The Greatest Turn In Character Ever.

[mikeRC]

Nothing launches a character more than a turn to face or heel.

When Hogan started becoming unpopular he became a heel with the NWO and WCW became huge. When Austin started becoming liked as a heel he became a face and wrestling would never be the same.

but what was the greatest change from face to heel or from heel to face and why?

 

[da madd kracka 512]

i'm not sure if this is really the greatest ever but certainly in recent memory i'd have to say cena's heel to face turn was pretty awesome. if you recall when he 1st came to the wwe, he was doin' the thug/whiteboy gansta thing that, in my opinion, was gettin' heat but i think for the wrong reason - he wasn't that great of a heel at first and the fans weren't booing him cause he was a heel but because what he was doing (the weak "rapping" about his opponents) really wasn't that good. i, myself, absolutely hated him, just could not stand him at all, but slowly i decide to really give him a shot and wouldn't you know, his persona and even the "rapping" started to grow on me (hell, i'll even admit i kinda miss his rapping before the matches now) and, at least for the time, most other fans as well. then he became, much like austin, a heel you actually cheered for once he got into his groove, and inevitably, became a great face......for awhile anyway, untill he was shoved down our collective throats, that is.

 

[miamicanes460]

Austin's face turn was too slow and could not be decided by one match or event. It wasn't sudden enough to be considered the greatest turn ever. I think of a "turn" as somebody being a face, and then unexpectedly just blasting somebody or screwing somebody over...something that screams NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! to the fans.





My vote might have to go to Vince. He does a great job of shocking people with heel turns. Vince screwing Bret Hart was real, so that made the fans truly hate him. Great move by him, although it wasn't planned that way. He rode that heel heat into a storyline...the greatest storyline ever.

He then was a face for a while, and then screwed over The Rock and teamed up with Stone Cold at WM over The Rock. I think, IMO, this was the best tandem heel turn ever.


Vince and Stone Cold screwing over The Rock at WM was epic. Great surprise heel turn for both.

 

[ad21k]

Austin's run as heel is vastly underated, and overshadown by the debacle of the invasion storyline. It was Austin's charisma during this period that kept the WWE interesting to watch, and his feud with Angle was good, and produced some great matches.

As for the greatest heel turn ever, that easily is Hogan. Hogan was seen as the ultimate babyface that could do no wrong,it was inconcivible that he would turn heel. But it was carzy enough that it worked and turned out to be a huge ratings success for WCW. It wasn't brilliant for Hogan's character, but certainly benefited WCW for the next 4 years until it became stale.

 

[eljay7i]

Shawn Michaels super kicking Marty Jennetty through the glass... That wasn't expected in any way and really paved the way for HBK to be looked as a serious singles competitor.. Honorouble mentions to HHH and chyna turning on their DX partners and the Corporation at WM15...

 

[avi01]

BY FAR. Wrestlemania X7, Austin turns heel and screw the Rock with the help of Mcmahon. This match and its events is terribly underrated. IMO, it is one of the best Wrestlemania main event ever.
It has always been Austin vs. Mcmahon until that day. It was awesome, right there in Texas...it was nuts. Jr and Heyman delivers a fantastic performance. I`ll never forget that..never. One of my favorite match/moments in WWE...ever. Many people say attitude era ended at Wrestlemania x7..well hell of a way to end it.
Like someone mentioned already. Vince+Austin heel tandem is one of the best ever...add HHH to that now. Austin heel run was fantastic....in every aspect of it.
Too bad his face turn after that was not as good as the heel turn..at least imo. I enjoyed the heel run so much that when he turned face, I didn`t like it that much. 2001 was Austin year.

 

[Aberle4Life]

Hogan's turn was the biggest one ever. There's no doubt about it.

Since that one's been talked about, I have some other ones that I personally really liked..

Jake Roberts turning heel in 1991. Jake was one of my favorite wrestlers since he came into the WWF. I was excited when he turned face in the late 80's and was very surprised when they turned Jake, definitely a fan favorite, into a heel by turning on the Ultimate Warrior and pairing him up with the then-heel Undertaker. The promos leading up to this turn were great, with Jake teaching the Warrior the ways of the dark side. He buried him alive and put him through other tests to prove he was ready for the Undertaker. Finally, he locked the Warrior in a room full of snakes--poisonous snakes--and he was bit and collapsed while Jake was looking at him and laughing. The heel turn was complete. Jake remained one of my favorite wrestlers--this storyline was truly awesome. Too bad Warrior had to screw it up by leaving the company because of money.

Randy Savage turning heel in 1989. This happened in Milwaukee, my hometown. Savage and Hogan were the MegaPowers and ruled the WWF, but Savage was jealous of Hogan and his friendship with Elizabeth, concerned it was turning into something more. During their match with the Twin Towers, Akeem threw Savage through the ropes and right into Elizabeth, knocking her unconscious. Hogan immediately went to her aid and left Savage in order to take her back to the lockerroom for medical attention. That was it for Savage, who confronted Hogan and ultimately nailed him with the Heavyweight title right in the head! It was a moment you saw coming for some time, but it was still a huge moment which led to the MegaPowers exploding at WrestleMania V, of course won by Hogan.

Triple H's turn, leaving DX for the Corporation. This move launched Triple H's career to another level, although marrying Steph didn't hurt either. His character underwent a transformation into the Cerebral Assasain-type character he someone still is today. Until that turn, Triple H was the face leader of DX and mostly just in the Intercontinental Title picture. That changed quickly.

I also like it when Kane turns, either heel or face. He's awesome whatever he does. Jericho too, for that matter.

 

[Aberle4Life]

I agree the Austin heel turn was huge, but personally I didn't like it. I also agree that he was great as a heel--that was the time he listened to his watch that wasn't there and started the "WHAT" stuff. Still, he was so over as a face that I think it hurt the company a little bit that he was again a heel. The Invasion angle was terribly managed so Austin couldn't stay heel long, but I was glad when he was face again. Austin just wasn't the sell-out corporate type, no matter the money.

Just my opinion. Again, no disagreeing at all that it was a big turn or that Austin was awesome in his role. He was hilarious and by far the best part of the entire Invasion angle.

 

[Angleslammer]

Interesting Thread, here's a few that stand out to me:

1) 1998 the rock who had been a heel and then over a few month period from summerslam to survivor series had become somewhat of a face where people were cheering him as much as anyone (except maybe austin) and then at the end of the survivor series tournament becoming heel again and turning on mankind in their match and joining the corporation.

2) Trish unexpectadly turning heel on jericho and then proceeding to make out with Christian at WM 20 (resulting in a pretty good year long heel run for her)

3) Hogan's turn goes without saying! speaks for itself as the greatest heel turn in history and brought WCW to a level that would never be repeated!

 

[JTS32]

The most shocking I think has to be Hogan. The hero of wrestling going bad was a shocker and led WCW to its best time.

The one that launched a career was Shawn Michaels. You could see it coming weeks in advance but when he superkicked Marty Janetty in the barbershop it turned Shawn Michaels from tag team mid carder to future superstar.

I think if look at the one that is the most memorable you have to go with Andre The Giant. Argueably the second most popular wrestler of that time behind Hogan. The fans did a double take when Orndorff turned on Hogan, their jaws dropped when Andre did.

 

[Aberle4Life]

I forgot about the Orndorff turn! That one was incredible. As a little kid, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. My brother and I felt ill after that turn..hehe. That was probably the first heel turn I remember seeing.. I thought Orndorff was a good face, too. Unfortunately Hogan needed someone new to beat up on

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Gotta give it to Hogan at Bash at the Beach. Who doesn't remember that. People who never watched WCW would say thats the greatest turn ever. None has ever come close; not Austins face turn; not Bret Harts heel turn; not nothing. Hogan all the way.

 

[Mr. First Name Basis]

I consider the Austin Era to be more of a turn by the fans verses Austin himself. It was counterculture at itrs finest. Austin/Hogan and McMahon are without question the 3 biggest enities in the history of the business.

That not withstanding, I would consider the Hogan heel turn in WCW as brilliant, but the one that sticks out most in my mind for some reason, was the heel turn by Jake Roberts in the early 90's, after turning on the Warrior. I thought that was very well done, and sadly, such story lines are few and far between these days.

I think he did few spots with Warrior that did not pan, but his work with Savage was superior.

Savage deserves to be in the HOF, by the way.

 

[y2empleh]

Austin's face turn was too slow and could not be decided by one match or event. It wasn't sudden enough to be considered the greatest turn ever. I think of a "turn" as somebody being a face, and then unexpectedly just blasting somebody or screwing somebody over...something that screams NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! to the fans.

I disagree with the best turn being a quick one. To me the best turns are often the ones that progress slowly over time. In my opinion the best turn was Chris Jericho after wrestlemania 25. He went from a guy struggling to be a main event face to being THE dominant heel on Raw and is still one of the two biggest names on Raw.

Another one I feel should get acknowledged and it is a much quicker turn then Jericho was JBL shortly after the initial draft when he separated from Farooq and APA. In that one episode of smackdown he went from a tag team wrestler more known for backstage antics then in ring work to being the front runner for the world title (which he eventually won from the late great Eddie Guerrero). Say what you want about his in-ring work but his mic skills, while not the best out there, do not get the credit they deserve for being very very good.

 

[kenvin100]

By far the biggest turn ever was Undertakers turn from American Badass to Big Evil. The day he made JR kiss McMahons ass was a complete shock to the WWE universe!

 

[JTS32]

Wow thought of another. What about Taker's face turn against Jake Roberts. (The Roberts turning on Warrior thing made me think of that). During the Funeral Parlor Roberts is berating Taker for his recent actions and then asks Taker "Whose side are you on?" I was man probably like 13 and I heard Taker in that voice say "Not yours." Taker gets his hand caught in the casket but takes off after Roberts dragging the casket behind him. Priceless.

 

[Mr. First Name Basis]

What about Tysons face turn at WM14. I did not see that one coming.

 

[FlairFan2003]

A lot of classic heel/face turns have been mentioned in this thread, but too many times you could see them a mile away. Orndorf turning on Hogan prior to WM was easy to see, as was Savage turning heel in 1989. The build up was good and so was the execution, but a smart fan saw it a mile away. HBK putting Jannety through the glass was pretty cool, but those two had televised problems for weeks, as Shawn tried wrestling singles matches, and publicly blamed Jannety's interferrence for him losing a televised match to Ric Flair a few weeks earlier.

Hogan's heel turn and the creation of "Hollywood" Hogan and the NWO was totally out of nowhere. Regardless of what you can say about WCW's booking mistakes this is probably the best turn in at least the last 20 years.

Andre's heel turn before WM 3 was also phenomenal. The most beloved, and undfeated, wrestler in all WWE aligning himself with the hated Bobby Heenan family to get a shot at Hogan's title. This was a shocker, and just like the NWO turn, it produced some awesome business.

Some other honorable mentions in the "never saw it coming" category include...
Jimmy Garvin's 1987 face turn when the Midnight Express burned Ron Garvin's face - The back story portraying these two as on screen brothers had been mentioned before but Jimmy, a former co-hort of the Fabulous Freebirds, was one of the NWA's most flamboyant heel characters, a polar opposite of Ronnie's down to earth, blue jean, working man, good guy persona. Plus, Ronnie had had run ins with the likes of the Horseman and Midnights before and Jimmy never came to his aide. Of course, no one ever lit his brother's face on fire. A pay off match with the Express wasn't the money maker but the company did good business when Jimmy's pal Ric Flair sided with the Express, and eventually put his World Title on the line at the Great American Bash against Jimmy's wife and manager Prescious.

The Undertaker's turn on Jake Roberts - Taker had been a one dimensional bad guy and the prefect complement to the smooth talking Jake "The Snake" but when Roberts decided to physically assault Miss Elizabeth even The Deadman had enough. Taker's character rose to new heights after the face turn. The rest of his career has been Hall Of Fame worthy ever since.

Ric Flair breaks Dusty Rhodes leg 1985 - Flair has spent the summer doing what fan favorites like Rhodes and Magnum TA couldn't, take on "The Russian Nightmare" Nikita Kolloff, the 275 pound monster of destruction, and his uncle former WWF Champ Ivan Kolloff, and defeated them time and again in a series of bloody battles, highlighted by a 45 minute slug fest the very first Great American Bash in front of a sold out crowd at Charlotte Memorial Stadium. The Four Horsemen were not really a full fledged group and had rarely been booked together up to this point, and Flair was just about the most popular face in the company behind Rhodes. When the Kolloffs lost again to Flair inside a steel cage, they decided to lock the door and pummel the champ. The first man to the rescue was Rhodes, Flair's former rival who also hated The Russians. Rhodes saved Flair, and with fans expecting some sort of reconcilliation between these two, Flair swerved everyone and summoned the Anderson's to the ring. The ensuing beat down on Dusty drew a rabid crowd response, so brutal that security guards had to escort the Horsemen to the locker room as fans swarmed the ringside area to attack them. Arn Anderson even needed stitches after being attacked bya fan with a bottle. Dusty's return to the ring at Starrcade 85 not only produced one of the best televised matches between these two enemies, it helped the NWA reach a million dollar gate for the event, absolutley huge given that there was no Pay Per View and ticket prices were less than 1/2 what they are today.

Let's not forget the Rock becoming The Corporate Champion. Everyone thought Vince's guy in the race was Mick Foley, who was sucking up big time to the boss to be his boy. The Rock was "People's Champ" and appeared totally against alligning himself with The Corporation. The swerve at the end of that match, with Rock going over winning the World Title, was pretty surprising, a hard thing to do in this day and age.

 

[seven3too]

"Savage was jealous of Hogan and his friendship with Elizabeth, concerned it was turning into something more". WHAT? hogan was stalking her for a whole year what do you mean he was jealous? what if your best friend was carring your girlfriend around and then ditched you so you can get oyur ass handed to you by two fat fucks. and they weren't even friends really they hated each other..whatever fuck hogan!..I AGREE AUSTIN HAD THE BEST HEAL TURN BUT BRET HART HAD A GOOD ONE TOO

 

[Aberle4Life]

Calm down there, Chief. You know this stuff is STAGED, right? Hogan was just doing what he was booked to do, and Macho reacted the way he was booked to do. It was a great angle.

 

["Cool Guy" Jensen]

This wouldn't really be considered the greatest turn, but I loved the face turn Booker T had in 2004. On the October 21, 2004 edition of Smackdown (I believe)... there was a 6-man Tag Team match consisting of Rey Mysterio, Rob Van Dam, and a heel Booker T vs. WWE Champion J.B.L. and WWE Tag Team Champions, Kenzo Suzuki and Rene Dupree. During the whole match, Booker T was almost never tagged in and looked bored holding the tag rope for nearly the whole match. Mysterio even accidentally him Booker T will an elbow. Near the closing of the match, with Dupree and Suzuki taking care of R.V.D., J.B.L. held up Mysterio for Booker T to beat the hell out of him. It seemed as though, Booker would do so, until he suddenly struck J.B.L. and beat the hell out of Dupree and Suzuki, before ending the match with a victory. I just loved that particular face turn more than an other that I can remember.

 

[shafe_41]

It was already said in this thread but the greatest turn ever in my opinion where the mental image of the video can play over and over again is Shawn Michaels superkicking Marty Jannetty through the Barbershop window. The mental image of it is just unforgettable.

 

[I_Like_All_Wrestling]

I don't see how this can even possibly be debated. Hogan's heel turn was the biggest of all time. He was one of the most beloved wrestlers EVER. Even though pretty much all of his matches are exactly the same, and technically, not really all that great, people still love him. He was a good guy for like 20 years, super all American Hulk Hogan then suddenly without warning turned right on the fans directly.

Not to mention that the nwo was one of the greatest storylines when it started, which in turn led to the boom of late 90s wrestling, leading to WWE creating the Attitude era. I think Hogan's heel turn was so huge it impacted the entire business, not only storylines.

 

[Mr. First Name Basis]

In retrospect, I liked the NWO. But it would not have been possible without guys like Hall, Nash, X Pac, Dibase, Hogan, Henning, etc, that were already established by the McMahon Machine.

Granted, it worked. They used McMahons own momentum against him. So McMahon re-invented himself, literally, as well as his product. Of course, having so many talents on the roster, Austin, Taker, Golddust, Rock, Foley, McMahon himself, sure helped, but McMahon knew what to do with them.


On the other hand, WCW had great talents, most of which would jump ship before WCW sunk, Jehrico, Gurerro, Big Show, Mysterio, but had no idea what to do with them. Heck, look at what they did with Hart! Nothing!

So with that, the turn from corny announcer to Mr. McMahon was a brilliant heel turn as well.

 

[TheGreatSPAMbino]

.................

ok

this isnt even a debate, hogans heel turn at bash at the beach 1996 was the biggest turn in wrestling history, possibly the biggest moment in wrestling history. This started the NWO which carried WCW and made them defeat the WWF. Austins heel turn wow a pathetic attempt at replicating this turn, which can never and will never be replicated.