Andre WM3....93,000 people went to see THAT match. Yea other matches may have stolen the show, but no secret who they came to see that night

it wasnt 93,000 people it is a figure exagerrated by the wwe, more like 78,000. the biggest attendance in wwe history came at wembley in england i think summerslam 90 headlined by the bulldog v bret hart.

 

[sajsSAMynwa1892]

this thread does say WWE heel turns so people need to stop talking about hogan 1996, which was clearly excellent, thought the greatest ever would surely be freebirds turn to set up the feud with the von erichs, slamming the cage door it was the greatest turn in history and i wanna know if anyone has ever garnered as much heat as the freebirds.

anyway i can only say from a wwe point of view the one that really got to me when i watched it was austin at wm 17, i was younger and really wanted rock to win, i know someone who stayed up all night to watch it(im from england) with his dad, and cried when austin started smashing the rock with that chair.

punks and jericho's were so well executed but because of the way i watch wrestling now i didnt hate them for turning heel, i was a fan of both and was impressed by how well executed their turns were, i was also happy that they were being given memorable air time.

and does anyone remember hbks little heel run in 2005, superkicking hogan? i loved it because i always hated hogan and it led to hbk cutting the 2 best promos he ever cut, in my opinion.so for that reason austins turn will always stay with me more.

 

[Daddy Met]

How about this honorable mention.... The Rock in the '98 Survivor Series! The creation of the corporate champion, very well booked with a "screw job finish" on Mick Foley ala SS '97. Rocks heel turn solidified the main event for WM 15, and the rivalry of Austin/Rock.

 

[daddyJ_t]

ok how bout this one. the ultimate warrior has his hands full and has trouble beating the undertaker. he cant wrap his mind around the psychology and gets himself a mentor who teaches him the way of the dark side and puts him through trials. as the last trial is a setup, the warrior busts down the door to collapse in front of the undertaker and his turned heel mentor Jake the snake Roberts. nobody saw that shit coming and it indeed was a shocker to see a great fan fav like Jake take down the big bad warrior and turn heel. not withstanding how future events or story lines and feuds came from it. it was just shock

 

[Dagger Dias]

One of my personal favorites is Jericho in 2008. It was a gradual build up to the turn itself, rather than just randomly happening like how most turns are done. Frustrations with Shawn Michaels finally led to Jericho throwing him headfirst into the Jeritron, turning him heel. It was very well done and led to one of the best angles I have ever seen. More turns should be done that way because the heel has a better chance of being hated if it is a gradual process rather than forcing the fans to suddenly boo someone who is still a fan favorite. Other good ones include Christian this summer and CM Punk when he cashed in on Jeff Hardy. Then of course there are oldschool legendary heel turns like Hogan's nWo turn and Stone Cold at Wrestlemania 17. Wreslting history is full of great heel turns, I'd like to see more that are done well in the future and less random turns.

 

[WeWantWrestling_209]

Eddie Guerrero on Rey Mytserio. I can't believe people didn't mention this. Of course it let to a really crappy and stupid storyline involving Rey's son but hey I enjoyed the heel turn and the kids at school wouldn't stop talking about it the next day.

 

[Tommy Terrific]

How about this honorable mention.... The Rock in the '98 Survivor Series! The creation of the corporate champion, very well booked with a "screw job finish" on Mick Foley ala SS '97. Rocks heel turn solidified the main event for WM 15, and the rivalry of Austin/Rock.

That's the first one I thought of when I read this topic. Another one that comes to mind is the HBK kicking Marty heel turn. That one wasn't much of a shocker though as the writing was sort of on the wall. Now the R-Truth one was a huge shocker. The cigarette was infamous and got him noticed greatly. I'd have to pick that one.

 

[RicoLen]

It's kinda nice coming into this thread so late. I don't hardly have to think about it, I can just pick and choose from other people's lists.

However this thread says best, not favorite, and when I think of what makes the BEST heel turns, I think of ones that resulted in positive outcome for either the guy that did the heel turn or the WWE as a whole. The ones that resulted in the best outcome for the WWE as a whole take precedence over those that just resulted in a good career for the individual.

Because of that I DQ two of my favorite heel turns, with Shawn Michaels' Rockers breakup, and R-Truth's psychotic episode. Also, one of my least favorite heel turns, make it into the list of the best ever because of what it resulted in, a WM main event match for the ages.

Andre The Giant's heel turn was the biggest in WWE history, no questions asked. His heel turn set up arguably the best main event for the best wrestlemania ever. It was shocking, and Andre as a heel was straight up scary. Suddenly he went from being the gentle giant everyone loved to f**king King Kong that would go absolutely nuts and f**k up anyone and EVERYONE that got in his way.

Randy Savage's heel turn (which I did not like, as I was a huge Savage fan) pissed me off. Not because he turned on Hogan, but because his attack on Hogan made Savage split with Liz and join with Queen Sheri, and become a bad guy. I thought Hogan had it coming personally and I never did like The Macho King all that much. However, WM5's main event was epic, and was one of the best matches in one of the best feuds ever. And not only that, but without the rise of the Macho King you'd never have the reunion of Macho Man and Liz at WM 7.

Bret Hart's heel turn was another one I hated, but is definitely one of the best. As a result of HIS heel turn, Austin was made the face of the company, and set up the most controversial event in WWE history, the Screwjob.

The heel turn of Rocky Maivia, while very similar to Shawn Michaels heel turn in it's net effect of giving the guy a push that resulted in a huge career for both, was different and better than Michaels because The Rock had one of the very best careers in WWE history, and The Rock drew money like HBK only wishes he could have.

And finally the heel turn of Shawn Michaels does just barely make the list because it was just straight up good TV. It was a very scary and shocking turn, not so much that they split, but because Shawn slammed Jannetty's head through the Barber Shop window. Michaels career as a result didn't take off immediately, he spent a long time in the mid-card, and it was a good push for Michaels after having spent a number of years as a 'tag-team specialist', but he didn't skyrocket to the main event either.

 

[ae_wrestler123]

Not the best in history but really good. The rock coming back to...to run his mouth in canada. Most entertaining heel ever.
R truth and his training day stint. Some good shit. Rose him to main event status.
Austin heel turn where he introduced "what?" also.

 

[rge2010]

I simply cannot believe the OP didnt mention Austins heel turn at WM17!!! Austin alligned himself with the Devil. The man he had fought against for 2 years previous. He did it in the huge main event, he did it in front of his home crowd of 70,000 and he demolished The Rock with 20 odd chair shots.

To add injury to insult, the next night Triple H joined him! Maybe not the best ever but certainly in the top 10.

 

[Jeff Hardy Rulez]

I liked Heel Triple H, his promo's were fantastic, feuds also.

I loved when him and Stone Cold were a team it was brilliant and the promo's were hilarious.

Also, Chris Jericho was a fantastic heel his fueds were one of the best.... hands down.

 

[#CenaHeelTurn]

It's kinda nice coming into this thread so late. I don't hardly have to think about it, I can just pick and choose from other people's lists.

However this thread says best, not favorite, and when I think of what makes the BEST heel turns, I think of ones that resulted in positive outcome for either the guy that did the heel turn or the WWE as a whole. The ones that resulted in the best outcome for the WWE as a whole take precedence over those that just resulted in a good career for the individual.

Because of that I DQ two of my favorite heel turns, with Shawn Michaels' Rockers breakup, and R-Truth's psychotic episode. Also, one of my least favorite heel turns, make it into the list of the best ever because of what it resulted in, a WM main event match for the ages.

Andre The Giant's heel turn was the biggest in WWE history, no questions asked. His heel turn set up arguably the best main event for the best wrestlemania ever. It was shocking, and Andre as a heel was straight up scary. Suddenly he went from being the gentle giant everyone loved to f**king King Kong that would go absolutely nuts and f**k up anyone and EVERYONE that got in his way.

Randy Savage's heel turn (which I did not like, as I was a huge Savage fan) pissed me off. Not because he turned on Hogan, but because his attack on Hogan made Savage split with Liz and join with Queen Sheri, and become a bad guy. I thought Hogan had it coming personally and I never did like The Macho King all that much. However, WM5's main event was epic, and was one of the best matches in one of the best feuds ever. And not only that, but without the rise of the Macho King you'd never have the reunion of Macho Man and Liz at WM 7.

Bret Hart's heel turn was another one I hated, but is definitely one of the best. As a result of HIS heel turn, Austin was made the face of the company, and set up the most controversial event in WWE history, the Screwjob.

The heel turn of Rocky Maivia, while very similar to Shawn Michaels heel turn in it's net effect of giving the guy a push that resulted in a huge career for both, was different and better than Michaels because The Rock had one of the very best careers in WWE history, and The Rock drew money like HBK only wishes he could have.

And finally the heel turn of Shawn Michaels does just barely make the list because it was just straight up good TV. It was a very scary and shocking turn, not so much that they split, but because Shawn slammed Jannetty's head through the Barber Shop window. Michaels career as a result didn't take off immediately, he spent a long time in the mid-card, and it was a good push for Michaels after having spent a number of years as a 'tag-team specialist', but he didn't skyrocket to the main event either.

That pretty much says it all right there. There hasn't been a better post in this thread than this one.

IMO Hogan's WCW turn is the best all time in wrestling, but we aren't talking about that here.

I truly think Cena is about to turn though, and if WWE doesn't screw it up, it could be EPIC. Considering where he is now as a tweener anyway, if he can turn those that love him into those that hate him, and those that hate him, hating him even more, it could rival Hogan's turn. Having Rock as the opponent at WM will help, and when Cena crushes Rock, he will carry on as the greatest #Heel of all-time.

 

[ECW Sandman]

I would say Vince's heel turn from the real life Montreal screw job in 1997 I think that was the most shocking and still talked about incidents in WWF/E History besides Shawn Micheals January 91 heel turn on Wrestling Challenge on The Barber Shop.