Name some good babyface turns [Archive]

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Loose Cannon

02-20-2008, 11:15 AM

Heel turns get talked about a lot on here, but name off some good face turns. For the under 14 Cena fans on here, that would be when the bad guy has a change of heart and becomes a good guy.

Some of my favorites over time

Undertaker at Tuesday in Texas: Jake Roberts and Randy Savage had been having the feud of the year and Taker had been on Jake's side up to this point. Jake and Randy had a blowoff match at this event. Savage wins the match. Jake goes to the back and grbas a chair and when Liz comes through the curtain, he's going to blast her. Taker saves the day and stops this all from happening.

Savage circa '87: I can't remember clearly right now, but Savage had lost the IC Belt to Steamboat at Mania 3. Honky Tonk took the belt off Steamboat soon after. Then sometime after Honky would blast Savage with his guitar, signaling the turn. This would eventually all lead to the formation of the Mega Powers

Lex Luger: Bunkhouse Stampede '88 and July 1993. Luger was a member of the Horsemen and around 1988, he decided to turn on them in a battle royal by throwing JJ Dillon over the top rope and winning the contract to face Ric Flair for the Title. This would be his best run ever.

In WWF 1993, he saved the day on July 4th when nobody else could slam Yokozuna. Yoko was the hottest heel at the time and was unstoppable. Luger came down on helicopter and slammed the big guy. I never saw that coming.

Fast Foward to 2005 I believe with Batista: You all should know this one. Batista was in Evolution with Trips. Batista won the right to face Triple H at Mania. Trips tried to convince him no to and the rest is history. That one Raw when Batista officially turned was so awesome.

Post yours.

Porcupine

02-20-2008, 11:19 AM

WheN JAWWWN CEEENA stopped being a bad rapper and got A CHAIN GANG and became a good guys!

Mr. Nerfect

02-20-2008, 11:32 AM

Batista's face turn was pretty fucking epic. I remember marking out like a little bitch. It made perfect sense, but I half-expected the WWE to fuck it up. The thumbs up with the fake smile, as Triple H and Ric Flair were applauding his decision to go to SmackDown!, followed by the pissed off look and the thumbs down was just awesome. And the Batista Bomb to Triple H through the table was just icing on the cake.

Batista was so cool then, probably because he was a smart heel that just happened to be on the opposite side to the bad guys. Kind of like an anti-hero of sorts. Of course, now he is good friends with little Rey, and is a defender of what is just and right.

It wasn't really a face turn, per se, although I guess it kind of was, but William Regal was fucking awesome during his shit with Eugene. When he came down and chewed up Triple H for being stupid enough for picking on the kid, because it's gone and turned Regal into his enemy, it gave me goosebumps. I know a lot of people like him as a heel around here, but as a babyface, Regal makes me mark.

Kurt Angle's initial face turn in 2001 was pretty cool to me, at the time. I was still fairly markish, but I loved it when Austin screwed over Kurt, or something, and then dorky Angle walked out, and Austin was like "hold on, Kurt," and Angle then stormed the ring all bad ass like. :lol:

But honestly, it was kind of rewarding to see the heel finally step up and believe his own hype a little bit, and kind of say "hey, I am good enough to kick anyone's ass instead of just saying I could, so I'm going to do it."

I'm sure there are more I am missing.

Loose Cannon

02-20-2008, 11:55 AM

yea, Regals was great. Regal always has good face turns because he's such a great heel. He's got that leader type character. So any time he turns face, he usually standing up to something or someone

Lord-Of-Darkness

02-20-2008, 12:03 PM

Undertaker at Tuesday in Texas: Jake Roberts and Randy Savage had been having the feud of the year and Taker had been on Jake's side up to this point. Jake and Randy had a blowoff match at this event. Savage wins the match. Jake goes to the back and grbas a chair and when Liz comes through the curtain, he's going to blast her. Taker saves the day and stops this all from happening.

I love this everytime I see it.

Jake : Whose side are you on anyway?!

Taker: Noooooootttt yooouuuurrrrsss

Theo Dious

02-20-2008, 12:07 PM

Mr. Nerfect

02-20-2008, 12:11 PM

yea, Regals was great. Regal always has good face turns because he's such a great heel. He's got that leader type character. So any time he turns face, he usually standing up to something or someone

That's exactly it. It's a feel good moment when a bad guy says "hang on, this is too bad, this ends here." It's a dark analogy to make, I guess, but when Regal turns face, it's like a Nazi turning around and shooting Hitler. And then the shit really hits the fan, because Regal's been through fire, he fought on the streets, he's got brains, he's got skill, he's got his awesome hair. The man is just someone other bad guys don't want to fuck with.

It never really got a chance to play out, but back in 2001, again during the Alliance angle: I can't remember the exact specific individuals, but the Alliance was cutting down on those who lost to WWF Superstars. Paul Heyman was going through the names, and after chewing them out a little, the Alliance would kick their ass to "motivate" them, I guess. Eventually it became apparent that Heyman only had one name left on his list, and when Heyman said "Rhyno..." the place erupted, and Rhyno immediately got in position to fight the entire Alliance.

I fucking loved it, because it made Rhyno look like a beast. He had been Goring people with Heyman screaming on commentary, and he had been putting people through stages. He was pretty much living up to the Man Beast moniker, and people were ready to see him kick ass and go out on his own. At the time, Rhyno was injured, so Heyman "suspended" him, and the crowd booed because they wanted to see some bloodshed. The best thing about the suspension, was that it made it look like Paul Heyman was afraid Rhyno would cannibalise them all.

Unfortunately, when Rhyno returned, he was not nearly as awesome.

Theo Dious

02-20-2008, 12:22 PM

Lord-Of-Darkness

02-20-2008, 12:23 PM

That was SNME actually. But yes, it was epic.

I was going to post this, but I had to think about it. Tuesday In Texas(lol, TIT :shifty: ) was when Hogan regained the title from Taker, wasn't it?

Lord-Of-Darkness

02-20-2008, 12:25 PM

Lord-Of-Darkness

02-20-2008, 12:35 PM

That's exactly it. It's a feel good moment when a bad guy says "hang on, this is too bad, this ends here." It's a dark analogy to make, I guess, but when Regal turns face, it's like a Nazi turning around and shooting Hitler. And then the shit really hits the fan, because Regal's been through fire, he fought on the streets, he's got brains, he's got skill, he's got his awesome hair. The man is just someone other bad guys don't want to fuck with.

It never really got a chance to play out, but back in 2001, again during the Alliance angle: I can't remember the exact specific individuals, but the Alliance was cutting down on those who lost to WWF Superstars. Paul Heyman was going through the names, and after chewing them out a little, the Alliance would kick their ass to "motivate" them, I guess. Eventually it became apparent that Heyman only had one name left on his list, and when Heyman said "Rhyno..." the place erupted, and Rhyno immediately got in position to fight the entire Alliance.

I fucking loved it, because it made Rhyno look like a beast. He had been Goring people with Heyman screaming on commentary, and he had been putting people through stages. He was pretty much living up to the Man Beast moniker, and people were ready to see him kick ass and go out on his own. At the time, Rhyno was injured, so Heyman "suspended" him, and the crowd booed because they wanted to see some bloodshed. The best thing about the suspension, was that it made it look like Paul Heyman was afraid Rhyno would cannibalise them all.

Unfortunately, when Rhyno returned, he was not nearly as awesome.

Agree totally on both accounts. I mark like hell when Regal turns face.

The Rhyno thing was awesome as well. They just kinda dropped the ball when he came back.

I didn't really watch the old ECW much, did he ever promo much there? I just remember him not talking in his alliance run, and before he came back from injury he did a backstage promo. And his voice just doesn't suit him at all, not for a badass character anyway, I think that killed the whole 'man-beast' thing for me.

Loose Cannon

02-20-2008, 12:38 PM

I was going to post this, but I had to think about it. Tuesday In Texas(lol, TIT :shifty: ) was when Hogan regained the title from Taker, wasn't it?

yea, Darth is right. I had them confused. Yes, Hulk took the Title back here. This is also where Jake slapped Liz

wwe2222

02-20-2008, 12:49 PM

Mr Perfects sudden face turn on Prime Time wrestling. Never saw that coming

Loose Cannon

02-20-2008, 01:49 PM

here's some more good ones over the years I'll rattle off.

-of course Jake Roberts around WM 3 when Honky hit him with a guitar.

-when Nikita Koloff came out and helped Dusty Rhodes take on the Horsemen in '86. This was fucking huge at the time.

-Owen Hart coming out on the PPV right after Survivor Series '97 and beating the shit out of HBK. WOW, I so marked out for this. Very well done. And then they never had a payoff. Thanks WWE.

-Bossman around WM 6 I believe. Dibiase paid off Akeem and Bossman to aid him in his feud with Jake in return for money. Akeem and Slick took the money, but Bossman refused and he becomes an instant face.

-Andre the Giant: At WM 6, Giant was beraded by his manager Bobby Heenan after Andre and Haku lost the Tag Titles to Demolitiion. Andre stood up to Heenan and attacked Haku as well.

-Terry Funk in '89 NWA. Well, this might not be the greatest typical babyface turn, but it was done well I thought it should get a mention. Basically, Funk turned heel at Wretlewar '89 and attacked Flair. They feuded throughout the summer. Gary Hart managed Funk as well as Muta and Dragonmaster (J-Tex Corp). In the feud blowoff, Funk and Flair had an I Quit match, which Flair won. After the match, Gary Hart turned on Funk and attacked him. This is make the switch to Funk as a babyface.

Brutus Beefcake in '87: AT WM 3 in the greatest moments in his career, Beefcake would turn on his then partners, the Dream Team, and come back out later on the show and help Roddy Piper cut Adrian Adonis' hair.

Shamrock around 99 when the Corporation kicked him out and he just went nuts on the Ministry and the Corporation was pretty sweet.

-Even thought he was already technically a face, you would of never thought it, when Jim Cornette smacked Shane Douglas (or Johnny Ace) with his Tennis Racket thus rejoining the Midnight Express in the process. This was at a Clash of Champions in '89 I think

ttetf

02-20-2008, 05:43 PM

When Slick became Reverand Slick...

NeanderCarl

02-20-2008, 06:00 PM

Mr Perfect, November 1992.

He also teased one in October 1996 which I was rather excited about, but it was a SWERVE all along. :(

Fox

02-20-2008, 07:41 PM

The Rock turning face after WrestleMania XV was the start of something awesome.

Theo Dious

02-20-2008, 09:42 PM

Not gonna lie. If I walked into a funeral parlour like that, I'd think about doing my business elsewhere.

My dad's cousin owns a funeral home, I've been trying to get him to install a smoke machine for years.

KYR

02-20-2008, 09:55 PM

My dad's cousin owns a funeral home, I've been trying to get him to install a smoke machine for years.

...and a Gong?

02-20-2008, 10:22 PM

Kurt Angle winning the world heavyweight championship and turning face. Kurt was a big deal then.

mrslackalack

02-21-2008, 11:49 AM

Bam Bam Bigelows face turn and split with the Million Dollar Corporation after losing a World Title match against Diesel on a RAW in the Spring of 95 suprised me. It was supposed to lead to Bam Bam getting a HUGE push as a face and he did ME KOTR in a tag match but the Kliq politics held him back and he was jobbed out to Goldust and gone by the end of the yr.