What do you think are the most surprising turns in pro wrestling? These type of turns may not have gone well but they were really unexpected.
Here are a few I can think of:
Shawn Michaels' face turn in 1995 - HBK had just main evented Wrestlemania as a heel against Diesel. Unlike Diesel's face turn which was built over three months, Shawn's came pretty much out of nowhere after Sid powerbombed him three times and put him out for a few weeks.
Bulldog's heel turn in 1995 - Bulldog had been fairly over. He was the runner up to the 1995 Royal Rumble. Though clues of a heel turn might have started when he and Luger lost a WWF tag title match a month or so prior, and perhaps the few minutes prior to his heel turn people might have lifted a few eye brows, overall, his heel turn was quite unexpected.
Hogan's heel turn in 1996 - No heel turn had garnered so much emotion or heat. The ultimate good guy turned bad.
Randy Savage's heel turn in 1997 - Savage was one of the three picked WCW guys when Hogan turned heel. Hogan turned on and pummeled Savage. When he returned walking the rafters with Sting, it seemed that he'd be ready to make a change in his career to face the NWO. The change occurred, but instead he JOINED the NWO.
Vince McMahon's "heel" turn in 1997 - This can be highly debated as at the time Vince was doing what he needed to and had hoped he could disappear for a while shortly after. However, his actions changed pro wrestling and led to one of the hugest angles in pro wrestling.
Lex Luger's heel turn 1999 - Lex Luger joining the Wolfpac wasn't really a turn in character as it was a change in alliance. However, Luger made a full heel turn in 1999, joining the very group (black and white NWO) he fought against for years.
Chyna's face turn / Triple H's and Chyna's heel turn in 1999 - This was orchestrated well. No one expected Chyna to turn face again after turning heel a few months back. However, it was a feel good moment that could only be felt for a few minutes when Triple H and Chyna turned on DX and joined the corporation. No one saw this coming and certainly not with the number of turns that it included.
Vince McMahon's face turn in 1999 - McMahon had been one of the most hated heels in the last two years. The fact he turned face, then faced and beat Triple H for the title was shocking. (On a side note, McMahon has one of the best track records around. From wins going from Austin to the Undertaker, to Triple H to the Rock to John, and with a world title win, an ECW world title win, and Royal Rumble win, Vinnie Mac had quite the career...)
Sting's heel turn in 1999 - Yes, this heel turn was horrible and lasted about a month. However, it was SURPRISING as no one expected Sting to turn heel.
Bret Hart's heel turn in 2000 - The thing that made this surprising the most was Bret Hart was beloved after his brother Owen's death. Most people (including Bret most likely) thought Bret would never turn heel again. But he did here as one of his last acts before he was forced into retirement.
It gets muddled with WCW because of the frequency of face / heel turns up until the end, it wasn't surprising but really confusing for me.
Kane's heel turn in 2000 (I think) - Originally Big Show was suppose to feud with the Undertaker. However, he got sent down to OVW to get back into wrestling shape so Kane suddenly attacked the Undertaker. Though this heel turn was short lived, Kane was made to be strong again and a viable contender for any title.
Kane's face turn in 2001 - I told you it didn't last long. There wasn't much of a build up. Just suddenly Kane and the Undertaker worked together in the Royal Rumble. This by proxy turned Kane face again.
Austin's heel turn in 2001 - Yes, his heel turn was fairly poor. He was in the same boat as Sting. However, it was surprising to see him join forces at the end of the night with Vince McMahon. In a lot of ways, many feel this was the end of the "Attitude" era.
Edge's face turn in 2001 - Edge and Christian had been a hated tag team. That, along with the story that they, Angle, and Rhyno, all good friends, were going into the King of the Ring semi-quarter finals match, made for interesting story. However, what made for really interesting story was Edge turning face in the process. No one saw it coming, but it was quite clear when, the next night after having won the event, he was mocking Billy Gunn's current endeveaors.
WCW / ECW's heel turn - WCW started off the night with Booker T, originally a face who was fighting for respect, completely doing a 180 and turned heel. This was surprising as it was a completely different direction that we had seen in the past few weeks. However, the surprising turns would continue when virtually every ECW wrestler that was just recently a part of WWE or had not yet "joined" the WWE, joined with WCW to pummel the WWE. No one saw it, and it led to an exciting prospect of matches for what we thought would be years to come.
Shane / Vince On the same night as the WCW / ECW heel turn, Shane and Vince did a double turn. This was quite shocking given that Shane prior to this point had nobly protected his mother against Vince McMahon, had "saved" WCW from being crushed by Vince, and had many of the classic aspects of a babyface. Vince had done so many dastardly things at this point, the last being caught with his pants down with Torrie Wilson (I think) that no one would have seen him turning face, especially not immediately after the preceding angle. However, the WWE needed a new direction with everything in the summer of 2001, and a new direction they went.
Kurt Angle's heel turn in 2001 - Kurt turned on the WWE to join the alliance. However, this was all a ruse by Vince McMahon to outsmart the Alliance. The turn came out of nowhere and was shocking given Kurt was the top babyface the month or so prior, even beating Austin by submission for the belt.
Undertaker's heel turn in 2001 - Undertaker was and is beloved. The only time he really got booed as a heel prior to this was against Austin. His new persona was enjoyed by many (Yes, I realize people will say they liked the Deadman persona more. That doesn't mean people DIDN'T enjoy this persona.). He was also WWE loyal and perhaps stood second to 'Classy' Freddie Blassie in inspirational speeches. Therefore, to see him turn heel, forcing J.R. to kiss McMahon's behind was just shocking.
Ric Flair face turn - Flair had just turned heel to align himself with the NWO. He had just lost to Austin when Austin, who was tired of the WWE at this point, didn't show up for work. Flair surprisingly turned face again to savage things.
Brock Lesnar's face turn in 2002 - Brock had come in as a heel, destroying everyone. He even pummeled the legendary Hulk Hogan to a chorus of boos. He then went on to face the Undertaker, in a series of vicious matches, only to come out after it all saying he respected the Undertaker and all the mind games he played was to "give himself an edge". Given Lesnar was Smackdown's top heel and had quite a heel run to go, and given his character, no one expected a face turn here.
Nothing much in terms of surprising face / heel turns happened in 2003. However, the fact that Eddie Guerrero pretty much stayed face no matter how hard they booked him as a heel at times was pretty impressive. There was also the Ric Flair
Vince McMahon's face turn in 2004 - Vince had literally had a match against his daughter, then beat and buried the beloved Undertaker the next month. He then came out at Wrestlemania, thanking the fans and turning face in the process.
JBL's heel turn in 2004 - Say what you will about JBL the character, but this heel turn came out of nowhere for the most part. He did say something like he would make an impact earlier in the evening, but no one saw this coming a week, or even an hour before it happened.
Orton's face turn in 2004 - Orton had been built as an egotistical heel the past year or so. His suddenly breaking down and crying when he won the world title was surprising. His face turn was completed the next night, but the fact that he turned face to begin with was just shocking.
HBk's heel turn in 2005 - The superkick heard around the world. HBK wiped out Hogan to a shocked audience.
HBK's face turn in 2005 - The length of this heel turn lasted just about as long as Sting's. Most would have expected that HBK's heel turn would have lasted months and months. Instead, after the match, HBK shook Hogan's hand, and by the next night moved onto Chris Masters.
Paul Heyman in 2006 - Paul Heyman suddenly turned on RVD to give Big Show the title. This was the same RVD that Heyman had promoted for years.
I hate to say but until 2010, I can't really think of a shocking heel or face turn. Many of them were built up over time, or were logical given the circumstances. There were some good ones, like Jericho's or Punk's, but these were also hinted at and built on over a period of time. Perhaps the biggest shocking with respect to turns is Batista staying a face as long as he did.
Edge's heel turn in 2010 - Edge had just recently turned face. He also seemed primed for a title shot against John Swagger. However, this was not to be when he got drafted to Raw. He then shocked everyone when he speared Orton out of nowhere.
Here are a few I can think of:
Shawn Michaels' face turn in 1995 - HBK had just main evented Wrestlemania as a heel against Diesel. Unlike Diesel's face turn which was built over three months, Shawn's came pretty much out of nowhere after Sid powerbombed him three times and put him out for a few weeks.
Bulldog's heel turn in 1995 - Bulldog had been fairly over. He was the runner up to the 1995 Royal Rumble. Though clues of a heel turn might have started when he and Luger lost a WWF tag title match a month or so prior, and perhaps the few minutes prior to his heel turn people might have lifted a few eye brows, overall, his heel turn was quite unexpected.
Hogan's heel turn in 1996 - No heel turn had garnered so much emotion or heat. The ultimate good guy turned bad.
Randy Savage's heel turn in 1997 - Savage was one of the three picked WCW guys when Hogan turned heel. Hogan turned on and pummeled Savage. When he returned walking the rafters with Sting, it seemed that he'd be ready to make a change in his career to face the NWO. The change occurred, but instead he JOINED the NWO.
Vince McMahon's "heel" turn in 1997 - This can be highly debated as at the time Vince was doing what he needed to and had hoped he could disappear for a while shortly after. However, his actions changed pro wrestling and led to one of the hugest angles in pro wrestling.
Lex Luger's heel turn 1999 - Lex Luger joining the Wolfpac wasn't really a turn in character as it was a change in alliance. However, Luger made a full heel turn in 1999, joining the very group (black and white NWO) he fought against for years.
Chyna's face turn / Triple H's and Chyna's heel turn in 1999 - This was orchestrated well. No one expected Chyna to turn face again after turning heel a few months back. However, it was a feel good moment that could only be felt for a few minutes when Triple H and Chyna turned on DX and joined the corporation. No one saw this coming and certainly not with the number of turns that it included.
Vince McMahon's face turn in 1999 - McMahon had been one of the most hated heels in the last two years. The fact he turned face, then faced and beat Triple H for the title was shocking. (On a side note, McMahon has one of the best track records around. From wins going from Austin to the Undertaker, to Triple H to the Rock to John, and with a world title win, an ECW world title win, and Royal Rumble win, Vinnie Mac had quite the career...)
Sting's heel turn in 1999 - Yes, this heel turn was horrible and lasted about a month. However, it was SURPRISING as no one expected Sting to turn heel.
Bret Hart's heel turn in 2000 - The thing that made this surprising the most was Bret Hart was beloved after his brother Owen's death. Most people (including Bret most likely) thought Bret would never turn heel again. But he did here as one of his last acts before he was forced into retirement.
It gets muddled with WCW because of the frequency of face / heel turns up until the end, it wasn't surprising but really confusing for me.
Kane's heel turn in 2000 (I think) - Originally Big Show was suppose to feud with the Undertaker. However, he got sent down to OVW to get back into wrestling shape so Kane suddenly attacked the Undertaker. Though this heel turn was short lived, Kane was made to be strong again and a viable contender for any title.
Kane's face turn in 2001 - I told you it didn't last long. There wasn't much of a build up. Just suddenly Kane and the Undertaker worked together in the Royal Rumble. This by proxy turned Kane face again.
Austin's heel turn in 2001 - Yes, his heel turn was fairly poor. He was in the same boat as Sting. However, it was surprising to see him join forces at the end of the night with Vince McMahon. In a lot of ways, many feel this was the end of the "Attitude" era.
Edge's face turn in 2001 - Edge and Christian had been a hated tag team. That, along with the story that they, Angle, and Rhyno, all good friends, were going into the King of the Ring semi-quarter finals match, made for interesting story. However, what made for really interesting story was Edge turning face in the process. No one saw it coming, but it was quite clear when, the next night after having won the event, he was mocking Billy Gunn's current endeveaors.
WCW / ECW's heel turn - WCW started off the night with Booker T, originally a face who was fighting for respect, completely doing a 180 and turned heel. This was surprising as it was a completely different direction that we had seen in the past few weeks. However, the surprising turns would continue when virtually every ECW wrestler that was just recently a part of WWE or had not yet "joined" the WWE, joined with WCW to pummel the WWE. No one saw it, and it led to an exciting prospect of matches for what we thought would be years to come.
Shane / Vince On the same night as the WCW / ECW heel turn, Shane and Vince did a double turn. This was quite shocking given that Shane prior to this point had nobly protected his mother against Vince McMahon, had "saved" WCW from being crushed by Vince, and had many of the classic aspects of a babyface. Vince had done so many dastardly things at this point, the last being caught with his pants down with Torrie Wilson (I think) that no one would have seen him turning face, especially not immediately after the preceding angle. However, the WWE needed a new direction with everything in the summer of 2001, and a new direction they went.
Kurt Angle's heel turn in 2001 - Kurt turned on the WWE to join the alliance. However, this was all a ruse by Vince McMahon to outsmart the Alliance. The turn came out of nowhere and was shocking given Kurt was the top babyface the month or so prior, even beating Austin by submission for the belt.
Undertaker's heel turn in 2001 - Undertaker was and is beloved. The only time he really got booed as a heel prior to this was against Austin. His new persona was enjoyed by many (Yes, I realize people will say they liked the Deadman persona more. That doesn't mean people DIDN'T enjoy this persona.). He was also WWE loyal and perhaps stood second to 'Classy' Freddie Blassie in inspirational speeches. Therefore, to see him turn heel, forcing J.R. to kiss McMahon's behind was just shocking.
Ric Flair face turn - Flair had just turned heel to align himself with the NWO. He had just lost to Austin when Austin, who was tired of the WWE at this point, didn't show up for work. Flair surprisingly turned face again to savage things.
Brock Lesnar's face turn in 2002 - Brock had come in as a heel, destroying everyone. He even pummeled the legendary Hulk Hogan to a chorus of boos. He then went on to face the Undertaker, in a series of vicious matches, only to come out after it all saying he respected the Undertaker and all the mind games he played was to "give himself an edge". Given Lesnar was Smackdown's top heel and had quite a heel run to go, and given his character, no one expected a face turn here.
Nothing much in terms of surprising face / heel turns happened in 2003. However, the fact that Eddie Guerrero pretty much stayed face no matter how hard they booked him as a heel at times was pretty impressive. There was also the Ric Flair
Vince McMahon's face turn in 2004 - Vince had literally had a match against his daughter, then beat and buried the beloved Undertaker the next month. He then came out at Wrestlemania, thanking the fans and turning face in the process.
JBL's heel turn in 2004 - Say what you will about JBL the character, but this heel turn came out of nowhere for the most part. He did say something like he would make an impact earlier in the evening, but no one saw this coming a week, or even an hour before it happened.
Orton's face turn in 2004 - Orton had been built as an egotistical heel the past year or so. His suddenly breaking down and crying when he won the world title was surprising. His face turn was completed the next night, but the fact that he turned face to begin with was just shocking.
HBk's heel turn in 2005 - The superkick heard around the world. HBK wiped out Hogan to a shocked audience.
HBK's face turn in 2005 - The length of this heel turn lasted just about as long as Sting's. Most would have expected that HBK's heel turn would have lasted months and months. Instead, after the match, HBK shook Hogan's hand, and by the next night moved onto Chris Masters.
Paul Heyman in 2006 - Paul Heyman suddenly turned on RVD to give Big Show the title. This was the same RVD that Heyman had promoted for years.
I hate to say but until 2010, I can't really think of a shocking heel or face turn. Many of them were built up over time, or were logical given the circumstances. There were some good ones, like Jericho's or Punk's, but these were also hinted at and built on over a period of time. Perhaps the biggest shocking with respect to turns is Batista staying a face as long as he did.
Edge's heel turn in 2010 - Edge had just recently turned face. He also seemed primed for a title shot against John Swagger. However, this was not to be when he got drafted to Raw. He then shocked everyone when he speared Orton out of nowhere.