The Top Ten Heel Turns

[Jericho]

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The Top Ten Heel Turns

Heel turns are always an inevitability in wrestling. It seems that nobody, no matter how popular ther are, are exempt from being turned heel at some time during their career. Heel turns can be shocking and if done correctly, can produce some great storylines and compelling wrestling. Here's a look at some of the most memorable heel turns of all time.

Honorable Mention: The Ultimate Warrior should have known to never trust a Snake

This was an angle leading up to Summerslam '91 that saw Jake "The Snake" Roberts help his friend, The Ultimate Warrior, prepare for a showdown against The Undertaker. Jake said that he was going to make Warrior understand the ways of the dark side through various tests so he wouldn't fear anything once he faced off against ‘Taker. The first test saw Jake lock Warrior in a coffin and the second test had Jake "bury" Warrior and leave him there to fight off that fear. The third test is where things got interesting. Jake placed Warrior in a room full of snakes and told him that the answer to beating The Undertaker was in a chest locked in the middle of the room. When Warrior opened up the chest, a huge snake sprang out and bit him which caused Warrior to get woozy. Before he lost consciousness, Warrior saw Jake standing next to The Undertaker and Paul Bearer and revealing that he had set up Warrior all along. This was just Jake The Snake at his demonic best.

Honorable Mention: Larry Zybszko turns his back on his mentor, Bruno Sammartino

Larry Zybszko was a popular babyface during the 70's, mainly due to his association with the super over Bruno Sammartino. Zybszko soon stated that he was tired of living in the shadow of Sammartino and challenged him to a friendly exhibition match, just to see if he had what it took to beat his mentor and step out as his own man. Sammartino easily dominated the first portion of the match until Zybszko got frustrated and attacked his mentor with a wooden chair, leaving him laying in a pool of blood. The fan reaction was insane as the instantly DESPISED Zybszko for turning his back on their beloved Bruno. The heel heat was so insane for Zybszko that he was stabbed, hit with an iron pole, and had his car turned over in the weeks leading up to his huge showdown against Sammartino at Shea Stadium. Now THAT'S heel heat.

10) FINALLY…..The Rock goes back to being a heel

There's no doubt that The Rock is one of the biggest faces ever to step foot in a wrestling ring, but around the beginning of 2003, fans began to get sick of The Rock's face act. Maybe it was the fact that he was only a part time performer due to his commitments to movies, but the fans were starting to turn on The Great One big time. Seeing that he was a huge babyface and a movie star, nobody thought he was going to go back to his heel ways, but we were all given a welcome surprise when The Rock started to heel it up when he returned to face Hulk Hogan at No Way Out 2003. The Rock started delivering some of the funniest and best promos he had given in years and seemed to have a new found vigor in his new role as heel. His classic exchanges with The Hurricane and Stone Cold were some of the best highlights of 2003. It was great to see The Rock revert back to his heelish antics at least for a little while before he retired for good.

9) Paul Orndorff shows Hogan that he's not really wonderful at all

Paul Orndorff was one of Hulk Hogan's biggest rivals leading up to Wrestlemania 1, but after Orndorff's partners, Roddy Piper and Bob Orton, turned their back on him shortly after Wrestlemania, the Hulkster befriended Orndorff thus making him one of the biggest faces in the company. I don't think people realize how over with the crowds Orndorff was, he had pops that rivaled that of Hogan himself. That soon changed in the middle of 1986 when after a tag team match between Orndorff and Hogan against King Kong Bundy and Big John Studd, Orndorff blindsided Hogan with a clothesline and gave him a sick piledriver to cement his heel status. Thus, one of the company's biggest faces was now one of its most hated heels. Hogan and Orndorff would go on to have many memorable matches and this heel turn was a great way to get their feud started.

8) HHH tells DX to suck it!

Leading up to Wrestlemania 15, HHH was one of WWE biggest faces as the leader of the popular stable, D-Generation X. He fought Kane at WM15 and was able to beat the Big Red Machine with the help of Chyna, who had previously betrayed HHH and left DX. It seemed as if Chyna had rejoined DX and everything was well again. That wasn't to be, though, as later on that night in a match between X-Pac and Shane McMahon, HHH would turn on his DX teammate, allowing Shane McMahon to pick up the victory. The crowd went apeshit for the turn and this heel turn was the beginning of great things for HHH as he used the momentum from this turn to become one of the biggest heels ever in the wrestling biz.

7) Andre doesn't like being overshadowed by Hogan……He's a giant after all dammit!

Hulk Hogan had taken the WWE by storm since his title win in 1984 and had easily become the #1 babyface in the company, a spot that was previously reserved for Andre The Giant. Andre at first was happy for Hogan's success, but after Bobby "The Brain" Heenan got in the ear of Andre and told him of the greatness he was capable of, Andre turned his back on Hogan and decided to challenge The Hulkster for his title. This was the greatest challenge yet for The Hukster as Andre hadn't been beaten in over 15 years. Andre's heel turn of course set up the legendary Wrestlemania III showdown between himself and Hogan which is probably the most famous wrestling match in the history of the sport.

6) Bret Hart gives a big FU to America

Bret Hart was one of the most popular and beloved superstars in the world for many years until he came across a man named Stone Cold Steve Austin. Stone Cold's foul-mouthed, defiant style didn't sit well with Bret and once he saw how the American fans began to cheer Austin and boo him, Bret lost all respect for the American fans. He would soon reform The Hart Foundation with his brother Owen, brothers-in-law The British Bulldog and Jim Neidhart as well as Brian Pillman, and declare that Canada was the only true great Country and that all Americans were pieces of crap for cheering Stone Cold. This was one of the most interesting heel turns ever because Bret was booed relentlessly in the States, but was treated as a god whenever he stepped foot in Canada.

5) Vince McMahon the announcer becomes Mr. McMahon the ruthless, diabolical owner

Vince McMahon had always downplayed his role as owner of the WWE mainly sticking to announcing duties and leaving all the decision making to the Commissioners. That stance changed once Stone Cold Steve Austin started getting under the owner's skin. Austin would constantly berate Vince, even going so far as to give him a Stunner and push him around. At first Vince did nothing because he figured that he would be able to reason with Stone Cold. Little did he know that there is no reasoning with a Rattlesnake. After Austin repeatedly defied McMahon and told him that there was no way that Stone Cold would ever be the kind of "clean cut" champion that Vince wanted, McMahon flipped his lid and unveiled his dark side, Mr. McMahon. As Mr. McMahon, Vince would do everything in his power to get the belt off Stone Cold and try to make Austin's life a living hell. A lesser man might have quit due to the tyranny of McMahon, but the defiant Austin took everything that Vince dished out and gave it back to him tenfold. Vince's heel turn signaled the highest peak in the history of pro wrestling.

4) HBK introduces Marty Jannetty to a sheet of glass

Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty were a part of one of the most popular tag teams ever in pro wrestling, The Rockers. After some communication errors and frequent squabbles, the two went on The Barber Shop, a talk show hosted by Brutus Beefcake, to try to resolve their issues. When it seemed as if everything was finally good between the two partners, HBK turned around and delivered a vicious superkick which sent Jannetty flying through a glass window. And with that one move, HBK was able to establish himself as a singles star and went on to become one of the biggest stars ever in WWE.

3) Owen turns on Bret: So much for brotherly love

Owen Hart had entered the WWE as the blue chipper brother of the very popular Bret Hart and the two positioned themselves to challenge for WWE tag team gold despite a few squabbles along the road. They got their chance at The Royal Rumble '94 against The Quebecers who were the champs at that time. The two teams had an excellent back and forth match with The Quebecers focusing on Bret's knee and absolutely demolishing it. Bret fought valiantly to stay in the match and finally got a break after avoiding a move and seemed ready to make the hot tag to his brother Owen who was calling out for it on the apron. Instead of tagging Owen, though, Bret decided to try to win the match by applying the Sharpshooter, but his knee was so severely damaged that he crumpled to the mat and the ref stopped the match due to the severity of Bret's injury. Owen was pissed at losing, but seemed to be helping his brother up after the match. Once his brother was on his feet, Owen kicked Bret's knee out from under him sending The Hitman crashing down to the mat in pain. Owen then gave an interview proclaiming how selfish Bret was and how he wanted all the glory instead of trying to share it with Owen. This heel turn would lead to one of the best feuds in WWE history that produced some of the best matches in WWE history. The best part of this heel turn was the slow dissention leading up to it as Owen would occasionally have temper tantrums, but would be soon be fine until he completely lost it at The Royal Rumble. Fantastic angle.

2) Stone Cold aligned with Vince McMahon? WHAT?!?!

When you think of bitter rivals you think of Yankees and Red Sox, Cowboys and Redskins, Bulls and Knicks, OJ Simpson and white women. You could never imagine any of them joining forces together so imagine the shock of every wrestling fan around the world when they saw Stone Cold Steve Austin shake hands with his most hated rival, Vince McMahon. To say that it was a surreal moment would actually be an understatement. For years, the two of them had tried to beat the holy hell out of each other so to see the two of them co-exist and to actually see Austin taking orders from McMahon was unbelievable. That was one heel turn that had everyone, mark and smart alike, absolutely stunned.

1) Hulk Hogan? A heel?!? Say it isn't so!!

I remember being home on a warm Sunday night in 1996 when I received a frantic call from one of my friends exclaiming how Hulk Hogan was now a bad guy. Of course, I thought my friend was lying or had forgotten to take his meds, but when I tuned in to Nitro the next night, I saw Hulk Hogan not wearing his signature Red and Yellow, but instead all black and calling himself "Hollywood" Hogan. I was absolutely floored as I could not believe what I was seeing. Obviously the incident I'm referring to is Bash at The Beach '96 when Hulk Hogan turned his back on WCW and joined up with Scott Hall and Kevin Nash to form the New World Order. To see Hulk Hogan, the biggest babyface EVER, all of a sudden become a heel was one of the most shocking things ever. It had been rumored for years that the Hulkster might turn heel, but it seemed as if they would never pull the trigger on it in fear of a backlash from the loyal Hogan supporters that didn't want their hero to be a bad guy. This was a gamble that definitely paid off and became one of the biggest angles in wrestling history. It was the ultimate heel turn.

[rawhide]

За съжаление.. Не съм особено запознат с feud-a "Bret vs Owen Hart".. Въпреки това.. Той изглежда забавен.. Като цяло.. Класацията си я бива..

Единственото което бих разместил е 4 и 5-то място.. Най-малкото защото все пак враждата "Austin-McMahon" дава цяла ера в кеча... ;)

[HEIDENREICH]

Най любимия ми търн е този на Оуен срещу Брет както и този на Джейк Робертс срещу Уориър иначе най-важен е този на Хоган.

Много хубав беше и търна на Crush срещу Randy Savage -двамата бяха най-добри приятели обаче когато Crush се би с шампиона Yokozuna получи няколко Banzai Drops и бе смазан,след това той обвини своя приятел,че не му е помогнал ,направи се че му прощава,но го свали със зверски клослайн и враждата приключи с един отличен много подценен мач между тах в Гардън на Ресълмания 10.

[BORKO_10]

Мерси за статията.Определено интересно четиво,а и научих неща които не знаех...аз по принцип не съм гледал нито един от тези легендарни heel turn-ове,така че ми беше още по-интересно.Напълно съм съгласен с първите три места,макар че не мога да реша кое трябва да е по-напред "съюза на Vince и Stone Cold" или "turn-а на Hulk Hogan".Мисля,че можеше този с Ultimate Warrior и Jake Roberts да застане малко по-напред в класацията,да кажем на мястото на turn-а на The Rock...пак казвам благодаря!

[HeartBreak`Kid]

Съгласна съм с цялата красация с изключение на две неща.Първото място - само аз ли очаквах Хоган да направи този търн,damn it?!

The Ultimate Warrior should have known to never trust a Snake

Ето това ми е положително любимия търн в историята - ROBERTS RULZZZ!!!

Stone Cold aligned with Vince McMahon? WHAT?!?!

Ето кое трябваше да бъде първото място според мен - ТОВА вече не вярвам някой да го е очаквал...

HBK introduces Marty Jannetty to a sheet of glass

Сега като си спомних колко е готин Шон като хийл вече имам причина да искам бързо разформироване на DX...С чук в кратунката на Трипс по възможност

[nWoHulkster]

Ето кое трябваше да бъде първото място според мен - ТОВА вече не вярвам някой да го е очаквал...

Защото беше малоумно бизнес решение и с него започна западъка на WWE във финансово отношение и от към интерес на публиката... Дали е било забавно или да е съвсем различна тема.

Добър turn не значи изненадващ turn. Да, изненадата е много хубаво нещо, но само когато има смисъл. Добър heel turn е нещо, което хем е интересно, хем е ефективно и се отразява добре на бъдещето развитие на нещата. От тази гледна точка Hogan през 1996 е може би най-добрият търн в историята на бизнеса. Иначе за мой най-любим търн не мога да определя, тъй като са доста. Вероятно бих разместил няколко от позициите в класацията, бих махнал 2-3 и бих сложил други на тяхно място, но като цяло бива, а и ме мързи да коментирам подробно.

[G]

Супер яка статия 10х Jericho!

[DjPetko]

Просто няма място за спорове,естествено,че търна на Хоугън !!!