Wrestling news: The top 10 heel turns in WWE history
The heel turn is the occurrence that can create the most buzz around a wrestling product and in some cases revitalise an entire company.
Whether it was a friendship turned sour, a shocking reveal or a man obsessed with a championship belt, the WWE has tugged on our heartstrings with a plethora of turns across the years.
Here, Sports News Blitz’s Samuel Leasley and Brad Turner Peek break down their top 10 heel turns in WWE history.
Honorable mentions:
The Rock joins the corporation (1998)
Kevin Owens destroys Chris Jericho in the festival of friendship (2017)
Randy Orton (take your pick)
‘Dirty’ Dominik Mysterio (Somehow turned heel whilst already heel, 2022)
10: The New Day (2024)
In 2014, a trio of guys rumoured to be next on the list of WWE releases were thrown together and expected to create magic out of nothing.
These three men were Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods and Big E, and 10 years later, this group would go down as one of the greatest in WWE history.
From multiple tag-title wins, to two of the three becoming WWE World Champions, they have left a hall-of-fame legacy behind them when they decide to call it a day.
The unfortunate career-ending injury saw Woods and Kingston have to move on without E, and tension rose until the 10-year celebration of the New Day.
This is where the shocking betrayal of Big E took place, a moment no fan ever expected, and was one of the most emotional moments in recent times.
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9: Mark Henry (2013)
The wrestling retirement is often an incredibly heart-wrenching moment in which the veteran wrestler declares his love to fans one more time and rides off into the sunset, most of the time in floods of tears.
However, the fake wrestling retirement plays all the same emotional chords yet delivers that killer blow of hatred right at the end.
The infamous salmon jacket promo from Mark Henry has gone down in WWE folklore as one of the most unexpected heel turns of all time, with both fans and fellow wrestlers thinking the former world heavyweight champion was retiring.
Yet just as the crowd began chanting “one more match” and “thank you Henry”, he scooped up John Cena into a world’s strongest slam, planting the champ in the middle of the ring before shouting “I’ve still got a lot left in the tank”.
The lasting legacy of this heel turn still resonates in modern WWE storylines, with AJ Styles recently employing the same tactic before turning heel on WWE Champion Cody Rhodes.
8: Chris Jericho (2008)
June 9th 2008 was the start date to one of the most brutal and violent feuds of the PG era between Y2J Chris Jericho and the Heartbreak kid Shawn Michaels.
Jericho was jealous of Michaels for always having the fans on his side whilst he was subject to torrents of abuse.
Y2J then attacked Michaels with a low blow before smashing his head into the ‘Jeritron 6000’, nearly kayfabe blinding him.
After a brutal encounter at the Great American Bash, in which Jericho prevailed by attacking the cuts to Michaels’ eye, Jericho managed to turn even further heel by punching Michaels’ wife at Summerslam after HBK ducked his attack.
The feud continued in a ladder match for the world heavyweight championship and in a last-man-standing match on the November 10 episode of RAW, with Jericho picking up the win on both occasions.
This heel turn is arguably Jericho’s best WWE work due to his incredible chemistry with Michaels and the utter brutality the matches brought out.
7: CM Punk (2012)
CM Punk garnered an incredible career for himself in the WWE with his heel work across his first spell with the company.
His heel work against Jeff Hardy blurred the lines between reality and fiction, with Punk’s straight-edge mantra clashing with Hardy’s troubles with alcohol and drug abuse.
Yet it was his heel turn on the 1000th episode of RAW that was arguably the most shocking of the lot as Punk flattened the Rock with a clothesline as the people’s champion was mid people’s elbow.
Punk’s heel run involved some of the best promo work of his career and once again leaned into his real frustrations, with the Rock stealing the limelight and the main event of Wrestlemania which Punk believed he deserved instead.
Eventually, the Rock would defeat CM Punk at both the Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber 2013 to walk into Wrestlemania as WWE Champion, with Punk moving onto an incredible feud with the Undertaker only to fall to the dead man at Wrestlemania.
6: Shawn Michaels (1992)
“The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels is widely regarded as the greatest in-ring performer of all time, but where did it all begin?
Michaels got his first gig in a tag team known as “The Rockers” with Marty Jenetty, back then you could clearly see the talent Shawn possessed.
The two teamed up for seven years until 1991 in a segment with Brutus Beefcake’s “Barbershop” where Michaels put his best friend head first through the window.
This creative decision elevated Michaels into singles stardom and birthed one of the greatest stars of all time.
5: Stone Cold Steve Austin (2001)
In 2001, Stone Cold Steve Austin was widely recognised as one of the biggest “babyfaces” of all time, his feud against “The Boss” catapulted WWE through the “Monday Night Wars” to an eventual victory over WCW.
Up there with the likes of Hogan and Cena as one of those names that could just not turn heel, this all took a turn.
Wrestlemania 17 saw Austin take on The Rock for the WWE Championship, and in a shocking turn of events, “The Boss” entered the ring to help his long-time rival beat The Rock, and he and Austin shook hands at the end.
“Stone Cold is shaking hands with Satan himself” - Jim Ross
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4: Roman Reigns (2020)
For years fans had been clambering for WWE to turn Roman Reigns heel following endless failed attempts of trying to make ‘the big dog’ the number one face in the company.
After a hiatus due to the outbreak of the pandemic, Reigns returned at Summerslam 2020, attacking the Fiend following the conclusion of the Universal Championship match.
This heel turn was further confirmed due to Reigns’ allegiance with Paul Heyman, the long-time advocate for Brock Lesnar.
Not only did this heel turn provide the basis for the fourth-longest title reign in WWE history, a run of 1316 days, but also catapulted Reigns to superstardom as the top star in the company.
His tribal chief persona continues to be a huge hit with the fans and showcases how sometimes being the bad guy is the only way to get the fans on side.
3: Seth Rollins (2014)
When talking about moments that would shape the next decade of professional wrestling, can you look any further than the moment Seth Rollins sold out?
A story still being told over a decade later, Seth Rollins drove a steel chair into his best friend’s (Roman Reigns) back, and joined “The Authority”, breaking up “The Shield” which were one of the most popular teams on the roster.
Third man Dean Ambrose would later leave WWE, but for Rollins and Reigns, this turn would elevate them both into the one and two faces of WWE.
Both Roman and Seth are now multiple-time world champions, Wrestlemania main-eventers, and bonafide future Hall of Famers.
A story so good, chapters are still being written 11 years later.
2: John Cena (2025)
Now this heel turn might be the greatest thing we have ever witnessed in a WWE ring.
The man who stood for hustle, loyalty and respect for 23 years low blowing Cody Rhodes and aligning with the Rock turned the entire wrestling landscape on its head.
Whilst we are still in the infancy of this heel run, nothing has generated buzz like this since CM Punk smashed the fourth wall with his pipe bomb promo in 2011.
We thought Cena’s retirement run would be one final year of the greatest hits, with Cena taking in the ovation and riding off into the sunset as the one true forever babyface.
It is still baffling to be writing about a Cena heel run to this day and like many others we will be glued to our screens awaiting the next villainous act of a once righteous man.
1: Hulk Hogan (1996)
Where did the attitude era start? This moment certainly has a claim to be that starting point.
Hulk Hogan was perhaps the biggest “babyface” in professional wrestling history, he was the hero for years and years for WWE.
The one man that could just “not turn heel”, it made no sense surely?
Hogan left WWE due to falling out of favour with the audience and eventually ended up in WCW, the main rival to WWE, and WCW did the unthinkable at “Bash at the Beach”.
Hogan was revealed as a member of rebel group, “The NWO” and the reaction was remarkable. Objects thrown into the ring by angry fans, Hogan had finally turned.
This moment forced the hand of WWE, as WCW were beating them each week in the ratings, WCW were on fire.
WWE chose to drop the “family-friendly” vibe, and changed to a more gritty product known as “the Attitude Era” and just like that, one of the greatest eras in wrestling history was born.
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