The Rock turning heel to join The Nation was the best thing that ever happened for his career, his Rocky Maivia goody two shoes gimmick was going nowhere fast and he was getting brutally booed out of the building, he needed changing and the turn not only did wonders for his character but it put him on the path to becoming one of the biggest names ever. His natural charisma, incredible athleticism and ability to connect with the crowds made him one of the most entertaining heels ever to the point where it was very hard to hate him.
I would say that Randy Orton started to reach that level around 2008, I remember at No Way Out when he faced Cena, he slapped the referee to get himself disqualified to retain his title and the whole place popped hard. So I would definitely include him in the conversation
The thing I liked the most about Scott Steiner's heel turn is the wink he gives to the camera. Like a slight "you know what I'm about to do" to any smart fans watching.
Pretty much 1 year after that, he was already getting a mixed reaction & even being cheered on occasion. The reaction he got at Summerslam 1998 after he hit the People's Elbow, the fans popped huge for that spot. And they stopped booing him after that.
Love seeing more Golden Era and older wrestlers being recognized. Although the Monday Night Wars is my peak era, I was first introduced to wrestling in the 80's and have been a fan ever since.
I think a heel turn that kinda gets overlooked or at least not remembered as much was Bobby Roode turning on James Storm at Bound for Glory in 2011 or 2012. That heel turn solidified Roode for me as one of TNA's franchise players, and tbh came as a shock cuz at the time Beer Money was at the height of their popularity as babyfaces.
They had lost the titles... But honestly, I felt for Dave in the turn and was praying for a Rey heel turn instead... It would have been even more unexpected...
It is worth noting that Paul Orndorff's atrophied arm that developed in the 90s stemmed from the period around the heel turn you discuss here. Apparently he needed arm surgery but wouldn't take the time off because the feud with Hogan was too lucrative for him. That delayed surgery led to permanent nerve damage.
@@DamanKingBear I doubt it. Back then guys weren't on guaranteed contracts. If you didn't work, you weren't getting paid. Plus, a series of houses where you were main eventing with Hogan back in 86 was worth a LOT more money than he would've been used to. It was THE spot every heel wanted, and I'm sure most of the babyfaces too. If Orndorff left for even just a few months, that opportunity may not have still been there waiting.
i will never say no to another series, i absolutely love reliving the war, career retrospectives, and even the gaming reviews. You have a great way of giving your input along with facts
13:52 even in 87, some fans could already see right through Hogan. See that guy jump for joy when Orndorf hits that pile driver? That’s a fan after my own heart.
Batista's heel turn is my favorite of the PG Era because you saw it coming but didn't want to believe it. When Batista said "I'm tired of my friends stabbing me in the back," I remember putting my face in the palms of my hands.
One heel turn I thought was really good that's outside of WWE, Was Bobby Roode on James Storm in TNA. They not only broke up one of TNA's best ever teams, but they truly showed the lure of the world title, is just too good to put down. It drives you crazy, it drives you mad. The fact too, that this was after Roode failed to beat Kurt, and he came so close to it too. It was done really well.
Best heel turn I've ever seen was when Ole attacked Dusty in 1980. The promo Ole cut after it happened was brilliant, saying the things he had to do in order to gain Dusty's trust absolutely disgusted him.
@@BENNY_MAC especially when he done that thing that really shocked the crowd to this day I can't even mention it in conversation as it is hard to put into words
The one I loved was Toshiaki Kawada's heel turn, when he allied himself with Akira Taue and formed the Holy Demon Army. About the face turns: Beulah on ECW, when she turn on Raven's Nest.
@@exeortegarubio yeah, japanese wrestling don't really have "backstage sgements" or do storylines in the traditional american pro wrestling sense (at least, before gedo sadly americanized it in recent years NJPW). The storylines were mainly through what happened in the matches, and the closest things to "Angles" as we know it were simply post-match moments like handshakes or a non-microphone argument or brawl in the ring, as well as real press conferences with journalists or a wrestler speaking to the journalists and photographers backstage after his match, or newspapers and magazines telling the stories (like the old days of the 50s and 60s territories) Anyways, the kawada heel turn was that, for years, Kawada was in the shadow of Mitsuharu Misawa, who led the youth rebellion against the All Japan establishment, represented by Jumbo Tsuruta. Misawa was the one who beat Tsuruta cleanly and won the triple crown, while Kawada was essentially his tag team partner/bitch. Kawada then had enough with Misawa getting the spotlight, so after the 1993 champions carnival match (was it the final? I don't remember) against Akira Taue (who was the protege of Jumbo Tsuruta, Misawa and Kawada's sworn enemy), Kawada and Taue shook hands, seeing as they shared a lot of things in common (namely being in the shadow of more famous/higher profile wrestlers and hating Misawa). As such, they shook hamds after their champions carnival match and teamed up to form the holy dempn army and kickstart the king's road era of All Japan.
@@Carlitonsp1 it was more of a "we hate the same guy and we both want out of our leaders's shadows, let's team up." type of thing. Taue was the protege of Jumbo Tsuruta, and he was seen as just his lackey, and he grew resentful of that. Kawada saw that he had a lot in common with Taue, and so after their match, he convinced Taue to team up in order to help themselves.
Barry had a TON of potential. He had so much going for him. He had the size and he just made everything look so easy and effortlessly. The Rock needed that heel turn. If it was not for that heel turn going to the Nation, and then turning on Farooq, I think he would have faded away.
The Rock's early days of his Nation of Domination run are so fun to go back and watch again. In just a few months, Dwayne Johnson went from a Babyface that fans were really tired of, to being arguably the hottest heal in the wwf.
A major one that rarely gets brought up is Cena’s heel turn. Turned on Kidman on 10/24/02. Next week he dresses up as Vanilla Ice which is the start of him transitioning into the Thuganomics character.
I know it's not WWE so you probably won't include it in next video but Bobby Roodes heel turn in TNA was so good. It also led to the best TNA World Title reign of all time imo.
Enjoying this series. The JBL one was pretty significant for him. I think Farooq got fired after a returning APA lost their matches but Bradshaw elected to stay which shocked Farooq. Next thing you know JBL was born..didn't expect his main event run at all but he was a great heel
I was at the RAW show where the Rock turned heel. My seat was actually right on the guardrail looking down at the tunnel he ran to the ring from. He was pacing back and forth the whole show waiting for his spot to happen.
Ryan, PLEASE do Scott Hall Turning on Kevin Nash against Giant and Sting next. It’s such a great turn, because the crowd sees it coming and audibly chants to not break up and stay together at various points in the match.
i absolutely love this channel. i can feel the passion dude you remind me of the old youtube channels that made the platform so popular. keep it up man.
Eddie turning on Mysterio was one of the most terrifying turns. Eddie's heel persona was always a cheating sleazeball, but here he became a Pillman-esque psychopath.
I love the History that I learn from your videos. I've been a fan since the mid 80's, yet you manage to come up with things I had no clue about. The Zybisko heel turn was one I had not even heard of, so thank you for that.
Batista's heel turn to me had his best mic work of his career. Shawn's promo the night after Summerslam 97 was too good when he turned heel. I go back and watch it alot.
I watched that Flair heel turn recently on a yt channel that reuploads old wrestling shows. Now-a-days you see heel turns coming from a mile away but the fans really ate that stuff up back then. The Minnesota Wrecking crew were awesome too.
Absolutely interested in seeing more of these Heel turn\Face turn videos, i didn't see any Wrestling from around 1999 until late 2020 so getting to hear about some of the stars i like but never got to watch such as Batista is pretty cool, learning more about some of the older stuff i wasn't around for is cool too. For instance i don't think i ever knew Paul Orndorf was a Babyface at one point, i always thought he was one of those forever Heels that were stuck wrestling Hogan for the better part of their career. 😅👍
One of my favorite heel turns will always be Mark Henry and his fake retirement speech on Raw. He'd been on a big decline down the card in recent years, and rumors had been circulating that he intended to retire soon. Then he comes out on Raw and has a long, incredible promo towards Cena (then world champ) and the audience. Henry legit sounds like he is on the verge of tears the entire speech, talks about how much he respects Cena and loves the fans, he's laughing as they chant Sexual Chocolate at him and he even makes a Mae Young comment at one point. At the end of the promo Cena goes to give him a hug and Henry opens his arms, only to scoop Cena up and hit him with his signature Worlds Strongest Slam. Henry glares at Cena on the ground, throws off his salmon jacket and rips open his shirt, and just hollers "It ain't that easy! I still got a lot left in the tank!"
Great stuff here mate! The turn on Dusty stands out for me cos when I was a kid I remember my mum telling me about it, just as flaire came to wwf. It was like the hallowed moment, a legend. My mum had false memories of Dustys leg legit being broken, his sell job was that good. That's actual magic to me
God, I loved Heel Rock from November 98 to January 99. He was hilarious. As a face the same shtick got old. Although you can pinpoint the coming face turn when the old lady kept cutting him off when he asked her what name was.
I'm glad that someone brought up Barry Windham joining the Horsemen because to me as a kid, this felt equivalent to Hogan joining the NWO. No one saw this coming and was a total shock. Him joining made that group the best incarnation of the Four Horsemen there ever was.
Thank you for mentioning Batistas heel turn on Rey Mysterio! Big Dave gets alot of unnecessary hate for his later runs, but people tend to forget that prior to leaving for Hollywood, Batista was a fan favorite and one of the 2 faces of WWE, along with Cena. At one point, Batista was even more popular than Cena, he was really that popular. But that Ruthless Aggression-pre PG Era Batista was awesome. He couldn't give you 5 star matches, but he really grew into his own in the storytelling aspect of wrestling. His storyline with Eddie was so damn good, which showed you different sides of both Eddie and Batista. It was an unlikely friendship and it felt really natural and relatable on TV. So when he died, you felt Batistas sadness come through. So when he lost the title and became good friends with Rey, almost as a pseudo relationship to fill the void with Eddie, you seriously felt that friendship shine through. So when Rey said "what about eddie?" That seriously hit hard, especially if you watched the entire history between these guys. Man, Batista was seriously an underrated wrestler. He was even one of the first actual threats to Undertakers streak, you could actually believe Batista could have ended Takers streak during their match at WM 23, they arguably stole the show with that match. You didnt think Batista had it in him and then you find out that was the first match Batista led and it happened to be the biggest match of his career on the biggest stage in the business 😅
You mentioned Dave's sadness coming through. I think that was him actually unintentionally breaking kayfabe. Eddie's death hit EVERYONE HARD in real life backstage. Everyone loved Eddie in real life.
good shout hes got one of the best face/heel turns so no wonder hes movie star. even the his retiement was shocking. foreshadowing with jab on smackdown 1000
OMG is that Orndorff heel turn underrated. The buildup, the tropes, the interviews with the Brain. Even the silly missed phone call angle. So underrated!!!!!! Back then I loved Mr Wonderful, his heel turn HURT! 😂 btw, thank you to you and your team for these videos
The Rock becoming a heel has to be the most important heel turn of all time because without it, we don't get the Rock and Dwayne Johnson likely doesn't go on to become one of the biggest actors in Hollywood. Absolutely massive
1:40 yeah the Big Evil was awesome. So much so by mid-2002 the crowd was cheering him even though he was a heel. Awesome on the mic and savage in the ring.
Less than 10 minutes ago i commented on your previous video saying you should have included Larry turning on Bruno. Then low and behold, the next video I see is just that. Great job Sir.
Becky Lynch's 'heel turn' at Summerslam is a really special one in the way that the fans rejected it and it made her an even better babyface who quickly became a megastar.
Taz's ECW heel turn was major. Dude is still in the business through AEW to this day. Tazmaniac would have faded out of existence if he stayed in that persona. Sure his look changed and his name was shortened, but there was no pretending was someone new. It was all part of a new attitude and had a back story that took place over an untelevised period while he was out with a legit injury.
As a kid I hunted down any wrestling I could find, and came across some stinkers like WOW, and WSX on mtv but absolutly loved watching NWA on ESPN Classics. Zbyzko was one of my favorites on there.
One of my favorites was Crush's heel turn in 1993 against Randy Savage. It wasn't that big but I thought it was well done. The REASONING made sense. And the subtleness of Fuji and Heenan clearly manipulating Crush is executed well. I will forever love Randy trying to talk to his friend OFF the show to smooth things out instead of on camera and his line of "This man is an agitator (points to heenan) this man is a parasite (points to Fuji" Is great.
First I want to say, big fan! Keep it up, you're the premiere wrestling channel on YT that's not breaking news related. I also wanted to say that I completely agree with your take on Bikertaker's heel turn. I had always been and am still a huge fan but anyone who wants to maintain a long term career needs to be open to at least occasionally tweaking and changing their gimmick, physical appearance, and incorporating changes to their style. Undertaker was the absolute master at this and always knew exactly what changes, both big and small, to make and when to keep himself relevant. His first face turn against Jake to defend Randy and Elizabeth will always be a formative memory for me regarding wrestling and the image of him grabbing the chair is burned into my brain. I've actually been rather surprised that a lot of modern wrestling fans don't seem to take to well to the Bikertaker years as humanizing the character was exactly what was needed at the time and I seem to recall it was mostly well received when it happened. Also, The Rock's heel turn and joining The Nation was a pivotal moment of the early attitude era and had it not happened and been successful the trajectory of wrestling and The Rock's own career could have been very different. It's importance really can't be understated.
I liked Biker Taker too, even more than Spooky Taker. Undertaker returned with that gimmick just before I started watching wrestling so that might have something to do with it, and don't get me wrong I don't hate Spooky Taker, I just freaking love how the music hits and he just rolls to the ring with a bike. Badass indeed
Paul Orndorff turning on Hogan in 1986 was tremendous. I also liked the very short but still interesting Lex Luger turn in mid 1989. Honorable mentions to Barry Windham's 1988 heel turn.
The little audio clips in the beginning are such a great idea and can be chilling if you never heard it. I got a sick recommendation; how about a list of famous wrestling injuries like Stone Cold, Sabu, Mick Foley, Vader, HHH etc..
Holy cow is this video amazing. I found your channel about a year ago and it’s definitely my favorite wrestling channel. Thank you so much for the content! God bless 🙏.
I can’t recall what was in the first video but I’d imagine the major ones like Hogan joining nWo, Rockers breakup, Andre, Mega Powers we’re all covered. Some others that may have not been on either list: Martel turning on Tito, Kevin Owens turning on Sami in NXT, Stephanie turning on Vince, Sting joining the Main Event Mafia.
Even though the heel turn Jim Ross had in the fall of 1996 didn't go over well, you need to check out the commentating between Jim Ross and Gorilla Monsoon during the Savio Vega/Fake Razor Ramon match on the September 30th, 1996 RAW episode.
The thing is with Zbyzko. He was so hated as a heel for so long and then in the 90s with the NWO he became one of the biggest babyfaces of all time when he slapped Hall he was off and running for a second time. It was like lightning hitting twice never heard of at all but it happened.
Honestly, looking back at Batista's character work during his first stint with WWE, all the signs were there that he'd be able to crossover to Hollywood pretty seamlessly.
what i loved about the lead up to the 97 summerslam match. hbk openly acknowledged, "oh yeah, im that dude." thus the SHOWSTOPPA, THE MAIN EVENT, THE ICON!!!
Apologies if someone already said it but Mark Henry's "You think it's that easy" turn is one of the best bits of TV in WWE history. Salmon jacket is on point too.
Mannnn hold up. Lemme get in this when the 123 kid turned on razor Ramon was good. HHH turned on HBK was good. Buff Bagwell was good any one of Big Show turn. Scott Steiner was awesome Bob Backlund turn in the 90s brought us one of the most entertaining heels of all time. Austin on pillman. Omg I could go on and on with this. Great Subject WrestlingBios. You are hands down the best thing on RUclips. And yes the 97 rock turn was awesome but the 03 Rock turn was amazing
In part 3 I'd like to see The Giants heel turn on The Dungeon of Doom/ WCW to join the nWo. Also Cactus Jack turning on Tommy Dreamer to join Raven's group in ECW, Bam Bam Bigelow turn on Taz to rejoin the Triple Threat who also turn on Lance Storm in ECW. Just to mention a few.
Don't know if it's been covered or not but Tatanka turning in Lex to join Million Dollar Corp was pretty good and the Bulldog turning on Diesel which basically broke u Allied Powers was pretty unexpected
Yeah, Tatanka's turn is truly one of the few shocking heel turns in any major North American promotion of the New Gen time period. That and Owen's at RR 94 are my two favorite in the WWF from that time.
I remember when Dwayne addressed the crowd and almost blatantly asked them if they wanted him to "turn"......his crowd interaction advanced greatly from then on!
I grew up with biker undertaker since I started watching in august of 1999, I only saw a bit of his ministry character before he left. I thought he was pretty cool, especially when he got his rolling theme, I liked him even more when he turned heel tbh. He had a good run. When undertaker told JR “is that because you think your better than me?” you could tell the arena knew what was coming but didn’t want it to happen, I honestly never thought he would turn.
If you do a future video I’d like to mention hhh’s reveal that he was the mastermind behind the survivor series hit & run on scsa. Kurt Angle’s heel turn on Eddie Guerrero in 2004, Ciampa’s heel turn on gargano, Jeff Hardy’s tna heel turn & cm punk at raw 1000
The Rock turning heel to join The Nation was the best thing that ever happened for his career, his Rocky Maivia goody two shoes gimmick was going nowhere fast and he was getting brutally booed out of the building, he needed changing and the turn not only did wonders for his character but it put him on the path to becoming one of the biggest names ever. His natural charisma, incredible athleticism and ability to connect with the crowds made him one of the most entertaining heels ever to the point where it was very hard to hate him.
If you have charisma, you have to be a heel or at minimum a tweener.
Die Rocky die comes to mind
Very hard to hate him Randy orton can be apart of this conversation in a way
I would say that Randy Orton started to reach that level around 2008, I remember at No Way Out when he faced Cena, he slapped the referee to get himself disqualified to retain his title and the whole place popped hard. So I would definitely include him in the conversation
I liked Nation of Domination and adding The Rock rocketed it to a whole another level.
The thing I liked the most about Scott Steiner's heel turn is the wink he gives to the camera. Like a slight "you know what I'm about to do" to any smart fans watching.
I gotta say though, The rock really needed that heel turn. It elevated him into a huge star and the fans were starting to get behind him.
I’m glad The Rock took shots at those fans for booing him as a babyface, and his promos were gold
Agreed
@@starastro4591 I loved that faction feud
@@starastro4591 that wasn't the beginning
Pretty much 1 year after that, he was already getting a mixed reaction & even being cheered on occasion. The reaction he got at Summerslam 1998 after he hit the People's Elbow, the fans popped huge for that spot. And they stopped booing him after that.
Love seeing more Golden Era and older wrestlers being recognized. Although the Monday Night Wars is my peak era, I was first introduced to wrestling in the 80's and have been a fan ever since.
Agreed
I think a heel turn that kinda gets overlooked or at least not remembered as much was Bobby Roode turning on James Storm at Bound for Glory in 2011 or 2012. That heel turn solidified Roode for me as one of TNA's franchise players, and tbh came as a shock cuz at the time Beer Money was at the height of their popularity as babyfaces.
Great call. That’s a fantastic turn. I’m a big Beer Money fan, they also worked well as opponents.
It was the week after BFG 2011.
To put it in perspective it was such a shocker they still shared theme music at the time.
I remember that back in the day he will always be remembered as beer money to me
Good friends better enemies and it lead to several get back together episodes too
This dude pumps out so much content idk what else to say other than thanks
Pumps more than Big papa pump !
The Batista turn was incredible.
"I'm gonna rip your head off."
Still sends a tingle down my spine.
I can't remember but were Batista and Mysterio tag team champs at the time of the turn or had they lost the titles?
They had lost the titles... But honestly, I felt for Dave in the turn and was praying for a Rey heel turn instead... It would have been even more unexpected...
@@kurtpaulsen6579 yep, Dave was screwed and had every right to be pissed
That really was an underrated moment. It also makes me crack up because I don’t think he was playing (like for real).
It is worth noting that Paul Orndorff's atrophied arm that developed in the 90s stemmed from the period around the heel turn you discuss here. Apparently he needed arm surgery but wouldn't take the time off because the feud with Hogan was too lucrative for him. That delayed surgery led to permanent nerve damage.
I too watch OSW Review
Damn that sucks for Orndorff.
I wonder if he'd regretted it
may he RIP
@@DamanKingBear I doubt it. Back then guys weren't on guaranteed contracts. If you didn't work, you weren't getting paid. Plus, a series of houses where you were main eventing with Hogan back in 86 was worth a LOT more money than he would've been used to. It was THE spot every heel wanted, and I'm sure most of the babyfaces too. If Orndorff left for even just a few months, that opportunity may not have still been there waiting.
i will never say no to another series, i absolutely love reliving the war, career retrospectives, and even the gaming reviews. You have a great way of giving your input along with facts
Wrestling Bios is the best
13:52 even in 87, some fans could already see right through Hogan. See that guy jump for joy when Orndorf hits that pile driver? That’s a fan after my own heart.
Batista's heel turn is my favorite of the PG Era because you saw it coming but didn't want to believe it. When Batista said "I'm tired of my friends stabbing me in the back," I remember putting my face in the palms of my hands.
He stopped kissing babies and hugging fat girls.
I was smiling wide because I was worried they wouldn't turn him heel. Heel Batista from late 09-spring 10 was wonderful.
One heel turn I thought was really good that's outside of WWE, Was Bobby Roode on James Storm in TNA. They not only broke up one of TNA's best ever teams, but they truly showed the lure of the world title, is just too good to put down. It drives you crazy, it drives you mad. The fact too, that this was after Roode failed to beat Kurt, and he came so close to it too. It was done really well.
Best heel turn I've ever seen was when Ole attacked Dusty in 1980. The promo Ole cut after it happened was brilliant, saying the things he had to do in order to gain Dusty's trust absolutely disgusted him.
Kevin Owens heel turn on Sami at Takeover Revolution was pretty awesome. It was his first ppv.
Cactus Jack's anti-hardcore run in ECW is still the gold standard for me. Face turn? Not sure if you got it, but Nikita Koloff turning face.
If Magnum TA doesn't get into the car accident Nikita's face turn doesn't happen when it does.
Just when i was bored as hell, a new wrestling bios video comes out. We gotta love you pal!
You could do a video on the 85 heel turns The Big Show did. Also the 85 baby face turns he did lol
Heel turn 23 was particularly memorable, you know the one it was in that match he had with that guy.
@@freddiejohnson6137 still gives me goosebumps.
@@freddiejohnson6137 omg I know! That match was bigger than Hogan Vs. Andre
Or how he was the mystery partner ever single time.
@@BENNY_MAC especially when he done that thing that really shocked the crowd to this day I can't even mention it in conversation as it is hard to put into words
The one I loved was Toshiaki Kawada's heel turn, when he allied himself with Akira Taue and formed the Holy Demon Army.
About the face turns: Beulah on ECW, when she turn on Raven's Nest.
How did it exactly happen? Was it an in-ring segment?
Was that really a heel turn? I'm to understand it was more of a face turn for Taue when they ended their feud with a handshake.
@@exeortegarubio yeah, japanese wrestling don't really have "backstage sgements" or do storylines in the traditional american pro wrestling sense (at least, before gedo sadly americanized it in recent years NJPW). The storylines were mainly through what happened in the matches, and the closest things to "Angles" as we know it were simply post-match moments like handshakes or a non-microphone argument or brawl in the ring, as well as real press conferences with journalists or a wrestler speaking to the journalists and photographers backstage after his match, or newspapers and magazines telling the stories (like the old days of the 50s and 60s territories)
Anyways, the kawada heel turn was that, for years, Kawada was in the shadow of Mitsuharu Misawa, who led the youth rebellion against the All Japan establishment, represented by Jumbo Tsuruta. Misawa was the one who beat Tsuruta cleanly and won the triple crown, while Kawada was essentially his tag team partner/bitch. Kawada then had enough with Misawa getting the spotlight, so after the 1993 champions carnival match (was it the final? I don't remember) against Akira Taue (who was the protege of Jumbo Tsuruta, Misawa and Kawada's sworn enemy), Kawada and Taue shook hands, seeing as they shared a lot of things in common (namely being in the shadow of more famous/higher profile wrestlers and hating Misawa). As such, they shook hamds after their champions carnival match and teamed up to form the holy dempn army and kickstart the king's road era of All Japan.
@@Carlitonsp1 it was more of a "we hate the same guy and we both want out of our leaders's shadows, let's team up." type of thing. Taue was the protege of Jumbo Tsuruta, and he was seen as just his lackey, and he grew resentful of that. Kawada saw that he had a lot in common with Taue, and so after their match, he convinced Taue to team up in order to help themselves.
Barry had a TON of potential. He had so much going for him. He had the size and he just made everything look so easy and effortlessly.
The Rock needed that heel turn. If it was not for that heel turn going to the Nation, and then turning on Farooq, I think he would have faded away.
The Rock's early days of his Nation of Domination run are so fun to go back and watch again. In just a few months, Dwayne Johnson went from a Babyface that fans were really tired of, to being arguably the hottest heal in the wwf.
My headphones are all bass and that intro gets me hyped everytime! 👌
A major one that rarely gets brought up is Cena’s heel turn. Turned on Kidman on 10/24/02. Next week he dresses up as Vanilla Ice which is the start of him transitioning into the Thuganomics character.
I know it's not WWE so you probably won't include it in next video but Bobby Roodes heel turn in TNA was so good. It also led to the best TNA World Title reign of all time imo.
Enjoying this series. The JBL one was pretty significant for him. I think Farooq got fired after a returning APA lost their matches but Bradshaw elected to stay which shocked Farooq. Next thing you know JBL was born..didn't expect his main event run at all but he was a great heel
"I'm a one man conglomerate!"
🤣
JBL was awesome
that all came in the expense of worse of smackdown in 2004. so i have hard time acknoledging it
I was at the RAW show where the Rock turned heel. My seat was actually right on the guardrail looking down at the tunnel he ran to the ring from. He was pacing back and forth the whole show waiting for his spot to happen.
Taker's biker heel was so good it definitely was unexpected and taker was great.
Ryan, PLEASE do Scott Hall Turning on Kevin Nash against Giant and Sting next. It’s such a great turn, because the crowd sees it coming and audibly chants to not break up and stay together at various points in the match.
Bro, the Outsiders breakup was legitimately emotional.
lol whats funny they just coppied from couple months before.
i absolutely love this channel. i can feel the passion dude you remind me of the old youtube channels that made the platform so popular. keep it up man.
Also Bayley’s heel turn was kinda anticlimactic but they did it pretty well in the build and it was pretty significant.
Eddie turning on Mysterio was one of the most terrifying turns. Eddie's heel persona was always a cheating sleazeball, but here he became a Pillman-esque psychopath.
One of the earlier examples of an iconic JR call happens with the Windham heel turn. "Barry, NO!"
I love the History that I learn from your videos. I've been a fan since the mid 80's, yet you manage to come up with things I had no clue about. The Zybisko heel turn was one I had not even heard of, so thank you for that.
Batista's heel turn to me had his best mic work of his career. Shawn's promo the night after Summerslam 97 was too good when he turned heel. I go back and watch it alot.
I watched that Flair heel turn recently on a yt channel that reuploads old wrestling shows. Now-a-days you see heel turns coming from a mile away but the fans really ate that stuff up back then. The Minnesota Wrecking crew were awesome too.
Awesome Stuff !I’m glad you covered the Bruno/Larry rivalry And Hogan/Orndoff
Absolutely interested in seeing more of these Heel turn\Face turn videos, i didn't see any Wrestling from around 1999 until late 2020 so getting to hear about some of the stars i like but never got to watch such as Batista is pretty cool, learning more about some of the older stuff i wasn't around for is cool too. For instance i don't think i ever knew Paul Orndorf was a Babyface at one point, i always thought he was one of those forever Heels that were stuck wrestling Hogan for the better part of their career.
😅👍
Undertaker's Heel turn in 2001 was awesome
Sitting here screaming "this is awesome"! Great way to spend a Tuesday afternoon!
One of my favorite heel turns will always be Mark Henry and his fake retirement speech on Raw. He'd been on a big decline down the card in recent years, and rumors had been circulating that he intended to retire soon. Then he comes out on Raw and has a long, incredible promo towards Cena (then world champ) and the audience. Henry legit sounds like he is on the verge of tears the entire speech, talks about how much he respects Cena and loves the fans, he's laughing as they chant Sexual Chocolate at him and he even makes a Mae Young comment at one point. At the end of the promo Cena goes to give him a hug and Henry opens his arms, only to scoop Cena up and hit him with his signature Worlds Strongest Slam. Henry glares at Cena on the ground, throws off his salmon jacket and rips open his shirt, and just hollers "It ain't that easy! I still got a lot left in the tank!"
It was probably the most legitimately shocking since hulk Hogan at bash at the beach.
The should've gave Mark a title run after that promo. They dropped the ball with that one.
Y'all bunch of puppets.
@@romacechina you ok princess? You getting the attention you need now?
Mark did so well. I truly thought he was retiring.
Great stuff here mate!
The turn on Dusty stands out for me cos when I was a kid I remember my mum telling me about it, just as flaire came to wwf. It was like the hallowed moment, a legend. My mum had false memories of Dustys leg legit being broken, his sell job was that good. That's actual magic to me
For as good a job you do in relieving the war you did the old school turns so much justice
God, I loved Heel Rock from November 98 to January 99. He was hilarious. As a face the same shtick got old. Although you can pinpoint the coming face turn when the old lady kept cutting him off when he asked her what name was.
I Remember the Zbyszko Turn, My Dad and I were SCREAMING at the Television!!!
I'm glad that someone brought up Barry Windham joining the Horsemen because to me as a kid, this felt equivalent to Hogan joining the NWO. No one saw this coming and was a total shock. Him joining made that group the best incarnation of the Four Horsemen there ever was.
I agree. Good comparison. Windams turn was shocking.
Thank you for mentioning Batistas heel turn on Rey Mysterio! Big Dave gets alot of unnecessary hate for his later runs, but people tend to forget that prior to leaving for Hollywood, Batista was a fan favorite and one of the 2 faces of WWE, along with Cena.
At one point, Batista was even more popular than Cena, he was really that popular.
But that Ruthless Aggression-pre PG Era Batista was awesome. He couldn't give you 5 star matches, but he really grew into his own in the storytelling aspect of wrestling. His storyline with Eddie was so damn good, which showed you different sides of both Eddie and Batista. It was an unlikely friendship and it felt really natural and relatable on TV. So when he died, you felt Batistas sadness come through. So when he lost the title and became good friends with Rey, almost as a pseudo relationship to fill the void with Eddie, you seriously felt that friendship shine through.
So when Rey said "what about eddie?" That seriously hit hard, especially if you watched the entire history between these guys.
Man, Batista was seriously an underrated wrestler. He was even one of the first actual threats to Undertakers streak, you could actually believe Batista could have ended Takers streak during their match at WM 23, they arguably stole the show with that match. You didnt think Batista had it in him and then you find out that was the first match Batista led and it happened to be the biggest match of his career on the biggest stage in the business 😅
You mentioned Dave's sadness coming through. I think that was him actually unintentionally breaking kayfabe. Eddie's death hit EVERYONE HARD in real life backstage. Everyone loved Eddie in real life.
good shout hes got one of the best face/heel turns so no wonder hes movie star. even the his retiement was shocking. foreshadowing with jab on smackdown 1000
OMG is that Orndorff heel turn underrated. The buildup, the tropes, the interviews with the Brain. Even the silly missed phone call angle. So underrated!!!!!! Back then I loved Mr Wonderful, his heel turn HURT! 😂 btw, thank you to you and your team for these videos
The Rock becoming a heel has to be the most important heel turn of all time because without it, we don't get the Rock and Dwayne Johnson likely doesn't go on to become one of the biggest actors in Hollywood. Absolutely massive
That Taker turn came OUTTA NOWHERE. Also the quality of THIS series is A+. Thanks man
Biker Undertaker also had one of the best responses to the "What!" chant.
Can't really write it here, but most of you know what I'm talking about.
1:40 yeah the Big Evil was awesome. So much so by mid-2002 the crowd was cheering him even though he was a heel. Awesome on the mic and savage in the ring.
Less than 10 minutes ago i commented on your previous video saying you should have included Larry turning on Bruno. Then low and behold, the next video I see is just that. Great job Sir.
Becky Lynch's 'heel turn' at Summerslam is a really special one in the way that the fans rejected it and it made her an even better babyface who quickly became a megastar.
Taz's ECW heel turn was major. Dude is still in the business through AEW to this day. Tazmaniac would have faded out of existence if he stayed in that persona. Sure his look changed and his name was shortened, but there was no pretending was someone new. It was all part of a new attitude and had a back story that took place over an untelevised period while he was out with a legit injury.
Been a fan of the channel for a couple years. Love listening while making $$$. Relaxing
As a kid I hunted down any wrestling I could find, and came across some stinkers like WOW, and WSX on mtv but absolutly loved watching NWA on ESPN Classics. Zbyzko was one of my favorites on there.
One of my favorites was Crush's heel turn in 1993 against Randy Savage. It wasn't that big but I thought it was well done. The REASONING made sense. And the subtleness of Fuji and Heenan clearly manipulating Crush is executed well. I will forever love Randy trying to talk to his friend OFF the show to smooth things out instead of on camera and his line of "This man is an agitator (points to heenan) this man is a parasite (points to Fuji" Is great.
First I want to say, big fan! Keep it up, you're the premiere wrestling channel on YT that's not breaking news related.
I also wanted to say that I completely agree with your take on Bikertaker's heel turn. I had always been and am still a huge fan but anyone who wants to maintain a long term career needs to be open to at least occasionally tweaking and changing their gimmick, physical appearance, and incorporating changes to their style. Undertaker was the absolute master at this and always knew exactly what changes, both big and small, to make and when to keep himself relevant. His first face turn against Jake to defend Randy and Elizabeth will always be a formative memory for me regarding wrestling and the image of him grabbing the chair is burned into my brain. I've actually been rather surprised that a lot of modern wrestling fans don't seem to take to well to the Bikertaker years as humanizing the character was exactly what was needed at the time and I seem to recall it was mostly well received when it happened.
Also, The Rock's heel turn and joining The Nation was a pivotal moment of the early attitude era and had it not happened and been successful the trajectory of wrestling and The Rock's own career could have been very different. It's importance really can't be understated.
U did a great job on this…I was “in LOVE” with Barry Windham at this time and that heel turn broke my heart…What great memories…thanks for that…
I liked Biker Taker too, even more than Spooky Taker. Undertaker returned with that gimmick just before I started watching wrestling so that might have something to do with it, and don't get me wrong I don't hate Spooky Taker, I just freaking love how the music hits and he just rolls to the ring with a bike. Badass indeed
never been so early. always excited to see a new bios video. best wrestling content on YT easy
When he showed the comments suggesting heel turns, mine was the first one, it's so cool that he took the time to read it.
Paul Orndorff turning on Hogan in 1986 was tremendous. I also liked the very short but still interesting Lex Luger turn in mid 1989. Honorable mentions to Barry Windham's 1988 heel turn.
Tommaso Ciampa heel turn on Johnny Gargano at the ending of NXT Takeover Chicago.
Wooooooooo
Looks like the beginning of another entertaining series.
The little audio clips in the beginning are such a great idea and can be chilling if you never heard it.
I got a sick recommendation; how about a list of famous wrestling injuries like Stone Cold, Sabu, Mick Foley, Vader, HHH etc..
Holy cow is this video amazing. I found your channel about a year ago and it’s definitely my favorite wrestling channel. Thank you so much for the content! God bless 🙏.
I can’t recall what was in the first video but I’d imagine the major ones like Hogan joining nWo, Rockers breakup, Andre, Mega Powers we’re all covered. Some others that may have not been on either list: Martel turning on Tito, Kevin Owens turning on Sami in NXT, Stephanie turning on Vince, Sting joining the Main Event Mafia.
I'd argue that the whole Vince/Trips/Steph arc of turns in late 99 and at Mania 2000 could all be in videos like this.
Tugboat turns into Typhoon! Heartbreaking and shocking
Even though the heel turn Jim Ross had in the fall of 1996 didn't go over well, you need to check out the commentating between Jim Ross and Gorilla Monsoon during the Savio Vega/Fake Razor Ramon match on the September 30th, 1996 RAW episode.
The undertaker one took me by surprise because I did not expect that. I was like " oh he is turning heel ok then" 👍👍
The thing is with Zbyzko. He was so hated as a heel for so long and then in the 90s with the NWO he became one of the biggest babyfaces of all time when he slapped Hall he was off and running for a second time. It was like lightning hitting twice never heard of at all but it happened.
Thanks for making these videos. I was in my 20s in the 90s. So don’t remember much of it. A lot of parties.
Sweet, you added Batista turning on Mysterio, my 2nd favorite heel turn ever after savage turning on steamboat. Thanks.
Some fans actually looked happy when Orndorff piledrove hulk
This video gave me an idea of another video you could make, times where heel turns, or heels winning made fans cry.
Glad I’ve found your channel. Awesome stuff thanks man
That Taker turning heels was too damn funny 😂😂😂. He even had me fooled. I never thought he would do that to Jr. 😂😂😂
Honestly, looking back at Batista's character work during his first stint with WWE, all the signs were there that he'd be able to crossover to Hollywood pretty seamlessly.
Undertaker big evil heel gimmick was so great
Batista yelling out "You're supposed to be my Friend!" was perfect.
I still vividly remember, Shawn's heel turn when he superkicked Jannetty, and Jannetty jumped through the window to escape.
what i loved about the lead up to the 97 summerslam match. hbk openly acknowledged, "oh yeah, im that dude." thus the SHOWSTOPPA, THE MAIN EVENT, THE ICON!!!
Class content as always. But it's really popped with the era we're in with Reliving The War
Apologies if someone already said it but Mark Henry's "You think it's that easy" turn is one of the best bits of TV in WWE history. Salmon jacket is on point too.
I loved it when Big Show turned heel, I’m sure someone must’ve commented on your last video so we’ll definitely have Big Show’s heel turn here 🎉
The weird thing is Big Show has been turned so many times without any fanfare that it seemed to change week to week.
Mannnn hold up. Lemme get in this when the 123 kid turned on razor Ramon was good. HHH turned on HBK was good. Buff Bagwell was good any one of Big Show turn. Scott Steiner was awesome Bob Backlund turn in the 90s brought us one of the most entertaining heels of all time. Austin on pillman. Omg I could go on and on with this. Great Subject WrestlingBios. You are hands down the best thing on RUclips. And yes the 97 rock turn was awesome but the 03 Rock turn was amazing
hollywood rock was my favourite he was so funny and so entertaining shame it only lasted a few months
Chyna turning on DX and joining the cooperation. Paul Bearer turning on the Undertaker in 96 are 2 I remember very well, never saw them coming.
Sycho Sid's was pretty memorable
My favorite heel turn is when Vince goes from boss to a master of the grapefruits
In part 3 I'd like to see The Giants heel turn on The Dungeon of Doom/ WCW to join the nWo. Also Cactus Jack turning on Tommy Dreamer to join Raven's group in ECW, Bam Bam Bigelow turn on Taz to rejoin the Triple Threat who also turn on Lance Storm in ECW. Just to mention a few.
This was very well done, new sub
Keep them coming love ur channel
Chyna joining the corporation shocked me. Even worse that I fell asleep and found out about it at school the next day
was that wm15?
Don't know if it's been covered or not but Tatanka turning in Lex to join Million Dollar Corp was pretty good and the Bulldog turning on Diesel which basically broke u Allied Powers was pretty unexpected
Yeah, Tatanka's turn is truly one of the few shocking heel turns in any major North American promotion of the New Gen time period. That and Owen's at RR 94 are my two favorite in the WWF from that time.
😮...Some wild moments, fo sho...🤘🏼💯✔️
I remember when Dwayne addressed the crowd and almost blatantly asked them if they wanted him to "turn"......his crowd interaction advanced greatly from then on!
Scoot Stiener's heel turn was so obvious. I still wish WCW would have thrown a curve and had Rick turn on Scott and join the nWo instead
STEINER.
I just saw Avatar 2 and it introduced me to the first ever, underwater chinlock! I couldn’t help but laugh out loud when this happened. 😂
I grew up with biker undertaker since I started watching in august of 1999, I only saw a bit of his ministry character before he left. I thought he was pretty cool, especially when he got his rolling theme, I liked him even more when he turned heel tbh. He had a good run. When undertaker told JR “is that because you think your better than me?” you could tell the arena knew what was coming but didn’t want it to happen, I honestly never thought he would turn.
If you do a future video I’d like to mention hhh’s reveal that he was the mastermind behind the survivor series hit & run on scsa. Kurt Angle’s heel turn on Eddie Guerrero in 2004, Ciampa’s heel turn on gargano, Jeff Hardy’s tna heel turn & cm punk at raw 1000