The most shocking heel turn

[Terry Gyimah]

If anything in your own opinions which superstars in wrestling history do you think have had the most shocking heel turns? Well for me the most shocking heel turn for me anyway definitely was Hulk Hogan Bash at the Beach 1996 when he was the "third man" when he joined forces with Nash and Hall and they formed the nWo in WCW. No one was more shocked than I was especially as a 6 year old child watching but then after that Hogan he pretty much made it cool to cheer the bad guys especially because the nWo were so cool, too sweet and so funny especially in their segments or in their paid announcements.

 

[Cena Is A Punk Rocker]

I can't see how it can be anything but Hogan. Rollins being the one to turn on the Shield was kind of shocking.

 

[relentless1]

Hogan is the obvious answer here, I don't think anybody saw that coming.

 

[Terry Gyimah]

Or Batista's heel turn on Rey Mysterio back at Bragging Rights 2009 post-match when Batista attacked Rey after saying to him that he was going to rip his head off and then beat the holy hell out of him now that was pretty shocking at the time because Batista was a babyface for such a long time

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

From what I've seen, I would say CM Punk at Raw 1000. I wasn't expecting that at all.

I wasn't around for Hogan's heel turn, but I could imagine that was the most shocking, considering how long Hogan was face.

 

[StraightEdge]

I know they planted seeds to foreshadow this heel turn, but Scott Steiner turning on his brother at superbrawl to join the nwo was shocking. My jaw dropped when he double ax handled his brother and decked Dibiase.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

Hands down it is Hogan (despite Bobby Heenan trying to spoil it with his needless, "but who's side is he on?" Comment) so perhaps the better question would be, what's the best heel turn apart from Hogan?

Rollins is a great shout, if only because of the timing (a day after Shield beat Evolution 3-0 at Payback in an elimination match) and the surprise that it wasn't Ambrose who turned, as pretty much everyone expected. Well done WWE.

I also like Bret Hart's turn in 1997. It was a slow build, with Bret being painted as the sympathetic nearly man, getting screwed out of the WWE Championship at every opportunity, but usually the culmination of that storyline arc would be for the face to win the belt, often at Wrestlemania. But this time, WWE took the decision to turn Bret heel - whilst allowing him to remain a white-hot Babyface outside the United States. If the Montreal Screwjob is regarded by many as the turning point into the Attitude Era, I'd argue that the Bret Hart sympathy/heel turn storyline made Montreal more effective - would people have cared if Bret was still a bland Babyface?

 

[Woodstuff]

Monday Night Raw, 15 years(?) ago...

Undertaker is being beat down by Chris Benoit. Beniot has the crossface locked in post-match.

Kane's pyro erupts. The Big Red Machine is back. Beniot scurries away, but wait...

Kane turns on his brother?! Chokeslams him through the ring?!?!


Definetly the most shocking heel turn for me, purely for how it surprised me when I first saw it. Screw the smart-ass "I know more than anyone else" heel turns. The logical "this was clearly the most historically significant heel turn" suggestions.

Moments like THAT are why I love wrestling. No dirtsheets. No spoilers. Just week after week, must-see TV.

EDIT: No offence to anyone that genuinely considers the Hogan heel turn "most shocking ever". I sounded kinda smug.

 

[kris8524]

Hogan is def up there as number 1 because it was not spoiled. HBK turning on jenetty tho was the first major one for me and it really did the job i hated HBK. Slaughter becoming an iraqi sympathizer is up there to. The next one will be if the E lets DB back cause they will try to make him a heel but it will be more like austin style heel instead. I will add a lil flavour as who was th e best face turn of all time?

 

[WhiplashUnited]

While Hogan is the natural choice for good reason the HBK turn on Janetty was especially good for how it was done. The use of the window put it through the roof.

Scott Steiner turning on his brother was another good one. I don't think many people expected Scott to turn on his brother. Didn't ever think Hall would betray Nash either.

Recent (2010 onwards) shocking heel turns are few and far between. Rollins probably the only decent one for ages. I liked CM Punk levelling The Rock at RAW1000, personally would have rather seen CM Punk-The Rock at Wrestlemania than the 2nd Cena-Rock match.

My question is: are we that invested in most wrestlers to be legitimately shocked when a heel turn happens these days?

 

[the_peoples_adam]

1. Hulk Hogan being 'The Third Man'. Biggest heel turn coz it comes from the biggest face of all time..

2. Austin Joins Vince and Austin leading alliance..

3. Post New Generation and Attitude era it has to be Seth Rollins selling out and the reaction of Ambrose there was priceless..

If Cena turns heel in next 2 years and WWE play it in a cool way it will be the biggest heel turn ever coz Cena is the ultimate face of all time..

 

[Rhodes2TheFuture3313]

I think the Tatonka heel turn at SummerSlam 1994 is underrated. Everybody thought it was gonna be Luger.

 

[Rhodes2TheFuture3313]

Also Owen turning on Bret was pretty epic because they actually were brothers.

 

[theuk savior]

andre turning up with bobby the brain

 

[agentmichaelscarn]

Even though I passingly followed WCW from around 92-97, they were nothing more than a footnote to me, it wasn't till the formation of the NWO where I started to actually watch them regularly. So with that said, I can't count Hogan's turn because I didn't follow WCW that closely then, so nothing really could've shocked me.

So discounting that, I really have to be a "noob" and go with the Seth Rollins turn. I was expecting an Ambrose turn the whole time. He was the obvious choice to me, where as Rollins was the obvious face to me. I mean the night before the turn he was doing dives from 20ft in the air onto Batista. He was the last guy in The Shield that I thought would turn heel.

So although I was totally expecting a heel turn from somebody from The Shield, Rollins was the absolute last guy I thought, so even though it was recent it still has to get my vote. I really never saw it coming.

 

[Grizzly0u812]

I think for me would be Andrea the Giant turning on Hogan to set up Wrestle Mania 3 when he was a face for years and of course Hogan turning Heel after years of being the good guy, how about British Bulldogs, for what I heard they had a real fight in the ring not sure what it was over and they were a team for years.

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

I think the Hulk Hogan heel turn in 1996 was the single most shocking heel turn ever - hands down. Hogan had been a face for so long it seemed impossible that a Hogan heel turn would ever take place; Hogan was the ultimate hero. Wrestling businesses declined in 1992 and by 1996 there was very little Hogan could do apart from turn so they went with that. It set the WCW vs WWF monday night war in process and FORCED Vince McMahon to make new stars.

The sad thing is this is what is missing today and Vince CAN make stars when he can be bothered.

 

[Terry Gyimah]

Another one for me would be Chris Jericho's heel turn on Shawn Michaels in 2008 on The Highlight Reel when Jericho slammed Michaels' face through the Jeritron 5000 after low blowing him and the glass everywhere with Michaels in a heap

Now that Jericho heel turn was effective because even though everyone saw it coming they didn't see just how far Jericho would take it

Or Matt Hardy's heel turn at Royal Rumble 2009 when Matt turned on his brother Jeff laying him out with a steel chair after Jeff was setting Edge up for the conchairto and Matt had a chair but Matt uses it on his own brother laying him out which allowed Edge to take advantage and pin Jeff with Matt being revealed to be Jeff Hardy's attacker back at Survivor Series 2008

 

[Terry Gyimah]

Triple H's heel turn on Shawn Michaels in 2002 on the RAW episode because everyone thought that DX was going to reunite but DX didn't reunite because Triple H turned on Shawn Michaels by hitting him with a Pedigree all the way to hell and then ripping his DX shirt throwing it on Shawn's fallen body

Now that was another shocking heel turn for me

 

[World Class Mark]

Christmas 1982 in Dallas. Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich for the World Title, Michael Hayes was the "special ref."

Hayes tries to help Kerry win the title. Kerry refuses. Hayes leaves the match. Gordy slams the cage into Kerry. The most bitter feud in wrestling history begins. Von Erichs vs. The Fabulous Freebirds. Fantastic heel turn. In the age of internet, that turn wouldn't have been anywhere near as dramatic. My favorite feud ever.






.

 

[whoopin' ass]

Obviously Hogan. No one ever thought he would turn and WCW had tried a darker Hogan before and it didn't really work so no one saw this coming.

I think one that is really shocking but for bad reasons was the Austin turn when he sided with Vince. Certainly no one thought that would happen but really there was no reason for it to happen too which is why it was so shocking. It came out of nowhere and made no sense - sounds like modern booking.

 

[BestWrestlingOpinions]

The obvious candidate here is Hogan.

If we would let this to the side, then I'd say Cm Punk at Raw 1000. To me, it wasn't exactly a heel turn at that point, but it was the start of it. If I remember correctly, the complete heel turn came after a couple of months.

It was kind of shocking though, and really needed. Punk went from the cutting edge pipebomb guy to the complete semi-boring babyface that didn't fit his character or what he had become. It was executed at the right time, with the right people and Punk with Heyman delivered.

The Rollins turn was also kinda unexpected. If anything, it was around the time where the Shield was gaining a lot of momentum and I didn't think they would break them up at that point. Of course, there wasn't anyone around to challenge the Shield, so it was probably a smart choice, but Rollins turning was the most shocking. You would expect Ambrose or Reigns to turn.

 

[FromGlasgow]

I agree with the majority, Nobody in my opinion has even come close to Hogan's heel turn, My second choice was maybe Vince Mcmahon's turn as I wasn't expecting that one.
Another choice is the the Bret Hart turn against Steve Austin match at Wrestlemania with both wrestlers changing sides during the match although not as shocking as I could see it coming but it was enjoyble to watch.