What was the COLDEST heel turn in wrestling history?

[Whatsmynameagain]

IMO it was tatanka joining the million dollar corporation. As a little kid i was devastated and immediately threw my tatanka shirt in the trash.

 

[Odisho]

im gonna say matt hardy at royal rumble i think 2009. it was jeff hardy vs edge extreme rules. he was going for a then hit concharito on edge but hit jeff instead. im pretty sure everyone knew he would turn heel and hit hardy. but no one expected him to hit so hard.

also hulk hogans.

 

[JaeJarz]

Ole turning on the Dream. The actual turn was fantastic, with Gene and Uncle Ivan and the Assassins mugging Dusty like it was their job. But the follow- up promo with Solie, where he explained his mindset, his reasoning, was as compelling as anything I'd ever seen. And when Tbolt Patterson came out to talk some sense in him and Ole told Bolt that "this one was free", that next time he saw him they'd be at war. No yelling, no screaming, just plain matter of fact

 

[jeritroll94]

Triple H has been involved in 3 of the top cold heel turns.

1999 - Catapulted Triple H into a main event player turning on DX in style to join arguably the best heel stable in history - the corportation/corporate ministry!

2002 - Triple H turning on HBK after he returned was his best heel turn. The events afterwards just made that whole rivalry great to the pinnacle at Bad Blood 2 years later where the feud ended.

2005 - Didn't see this one coming hence why it was so good. Triple H returned from a hiatus to team with Flair and then it all erupted from there. Shame this storyline didn't last long though.

Other close calls was The Rock joining the corporation, Austin joining the alliance and Michaels ending the rockers.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

People are forgetting one that is so blatantly "Stone Cold"... In 1996, Brian Pillman debuted in the WWF, still suffering the effects from the jeep accident that nearly destroyed his foot. Stone Cold was on a tear after the KOTR win and everyone knew about he and Pillman being best friends and former partners... that was until Stone Cold put his mangled foot into a chair and stomped it... leading to the infamous angle with the gun the following week...

Now Austin was heel anyway, but so was Pillman and this kinda turned him face in the situation. It was cold because this is your best bud, the guy who you had most success with to date and you are basically ending his career...

If it's a strict heel turn you want, then I would go with another one not mentioned... Owen turning on Bret at the Royal Rumble. Bret had made the sacrifice in saying he'd team with Owen exclusively for the rest of his career... When Bret lost cos of his "leg injury" Owen kicked it out, stomped him down seemingly ending Bret's hopes of winning The Rumble and cutting the infamous slobberfaced botch promo "That's why I kicked your leg out of your leg..." but the botch was what made it real and seem more cold, Owen clearly didn't have a long thought out speech or even a plan to do it but what he did say and do was laced with venom, bile and frustration... It was Kane slaying Abel... After Shawn's it's probably the best executed turn of the era, far more believable than Hogan's. The payoff didn't really come till Bret won the title back at Wrestlemania and you saw Owen refuse to join the others celebrating, just looking on coldly... THAT was a goosebumps moment...

 

[theBec2101]

Has to be Hogan. This isn’t even close. Hogan was a face his entire career up to that point. No one thought it was going to be Hogan. On HBK he has been face to heel back to face so many times is it really that surprising. Same with the Rock. Andre was pretty much the same way. Now with Austin I don’t think he was a heel after KOTR or not to long after. my feeling he was neutral it was Him vs everyone. He didn’t care if you were face or heel or you were attacking him or helping him, he was giving you the stunner at the end of the day. Now before KOTR yes he was heel though.

 

[JackRabbitt]

Superbrawl VIII

Scott Steiner turning on Rick Steiner to join tha nWo. They were brothers, of course, and even tha tag champs at tha time and were feuding against nWo. I remember hating Scott so much for doing that to Rick. It's pissing me off thinking about it now.

Glad someone mentioned this, it literally changed Scott Steiner's career forever, catapulting him into eventually becoming one of the biggest names in the business for a time.

He really ran with the opportunity and did a great job. How about 2 weeks later on nitro when he cuts an interview with tears in his eyes apologizing to rick for everything, saying "I just wanna be a steiner brother again". As soon as Rick forgave him, Buff Bagwell sneaks attack from behind in true nWo fashion, and Scott is never the same again.

 

[SuperKick36]

Andre in 1987.

Andre had been Hogan's friend and partner, with Hogan saving Andre from numerous beatdowns by Heenan and company. Then Andre turns his back on Hulk because Heenan has gotten to him and has turned Andre evil through greed. Hogan going to the back of the Pit and being stopped in his tracks by Andre is an amazing moment because Andre is with Heenan and you can see the shock on Hogan's face. It's a great moment and a huge turn which set up the biggest match ever. Andre being cold and evil was perfect too as he had always smiled for the most part before that. Great turn and an awesome moment.

That's definitely a good one, it was one of my choices too.

However, I think my favorite (probably because it's more recent) was the R-Truth heel turn, when he just LOST it on JoMo, and was smoking on live TV (which you never see).

It just added to his heel turn, and I was not really expecting him to turn like that. I think they could have shot R-Truth into the sky with that turn, buuut apparently the whole smoking thing was "going too far"...

 

[justin71]

For me it's a tie when Paul Orndorff turned on Hogan because of the manner in which he did it or the time they teased a Flair face turn when Dusty Rhodes saved him from a triple team from the Kolofs only to have the 4 Horsemen attack Dusty.

 

[Skairipa Matrix]

Im gonna go with when Shawn Michaels turned his back on Marty Jennety that was just down right cold. At the time The Rockers were still a hot young team and then Shawn superkicks Marty through the barber shop window! Sure it might have been a little bit expected but at the same time it was still pretty cold.

 

[sTyLnK]

Hogan turning on the NWO during that time frame was massive and unexpected. If you want to step further back into the early 90's, Shawn turning on Marty was definitely unexpected. I remember watching that and screaming noooo. LOL.

 

[HBsam31]

Here is one that as a kid I thought was heartbreaking. Strike force was the hottest face team at the time and tag champs. Demolition beat them with the help of Mr. fuji's cane across Rick Martel's throat at Wrestlemania 4. Martel was basically out for a whole year and at Mania 5 he returned with Tito to face the Brainbusters. Tito and Rick were like brothers to me at that young age, and I couldn't understand why he walked out on Tito and let the Brainbusters take Tito apart. Martel went on to become the Model. It's not one of the most remembered turns, but in its time was very cold.

 

[HBsam31]

When The Rock joined the Corporation at Survivor Series 98, I thought that was very cold at the time. Rocky was getting over huge as a babyface, and I was like...12. I hated him after that.

I wanted to add to this one to. While Rocky made the turn, even colder was the fact that Vince turned on Mankind. Mankind had done everything Vince asked him to do, and he finally felt like he belonged to something. When Vince rang the bell look at the look on Mankind's face, he couldn't understand what he had done to deserve it.

 

[justtxyank]

Nice topic. I’ll give it some thought but one that immediately comes to mind is X Pac’s heel turn in 1999. X Pac spent the summer trying to help Kane accept himself as a human being instead of a monster. Instead of using him like so many others did in the past X Pac was actually a friend to Kane. He encouraged Kane to be himself and open up to feeling emotions. For the first time in his life Kane was actually being accepted for who he was.

As summer turned to fall Triple H decided to get his friends back together and reunite DX. X Pac led Kane to believe he would be a part of DX which was very meaningful to Kane. It was like the awkward kid that always got made fun of in school being invited to sit at the popular table during lunch. Sadly for Kane he was never invited into DX and X Pac turned in him in humiliating fashion. Not only that but X Pac further humiliated Kane by stealing his girlfriend Tori. Kane had never had a girlfriend. When he finally formed what he thought was a true friendship with X Pac he became more confident in himself as a person and formed a relationship with Tori. As if being betrayed by his best friend in favor of hanging with the “cool kids” wasn’t bad enough it became worse for Kane when his girlfriend left him for his former best friend. There’s more. For as cold as that was Tori broke up with Kane by publically announcing her new relationship with X Pac while DX beat him down. She even mentioned Kane’s shortcomings if you catch my drift. The entire thing was total humiliation.

We’ve seen friend turn on friend before. We’ve seen one friend steal another’s woman before. Considering Kane’s history up to that point of never having the opportunity to have a social life of any kind, and never even having a friend much less a girlfriend, I’d say X Pac’s betrayal of Kane is one of the coldest heel turns of all time.

I opened this thread to post this one. I think it is definitely #1 in terms of "cold" betrayals.

Since you already said it I won't rehash all of your points.

However, #2 for me is Curt Hennig turning on the Horsemen.

When Curt Hennig joined WCW in 1997 he was hot. The Horsemen wanted him badly to side with them to fight for tradition. They praised him every week and put the full court press on him. No one had ever been recruited like this by the Horsemen before. Then comes the emotional speech from Arn where he offers Curt "his spot" not just "a spot." Hennig signs up with the Horsemen as the enforcer. All of this leads to Fall Brawl 1997 where Hennig betrays the Horsemen, slamming the cage door on Ric Flair's head and joining the nWo.

It was brutal. Hennig instantly became public enemy #1. While the nWo was getting a lot of face cheers at this point (The Outsiders were basically the cool kids in WCW, Savage was getting face pops, Hogan was cool again, etc.) Hennig brought the heat. He and Bischoff were the two members who still could get booed out of the building. It was cold blooded and it destroyed the Horsemen.

 

[justtxyank]

Superbrawl VIII

Scott Steiner turning on Rick Steiner to join tha nWo. They were brothers, of course, and even tha tag champs at tha time and were feuding against nWo. I remember hating Scott so much for doing that to Rick. It's pissing me off thinking about it now.

This would qualify if WCW hadn't teased the turn for so long before it happened. They had basically turned Scott into the ego maniacal brother who always tried to win matches by himself, often refusing to tag Rick in. When the turn happened it didn't feel all that cold as it felt like estranged brothers fighting.

A better one from that same era was Hall turning on Nash. The Outsiders were thick as thieves. Closer on screen than Rick and Scott. Nash turns face and is going to lead a rebellion against Hollywood. It seems obvious Hall is on his side because Hall and Nash were ALWAYS on the same side. Not to mention Nash's beefs with Hogan were logically the same as Hall's. But then, shockingly, Hall turns on Nash to align with Hogan. It really broke the crowd's heart. Fans had come to love the Outsiders and would pine for their return for months after that.

Nash gave an emotional promo afterward where he said something about he and Hall agreeing in the past to put their friendship ahead of money at all times and Hall basically chose the money now after all these years.

It was cold blooded. So cold in fact that the fans never accepted it and chanted for their reunion until WCW put them back together.

 

[TheOldGuy]

Spiros Arion turning on Chief Jay Strongbow and Bruno Sammartino in the mid 1970's. It was a huge surprise and also the first time I can remember seeing blood on the broadcast. He went from one of the most loved, to by far the most hated villain.

 

[sikkbones]

Good answers so far. I was just starting to become a Rock fan a few weeks prior to Survivor Series, hated that heel turn. Real good points on the XPac turn, fits this topic very well.

I hate to go with one that we have talked about over and over again...but.... Bret and Austins double turn at Wrestlemania 13. I know a lot of people were on the Austin bandwagon going into the match but I didnt jump on until this night. Austin showed so much guts and will, refusing to give up with the blood pouring down his face only to pass out to the pain....going out like a hero. Then evil Bret would kick him when hes down and out. I was legit pissed (still young at the time). I never thought I could hate Bret until that night. He went from being one of my all time favorites to someone I hated literally over night. How could you Bret????

and yet for me bret hart is still a Canadian Hero and never turned heel in that match and only wanted to win the match, I think americans over sell the double turn here as i think that Bret only truly turned Heel (for americans) In the weeks following wrestlemania 13.... i think that match is remebered less for the double turn and more for the fact it was the only good match on the card.

 

[HBKperfect23]

Quote:




Originally Posted by HBKperfect23

Good answers so far. I was just starting to become a Rock fan a few weeks prior to Survivor Series, hated that heel turn. Real good points on the XPac turn, fits this topic very well.

I hate to go with one that we have talked about over and over again...but.... Bret and Austins double turn at Wrestlemania 13. I know a lot of people were on the Austin bandwagon going into the match but I didnt jump on until this night. Austin showed so much guts and will, refusing to give up with the blood pouring down his face only to pass out to the pain....going out like a hero. Then evil Bret would kick him when hes down and out. I was legit pissed (still young at the time). I never thought I could hate Bret until that night. He went from being one of my all time favorites to someone I hated literally over night. How could you Bret????

and yet for me bret hart is still a Canadian Hero and never turned heel in that match and only wanted to win the match, I think americans over sell the double turn here as i think that Bret only truly turned Heel (for americans) In the weeks following wrestlemania 13.... i think that match is remebered less for the double turn and more for the fact it was the only good match on the card.

The full anti America turn didnt happen until he formed the Hart Foundation. He definitly turned heel here tho. Kicking Austin when hes down, backing down to Shamrock, interfering in the main event. I agree with you about the match stealing the show and ill also point out the double turn had A LOT to do with it.

 

[midgensa]

There are so many good ones.

I love the X-Pac vs. Kane storyline and the way it played out for both guys, so The Brain gets major props on that pull.

We all saw it coming ... it was obvious ... but the top dog for me is when Stephanie McMahon turned on her own father and embraced Triple H to begin the McMahon-Helmsley era. Sure it was scripted and set up from a mile away, but that was her DAD and this was a guy who used roofies to marry her.

It was done fantastically and helped lead into one of the truly epic power couples.

 

[FlairFan2003]

Coldest Heel Turn: Id say Flair in 85, after spending the summer as a huge fan fav fighting off the Russians, he was bloodied and beaten but rallied and defeated evil Nikita in Steel Cage Match. Kollof's Russian co horts immediately run in the cage and start demolishing Flair. Out comes Dusty Rhodes, chasing out Kollof & friends and saving the bloody Flair.

However, Tully Blanchard, engaged in mega feud with Dusty comes out, followed by The Andersons. They want a piece of Dusty and all eyes were on Flair, who at this point was not strongly tied to Blanchard or any of his future Horsemen buddies. Instead of defending Rhodes, Flair turned, spewing at Dusty about minding his own business and learning his lesson. The following beatdown was one of wrestling's best, also marking the true start of the Four Horsemen (and ending Flair as a fan fav). Arn Anderson said in an interview that fans in the arena were so mad at them that he needed stitches afterwards from the injuries he suffered LEAVING THE RING. Flair has stated that if it wasnt for local police they never would have made it to the locker room without much worse injury.

Flair had some pretty cold heel turns (vs Sting in both 90 & 95 among them) but this one was classic, totally ignited the fans, and even today stands as one of his most memorable moments in the 80s, and it was ice cold, heartless.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I am going to have to go with one already posted by The Brain, and say X-Pac turning on Kane was one of the coldest turns I have ever seen.

It was made even colder because it wasn't just the usual "guy turns on his close friend and steals his girl", it was because we knew all about Kane's backstory, where he had come from, how he had suffered throughout his life and what this friendship and relationship with Tori meant to him.

As Brain said, Kane had not had a normal childhood, with terrible burns from the fire caused by Undertaker, and had never had any friends or a girlfriend. Now, he had his best buddy in X-Pac and the girl he never dreamed of, and X-Pac betrayed him. I remember seeing Kane handcuffed in the corner of the ring, desperately trying to get up as X-Pac kissed Tori in front of him. Really well done by the WWE, and a big reason why we should be told more about the backstories of the performers now. It really does help in storylines.

I was so happy to see Kane give Tori the Tombstone Piledriver to gain his revenge shortly after, after initially grabbing her for the chokeslam, but releasing her.....then flipping his hair back and nailing her with the Tombstone.

 

[ShinobiMusashi]

Stiener Bros at SuperBrawl 98 in WCW.

They were brothers, and nobody seen in coming. Anytime you turn on your brother that is about as cold as it gets.

Plus, the way he did it when they were in their traditional pose.

 

[Nate DaMac]

Stiener Bros at SuperBrawl 98 in WCW.

They were brothers, and nobody seen in coming. Anytime you turn on your brother that is about as cold as it gets.

Plus, the way he did it when they were in their traditional pose.

First off, I agree. It was a very cold turn. However, everybody saw it coming. They were subtly building up to that moment for a long time.

I didn't really thoroughly read this, so I have no idea if it was mentioned, but I'm going to go with Triple H turning on Shawn Michaels. He came over to Raw to team with Shawn again and when he was supposed to reform DX, he turned on Shawn. I was only like, 13-14 when this happened so I was pretty pissed that DX didn't reform.

It did lead to a pretty epic feud though.

 

[Kliq69]

First off, I agree. It was a very cold turn. However, everybody saw it coming. They were subtly building up to that moment for a long time.

I didn't really thoroughly read this, so I have no idea if it was mentioned, but I'm going to go with Triple H turning on Shawn Michaels. He came over to Raw to team with Shawn again and when he was supposed to reform DX, he turned on Shawn. I was only like, 13-14 when this happened so I was pretty pissed that DX didn't reform.

It did lead to a pretty epic feud though.

Everyone forgets the important part. The turn during the DX segment is always remembered. What is forgotten is that HBK was lobbying the free agent HHH to come to Raw instead of Smackdown and on Raw "somebody" attacked HBK in the parking lot and threw him through a car windshield. After the DX attack, HHH revealed he was the one who attacked HBK because he didn't want to share the spotlight. Fame/fortune over friendship. It was cold, but since it didn't involve blood it's not the coldest.

I thought of another one. Vince's higher power revelation. Not the turning on SC part, that was business. However, by revealing himself as the mastermind he also turned on his daughter because just a few short weeks before that, he used Stephanie as bait to lure out SC.

This turn was the beginning of SMH's turn on her father that I discussed in detail earlier in the thread.

Turning on tag partners and/or friends, or the fans is one thing; doing it to your blood adds a whole other level of coldness to it.

 

[californiachef84]

Because the question isn't the "biggest" or "most shocking" heel turn. The question is "coldest" heel turn. I cannot think of anything off the top of my head that hasn't been mentioned already but I agree with HHH turning on Flair was a very, very cold one. I'll never forget HHH dragging a blood soaked Flair through the arena after a massive beatdown and hearing flair's voice weakly saying "Hunter?"

Ummm, okay... Hogan's heel turn was the coldest in history. I did NOT misread the question. Hogan's heel turn was the biggest, most shocking, and COLDEST heel turn in history.

Hogan turning his back on all of the little Hulkamaniacs, Macho Man, & WCW is as cold as it gets.

The closest thing that could happen in today's business would be if John Cena told all the little kids to "stick it" and left for TNA.