Heel/Face Turn Idea, that possibly has never been done: the Turning Champion

[RKOx7]

So I've been thinking quite a lot about different ways we've seen people change from heels to babyfaces and babyfaces to heels.

Almost every superstar has changed from heel to face or face to heel at some point in their career. Most superstars work better as heels, as its easy to extract hatred out of people then it is to grab their attention and win over their hearts. However, one thing I've noticed is... I can't recall there ever being a turning champion.

There have been many moments where a superstar or diva has turned moments prior to becoming a champion, or quickly after becoming a champion... but has there ever been a time where a superstar slowly turned in the middle of a title reign? I really thought this would be an interesting idea to experiment on.

Has it ever happened that you can remember of?

How would you book a "turning" champion...?

I say its of course easier to go with the turning heel route, doesn't take much to turn someone heel... I also think it would be great to see Sheamus or John Morrison as a turning champion. They are both over and both can probably pull it off... it also shifts the dynamic of the WWE because once your champion has turned from a face to a heel or a heel to a face, you will also have different competitors for the WWE title which you would not otherwise normally have.

What do you guys think?

 

[The Eighties]

Punk kind of did it during the Jeff Hardy feud as he pretended to still be face for a bit.

The most famous example that led to one of the biggest Wrestlemania main events ever was Macho Man, he won the title as a face and then turned heel while still champion.

AJ Styles also did it recently in TNA.

 

[RKOx7]

Yeah I was just informed of Macho Man doing it by the Brain (thanks again!)

Hmm CM Punk did pretend to be face for like 3 weeks but... it was still a heel turn so I won't really count it... I mean like over a reign that lasts 3-4 months, maybe a month or 2 months into the reign, a turn happens.

 

[Terror316]

Off the top of my head, Savage was the first thing I thought of. If I recall Austin also pulled a turn during his reign. Maybe even twice, tho I can't remember exacts. I know he went from Heel to Face during the reign right before he lost the Unification match to Jericho. The one right before that I can't remember if he went from Heel to Face to Heel during the invasion angle or not.

 

[The Suplexer Perfecter]

Off the top of my head, Savage was the first thing I thought of. If I recall Austin also pulled a turn during his reign. Maybe even twice, tho I can't remember exacts. I know he went from Heel to Face during the reign right before he lost the Unification match to Jericho. The one right before that I can't remember if he went from Heel to Face to Heel during the invasion angle or not.

Right when he won the title he turned heel due to him being with McMahon.
Then sort of face when he confronted the Alliance, then heel to join them. Then face in the lead up to Vengeance 01.

 

[mlp4200]

Austin turned as champion 3 times in 2001. First he turned babyface by reverting back to "Old Stone Cold" coming out to beat the wcw/ecw alliance down. He then turned again at the Next PPV by joining the alliance. He turned one last time as champ the night after Survivor Series that year when Ric Flair came back.

Kurt Angle turned while champ back in 2002. Right after he won the WWE title on the next SD he introduced Paul Heyman as his new manager.

 

[johnbragg]

Was Brock Lesnar champion when he turned face and dumped Paul Heyman, after Heyman told him "that's why people like me, make decisions for people like you"?

 

[Vintage]

I know that this is the WWE section but TNA did exactly that with AJ Styles. He started the first 3 months or so of his reign as face and it ended at the 6-7 month mark with him being the top heel of the company due to him aligning with Flair.

 

[sXe_Factor]

Santino did it with his intercontinental championship reign, if i'm not mistaken. Turned heel by mocking the honky tonk man?

 

[metro37]

former diva Sable was a face when she was womens champion in 1998 after leaving the controlling marc mero then within months while still holding the championship title she had develop a conceited attitude which had led to a heel turn