Most surprising Heel Turn?

[Kidd]

In the wake of Jeff Hardy's heel turn, it has me wondering what face's heel turn surprised you the most?

I would say Austin's but someone at work had told me a week or two in advance that he had read that they were going to do a heel turn for Austin.

What say you guys?

BTW, Hardy's is the biggest surprise for me.

I really can't remember being this stunned.

I wasn't watching when Hogan did his turn so I'm not sure how surprising it was.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

id say hogan.

no one at the time thought that hogan could ever turn heel.he'd been stale for a long time in his real american character but fans thought he would just continue to be the same deal and retire in a few years time.not only did it shock the fuck out of the fans it also gave hogan's career a surge of life.

the reaction that the fans gave was genuine as well.not fake like hardy's where they used plants to create the same reaction as bash of the beach 1996.

plus the smark crowd wasnt as big as it is these days so it was a legit shock to everyone

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Even though for you, you said you already knew about Austin turning heel at Wrestlemania X7, but for me it came as a major shock.

I didnt think Austin's character was stale and to me he seemed to popular with the fans for the WWE to even consider turning him heel. Knowing how much merchandise sales he was bringing in to the company and was THE guy and had been for a few years, I was stunned as he not only turned heel but alligned himself with VINCE McMAHON??? The one guy who Austin truly could not stand, and had been his enemy throughout the Attitude era.

Austin and Vince had despised each other for so long, I really did not expect the WWE to put the two of them together, but if they were looking for something which would shock the fans...then they certainly managed it with me on this heel turn.

 

[Kidd]

Even though for you, you said you already knew about Austin turning heel at Wrestlemania X7, but for me it came as a major shock.

I didnt think Austin's character was stale and to me he seemed to popular with the fans for the WWE to even consider turning him heel. Knowing how much merchandise sales he was bringing in to the company and was THE guy and had been for a few years, I was stunned as he not only turned heel but alligned himself with VINCE McMAHON??? The one guy who Austin truly could not stand, and had been his enemy throughout the Attitude era.

Austin and Vince had despised each other for so long, I really did not expect the WWE to put the two of them together, but if they were looking for something which would shock the fans...then they certainly managed it with me on this heel turn.

Yeah had someone not told me, it would have totally caught me off guard.

But once they told me they were planning a heel turn, I figured the ONLY way Austin could turn heel and draw heat was to join forces with McMahon. So when McMahon came down to the ring, I knew what was gonna happen.

Once again, though, Jim Ross' reaction to the events made it ten times better.

 

[Optimist Prime]

The answer is most clearly Hulk Hogan.

Hulk Hogan was literally the biggest star in the history of the business. Telling kids to say their prayers, eat their vitamins, etc. But WCW fans weren't too thrilled on him as he was "older" and not one of the WCW originals, and Hogan's 80's persona was becoming outdated. Not to mention he didn't have the rights to his incredibly popular "Real American" entrance theme which certainly was a downer to most as it immediately caused a pop anytime it was played.

So in almost some sort of perfect orchestration, Hogan wasn't the Hulkster of the WWF even getting booed at times...and in came Hall and Nash. This set up the perfect platform for them to try something different.

Regardless of it being the perfect time and Hogan being not appreciated as much...still nobody had a clue. He was the biggest babyface in the history of the business...the face of the business...a guy who hadn't been a heel since before his Rocky 3 appearance in the very early 80's and who had accomplished so much since then.

It was 3 WCW wrestlers (Sting, Macho Man, and Lex Luger) against 2 "Outsiders" in Scott Hall and Kevin Nash. As things started to escalate in the ring out walked Hulk Hogan in his red and yellow...where even Bobby Heenan suggests "is he the third man??" where Tony Schavonni (I think?) says that he's crazy...in which Hogan enters the ring with Savage laying on the ground...pushes Hall and Nash to the side and continues to give Savage his patented leg drop...signaling that he was, in fact, the 3rd man.

The mainstream media and world news as well as local news were reporting it...that's how incredible and game changing it was.

The same impact has never been duplicated by anything similar ever.

 

[Wolf Pac]

I never saw the actual PPV but it was Hulk Hogan's turn as like the guy above me said, it had the biggest impact on wrestling today whereas The Rock & Stone Cold who are my picks, didnt have a bigger impact than Hogan's turn as they've been heel before their turn but had they not been heels ever before their turn, it would probably have the same impact as Hogan's.

As mentioned, out of the ones I've seen, it's The Rock at Survivor Series 98 & Austin at WM 17. I didnt expect The Rock to win the WWF Title let alone join with Vince & Shane but it was a great ender for Survivors and obviously Austin joining with his most famous nemesis speaks for itself.

 

[Monkey_Mania]

Hogan's wasn't so much of a surprise when you think of it, he was already getting booed with his face character, because the WCW fans were getting tired of seeing Hogan being the good guy. So while it was something else and a huge thing for the business, I wouldn't say it was shocking, more of a sooner than later type of deal.

On the other hand, Austin's heel turn shocked the fucking shit out of me. I had just got done watching Austin and McMahon have this oh so heated rivalry where I thought one of them was going to kill the other. Then for them to end up working together? Man, did not see it coming at all. I really think if it wasn't for the shitty Invasion angle, that Austin turning would have been on par with, if not bigger than Hogans turn.

 

[Icedawg316]

Hogan without a shadow of the doubt, had the biggest impact on the wrestling industry by far. I really liked Austin's tho at WM17, and JR's reaction was great as always but it didn't really take with the fans like Hogan's did

 

[Optimist Prime]

Hogan's wasn't so much of a surprise when you think of it, he was already getting booed with his face character, because the WCW fans were getting tired of seeing Hogan being the good guy. So while it was something else and a huge thing for the business, I wouldn't say it was shocking, more of a sooner than later type of deal.

On the other hand, Austin's heel turn shocked the fucking shit out of me. I had just got done watching Austin and McMahon have this oh so heated rivalry where I thought one of them was going to kill the other. Then for them to end up working together? Man, did not see it coming at all. I really think if it wasn't for the shitty Invasion angle, that Austin turning would have been on par with, if not bigger than Hogans turn.

It's easy to say that with 20/20 hindsight vision...but at the time it was absolutely shocking, no doubt about it. And you're also not looking at different perspectives. For a diehard wrestling fan who critiques everything and tries to predict things, sure...maybe you could see that something maybe was going to happen...but to the common fan of that time, on-again-off-again fan, old fan that used to watch and only occasionally watches from time-to-time today, the media, and the rest of the world were absolutely shocked to the point where it made mainstream headlines in the news, papers, and magazines.

Hulk Hogan was the original babyface. He was the G-rating "good guy" who did everything the right way and was loved and admired by nearly every fan in wrestling throughout his entire prime. To turn Hulk Hogan heel was for him to literally do a full 180 degree turn.

Steve Austin, on the other hand, hadn't been around as a main event face of the company for all that long (4 years? compared to Hogan's 12+ years), he wasn't as popular (media, movies, household, etc. wise) as Hogan had been before him, he was already just a heel 4 years before it happened (as The Ringmaster), and even his "face" gimmick was basically a "heel" who just didn't like his boss (in which everybody could relate to).

Hogan's heel turn was much more impactful than Austin's was. And if there is one more reason that it was more impactful, is that I know exactly where I was when Hogan's heel turn happened while I actually forgot about Austin's heel turn entirely until it was brought back up on this forum to be quite honest. That, right there, should be a huge difference in how surprising and impactful each heel turn had been.

 

[The Wrestler`s Wrestler]

I would have 2 go with Austin @ mania 17. Over the years alot of people have said that they seen his heel tirn coming, But 2bh I did'nt see it coming 4 miles. As I remembered it, It was the WWF's 2 biggest draws n babyfaces going in2 the main event of wrestlemania 2 do battle over the top title in wrestling.

When I watched it back a 2nd time I could see Austin was a little more heel then Rock was in the match, But when I watched it live I thought 2 myself "Well Austin wants it more then Rock does, And WHO wants 2 lose in their hometown anyway"

But even @ the end when Vince came strolling down the ramp and u didn't know which of the 2 he was going 2 screw I NEVER thought that Austin would side with Vince. After ALL the chairshots n the bell had rung when Vince put out his hand 4 Austin 2 shake it I STILL thought Austin was going 2 stun Vince give him the finger as 2 say "FU I didn't need ur help 2 beat Rock but I took it anyway!" It wasn't untill Austin pulled Vince in n patted him on the back of the head that it hit me THAT AUSTIN HAD SIDED WITH THE DEVIL!!! Great heel turn. Something else that is missing from 2days wrestling, Lets just hope that Cena's will b 1/2 as good as Austins

 

[WrestlingMark84]

Anyone that doesn't think Hogans was the most surprising heel turn was either to young to understand/or in recent years just became a wrestling fan..This man was the Cena of the 80's..He's actually Mr. Sports entertainment!!!! Without him WWF wouldn't be as big today as it is and vise versa as far as Hogan..The trash that was thrown in the Ring signifies the hurt and disgust of fans that felt betrayed by a hero who told them to say their prayers and take there vitamins...It was sooo epic and unheard of that it Made WCW the most talked about promotion even beating WWF in the ratings war for a number of weeks. Hogan and the NWO actually created the attitude era when u think about it

 

[Whatsinaname696]

n....W...o, it is just that simple, still remember seeing little kids crying in their red and yellow, Mean Gene getting pelted and telling Hogan it was fault, people genuinely PISSED, and some ECSTATIC (that would be me) most shocking, most awesome... often imitated, even NOW.. WITH Hogan, never duplicated and probably never will be again "you can tell these fans to stick it brother!" ..... ahhh memories

 

[Optimist Prime]

I totally agree with the last two posts here.

All these people saying that Austin's was the best clearly either weren't born or weren't watching wrestling when Hogan's legendary turn occured. There is no other explanation for it. It's not a matter of opinion, it's not a matter of being bias against one company or another, it's just a fact.

Hulk Hogan's heel turn at Bash at the Beach in 96' was single-handedly the biggest thing to ever happen in the wrestling industry. Not only was it surprising...but it was monumental.

 

[LitasRevenge79]

Yes...for my memory, one I very much recall, not for me, but for family history was Hulk Hogan. I was 16 or 17 when it happened. My dad always watched WCW. I remember him getting up early ALL the time to watch CNN news every morning as I was getting ready for school. Well on the Monday morning news, the world headlines was "Hogan goes to the Darkside" and oh my goodness... my dad was freaking out. I had never seen him so livid. I go to school, then come home and he's watching WCW, and he's yelling and cursing at the tv set. He's throwing the remote, his workboots at it. You'd have thought he caught my mom cheating or something. But no, it was the hero I grew up idolizing. Hogan, my dad, and my dearly departed uncle, they would all watch WCW together and always have their Hogan moment and always tell me and my cousins "That's who you kids need to grow up to be like." But after that, oh man, that name was considered a sin to be spoken in the house. LOL

For me personally, my shock to see turn heel was Matt Hardy on Jeff Hardy. When Jeff had all those accidents happen to him. His car nearly wreck, the pyro accident on Smackdown. Then his house burn down. Everyone was waiting for Christian to supposedly come back, or assumed it was Edge doing it. But then come, Royal Rumble, I think. It was Jeff's title match against Edge. Matt had already competed and lost his title the ECW match. Then Vickie was out to try to help Edge, but Matt runs interference and you think Matt will help Jeff. Jeff turns to take care of Edge, and BOOM!! Matt slams Jeff with the chair on the head, allowing Edge the win. That really tore me up, I think you could hear everyone in the audience gasp at once. The promos that were cut up to WM 25 were AMAZING !! That promo with the group Decyfer Down, and the song, Crash, talk about emotional, and to show the real battle between brothers. But that still makes me shake my head.

 

[Dyno Kid]

Not the most surprising turn ever but still big was the Barry Windham heel turn in 1988 when he joined the Horsemen ! Never though it would happen even though it was building for months and I was stunned when it happened ! Turned out to be the best move of Barry's career !

 

[RobL15]

JOHN CENA! Wait, that's not happened.

Most recently, people should agree with me that it's gotta be Jeff Hardy.

1) Nobody was expecting him to win the title, let alone be part of "They"
2) Jeff Hardy hasn't been a heel in a very long time, so nobody saw it coming, at all.

 

[GameOver]

Hogan, no contest, he was the biggest face in history for 10yrs straight
don't think anyone saw his turn coming and it wasn't just a subtle turn, it was a complete 180. and also we saw the real man behind the Hulk Hogan character.

the Hollywood Hogan character on screen was the king of politics and self serving, which ironically is what he really is, as opposed to the Immortal Hulk Hogan that appeared to be the ultimate goodie two shoes (much like Cena ).

other ones mentioned, Austin's WM17 turn wasn't completely shocking, i'm sorry but the lead up to that it was obvious he was getting heelish again.

what about the most obvious turn that is meant to be shocking, once again that would be Hogan lol this time in TNA. that was obvious from the get go what they were planning.

 

[Dyno Kid]

Another gigantic turn was the Larry turn on Bruno Sammartino. It shocked us fans here in the Northeast and it led to record business for Vince Sr. as Bruno went for revenge, climaxing with the big cage match at Shea Stadium that drew just over 36,000 fans.

 

[Evil_Mush]

Yeah, Hogan has to be the all time shocker. I totally wish I would've been able to see it live (with my only access to wrestling at that time being video stores & magazines), but that will never be topped. Everything just came together at the right time, it was awesome.

 

[Dyno Kid]

Was the Hogan turn REALLY a surprise ? The fans were tired of his stupid yellow and red deal and he was getting booed every week on T.V. It was just a matter of when not if he'd turn.