Top 50 Heel Turns

49) Miss Elizabeth turns on Randy Savage (1996)

50) Jim Ross turns on the Fans (1996)

Although the heel turn itself was short-lived, Good Ol' JR explained how he was bringing Razor Ramon and Diesel back to the WWF, even though Scott Hall and Kevin Nash has recently jumped ship to WCW. JR brought in dopplegangers instead, his revenge on the world for being treated so poorly by "the office" during his first few years in the company.

Even though they were no longer married, Elizabeth followed her ex-husband into WCW the year prior and remained in his corner. But during a Steel Cage match against Ric Flair, Elizabeth tossed Nature Boy her high-heel shoe (a literal heel turn if there ever was one!), which Flair used to knock out Savage and regain the WCW World Championship.

The Big Red Machine was humiliated that he had to unmask as per a pre-match stipulation, showing the world how "hideous" his face was. Kane's tag team partner Van Dam just happened to be the nearest person to take his frustration out on, and received a chokeslam for his trouble.

The seeds of discontent began sowing at WrestleMania 21, when the tag team partners faced each other. Guerrero became jealous that he couldn't defeat his long-time friend, which spilled over into a WWE Tag Team Title loss against MNM. Guerrero refused to tag in Mysterio and then brutally attacked him following the match.

47) Kane turns on Rob Van Dam (2003)

48) Eddie Guerrero turns on Rey Mysterio (2005)

Although Show has probably switched allegiances more than any other wrestler in the modern era, his most impactful heel turn came after he had been fired by Raw GM John Laurinitis. Surprisingly, he returned weeks later to knock out Cena, revealing that he'd signed a new, iron clad contract through Laurinitis.

The "innocent" daughter of Vince McMahon was sitting at ringside when her father exacted revenge for her against Triple H, whom weeks earlier had allegedly drugged Stephanie and forced her to marry him. Yet when Triple H was set to put away Vince, it was Stephanie who turned against her father, starting a relationship that continues in WWE storylines to this day.

Upset that he hadn't received "one more match" against World Champion Orton, Christian bided his time. Acting as a special referee during a match between Orton and Sheamus, Christian called the match down the middle and then sneak-attacked The Viper afterwards, laying him out in the middle of the ring.

The evil regime of Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo promised a surprise at Bash at the Beach that would rock the foundation of WCW. That surprise turned out to be Bill Goldberg, who speared fellow fan favorite Kevin Nash to give Jeff Jarrett the World Heavyweight Championship.

46) Big Show turns on John Cena (2012)

45) Stephanie McMahon turns on Vince McMahon (1999)

43) Goldberg turns on WCW (2000)

44) Christian turns on Randy Orton (2011)

For weeks leading up to Night of the Champions, WWE newcomer Ted DiBiase promised he'd have a partner that could topple World Tag Team Champions Rhodes and Holly. When no one showed up in DiBiase's corner, everyone figured it was a two-on-one match... until Rhodes turned on Holly, losing and winning the tag titles in the very same match.

Funk had retired from wrestling (sure he had) and was a judge for the Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat match where The Nature Boy regained his NWA World Title. Funk went to the ring, congratulated Flair and when he was told he was no longer a top contender to the belt, attacked Flair and piledrove him through a wooden table.

Rick thought his brother Scott had his back when the two were challenging nWo members Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. The two brothers assembled in their signature pose, with Rick crouched down in front of his brother, only to receive a double axehandle to the back from Big Poppa Pump. Scott then invited the nWo in to finish the job against The Dogfaced Gremlin.

A very complicated (e.g. typical TNA) story unfolded on October 10, 2010, when TNA members Jeff Hardy, Jeff Jarrett, Abyss, Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff underwent a series of loyalty changes and created Immortal, a faction that was hell-bent on destroying TNA from within.

40) Terry Funk turns on Ric Flair (1989)

39) Cody Rhodes turns on Hardcore Holly (2008)

41) Scott Steiner turns on Rick Steiner (1998)

42) Immortal turns on TNA (2010)

Triple H's bodyguard Chyna had already left DX for the power of Vince McMahon's Corporation. So at WrestleMania XV, everyone was surprised when The Game ran into the ring and helped Shane McMahon defeat HHH's stablemate X-Pac. And just like that, the seeds for the modern-day authority were planted.

Punk opportunistically cashed in his Money In The Bank title shot to defeat Hardy, but that was only the beginning in their war. Over a series of months, The Straight Edge Superstar explained that he was better than Hardy because of The Charismatic Enigma's substance abuse issues and a war quickly developed.

At the conclusion of the 1000th edition of Monday Night Raw, The Rock surprisingly came to the aid of John Cena, who has being attacked by The Big Show. Just as The People's Champion was about to deliver The People's Elbow to Show, Punk attacked The Rock and instead delivered a Go To Sleep.

Hulk Hogan had finally began trusting his son-in-law Bully Ray in their battle against Aces & Eights. But only after he defeated Jeff Hardy to become TNA World Heavyweight Champion did Bully Ray reveal that he was actually President of Aces & Eights all along.

Jericho accused Michaels on his Highlight Reel talk show of being a hypocrite after Michaels retired Shawn Michaels. This quickly turned ugly, with Jericho tossing HBK face-first through the obscenely expensive Jeritron 5000.

HHH returned to WWE and teamed with his mentor Flair to take on Carlito and Chris Masters at the Raw Homecoming special. Following the match, the two Evolution founders hugged and mere seconds later, Flair was on the receiving end of a sledgehammer shot and a bloody beating in the ring and backstage.

Returning to the WWE following his first major stint in Hollywood, The Rock had the ego to match, and immediately targeted Hogan, whom he had settled his differences with the year prior. Vince McMahon chose Rock as his hand-picked opponent for Hogan at No Way Out, and the two became mortal enemies again.

Teaming up as Strike Force for the first time in almost a year, no one expected Martel to rebel against his partner Santana during his WrestleMania V match against The Brain Busters. Angered by an accidental collision on the ring apron, Martel refused to tag the exhausted Santana, ensuring his partner lost the match.

Roughly a decade after the previous turn, Foley competed on Raw against Edge and Dreamer in a Hardcore match. No one anticipated Mick siding with his rival Edge in destroying Dreamer. Foley's reasoning? Because ECW wrestlers were a cut below WWE lifers like Foley and Edge, leading to them teaming up at One Night Stand with Lita against Dreamer, Terry Funk and Beulah.

In the type of layered storytelling that ECW became known for, Cactus Jack encouraged Dreamer to "sell out" and go to World Championship Wrestling. When Dreamer refused, Cactus betrayed him during a tag team match and even went through an "anti-hardcore" phase that affected his promos and matches.

Fans were used to Luger flip-flopping between babyface and heel throughout his career, so when Tatanka accused Luger of selling out to Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation, it sounded plausible. The two did battle at SummerSlam '94, where we found out that Tatanka had been aligned with DiBiase all along.

After weeks of speculation that someone had been mysteriously plotting to hurt WWE Champion Jeff Hardy, we learned at the Royal Rumble that it was brother Matt, who cost Jeff the championship following a steel chair to the skull.

37) CM Punk turns on Jeff Hardy (2009)

38) Triple H turns on D-Generation X (1999)

35) CM Punk turns on The Rock (2012)

36) Bully Ray turns on The Hogans (2013)

34) Chris Jericho turns on Shawn Michaels (2008)

33) Triple H turns on Ric Flair (2005)

31) Rick Martel turns on Tito Santana (1989)

32) The Rock turns on Hulk Hogan (2003)

30) Cactus Jack turns on Tommy Dreamer (1995)

29) Mick Foley turns on Tommy Dreamer (2006)

28) Tatanka turns on Lex Luger (1994)

27) Matt Hardy turns on Jeff Hardy (2009)

For months, Austin was seeking revenge on Rikishi for running him over in the parking lot a year earlier. However, he was still trying to find out who ordered the hit. The truth came out following a tag match with Triple H. "Now you know, you dumb son of a bitch," The Game said after brutalizing Stone Cold.

Lamenting that his best friend Mysterio had cost him a match at Bragging Rights, Batista calmly told Mysterio that he was going to rip his head off. Seconds later, The Animal did nearly that, nailing him with a clothesline and beating Mysterio outside the ring.

Slaughter returned to the WWF after a long absence, lamenting that Americans had grown soft by supporting the recently-turned babyface Nikolai Volkoff. This would eventually lead to Slaughter denouncing his American heritage in favor of Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

The Snake was supposedly teaching Warrior about "the dark side" in preparation for Warrior's feud with The Undertaker. Said preparation included creepy sessions in a graveyard and a literal snake pit, where Warrior was bitten one of Roberts' cobras. "Never trust a snake," Roberts sneered before offering up Warrior to The Undertaker.

After a slow-burn turn was teased between the "brothers" for months, the situation came to a head in their hometown of Toronto. Christian came to ringside to save Edge from a post-match beating by Lance Storm... before delivering a Conchairto to Edge and cementing the end of their long-running team.

Windham had been heavily recruited by The Four Horsemen but had been adamant he wasn't joining the group. Then, when Windham and Luger were defending their NWA World Tag Team Championships against Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard, Windham joined the faction and cost his partner the titles.

One of the first "student betrays teacher" storylines in semi-recent WWE history, Zbyszko decided that the only way he could escape the shadow of his famous mentor was to betray him and bust him open following a tag team match.

The most recent one on this list, and definitely the most surprising in recent memory. Rollins was solidly behind Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose until Triple H enacted "Plan B", which called for Rollins to repeatedly smash his former Shield teammates with a steel chair.

Bischoff was seen as a mild-mannered announcer and the president of the company, while appearing to fight the nWo movement. However, it was later revealed that Bischoff had been leading the black and white for months behind the scenes. And this was more than a year before Vince McMahon would enact his own heel turn!

No one expected Michaels, a solid fan favorite for years, to turn heel after returning to WWE as a born-again Christian. So him superkicking Hogan following a tag team match, setting up for their clash at SummerSlam, was quite shocking at the time.

Owen's growing jealousy towards older brother Bret came to a head at the Royal Rumble when Owen kicked Bret's leg "from out under your leg" in a post-match attack. The led to the first brother vs. brother main event in mainstream wrestling and one of the company's biggest feuds of that era.

The Rock had gradually become a fan favorite as he distanced himself from The Nation of Domination, and was poised to capture the WWF Title from Vince McMahon's hand-picked competitor Mankind. Little did anyone realize that Rock, not Mankind, was aligned with McMahon all along.

25) Batista turns on Rey Mysterio (2009)

26) Triple H turns on Steve Austin (2000)

23) Sgt. Slaughter turns on the U.S.A. (1990)

24) Jake Roberts turns on The Ultimate Warrior (1992)

22) Christian turns on Edge (2001)

21) Barry Windham turns on Lex Luger (1988)

19) Seth Rollins turns on The Shield (2014)

20) Larry Zbyszko turns on Bruno Sammartino (1980)

18) Shawn Michaels turns on Hulk Hogan (2005)

17) Eric Bischoff turns on WCW (1996)

16) Owen Hart turns on Bret Hart (1994)

15) The Rock turns on the fans (1998)

Jericho turned face against his tag team partner Christian to advance a budding romance between himself and Stratus. But at WrestleMania XX, Christian defeated Jericho due to outside interference by Stratus, who made out with Christian after the match.

During an NWA Title match against Ric Flair, Kerry Von Erich refused to take an illegal assist offered to him by special referee Michael Hayes. Angered, Hayes and fellow Freebird Terry Gordy turned on Von Erich, kicking off the most famous rivalry in Texas wrestling.

Bearer had been dutifully at Undertaker's side for the better part of five years when SummerSlam 96 came around. At the conclusion of The Boiler Room Brawl, Bearer was poised to hand the urn to his charge, when instead he gave it to Taker's opponent Mankind, cementing an unholy alliance.

Triple H had been the good guy COO for a surprisingly-long period of time and appeared to be supporting Bryan in his match against WWE Champion John Cena. But as soon as Bryan won, Triple H pedigreed him and allowed Randy Orton to win the championship, beginning a storyline that has been going for more than six months.

After re-signing with the Raw "brand", Triple H encouraged his buddy Michaels to re-form D-Generation X. Unfortunately, the reunion didn't last long, as The Game turned on his former partner before they had the chance to perform in even a single match.

Vince McMahon was on his way to becoming a heel when the owner "screwed" Bret Hart out of the WWF Title months earlier. But the icing on the cake was when he didn't see Stone Cold Steve Austin as a corporate-friendly champion and began going out his way to make sure Austin was never in control of his company.

Sting was part of the Horsemen until Ric Flair, Ole Anderson and Arn Anderson ordered their teammate to give up the NWA World Title opportunity he'd gained against Flair at the previous year's Starrcade. When The Stinger refused, The Horsement responding by legitimately injuring Sting's knee.

The blueprint for how all established tag team partners should split up, Michaels pretended to reconcile with his long-time Rockers partner Jannetty. Seconds later, he superkicked Jannetty and tossed him through the window of Brutus Beefcake's "Barber Shop" interview set.

This turn happened in two parts: first, Austin aligned himself with Vince McMahon in the main event of WrestleMania X7, brutally attacking The Rock. But the bigger surprise came in July of that year, when Austin aligned with the WCW and ECW "Alliance," tossing aside his long-standing relationship with the WWF.

The Hitman did what had never been done before - he turned on an entire country's fanbase while supporting his followers outside the U.S., citing their declining sense of morality. Somehow it worked, turning Bret into a heel in front of WWF's largest audience, while keeping him babyface pretty much everywhere else.

While every wrestling fan under the sun saw this one coming a mile away, it didn't diminish the turn's importance. Fed up being in the shadow of (and having to share his manager with) Hogan, WWF World Champion Savage abandoned The Hulkster during a national television broadcast and later attacked him in the dressing room.

Paul Orndorff had apparently given up his rulebreaking ways after the first WrestleMania and was The Hulkster's running buddy and frequent tag team partner.... until Mr. Wonderful shocked Hogan during a match against King Kong Bundy and Big John Studd by clotheslining Hulk and piledriving him on the mat. He'd been in cahoots with Bundy and Studd's manager Bobby Heenan.

13) The Fabulous Freebirds turn on Kerry Von Erich (1982)

14) Trish Stratus turns on Chris Jericho (2004)

11) Paul Bearer Turns on The Undertaker (1996)

12) Triple H turns on Daniel Bryan (2013)

10) Triple H turns on Shawn Michaels (2002)

9) Vince McMahon turns on the fans (1998)

7) Shawn Michaels turns on Marty Jannetty (1992)

8) The Four Horsemen turn on Sting (1990)

6) Bret Hart turns on the American Wrestling Fans (1997)

5) Steve Austin turns on the WWF (2001)

4) Randy Savage turns on Hulk Hogan (1989)

3) Paul Orndorff turns on Hulk Hogan (1986)

The gold standard by which all heel turns must be measured. Andre, the WWF's number two babyface for many years, appeared on Piper's Pit with Bobby The Brain Heenan and demanded a title shot against his friend Hogan, who just happened to be the number one face. This was must-see television at the time, and set up arguably the biggest wrestling match of the modern era.

Hogan had unquestionably been the industry's top good guy for well over a decade when Kevin Nash and Scott Hall burst upon the scene in WCW. Hogan turned out to be Hall and Nash's third man, aiding them in their Bash at the Beach effort against Sting, Lex Luger and Randy Savage, and changing his allegiances from WCW to the nWo. It sent shockwaves throughout wrestling when Hogan turned against his fans for the first time since the birth of Hulkamania.

1) Andre The Giant turns on Hulk Hogan (1987)

2) Hulk Hogan turns on WCW (1996)

The ranking below looks at 50 cool and memorable wrestling heel turns over the years. I used the following semi-scientific method for my ranking:

I had to have actually watched the heel turn happen at one point over my 30+ years as a wrestling fan. Not necessarily as it happened, but nothing I read from a magazine somewhere and would have a tough time tracking down on video today.
The choices here aren't necessarily endorsements of how well the heel turn worked for that individual, but rather the enjoyment of the actual moment itself.
These turns, for the most part, should had some sort of impact on the history of the wrestling business, be it shaking up storylines or freshening up characters.
Tweener situations where one heel turns on the other heel don't count, especially if they ended up being de facto face turns.
No matter what you say, John Cena hasn't turned heel since 2002. Sorry.

Ready? Here we go!

So what did you think? Any major heel turns missing from this list? Any you would have ranked differently? As always, leave your feedback in the Comments section below...

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