How do you turn a badass antihero heel?

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

The badass antihero is a type of face that the IWC just cannot get enough of. While stereotypical heroes like Hulk Hogan and John Cena are looked down upon, the likes of Stone Cold and to a lesser extent Randy Orton are revered. A badass antihero is someone who has none of the characteristics of a perfect hero, though he might have some villanous traits. He is mostly a flawed individual who's generally a tough guy and does not take shit from anyone lying down, especially shit from authority figures. Since they lack the charactersitics that define a hero, their lovers say that they are more realistic as compared to a perfect hero.

But a badass antihero comes along with a problem. There comes a time in the careers of most wrestlers that they become stale as face characters and it becomes important to turn them heel both for their own good as well as for good business. In the case of an ideal hero it is very easy to turn them heel. They just need to turn their back on the ideals that they hold on sso dearly to and presto...we have ourselves a new heel. But you cannot do that to a badass antihero as he posesses heelish characteristics and so if he acts heelish it could be passed off by the fans as the badass just being himself, even if the badass happens to do heelish things to a face.

The other way to turn a hero into a heel is by making him appear cowardly. However this does not work very well in the case of a badass either. One of the major traits that a badass posesses is courage and how a heel turn might cause that courage to disappear overnight is a bit unbelievable.

I really do feel that having a badass antihero is a two edged sword because badass antiheroes have never been turned successfully. Look as Steve Austin. The only times he got a bit of heat was against Rock, who was a bigger babyface at that point, and against Angle when the US was in a state of nationalistic fervour due to the 9/11 attacks. On a smaller scale Samoa Joe was a popular badass faace in TNA but when he inexplicably turned heel by joining the Main Event Mafia, the fans just did not buy it how Joe could be okay with occupying an inferior position in a stable. The turn might have had an effect on Joe's career as well as he seems a bit directionless lately.

So the questions that I want to ask are:

Can a badass antihero be turned into a heel?

If so how would you turn him heel and explain why you think that the turn that you plan for him would be successful?

 

[The Holy One]

I believe you can make them heel. Now, this may be a very unoriginal way but I see it as if you must turn an antihero like Austin or Orton heel. You must portray them as somewhat of a bully. I would have them start picking on the little guys like Bourne and Bryan. The crowd loves the underdogs and nothing would generate more boos than having a heel put a beatdown on the sympathetic hero.

Take Sheamus for example, he has all the characteristic of a badass: tall and strong, disrespectful to everybody, and likes to hurt people, but what seperates him from Orton is that he has the trait to pick on the small and weak like Bourne and Santino. Not only does this help gain heat for the heel, but it also helps build the face who finally steps up to him such as Morrison. Morrison has been on a major role since he stood up to Sheamus.

Now when Austin turned heel, some his first acts were to pick on the Hardys, Spike Dudley, J.R., and Molly Holly. It got Austin some major boos. It also made Angle the biggest face in the company next to the Rock when he finally stood up to Austin. One of the main reasons that badass heel fails is b/c he goes after people his own size. The bully tatics don't work when the guy you're trying to pick on isn't little. It just makes the crowd cheer you more such was the case in the Austin/Hart fued. I believe if you want to make a badass into a heel then you must make them a terror to the little people until the white knight finally takes a stand against them.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Hmmmm it can be a difficult thing to do, as fans are used to the anti-hero beating up people, refusing to play by the rules etc...but it can be done.

As HolyOne said, picking up people weaker than yourself can be good, playing the bully role against some other fan favourites could begin to turn the fans against you, and start the process of a heel turn.

Also, a random attack costing another fan favourite an important match is another. As Austin did at Invasion when he stopped Kurt Angle from getting the winning pinfall for team WWF, therefore giving the Alliance the victory. Something like this works as the anti-hero is siding with the heels, turning his back on the others that the fans love and betraying their trust. They believed that the anti-hero would stick up for the right thing, while still being a rebel doing things by their own rules. Seeing another hero unfairly screwed would lessen the anti-hero's popularity.

Heel promos insulting the audience, mocking their intelligence etc would also help a heel turn to take place. If Austin hadnt played off his "gimme a hell yeah!" catchphrase, willing the fans to join in with him, and instead constantly berated them, insulting them, telling them they could kiss his ass and laughing that he had screwed over someone like The Rock, then I do not think his popularity would have been as great.

Selling out is another thing that could work. If that Bad Ass anti-hero had sold out to someone like Ted DiBiase Snr for money, or to Vince McMahon for some other reason, giving up the title or willingly laying down for someone, and then laughing about the benefits he received from selling out, the fans would feel betrayed by the anti-hero, no longer believing he is anti-establishment and is now nothing more than a sell out, a bitch, and someone who is a coward...therefore a heel who will do the bidding of the highest bidder.

Attacking a woman, be it a female manager of a face, wife of another face wrestler or ring announcer is something extremely heel like. No-one likes to see a popular, innocent woman take a beating, so this would have been likely to work. If Austin, for whatever reason had suddenly attacked and beaten up a face Lita or a face Trish, then he would have looked terrible and the fans would not have appreciated it. I know he stunnered Steph and Linda, but they were authority figures, therefore boosting his anti-establishment, rule breaking, anti-hero character. This would only work if the woman he attacked was loved by the fans, as Trish and Lita were. If he attacked Vickie Guerrero, this would have the opposite effect.

That is all I can think of right now.