Memorable "Surprising" Heel Turns.

[Loose Cannon]

You know those heel turns where your sitting there watching a match or a segment of wrestling and all of a sudden a wrestler turns heel and your like, "wtf, I can't believe that just happened." Well maybe you didn't say that, but you know what I'm talking about. So, post some of those surprising heel turns that you have seen. I'll start us off with a few and the most obvious one. Try not to post a lot of the same one's.


* Hogan turns on WCW and joins NWO: Yeah, we've seen this and heard about this about a thousand times, but it sure is one of, if not the, best. This turn was done very well and it surprised the sh** out of me as I thought Hulk could never go heel. One thing of note about this segment is something Heenan said that kind of convinced me Hulk WAS NOT turning when he came down the isle at Bash at the Beach. Usually whenever there is an angle about "wrestler x" joining a heel stable or turning heel, the announcers will tell you who they think it is and they're always wrong. Well when Hogan came down the isle, Heenan said something like, "But who's side is he on" and then Dusty was like "What are you talking about." Right there I was convinced Hogan wasn't turning, cause you never ever hear an announcer say something true like that. I thought that was pretty cool and maybe should be done more often to try and trick the fans.


*Scott Hall turns on Kevin Nash: Yeah, this one definately made me go, "WTF. I can't believe that just happened." Hall and Nash were not only best of friends in a wrestling storyline, but in real life too. It was very hard to imagine one turning on the other because they were so close in and out of the ring. I think it was the Slamboree PPV that the turned happend. It was the Outsiders vs Sting and Giant for the tag belts. Nash just brought Hall back and introduced him as the newest member of "Wolpac NWO" at the PPV. Well, Nash set Giant up for the Powerbomb and all of a sudden Hall comes in, picks up the tag belt, and SMACK!!!!!! He hits Nash right over the head with it and Giant gets the pin. I swear my heart sank on this one as I loved the Outsiders. I love to watch the crowd's reaction here too because they were shocked as hell. You could see the crowd simutaneously stand up when it happend. Pretty Cool.


**Bret Hart turns on Sting: This happened on Monday Nitro. Bret was fighting Hulk, but his leg "gave out" and the Wolfpac (Sting, Lugar, Konnan) came down and helped him out. Sting volunteered to replace Bret and take on Hogan while Lugar and Konnan wheeled Bret to the back on a strecher. Well Lugar and Konnan were attacked in the back by Steiner and Bagwell and Bret hobbled back to the ring. Now WCW did a great job in convincing the audience that there was big heat between Bret and HOGAN at this point, so the thought never crossed my mind that Bret was turning. So Sting gives Hogan a Stinger Splash and Hart is at the ring already. Sting goes for the Sharpsho.....errrrrr.....Scorpian Deathlock and Bret cheers him on. Sting gets the thing locked and BAM...Bret DDT's Sting into the mat. Man I was pissed cause I loved Bret, even heel, but I hated Hogan. Then Bret starts smashing the sh** out of Sting with a chair and puts the Sharpshooter on him. Hogan and Hart hug and the crowd is pissed.

Okay, post some of yours. I'll post some more later.

[Favre4Ever]

JR: Wait a minute! Thats Vince McMahon! What in the hell is he doing here?
Heyman: He's throwing Austin that chair!!
***Moments later***
JR: Bah Gawd......Austin and Mcmahon are drinking a steveweiser over the Rocks broken body. Stone Cold has sold his soul to the devil!!! Why Steve? Why?

I was in 9th grade when this happened, and i can remember just sitting there in front of my TV with my jaw hanging open.....i'd been a hardcore Steve Austin fan for a while, and i couldnt believe that the guy i'd been cheerin for for so long had just turned. Then i went kinda crazy and put my friend in the sharpshooter to cool off. Good Times.

Suprisingly, i ended up really liking that Austin heel turn, until he started saying "What?", then i was just like, "........uh, what?"


Heres another pretty goodone. I think it might have been at WAR Games or Survivor Series 1998; whichever one was before Wrestlemania 15. Anyhow, I remember that the WWF had convinced us all,or at least me, pretty well that Mick Foley was Vince Mcmahons pick for the WWF Title. He even had had Foley beat up that little league football coach.(BTW this is the PPV where the Rock beat Bossman in 4 seconds) Anyhow, finally it gets to Rock and Foley, and the Rock throws Foley in the Sharpshooter. And then Mr.Mcmahon comes out and perfectly repeats the Bret Hart screwjob, and the Rock wins. Foley doesnt understand, and Vince explains that Foleys a joke and that the Rock was his man all along. The Rock cuts a promo on being a heel, which the fans cheer for( not fully convinced that the Rocks a bad guy now),and then Stone Cold hits the ring and stuns everybody. Happy End, Classic turn that set the stage for Wrestlemania 15.

[sadio8]

Not so much a "heel" turn but at Fall Brawl 1996 with the whole sting deal and him "leaving" wcw. Pretty suprising stuff there.

[Innovator]

Owen turning on Bret back in '94

Bulldog turning against Diesel in '95, i was a big Bulldog fan when he came back in 95

HHH turning against X-Pac and DX at Wrestlemania XV. I just sat there like "...did i just see that?"

[Loose Cannon]

To Sadio: Excellent Stuff Right there. I was totally shocked when I saw "Sting" get out of the NWO Limo raise his arms in a sort of "look at me now" pose and kick Lugar in the gut. It was done in a dark rainstorm, so that made it even more memorable cause of the setting. It was like Sting had sold out and gone to the dark side. Just a great segment right there. The announcers did a great job of playing it off too as you felt they were legitimately worried.

[Edge]

I was quite surprised when Coach turned heel last year at Summerslam. Did anyone see that comeing ?

[Rock Bottom]

Your entire post

I was going to pick the same ones. And yeah, Corporate Rock was Survivor Series '98. Both great turns.

[Lara Emily]

k not surprising but Cornette has a great one at Clash of Champions 9 :D

Shane comes in on fire, as a weird suplex on Eaton gets two, but Eaton finds a chain. Cornette comes in to even things up, grabbing the chain from him and tossing it into the crowd. Shane goes for the kill…and Cornette waffles him with the tennis racket. [...]

From http://www.kayfabememories.com/TapeReviews/clash/clash9.htm

[Sensei Of Mattitude]

HHH turning against X-Pac and DX at Wrestlemania XV. I just sat there like "...did i just see that?"

I was at that WrestleMania (hometown) and I was in the 8th grade, and I when saw Trips and Chyna come out, I was going bananas cheering for them. Then came the turn and I was like "NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOO, WHAT THE HELL" basically the entire First Union Center was shocked. Plus the WWF did such a great job building that match with the "Reunited D-Generation X" pre-match interview after Chyna turned on Kane and rejoined HHH and DX (for the time being).

Note: I was also at WM X7 and when I saw McMahon helping Austin, I kept expecting Steve to stun McMahon but it never happened and I kept thinking to myself, "OMG, Austin and McMahon are friends?, What The Hell.... Oh well, Austin won the title". The Astrodome was somewhat shocked but truely didnt care because the homestate kid, Austin won the belt back and I was a huge Austin mark. That was the time where The Rock was boring as hell. (HollyRock rules)

But the VERSION 1 Heel Turn has got to be.....

SHAWN MICHAELS superkicking Marty Jannety after they "made-up" in the Barbershop and threw Jannety thru the barbershop window. That is definitely the most memorable heel turn for me and hell I was about 7 years old.

[da_king]

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andre turning on hogan and ripping his necklace off with hogan pleading with him.
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[RGWhat316]

JR: Wait a minute! Thats Vince McMahon! What in the hell is he doing here?
Heyman: He's throwing Austin that chair!!
***Moments later***
JR: Bah Gawd......Austin and Mcmahon are drinking a steveweiser over the Rocks broken body. Stone Cold has sold his soul to the devil!!! Why Steve? Why?

I was in 9th grade when this happened, and i can remember just sitting there in front of my TV with my jaw hanging open.....i'd been a hardcore Steve Austin fan for a while, and i couldnt believe that the guy i'd been cheerin for for so long had just turned. Then i went kinda crazy and put my friend in the sharpshooter to cool off. Good Times.

Suprisingly, i ended up really liking that Austin heel turn, until he started saying "What?", then i was just like, "........uh, what?"


That would be my number one pick. I was a big Austin fan, and a fan of The Rock as well. But when Vince started making his way down to the ring, I just said "oh no", because I knew one of them were turning.

But afterwards, I absolutely hated Austin, wouldn't even wear his shirt for a while. Yet, he is still my favorite of all time.

[Mr. JL]

1-2-3 Kid turning on Razor Ramon...

[Boondock Saint]

HHH turning on X-Pac/DX would be my pick too. I had just started watching then, and it was the first WM I saw. I was in 8th grade and didn't really know much about wrestling. So I was all like :eek: Why the hell did he do that?! Good times.

[John la Rock]

ya I'm also for the HHH turn at WM XV

[Lara Emily]

You know those heel turns where your sitting there watching a match or a segment of wrestling and all of a sudden a wrestler turns heel and your like, "wtf, I can't believe that just happened." Well maybe you didn't say that, but you know what I'm talking about. So, post some of those surprising heel turns that you have seen. I'll start us off with a few and the most obvious one. Try not to post a lot of the same one's.


* Hogan turns on WCW and joins NWO: Yeah, we've seen this and heard about this about a thousand times, but it sure is one of, if not the, best. This turn was done very well and it surprised the sh** out of me as I thought Hulk could never go heel. One thing of note about this segment is something Heenan said that kind of convinced me Hulk WAS NOT turning when he came down the isle at Bash at the Beach. Usually whenever there is an angle about "wrestler x" joining a heel stable or turning heel, the announcers will tell you who they think it is and they're always wrong. Well when Hogan came down the isle, Heenan said something like, "But who's side is he on" and then Dusty was like "What are you talking about." Right there I was convinced Hogan wasn't turning, cause you never ever hear an announcer say something true like that. I thought that was pretty cool and maybe should be done more often to try and trick the fans.


*Scott Hall turns on Kevin Nash: Yeah, this one definately made me go, "WTF. I can't believe that just happened." Hall and Nash were not only best of friends in a wrestling storyline, but in real life too. It was very hard to imagine one turning on the other because they were so close in and out of the ring. I think it was the Slamboree PPV that the turned happend. It was the Outsiders vs Sting and Giant for the tag belts. Nash just brought Hall back and introduced him as the newest member of "Wolpac NWO" at the PPV. Well, Nash set Giant up for the Powerbomb and all of a sudden Hall comes in, picks up the tag belt, and SMACK!!!!!! He hits Nash right over the head with it and Giant gets the pin. I swear my heart sank on this one as I loved the Outsiders. I love to watch the crowd's reaction here too because they were shocked as hell. You could see the crowd simutaneously stand up when it happend. Pretty Cool.


**Bret Hart turns on Sting: This happened on Monday Nitro. Bret was fighting Hulk, but his leg "gave out" and the Wolfpac (Sting, Lugar, Konnan) came down and helped him out. Sting volunteered to replace Bret and take on Hogan while Lugar and Konnan wheeled Bret to the back on a strecher. Well Lugar and Konnan were attacked in the back by Steiner and Bagwell and Bret hobbled back to the ring. Now WCW did a great job in convincing the audience that there was big heat between Bret and HOGAN at this point, so the thought never crossed my mind that Bret was turning. So Sting gives Hogan a Stinger Splash and Hart is at the ring already. Sting goes for the Sharpsho.....errrrrr.....Scorpian Deathlock and Bret cheers him on. Sting gets the thing locked and BAM...Bret DDT's Sting into the mat. Man I was pissed cause I loved Bret, even heel, but I hated Hogan. Then Bret starts smashing the sh** out of Sting with a chair and puts the Sharpshooter on him. Hogan and Hart hug and the crowd is pissed.

Okay, post some of yours. I'll post some more later.
Incidently I have two of those 3 matches on my computer, The Bret Hart one and the Hogan turning one

[Azriel]

One of the more recent ones I could remember was HHH turning on Shawn Michaels. Even though HHH was a well established heel, he was still always friends with Shawn. It was even more shocking when they led us to believe they were bringing back DX. Good stuff there

[Chris316]

I didn't like the heel turn but when it was revealed Rikishi was the man who ran over Austin, i didn't expect it to be him, my two favorites have allready been said, above which are the owen turn on Bret and the rocks turn at the survior series when he won the world title

[Mike the Metal Ed]

Yeah HHH and Chyna at WMXV and Austin at Wrestlemania X-7 (I even ripped my Austin poster off my wall :D) were great turns, nobody saw them coming.

As for coach, I don't think anybody CARED more than saw it coming.

[big_bluto]

I loved when RVD turned heel in his match with Eddie Guerrero at Summerslam 2004, when the Dudleys interfered, and Van Dam walked back up the ramp with the WWE Title.

I realise this hasn't happened yet, but it will, and it will go down as the bestest ever heel turn that never happened yet in current history.
Why?
Because it involves


R V D
:yes:

[Joe Kerr]

HHH turning against X-Pac and DX at Wrestlemania XV. I just sat there like "...did i just see that?"


Im glad I read up that was what I was going to mention.

[LK]

Originally posted by hulkamania320
JR: Wait a minute! Thats Vince McMahon! What in the hell is he doing here?
Heyman: He's throwing Austin that chair!!
***Moments later***
JR: Bah Gawd......Austin and Mcmahon are drinking a steveweiser over the Rocks broken body. Stone Cold has sold his soul to the devil!!! Why Steve? Why?

I was in 9th grade when this happened, and i can remember just sitting there in front of my TV with my jaw hanging open.....i'd been a hardcore Steve Austin fan for a while, and i couldnt believe that the guy i'd been cheerin for for so long had just turned. Then i went kinda crazy and put my friend in the sharpshooter to cool off. Good Times.

Suprisingly, i ended up really liking that Austin heel turn, until he started saying "What?", then i was just like, "........uh, what?"

Yeah this would go down as the most suprising heel turn for me. I can remember just thinking WTF? McMahon was Austin's nemesis for like four years and now they were allies. When he came out I knew that one guy was going to turn heel and I felt 100% certain that it would be the Rock because of the past and their alliance in the corporation.

[Aussie Skier]

best heel turn

i'm a sucker for mid skool.
every1 expected lex luger to go heel and join the million dollar team...then what happened, it ended up being Tatanka. looking back @ it (considering Luger was my favourite wrestler then), it was AWESOME!

[Eternalone79]

This got me to thinking abut the HHH turn at WM15 and I was wondering if anyone knew where I could download it and the speech the next night?

[I-Hate-You]

Triple H @ WM15: I liked X-Pac at the time (I almost feel dirty saying that) and that seriously shocked me. Although they had talked about Triple H turning heel, I swept if off, but when it happened I was pissed.

Austin @ WM17: I saw this coming, but it shocked me when it happened.

Hogan @ BATB 96: Who wasn't shocked at this?

Rock @ SS 98: Rock was just starting his big face run and then BOOM he turns heel again.

[loopydate]

The Rockers split on the Barber Shop. "What a coward! He just jumped through that window!"

Hogan's turn at Bash at the Beach. "A New World Order of Wrestling, brother!"

The Rock at Survivor Series. Very well done, and Corporate Rock was probably my favorite Rock incarnation.

What about when Francine turned on the Pitbulls and joined Douglas? Or when Scott turned on Rick against the Outsiders? Or Trish's heel turn on Jericho (although I sort of saw the last two coming)?

[Loose Cannon]

Oh, how about Christians turn on Edge about 2 years ago. I remember Edge was getting attacked in the ring, two on one, and Xtian makes the save. He picks up Edge's KOTR trophey and hands it to Edge. Then SMACK...he nails Edge with the chair in one quick motion. You kind of knew Xtian might have been turning at that point, but it was so fast and well done. Also I loved Xtian's tears in his eyes after he turned. Those were real tears and showed how emotional he was about th breakup of E & C

[The One]

The single biggest suprise heel turn for me was when Triple H turned on X-Pac

[mrslackalack]

My Top 5 Turns are

1. Rock at Survior Series 98 (no1 saw this coming)

2. Triple H at WM 15 ( I assumed at first Chyna turned face but later in the card in was not to be)

3. Ahmed Johnson Joining the Nation Raw july 97 he battled them for months and i think every1 was shocked that he joined

4.Tatanka At Summerslam 94 I thought Lex was just lying to the crowd when he said he had not joined the Million Dollar Man

5. Randy Savage attacked Piper and joining the NWO in Superbrawl 97 I thought Savage was gonna team up with Sting and attack the NWO

[Loose Cannon]

^^I always wanted to see that Savage turn, but I still haven't. The Tatanka one was very well done and way ahead of it's time IMO. It never crossed my mind once that Tatanka sold out. Tatanka was just so good and seemed like the nicest guy ever. Remember the voting where like everyone thought Lugar sold out. HAHA

[Team Sheep]

Trish turning on jericho at WM XX. Personally didn't see that coming at all.

[Batsu]

Top one of all time: Hogan joins Hall and Nash and joins the nWo. Never again will there be a change of allegiance in pro wrestling that will match that. They might have come close with the Vince McMahon-Steve Austin alliance, but it was too hard for the casual fans to buy. When Hulk Hogan, a person who pretty much -was- pro wrestling for over a decade, playing the good guy joined the bad guys of WCW...that was just amazing.

My personal favorite is Rock at Survivor Series 98...because it gave birth to the next chapter of heel Rock...Corporate Rock. Though, making an angle out of the Bret Hart thing was kinda weird. Vince was probably the most hated guy in WWE at the time though, due to the Austin feud.

Another is Bret Hart following the screwjob that cost him the WWF title in a match with Sid at a PPV in 1997. Next to Hulk Hogan's "birth of nWo" speech, Bret Hart's snapping is one of the best heel turns ever. Bret, one who was reknowned for his traditionalism in the sport, actually pushed the envelope further than even Steve Austin. He might not have been proud of it, but this solidified Bret Hart to me, right here. If only he was able to stick around long enough to pass the torch to Kurt Angle.

[The Show Off]

One of my favorite heel turns had to be when Lex Lugar faced Barry Windham in a steel cage (this was right after Flair left to the WWF)... It was for the vacated World Championship, and at the time I was a big fan of Sting, and since Lex was Sting's pal I was a big fan of Lex. I remember watching the match rooting for Lex and then Harley Race came down to ring side, and I was like "Who is that" being that I was like 9 at the time and just really started to get into wrestling, so I never saw Race wrestle.

My father said to me "That's Harley Race" and I asked "Is he a good guy or a bad guy" he said "He's a bad guy." So I got all nervous that he was going to cost Lex the World Championship so I went down stairs cause I was too nervous to watch... Next thing I know my dad is telling me that Lex won the title with the help of Harley Race, and I was so happy...

I then watched some WCW program, I forgot which one I watched at the time, and Lugar came out talking about how he hates the fans an everything, I was shocked. But I'd have to say that was the most surprising and saddest, to my 9 year old self, moments I saw in pro wrestling.

This continued with Sting getting gifts from a secret admirier... The first was Abdulla The Butcher, who sting feuded with, the next was Cactus Jack (my first time ever seeing Mick Foley) who he feuded with and the final package was Lex himself. I remembered going into the Lex Lugar v. Sting I so hated Lugar and I was so happy when Sting won...

An intresting note is Cactus Jack was the first heel, going against on of my favorite wrestlers, that I actually kinda liked.

Also as for most of the heel turns you said were great... The best turn was the Hogan one, well it would have been, had I not called it a week before the show... I remember telling my friends that Hogan was going to be the mystery teammate of Hall and Nash. I was so proud of myself when Hogan leg dropped Savage I felt so vindicated, cause all my friends called me stupid for thinking that.

[MVP]

The Rock at Survivor Series 98 gets my top vote. No one saw it coming because he was at the zenith of his face turn at that point, and he pissed on it as well as the fans. Absolutely brilliant heel turn if you ask me. The Rock is amazing at drawing heat, as well as pops, so turning is an easy thing for him.

[HHHsucks929]

Bulldog turning on Diesel in August 1995.

X-Pac turning on Kane in 2000.

Triple H turning on X-Pac at Wrestlemania XV.

Chyna turning on Triple H at Wresltemania XV.

Austin joining with Vince at Wrestlemania XVII.

Trish's heel turn at Wresltemania XX.