You’d almost think that they had wanted HBK to turn there, and pivoted when he kept getting cheered except there was no way they thought that Shawn was ever getting booed at that point of his career
The whole injury gimmick is so lame in pro wrestling, the whole idea of pro wrestling is to incapacitate your opponent enough to either pin him or submit him, but when he supposedly gets hurt the ref calls time?, take all the suspension of believability out of the match.
As a kid, I was all in on booing Stephanie, but going back as an adult and rewatching the product, along with Reliving the War, you can see she was right to turn in Vince's crazy ass. Man was out here making deals with a whole cult, arranged for her to get kidnapped, manipulated her and her momma, all to mess with Steve Austin. Good for Stephanie!
Sid Justice turning on Hulk Hogan in 1992. After Hogan was eliminated by Sid at the Royal Rumble he proceeded to help Flair win by pulling Sid over which in turn made Flair WWF Champion. So when Sid walked away from Hogan at SNME during a tag match he was completely justified!!
@@martinfawkes595Yep. And they eliminated the crowd pop when Hogan was eliminated. I was watching that live at my friend's house. Monsoon basically said "There are no friends... it's every man for himself."
@@jaylee8240That was pretty much Terry Bollea cosplaying as Hulk Hogan. AND Hogan STILL ended up main-eventing Wrestlemania. I was at Wrestlemania 8. The crowd was definitely behind Hogan, and at 11 years old, I was too.
Test was a member of the Union who Vince granted a "anyone you want in the ring" thing to at one point. Test asked Vince to let him take his daughter out. Vince agreed. He did not ask Stephanie if she *wanted* to go out with Test. TEST didn't ask Stephanie if she wanted to go out with him.
@@Genolocs Ken Shamrock and The Stooges left the Corporation in disgust after what they did. So I agree with op's comment, Stephanie turning against Vince was valid but Test was an innocent party who did nothing wrong to her.
@@ArlandFludd1982it's turning around now I think. The context of the conversation is starting to matter more than ever before. I have some comments deleted but others using similar language are up and have been for years but the context is different.
I LOVED Diesels turn, its literally the prototype that became Austin vs McMahon... Nash's initial promo on Vince was Austins exact sentiments when Mr McMahon started trying to mold Austin... a lot of people forget about this promo and thats a shame.
I was thinking how Diesel after Survivor Series '95 was how he should've been the entire time. They did the same thing to Roman Reigns. People always talk about how people booed Roman out of the building because they tried to shove him down the fans' throats, but that was only half of it. The other half that no one ever brings up is that they turned the guy into "Mr. Goody Two-Shoes". Just take a look at Diesel and Roman and ask yourself, "What part of these guys says 'Corporate Good Guy?'" Yeah...nothin'. Both of them should've been wrecking the place and leaving, not smiling for cameras.
The first day my very Presbyterian mother let me watch wrestling as a kid was the day when Stephanie was crucified my the Undertaker and his demonic cult. That was the last time wrestling was on in that house 😊
Reminds me of Kurt Angle when he was going to sign an ECW contract he was in as a guest and then they did that crucifixion thing and Kurt said never ever talk to me again.
The last heel turn of the miz fits too. Everyone loves r-truth but he was portrayed as a terrible friend who only caused troubles to him and felt more like a burden than an ally
@@pleaseshutup7053 In the kayfabe the miz took a lot of shenanigans and tried to protect him from the judgement day, all for r truth not doing more that getting him in trouble and make them lost the titles in return. R truth is the one to blame
The miz took a lot of shenanigans from him and protected him from the judgement day when everything was his fault. All for r truth not doing more than cause him issues and make them lose the titles in return. Truth had it coming.
The miz took a lot of immaturity and protected him from the judgement day when everything was his fault. All for truth not doing more than cause him issues and make them lose the titles in return. Truth had it coming.
Billy Kidman had an underrated heel turn in 2004 after his shooting star press injured Chavo Guerrero. Kidman turned heel on his tag team partner Paul London. It was an underrated feud as well
18:54 - as much as everything seems like Savage is justified for turning on Hogan, the action of Savage where he grabs Elizabeth’s arm and throws her across the room just solidifies that Savage is the heel and Hulk gets all the benefit of the doubt. Genius stuff.
Exactly and during the infamous breakup of the Mega-Powers when Randy attacked Hogan after he was forced to win what was now a 1v2 Handicap Match Hogan even asked and begged Elizabeth to try and talk some sense into Randy.
As a kid when Rock “turned” I legit couldn’t of been happier. I never understand the instant hate that he received and when he told the fans where they could go I lost it 🤘🏾
Hmm Diesel was super over badass who beats everyone, who then was forced to be whitehead smiling babyface.....I'm sure they would never make the same mistake again. Oh hi Roman
How about Sid Justice in 1992? The Royal Rumble match was for the vacant WWF Championship. It came down to Flair, Hogan, and Sid. Sid eliminated Hogan from behind. The crowd popped... Gorilla Monsoon on commentary reiterated that there are no friends in the Royal Rumble. Hogan then grabbed Sid from outside the ring and helped Flair eliminate Sid. Flair became WWF Champion after entering at #3 and lasting over an hour. At a press conference, WWF President Jack Tunney named Hogan as Flair's challenger at Wrestlemania. Sid was justifiably pissed. He was the last man to be eliminated from the Rumble and lost because Hogan was a sore loser. (The WWF in their home video version edited the audio to remove the crowd pop when Hogan got eliminated. They also changed Monsoon's commentary to something like "Sid should have faced Hogan like a man.") At an episode of Saturday Night's Main Event, Hogan and Sid teamed up to face Flair and the Undertaker. Sid had apologized to Hogan for his outburst at the press conference. During the match, Sid abandoned Hogan, turning heel. Hogan ended up facing Sid in the main event of Wrestlemania VIII. Sid was COMPLETELY JUSTIFIED. Hogan was eliminated from the Royal Rumble. That didn't work for him, brother, and he screwed Sid out of the title. I was at Wrestlemania VIII. The crowd was completely behind Hogan (it was billed at being his "final match" LOL). And at 11 years old, I too was cheering for Hogan.
The Coach 2003 heel turn was justified. He filled in for JR after Kane set him on fire. Then, when JR returned, how the Coach was just treated like trash. JR gave him a mean scowl as if to say, "Git outta ma chair, boy!" It was really sad to watch.
Coach was constantly mocked by the Rock while interviewing him I would have liked to have seen Coach attack the Rock back one time and turn heel on him.
Always thought Owen's turn against Bret in 94 was justified. Even his 98 turn is somehwat justifiable coz he used to get jumped by DX every week and nobody did nothin
@@R0ckmans Exactly glad someone mentioned it.. The Hart Family was the cause of the Top Characters and Storylines for the Attitude Era.. From DX to The Rock to Stone Cold, they played a big part in their rise. Both Bret and even Owen laid the foundation for so much in the Attitude Era
Fantastic video, WB! I always look forward to your systematic and knowledgeable breakdowns of things most people overlook. I love this idea as well - can you do one of justified Babyface turns? Hogan is a master at gaslighting, and it really made the debut Summerslam really good. 'Mania V is one of my favorites. Even as a kid, I knew it was wrong for Hogan to do what he did - and I was SIX years old at the time. Now that I think about it, "The Model" Rick Martel's heel turn was completely justified as well, considering Tito used him as a filler for "Z Man" Tom Zenk bailed for WCW....TZ and RM were the SECOND incarnation of the Can-Am Connection. When TZ went to WCW, he was immediate teamed with....you guessed it: "Flyin'" Brian Pillman. Love the ending theme: One of my favorite WCW themes in 1992. Oh, here's another one for justified heel turns: Brian Pillman during the Horseman days - birth of the Loose Cannon, ya know. Look at that! You got a two-for-one from AskAdam! And you got some Six Degrees of Separation, too.
The half heel Diesel after he lost the title could have made lots of money for Vince if he was like that as champ and possibly pulled wrestling out of the gutter a year sooner
Macho Man's promo before Wrestlemania 5 STILL makes me want to watch that match, I know what happens, and it'll never change, but every time, Randy makes me feel it
Nash winning the title at a house show didn't really help build him either, IMO. Backlund could have issued an open challenge, like Honky-tonk and warrior, then get run over.
@@Venemofthe888 And a really great anti-villain heel as he even stated in his promos that it seemed like everyone in WCW management was treating cruiserweights especially Luchadores like him and Eddie nothing more than just side-show attractions while focusing only on the "big giants" hence why he was going to be the "Giant Killer" one of the best gimmicks ever as he had a point as at that point in time Cruiserweight Wrestling especially Luchadores, and the at the time even rarer Luchadoras were just seen as b-show attractions while the main matches were the ones between the big guys the giants.
@@EpiphanyCardCollector well, "a little too friendly" is the term to use here since yt's censorship is so complicated that that's the safest word to use.
You’re about to talk about in Reliving the War, but Big Show in 2000. He won the rumble. Proved it. And crowd boo’ed him for the crime of not being the Rock.
I still remember when Stephanie McMahon turned on her father Vince at Armageddon 99 and officially hooked up with Triple H who was his most hated rival at the time, it completely shocked me and my best friend (RIP) Why would daddy's little girl turn on her father? When she explained her actions the next night on Raw that the reason she did it was to get back at her father after he ordered Undertaker to abduct her to be sacrificed in a dark wedding and she was used as a pawn so that Vince could mess with Stone Cold, i started to agree with Stephanie. I didn't blame her for turning on her father and it was the first time for me as a wrestling fan that i felt that her turning heel was completely justified especially after everything her father put her through. I thought Stephanie's turn was very well executed as she went on to become one half of the biggest heel couple in the company with Triple H.
Disagree: the situation HBK was in at Summerslam *was* his fault. He begged - on air - to be a part of Summerslam ("I'll sell t-shirts, anything!"). So, storyline-wise, it was his own fault he was put in the special ref spot in the first place.
I always said the match wasn't no disqualification and Shawn connecting with the chair to the Undertaker's head is interference therefore why didn't Shawn just "call it down the middle" and disqualify Bret Hart for his own interference? Wouldn't Shawn have had JUST as much as no choice to disqualify Bret as he would've had no choice but to count the Undertaker's shoulders to the mat? Also, remember Shawn's wording from the promo... "IF I LEAN TOWARDS THE UNDERTAKER'S SIDE" so you can always say Bret was the one they expected Shawn to screw! But with all that said... why let the technicalities and the truths get in the way of a good story? 😂
Hogan should have turned heel post WM V. A face Macho Man chasing a heel Hogan for the title would have been awesome. Randy was a big enough star as well to carry the WWF along with Warrior as the top babyfaces.
The most amazing part is there was only 1 big conceivable problem with that idea. “That doesn’t work for me brother” Hogans ego wouldn’t let him turn heel until he was already getting booed out of every building in WCW.
@anthonyturner6399 that's very true. He claimed in his WWE written autobiography that Vince shot down any idea of him turning heel. But I call BS on that. Hogan v Warrior was special anyway but imagine a face Ultimate Warrior defeating a despised Heel Hulk Hogan instead? May have made it that much more impactful.
@@ziahamm1603 Exactly that, Warrior was stupid over and I’ve always found Macho Man to be just as famous as Hulk Hogan but his wrestling stuff aged way better than Hogans by far. Hogan def could have turned heel at any point and I truly believe that it was fully on him that he never turned.
I know it's too soon, but the way it's going right now, Kevin Owens' recent heel turn feels justified. He'd been facing the Bloodline, particularly Roman, for a long time. Yet Cody and Randy are easily swayed into trusting them, even after the past couple of years. Owens is definitely up to something with his reasoning.
The Rock turning in 1997 was justified. Similar to Diesel, Rock was firced to be a generic, white meat babyface, having to kiss babies and hug fat chicks (shout out to Batista) and dampen his personality. Then on top of that, fans kept chanting Die Rocky Die for him only doing his job and doing what his boss wanted him to do.
Thank You for not including X-Pac betraying Kane on Sunday Night Heat. That was going to be a bit much. Back then I had on my wall two printed pictures of south park charaters X-Pac & Kane taped next to each other. I still kept it up for sometime after. For me, that tag-team was working.
In a weird "in retrospect" way, Shawn turning on Marty & breaking up The Rockers was justified. After all, Marty was clearly the enabler of the group who encouraged Shawn to indulge in his worst tendencies, only without someone to try to keep them both on the straight & narrow as a counter-balance (like Triple H & Chyna would be, to some extent, for Shawn in D-X). Shawn knew that continuing to work with Marty would only screw him over in the long term, so he had to drop the enabler. Sure, Shawn had his own demons deep down that would come back to bite him, but just imagine how much worse he would have been with "Party Marty" by his side throughout the 90s, instead of Sherri, Diesel, Razor (backstage, at least), or Hunter. Also, you know, there's the fact that Marty was a coward who tried escaping through the Barbershop window. Shawn was 150% justified.
I said that in a comment lol he forgot Shawns other justified heel turn against Marty Jannetty for carrying the team, for almost having the two of them arrested out of jealousy and for cowardly attempting to escape from Shawn by jumping through a window! 😂
@@RomaroBrandon He forgot to mention Shawns other justified heel turn... when Marty Jannetty made him have to carry the team, almost had the two of them arrested out of jealousy and tried to cowardly run away from Shawn by jumping through a window! 😂
I believe JR turned heel twice and even tho both times weren’t really well received he was definitely justified. Bringing in Fake Diesel and Razor I believe was because he was constantly undermined by Vince and then bringing in Dr Death and setting up his own announce table because he was fired because of his Bell’s palsy.
Maturing is realizing that these heel turns that were justified made us realize the illusion of who’s the real babyface and who’s the real heel based on the character itself and the storyline.
Thing about the accidental elimination is, Hulk was going to have to try to eliminate Randy regardless due to the rules of the Royal Rumble. Plus, it wasn't like his Title or a shot at it was at stake.
The current heel turn by Kevin Owens on Cody Rhodes. Cody teams with the guy who made his and KO's life miserable for 3-4 years, after all the battles KO and Cody have had with the Bloodline together. And the Bloodline is still around to raise hell on Smackdown. KO has every right to be pissed at Cody.
Just because I’m on a bit of Judgement Day kick, gonna throw Liv Morgan’s name out there. Probably not the sort of thing you could make into a longer segment like the ones in this video, but an interesting case nonetheless of someone who was betrayed by her friend and got the most complete revenge possible
She was justified as she lost months and months of her career because Rhea attacked her as part of her heel turn, and yet Rhea because she's the "cooler more popular one" was still seen as being in the right and Liv being treated like the villain just because she attacked Rhea backstage during Mania.
Another justified heel turn was Liv Morgan. Her and Reah Ripley were friends until Reah turned on her and joined the judgment day and some time after put her on the shelf before she came back to do her revenge tour.
In my opinion, Drew McIntyre deserves a spot in the follow up video for his heel turn last year as well as Kevin Owen’s turn this year. Totally justified the both of them.
Seth Rollins heel turn in 2019 was 100% justified. The ungrateful and fickle fans turned the back on him after everything he did to entertain them. The promo he delivered was great and definitely deserves more recognition
Agreed. I followed the story when it started after his return in 1996 and like he said in his Wrestling With Shadows documentary, his character was right!
I honestly don’t really quite remember the kayfabe justification of Liz originally turning heel in WCW but whatever it was it definitely was justified considering how Savage treated her over the years in storyline and rumored IRL.
I'd like to SEE for the FINAL episode of RTW... ALL the intros compiled together. Blackman, Scorpio, Road Dogg, D Flair, Bret Hart... all of em. Make that last show a banger to go out on cause we're gonna miss it!
Remember when Becky Lynch turn heel in 2018 and the WWE expect us to be fully against her Even tho she had every justifiable reason to be a heel? She finally has an oportunity after a long time to be the Smackdown womens champion only for his "Best friend" Charlotte Flair to came back, insert herself into that match and winning in the end. Like i said every justifiable reason for turning heel and Vince really expect us to boo her.
Honorable mentions: 1. Dakota Kai at NXT Wargames in 2019. Mia Yim was chosen over her as part of Rhea Ripley's team for the Wargames match against Shayna Baszler's team. And when Mia got attacked, Kai replaced her. But before she entered ring, she attacked Tegan Nox and abandoned her team. 2. Liv Morgan in 2024. She was taken out of action by Rhea Ripley. 3. Raquel Rodriguez in 2024. Same as #2 4. Becky Lynch in 2018 at Summerslam. Because Charlotte Flair gets handed title shots for...reasons while Lynch either has to earn those opportunities.
My favorite part of the Becky thing is that while they intended for her to be heel the people knew she was justified. I’ll never forget Road Dogg’s tweet about how people didn’t understand the story
I'M BACK!!!" Diesel cut one of the greatest heel promos of all time post Survivor Series on MNR. The killing machine who destroyed the competition at the RR94 was made into a horrible babyface champeeeeon by Vince. It was the perfect storyline for Diesel to be reborn as the killer he was always meant to be. The Megapowers Explode is still one of the greatest heel turns in the business. Soap opera or not, it was brilliant writing & acting ( for wrestling standards ). Great homage to Rick Rude ( R.I.P. ) at the end. The Greatest Heel of All Time, next to Honky Tonk Man in his prime
Hangman Adam Page's "Heel Turn" against Swerve Strickland was absolutely justified after everything Swerve did to him. I would def love to see you go over that feud.
I wouldn't call this a full blown heel turn but in 2021, Edge was justifiably upset after just winning the Royal Rumble, challenged Roman for the Universal title only for Daniel Bryan to weasel his way to make it a triple threat at Mania 37.
Trish's heel turn at Wrestlemania 20 could qualify too. She was (understandably) angry at Jericho for the Candian dollar bet that he and Christian made, and Jericho initially didn't have any feelings for her and was just trying to win the bet (he even insulted her and called her a stupid broad behind her back). He did eventually end up falling for Trish for real, but Trish was still sore about the bet, and you can definitely understand why she turned on Jericho.
The Shawn Michaels turn was actually very genius story telling. You had to build that match up, put him in it, and "rob undertaker" to get fans to turn on him. However it was literally presented with a out if fans didn't. If they turned on Brett instead, then Shawn Michaels just stays a baby face.
Paul Orndorff's heel turn against Hulk Hogan. Andre's heel turn against Hogan. Shawn Michael's hell turn - breakup of Rockers. Bob Backland's heel turn.
Great video! Would 100% watch more of these. The Thunder in Paradise reviews are liquid fire too. Thank you so much for the years of entertainment! 👍👍 Looking forward to more kick ass content!
Hogan turning heel at Bash at the Beach 1996 was justifiable. Hogans's popularity wasn’t what it was like in the 80s and he even got booed a few times. A heel turn was needed. Rock's heel turn in 2003 was also justifiable because the fans turned on him when he left for Hollywood in 2002. They felt he soldout. Edge's heel turn in 2004 was justifiable. His hometown crowd at Summerslam turned on him, and he originally was scheduled to win the the world title at Taboo Tuesday, but the fans choose HBK over him to challenge HHH. And his character had a point because he was a fresh face in the main event and felt screwed because fans had already seen HHH fight Benoit and HBK too many times which made Edge's character frustrated because he felt it was his time, but got screwed.
I nominate bob backlund's 1994 heel turn. I always like Bob's explanation that he, in his mind, wasn't a heel. He was a "face" telling people to do the right things. But it was the people who were the heels.
Bret never should have said that he wouldn't wrestle on American soil if he lost at SummerSlam. Even as a kid, I knew that meant there was no way he was going to lose.
In Modern Times i would say Seth Rollins Heelturn in 2019. Seth Rollins carried the Company, brought the title back from the parttimer Lesnar and it was still not enough for the Fans. A totally justified Heelturn follows afterwards.
You covered this before, but Cactus Jack's heel turn in ECW, lashing out at the fans, and trying to get Tommy Dreamer to stop being hardcore, was amazing.
Another Heel Turn That Was Justified Was Naomi's Heel Turn Back In 2015. She Said People Were Taking Her Kindness For Weakness, So She Just Had Enough.
15:58 Man...THIS was my childhood 💯🤘🔥 Mega Powers, the rockers barbershop, Ultimate Warrior vs Hogan Wrestlemania 6, Saturday morning Rock n Roll wrestling cartoon, Saturday Night Main event... being a kid in the 80s growing up with this era was AWESOME!! everything after this time period sucked to me that's honestly why I watch bios just to see the trash I missed 😂 and I'm glad I missed it is horrible
Honky Tonk Man. Was brought in as a baby face but the fans just weren’t into it. He does a fan vote to determine if he’s appreciated and overwhelmingly it’s decided they don’t.
Macho Man's heel turn was justified. He had lust in his eyes for Elizabeth. Even as a little kid, i knew Hogan was wrong 😂
Facts 😂
Macho wasn't even the heel, on the real. Hogan was the asshole in that situation.
Macho wasn't even the heel for real. Hogan was dubious and the asshole in that situation.
this guy knows. ooooh yeah
LUST HOGAN
The fact Shawn WASNT the heel is amazing. He lied to Batista, Jericho and the Fans....Amazing work by everyone involved to actually pull that of
You’d almost think that they had wanted HBK to turn there, and pivoted when he kept getting cheered except there was no way they thought that Shawn was ever getting booed at that point of his career
If David had faked an injury to beat Goliath people would think he was clever.
I absolutely hated Batista for beating Shawn in a stretcher match at One Night Stand 2008.
Shawn Michael was a heel in his early years inside the WWE
The whole injury gimmick is so lame in pro wrestling, the whole idea of pro wrestling is to incapacitate your opponent enough to either pin him or submit him, but when he supposedly gets hurt the ref calls time?, take all the suspension of believability out of the match.
As a kid, I was all in on booing Stephanie, but going back as an adult and rewatching the product, along with Reliving the War, you can see she was right to turn in Vince's crazy ass. Man was out here making deals with a whole cult, arranged for her to get kidnapped, manipulated her and her momma, all to mess with Steve Austin.
Good for Stephanie!
Lol wild times
Yep, and to top it off, she ran off with the dude Vince was feuding with at the time (HHH) best revenge ever. 😁
Big Show and Kane just turned heel whenever they got bored. 😂
I swear they do the sane wirh Natty everytime she's back she's heel or face 😂
Seems Big Show got bored A LOT
Why did I chokeslam my brother? Cause I accept what I am , what I always been on the inside, I am A MONSTARRRRRR!!!
Fair enough
Sid Justice turning on Hulk Hogan in 1992. After Hogan was eliminated by Sid at the Royal Rumble he proceeded to help Flair win by pulling Sid over which in turn made Flair WWF Champion. So when Sid walked away from Hogan at SNME during a tag match he was completely justified!!
Yep Hogan was again the unseen Heel there too.
That they re-dubbed the Rumble commentary to make it seem unjustified just proves sid was right.
@@martinfawkes595Yep. And they eliminated the crowd pop when Hogan was eliminated.
I was watching that live at my friend's house. Monsoon basically said "There are no friends... it's every man for himself."
@@jaylee8240That was pretty much Terry Bollea cosplaying as Hulk Hogan.
AND Hogan STILL ended up main-eventing Wrestlemania.
I was at Wrestlemania 8. The crowd was definitely behind Hogan, and at 11 years old, I was too.
Absolutely! He eliminated Hogan FAIR AND SQUARE! There is zero rule about having to look at an opponent in the eye before attacking him. lol
“You’re supposed to be MY FRIEND!”-Bluetista.
that's not WHAT I WANT!
@@ThePhysicalReactionGIVE ME WHAT I WANT!
kid fan: I hate you Batista
Batista: I Hate You Too!
He realized what Domanick found out years later Rey is an asshole😊
*Batista
Bluetista is just a dumb nickname
I still think that while Stephanie turning against Vince and Shane was justified her backstabbing Test wasn't.
Agreed
Wasn't Test in the corporation? So maybe guilty by association? I know, big stretch
He was out of the corporation by the time the Corporate Ministy began
Test was a member of the Union who Vince granted a "anyone you want in the ring" thing to at one point. Test asked Vince to let him take his daughter out. Vince agreed. He did not ask Stephanie if she *wanted* to go out with Test. TEST didn't ask Stephanie if she wanted to go out with him.
@@Genolocs Ken Shamrock and The Stooges left the Corporation in disgust after what they did. So I agree with op's comment, Stephanie turning against Vince was valid but Test was an innocent party who did nothing wrong to her.
Stephanie's heel turn was 100% justified and that look she gives Vince after is just deadly😅
that and when she bought ECW. The sins of her father costed the WWF at InVasion
The Rock joining the Nation after all the 💀 Rocky 💀 chants
Don't forget the "ROCKY SUCKS" chants!
"Skull Rocky Skull?"
@@williamsmith666 YT censorship
@@williamsmith666can't say Delta Iota Epsilon on social media.
@@ArlandFludd1982it's turning around now I think. The context of the conversation is starting to matter more than ever before. I have some comments deleted but others using similar language are up and have been for years but the context is different.
I LOVED Diesels turn, its literally the prototype that became Austin vs McMahon... Nash's initial promo on Vince was Austins exact sentiments when Mr McMahon started trying to mold Austin... a lot of people forget about this promo and thats a shame.
I was thinking how Diesel after Survivor Series '95 was how he should've been the entire time. They did the same thing to Roman Reigns. People always talk about how people booed Roman out of the building because they tried to shove him down the fans' throats, but that was only half of it. The other half that no one ever brings up is that they turned the guy into "Mr. Goody Two-Shoes". Just take a look at Diesel and Roman and ask yourself, "What part of these guys says 'Corporate Good Guy?'" Yeah...nothin'. Both of them should've been wrecking the place and leaving, not smiling for cameras.
Yes…I remember when he beat up both faces and heels right after survivor series 95…you didn’t see that too often, especially in that era
The first day my very Presbyterian mother let me watch wrestling as a kid was the day when Stephanie was crucified my the Undertaker and his demonic cult. That was the last time wrestling was on in that house 😊
😄👏👏👏👏
LMAO wow I bet mama had you brought in for some holy water the next morning
Reminds me of Kurt Angle when he was going to sign an ECW contract he was in as a guest and then they did that crucifixion thing and Kurt said never ever talk to me again.
Playing the Rick Rude WCW theme was awesome man! Thanks for that. RIP Ravishing 1
That & the instrumental to the Wolfpack theme in the intro.
"🎵Don't turn your back on the Wolfpack.🎵"
The last heel turn of the miz fits too. Everyone loves r-truth but he was portrayed as a terrible friend who only caused troubles to him and felt more like a burden than an ally
That’s not a reason to turn on someone
@@pleaseshutup7053 In the kayfabe the miz took a lot of shenanigans and tried to protect him from the judgement day, all for r truth not doing more that getting him in trouble and make them lost the titles in return. R truth is the one to blame
The miz took a lot of shenanigans from him and protected him from the judgement day when everything was his fault. All for r truth not doing more than cause him issues and make them lose the titles in return. Truth had it coming.
The miz took a lot of immaturity and protected him from the judgement day when everything was his fault. All for truth not doing more than cause him issues and make them lose the titles in return. Truth had it coming.
@@zonadedescanso4342truth won them tag titles at mania
Billy Kidman had an underrated heel turn in 2004 after his shooting star press injured Chavo Guerrero. Kidman turned heel on his tag team partner Paul London. It was an underrated feud as well
Agreed.
This about JUSTIFIED heel turns.
Billy was wrong bc he still shouldn't have left Paul london to fight alone
Drew McIntyre is the most justified heel of the last 20 years
Dom turning on his father was justified. he knew he was being held back. and look at him now
Chris jericho was such an excellent Heel in 2008 that feud with shawn michaels was incredible their ladder match at no mercy 2008 was fantasic.
Break the walls DOOOOOOWWWWNNN
18:54 - as much as everything seems like Savage is justified for turning on Hogan, the action of Savage where he grabs Elizabeth’s arm and throws her across the room just solidifies that Savage is the heel and Hulk gets all the benefit of the doubt.
Genius stuff.
Exactly and during the infamous breakup of the Mega-Powers when Randy attacked Hogan after he was forced to win what was now a 1v2 Handicap Match Hogan even asked and begged Elizabeth to try and talk some sense into Randy.
As a kid when Rock “turned” I legit couldn’t of been happier. I never understand the instant hate that he received and when he told the fans where they could go I lost it 🤘🏾
Looking back, Vince did all that to his daughter just to troll Austin. Yeah, Steph has every right.
EVERYONE who turned on 'face' Hulk Hogan.
Never happened
Also anyone who turned heel by beating up John Cena. Cena's face character always seemed like a self righteous hypocrite.
@@Xehanort10 oh God yeah. Super Cena was horrific.
Hmm Diesel was super over badass who beats everyone, who then was forced to be whitehead smiling babyface.....I'm sure they would never make the same mistake again.
Oh hi Roman
CM Punk in 2012 as Champ. The Rock didn't deserve the title shot he was granted at the Rumble and the way The Rock down talked Punk as Champ
Those PG guys will always be inferior to the legend’s
Thank you!
Then punk goes to aew after ot wrestling for a decade and wi s gold
I agreed when it happened and I agree forever it was only for rock to play superhero and take punks title
How about Sid Justice in 1992?
The Royal Rumble match was for the vacant WWF Championship.
It came down to Flair, Hogan, and Sid.
Sid eliminated Hogan from behind. The crowd popped... Gorilla Monsoon on commentary reiterated that there are no friends in the Royal Rumble.
Hogan then grabbed Sid from outside the ring and helped Flair eliminate Sid. Flair became WWF Champion after entering at #3 and lasting over an hour.
At a press conference, WWF President Jack Tunney named Hogan as Flair's challenger at Wrestlemania.
Sid was justifiably pissed. He was the last man to be eliminated from the Rumble and lost because Hogan was a sore loser. (The WWF in their home video version edited the audio to remove the crowd pop when Hogan got eliminated. They also changed Monsoon's commentary to something like "Sid should have faced Hogan like a man.")
At an episode of Saturday Night's Main Event, Hogan and Sid teamed up to face Flair and the Undertaker. Sid had apologized to Hogan for his outburst at the press conference.
During the match, Sid abandoned Hogan, turning heel.
Hogan ended up facing Sid in the main event of Wrestlemania VIII.
Sid was COMPLETELY JUSTIFIED. Hogan was eliminated from the Royal Rumble. That didn't work for him, brother, and he screwed Sid out of the title.
I was at Wrestlemania VIII. The crowd was completely behind Hogan (it was billed at being his "final match" LOL). And at 11 years old, I too was cheering for Hogan.
The Coach 2003 heel turn was justified. He filled in for JR after Kane set him on fire. Then, when JR returned, how the Coach was just treated like trash. JR gave him a mean scowl as if to say, "Git outta ma chair, boy!" It was really sad to watch.
Exactly. I think he was called "The B team" or something similar by Lawler.
I loved 03-07 heel Coach.
@Speedyreedy1218 Yeah, and Lawler was just making fun of him.
JR the 🐐
@@negrosuave9315 The sheep.
Coach was constantly mocked by the Rock while interviewing him
I would have liked to have seen Coach attack the Rock back one time and turn heel on him.
Always thought Owen's turn against Bret in 94 was justified. Even his 98 turn is somehwat justifiable coz he used to get jumped by DX every week and nobody did nothin
I second that '98 turn. It also indirectly led to the HHH vs The Rock feud so the butterfly effect shouldn't be dismissed.
@@R0ckmans Exactly glad someone mentioned it.. The Hart Family was the cause of the Top Characters and Storylines for the Attitude Era.. From DX to The Rock to Stone Cold, they played a big part in their rise. Both Bret and even Owen laid the foundation for so much in the Attitude Era
Fantastic video, WB! I always look forward to your systematic and knowledgeable breakdowns of things most people overlook. I love this idea as well - can you do one of justified Babyface turns? Hogan is a master at gaslighting, and it really made the debut Summerslam really good. 'Mania V is one of my favorites. Even as a kid, I knew it was wrong for Hogan to do what he did - and I was SIX years old at the time.
Now that I think about it, "The Model" Rick Martel's heel turn was completely justified as well, considering Tito used him as a filler for "Z Man" Tom Zenk bailed for WCW....TZ and RM were the SECOND incarnation of the Can-Am Connection. When TZ went to WCW, he was immediate teamed with....you guessed it: "Flyin'" Brian Pillman.
Love the ending theme: One of my favorite WCW themes in 1992.
Oh, here's another one for justified heel turns: Brian Pillman during the Horseman days - birth of the Loose Cannon, ya know. Look at that! You got a two-for-one from AskAdam! And you got some Six Degrees of Separation, too.
Please do a part 2. This is a great topic
The half heel Diesel after he lost the title could have made lots of money for Vince if he was like that as champ and possibly pulled wrestling out of the gutter a year sooner
This was a fun video. You should do more of these.
Macho Man's promo before Wrestlemania 5 STILL makes me want to watch that match, I know what happens, and it'll never change, but every time, Randy makes me feel it
Greatest promo ever, period, and he meant every word.
Nash winning the title at a house show didn't really help build him either, IMO. Backlund could have issued an open challenge, like Honky-tonk and warrior, then get run over.
I gotta say that if Rey ever turns heel, he'd have the most justified turn ever
i mean he was a heel in WCW when unmasked
Not at first.
@@Venemofthe888 And a really great anti-villain heel as he even stated in his promos that it seemed like everyone in WCW management was treating cruiserweights especially Luchadores like him and Eddie nothing more than just side-show attractions while focusing only on the "big giants" hence why he was going to be the "Giant Killer" one of the best gimmicks ever as he had a point as at that point in time Cruiserweight Wrestling especially Luchadores, and the at the time even rarer Luchadoras were just seen as b-show attractions while the main matches were the ones between the big guys the giants.
After the booing he got from the fans at the 2014 Royal Rumble.
Maybe he should have turned on Daniel Bryan. They would have had some good matches.
Dirty Dom turning on his dad for being a deadbeat and getting with a goth woman is more than a justified heel turn :P
Heck him turning on Rhea was justified too.
The only man to turn heel while heel lol
@@t.v.rockwell4504how?
@@vespasianflavius2766 Kevin Owens also turned heel as a heel during the Festival of Friendship.
Liv was in the right. Rhea treated her like garbage.
Bret, Drew, Hangman, Jericho, and Rock are the best examples of justified heel turns
If I'm not mistaken, Diesel's promo was the first time Vince being the boss was openly acknowledged on WWF TV....was it?
Foley’s heel turn in ECW after the “cane Dewey” sign.
Wasn't he already a heel by that point?
Macho man's heel turn was justified. hogan was a little too friendly with Elizabeth, and you just don't do that with another mans wife.
Like Kurt was with Stephanie.
@@Speedyreedy1218And with Sharmell.
Do explain how "friendly" he was to her.
@@EpiphanyCardCollector well, "a little too friendly" is the term to use here since yt's censorship is so complicated that that's the safest word to use.
@@EpiphanyCardCollector he had lust in his eyes!! !!
That story line with Stephanie and Hunter killed China
You’re about to talk about in Reliving the War, but Big Show in 2000. He won the rumble. Proved it. And crowd boo’ed him for the crime of not being the Rock.
I still remember when Stephanie McMahon turned on her father Vince at Armageddon 99 and officially hooked up with Triple H who was his most hated rival at the time, it completely shocked me and my best friend (RIP) Why would daddy's little girl turn on her father? When she explained her actions the next night on Raw that the reason she did it was to get back at her father after he ordered Undertaker to abduct her to be sacrificed in a dark wedding and she was used as a pawn so that Vince could mess with Stone Cold, i started to agree with Stephanie. I didn't blame her for turning on her father and it was the first time for me as a wrestling fan that i felt that her turning heel was completely justified especially after everything her father put her through. I thought Stephanie's turn was very well executed as she went on to become one half of the biggest heel couple in the company with Triple H.
I was shook when she hugged HHH at Armageddon lol
I was 9 so everything had me on the edge of my seat
Thanks Stephanie! You're the BREAST!!! 😂
- Chris Jericho
Haha, because she's a woman!
My personal favorite heel turn:
1988 - Barry Windham joins The Four Horseman
I like that one.
Disagree: the situation HBK was in at Summerslam *was* his fault. He begged - on air - to be a part of Summerslam ("I'll sell t-shirts, anything!"). So, storyline-wise, it was his own fault he was put in the special ref spot in the first place.
I remember! It went on for a few weeks and at the time I was wondering why did he keep looking in Vince's direction while he was on commentary? 😅
I always said the match wasn't no disqualification and Shawn connecting with the chair to the Undertaker's head is interference therefore why didn't Shawn just "call it down the middle" and disqualify Bret Hart for his own interference?
Wouldn't Shawn have had JUST as much as no choice to disqualify Bret as he would've had no choice but to count the Undertaker's shoulders to the mat?
Also, remember Shawn's wording from the promo... "IF I LEAN TOWARDS THE UNDERTAKER'S SIDE" so you can always say Bret was the one they expected Shawn to screw!
But with all that said... why let the technicalities and the truths get in the way of a good story? 😂
Hogan should have turned heel post WM V. A face Macho Man chasing a heel Hogan for the title would have been awesome. Randy was a big enough star as well to carry the WWF along with Warrior as the top babyfaces.
The most amazing part is there was only 1 big conceivable problem with that idea. “That doesn’t work for me brother”
Hogans ego wouldn’t let him turn heel until he was already getting booed out of every building in WCW.
@anthonyturner6399 that's very true. He claimed in his WWE written autobiography that Vince shot down any idea of him turning heel. But I call BS on that.
Hogan v Warrior was special anyway but imagine a face Ultimate Warrior defeating a despised Heel Hulk Hogan instead? May have made it that much more impactful.
@@ziahamm1603 Exactly that, Warrior was stupid over and I’ve always found Macho Man to be just as famous as Hulk Hogan but his wrestling stuff aged way better than Hogans by far. Hogan def could have turned heel at any point and I truly believe that it was fully on him that he never turned.
Diesel's promo after Survivor Series 95 was the real start of the AE.
100%
@@primusvsunicron1 Refreshing to hear someone agree with me. 👊🏾 Thought you'd say Austin.
I know it's too soon, but the way it's going right now, Kevin Owens' recent heel turn feels justified. He'd been facing the Bloodline, particularly Roman, for a long time. Yet Cody and Randy are easily swayed into trusting them, even after the past couple of years. Owens is definitely up to something with his reasoning.
The Rock turning in 1997 was justified. Similar to Diesel, Rock was firced to be a generic, white meat babyface, having to kiss babies and hug fat chicks (shout out to Batista) and dampen his personality. Then on top of that, fans kept chanting Die Rocky Die for him only doing his job and doing what his boss wanted him to do.
Thank You for not including X-Pac betraying Kane on Sunday Night Heat. That was going to be a bit much. Back then I had on my wall two printed pictures of south park charaters X-Pac & Kane taped next to each other. I still kept it up for sometime after. For me, that tag-team was working.
Let’s not forget the tribal chief at summerslam 2020
In a weird "in retrospect" way, Shawn turning on Marty & breaking up The Rockers was justified. After all, Marty was clearly the enabler of the group who encouraged Shawn to indulge in his worst tendencies, only without someone to try to keep them both on the straight & narrow as a counter-balance (like Triple H & Chyna would be, to some extent, for Shawn in D-X). Shawn knew that continuing to work with Marty would only screw him over in the long term, so he had to drop the enabler. Sure, Shawn had his own demons deep down that would come back to bite him, but just imagine how much worse he would have been with "Party Marty" by his side throughout the 90s, instead of Sherri, Diesel, Razor (backstage, at least), or Hunter.
Also, you know, there's the fact that Marty was a coward who tried escaping through the Barbershop window. Shawn was 150% justified.
I said that in a comment lol he forgot Shawns other justified heel turn against Marty Jannetty for carrying the team, for almost having the two of them arrested out of jealousy and for cowardly attempting to escape from Shawn by jumping through a window! 😂
Really enjoyed this one, covering less heel changes but going into greater depth was a great change of pace.
Honorable Mentions: Rocky Maiva joining the Nation of Domination everything Drew McIntyre has done in 2024 to CM Punk since WrestleMania XL.
Honorable Mentions: He's already done an entire video solely on that!
@paulvercetti6002 so, he did a video about Bret's heel turn and still mentioned it in this one
@@RomaroBrandon He forgot to mention Shawns other justified heel turn... when Marty Jannetty made him have to carry the team, almost had the two of them arrested out of jealousy and tried to cowardly run away from Shawn by jumping through a window! 😂
I believe JR turned heel twice and even tho both times weren’t really well received he was definitely justified. Bringing in Fake Diesel and Razor I believe was because he was constantly undermined by Vince and then bringing in Dr Death and setting up his own announce table because he was fired because of his Bell’s palsy.
Rest in peace test
Maturing is realizing that these heel turns that were justified made us realize the illusion of who’s the real babyface and who’s the real heel based on the character itself and the storyline.
Thing about the accidental elimination is, Hulk was going to have to try to eliminate Randy regardless due to the rules of the Royal Rumble. Plus, it wasn't like his Title or a shot at it was at stake.
The current heel turn by Kevin Owens on Cody Rhodes. Cody teams with the guy who made his and KO's life miserable for 3-4 years, after all the battles KO and Cody have had with the Bloodline together. And the Bloodline is still around to raise hell on Smackdown. KO has every right to be pissed at Cody.
In 1989 that would have been funny if wwe swerved everyone by having Miss Elizabeth turn heel and help Macho man retain the championship
Big Show's 16th heel turn was completely justified...
Idk I think his 13th turn was a little better
Just because I’m on a bit of Judgement Day kick, gonna throw Liv Morgan’s name out there. Probably not the sort of thing you could make into a longer segment like the ones in this video, but an interesting case nonetheless of someone who was betrayed by her friend and got the most complete revenge possible
She was justified as she lost months and months of her career because Rhea attacked her as part of her heel turn, and yet Rhea because she's the "cooler more popular one" was still seen as being in the right and Liv being treated like the villain just because she attacked Rhea backstage during Mania.
Another justified heel turn was Liv Morgan. Her and Reah Ripley were friends until Reah turned on her and joined the judgment day and some time after put her on the shelf before she came back to do her revenge tour.
Test during the Invasion was a totally legit heel turn. Bradshaw being a giant DB towards him
2008 Jericho was next level
Definitely needs to be a series! Just one question: whose heel turn was more justified: Ciampa or Gargano?
11:51 Eddie/Kurt WMXX. Favorite finish of all time.
In my opinion, Drew McIntyre deserves a spot in the follow up video for his heel turn last year as well as Kevin Owen’s turn this year. Totally justified the both of them.
HBK 97 was a face in my eyes.
17:50 that would’ve been a nice heel turn but knowing Vince around that time it wouldn’t have had a chance
I was at that Halifax show... in 1997, the whole building was electric man, I can't tell you how amazing it was
Seth Rollins heel turn in 2019 was 100% justified. The ungrateful and fickle fans turned the back on him after everything he did to entertain them. The promo he delivered was great and definitely deserves more recognition
Bret being seen as a heel in 96-97 despite actually being right in a lot of cases says a lot about wrestling fans back then
Agreed. I followed the story when it started after his return in 1996 and like he said in his Wrestling With Shadows documentary, his character was right!
I honestly don’t really quite remember the kayfabe justification of Liz originally turning heel in WCW but whatever it was it definitely was justified considering how Savage treated her over the years in storyline and rumored IRL.
I'd like to SEE for the FINAL episode of RTW... ALL the intros compiled together.
Blackman, Scorpio, Road Dogg, D Flair, Bret Hart... all of em.
Make that last show a banger to go out on cause we're gonna miss it!
Remember when Becky Lynch turn heel in 2018 and the WWE expect us to be fully against her Even tho she had every justifiable reason to be a heel? She finally has an oportunity after a long time to be the Smackdown womens champion only for his "Best friend" Charlotte Flair to came back, insert herself into that match and winning in the end. Like i said every justifiable reason for turning heel and Vince really expect us to boo her.
Honorable mentions:
1. Dakota Kai at NXT Wargames in 2019. Mia Yim was chosen over her as part of Rhea Ripley's team for the Wargames match against Shayna Baszler's team. And when Mia got attacked, Kai replaced her. But before she entered ring, she attacked Tegan Nox and abandoned her team.
2. Liv Morgan in 2024. She was taken out of action by Rhea Ripley.
3. Raquel Rodriguez in 2024. Same as #2
4. Becky Lynch in 2018 at Summerslam. Because Charlotte Flair gets handed title shots for...reasons while Lynch either has to earn those opportunities.
My favorite part of the Becky thing is that while they intended for her to be heel the people knew she was justified. I’ll never forget Road Dogg’s tweet about how people didn’t understand the story
Don't know about the 1st one but I 100% agree with the other 3
I'M BACK!!!" Diesel cut one of the greatest heel promos of all time post Survivor Series on MNR. The killing machine who destroyed the competition at the RR94 was made into a horrible babyface champeeeeon by Vince. It was the perfect storyline for Diesel to be reborn as the killer he was always meant to be. The Megapowers Explode is still one of the greatest heel turns in the business. Soap opera or not, it was brilliant writing & acting ( for wrestling standards ). Great homage to Rick Rude ( R.I.P. ) at the end. The Greatest Heel of All Time, next to Honky Tonk Man in his prime
Hangman Adam Page's "Heel Turn" against Swerve Strickland was absolutely justified after everything Swerve did to him. I would def love to see you go over that feud.
To this day I will say Macho man turned heel. He was in the right the entire time.
I wouldn't call this a full blown heel turn but in 2021, Edge was justifiably upset after just winning the Royal Rumble, challenged Roman for the Universal title only for Daniel Bryan to weasel his way to make it a triple threat at Mania 37.
19:39
There's also something we don't talk about with Big Daddy Cool -- something that happened in 1992.
Outstanding content as always dude.
Trish's heel turn at Wrestlemania 20 could qualify too. She was (understandably) angry at Jericho for the Candian dollar bet that he and Christian made, and Jericho initially didn't have any feelings for her and was just trying to win the bet (he even insulted her and called her a stupid broad behind her back). He did eventually end up falling for Trish for real, but Trish was still sore about the bet, and you can definitely understand why she turned on Jericho.
The Shawn Michaels turn was actually very genius story telling. You had to build that match up, put him in it, and "rob undertaker" to get fans to turn on him. However it was literally presented with a out if fans didn't. If they turned on Brett instead, then Shawn Michaels just stays a baby face.
Paul Orndorff's heel turn against Hulk Hogan.
Andre's heel turn against Hogan.
Shawn Michael's hell turn - breakup of Rockers.
Bob Backland's heel turn.
Great video! Would 100% watch more of these. The Thunder in Paradise reviews are liquid fire too.
Thank you so much for the years of entertainment! 👍👍
Looking forward to more kick ass content!
Kane in 2002-2003 was superb. It was only so much he could take before having a mental break and the mask is what did it for him.
Hogan turning heel at Bash at the Beach 1996 was justifiable. Hogans's popularity wasn’t what it was like in the 80s and he even got booed a few times. A heel turn was needed.
Rock's heel turn in 2003 was also justifiable because the fans turned on him when he left for Hollywood in 2002. They felt he soldout.
Edge's heel turn in 2004 was justifiable. His hometown crowd at Summerslam turned on him, and he originally was scheduled to win the the world title at Taboo Tuesday, but the fans choose HBK over him to challenge HHH. And his character had a point because he was a fresh face in the main event and felt screwed because fans had already seen HHH fight Benoit and HBK too many times which made Edge's character frustrated because he felt it was his time, but got screwed.
Hogan. With his grand standing and hot dogging! 😂
I nominate bob backlund's 1994 heel turn. I always like Bob's explanation that he, in his mind, wasn't a heel. He was a "face" telling people to do the right things. But it was the people who were the heels.
SId turning on HBK for giving him Monday night off instead of Tuesday so he could participate in a softball tournament. Totally justified
Bret never should have said that he wouldn't wrestle on American soil if he lost at SummerSlam. Even as a kid, I knew that meant there was no way he was going to lose.
In Modern Times i would say Seth Rollins Heelturn in 2019. Seth Rollins carried the Company, brought the title back from the parttimer Lesnar and it was still not enough for the Fans. A totally justified Heelturn follows afterwards.
You covered this before, but Cactus Jack's heel turn in ECW, lashing out at the fans, and trying to get Tommy Dreamer to stop being hardcore, was amazing.
Another Heel Turn That Was Justified Was Naomi's Heel Turn Back In 2015. She Said People Were Taking Her Kindness For Weakness, So She Just Had Enough.
15:58 Man...THIS was my childhood 💯🤘🔥 Mega Powers, the rockers barbershop, Ultimate Warrior vs Hogan Wrestlemania 6, Saturday morning Rock n Roll wrestling cartoon, Saturday Night Main event... being a kid in the 80s growing up with this era was AWESOME!! everything after this time period sucked to me that's honestly why I watch bios just to see the trash I missed 😂 and I'm glad I missed it is horrible
What? No Eugene heel turn? Ha!
2008 Heel Jericho was INCREDIBLE. Vicious and cold-blooded but perfectly logical.
Honky Tonk Man. Was brought in as a baby face but the fans just weren’t into it. He does a fan vote to determine if he’s appreciated and overwhelmingly it’s decided they don’t.
I am so glad you made this. I’ve always been partial to the heels that were justified in their turn.
1989 Hulk Hogan was one of the best heels that was never addressed as a heel of all time.