In my two decades of watching wrestling, I have seen some heel turns that would turn out for the better via Triple H, Randy Orton, and Edge. And I have seen some heel turns that didn’t sit very well with me.
Here are my top 5 least favorite heel turns
1. Goldberg - Another one of the lowest moments of the dreadful Vince Russo era that I remember came at The 2000 WCW Great American Bash when Goldberg speared Kevin Nash during his title match against Jeff Jarrett in a controversial heel turn that fans absolutely hated because they were used to see Goldberg beating up bad guys. This heel turn was poorly written and badly booked by Vince Russo in which I along with many wrestling fans absolutely hated. Much like Sting, Goldberg’s heel turn in WCW was a flop because he was mostly being cheered by fans while as a heel.
2. Stone Cold Steve Austin - Austin shocked everyone including myself by turning heel and aligning himself with his old nemesis Mr. McMahon at The Wrestlemania XVII PPV, but once as a heel, The Stone Cold Character was buried by having him wearing a strawhat while playing a guitar and on occasion hugging Mr. McMahon and also turning heel and face several times in 2001 which I absolutely hated. This heel turn basically buried the Stone Cold character to me personally because it killed that killer instinct that he had as a face in 1998 and 1999.
3. Sting - In 1999, Sting was a face who was at his peak back in WCW, but on an August 1999 episode of Nitro, he turned heel by attacking Hulk Hogan with his signature baseball bat and then winning The WCW World Heavyweight Title later that year at Fall Brawl. His heel run was deemed an absolute flop because he was constantly being cheered as a heel which forced WCW to turn him back as face.
4. Rikishi - Back in 2000, Rikishi was enjoying a nice tag team run with Too Cool, but I remember the whodunit storyline where it was revealed that Rikishi had “ran over” Stone Cold Steve Austin backstage at The 1999 Survivor Series PPV with Triple H masterminding it. This heel turn for Rikishi definitely came way too soon because it killed the momentum that he had built during his tag team run with Too Cool and his career had floundered in the process.
5. Hollywood Hogan - In 1998, Hollywood Hogan and his nWo minions had terrorized the entire WCW locker room until Kevin Nash and other former members left and formed The nWo Wolfpac and the two factions had several matches against one another that year. But on an January 4, 1999 episode of Nitro, Hogan performed the infamous “Fingerpoke Of Doom” on Kevin Nash and many wrestling fans were angry at this bad booking decision to put the WCW World Heavyweight Title back on Hogan turning him heel again which would be among the most infamous decisions that would lead to the demise of WCW.
The Conclusion - Heel turns don’t benefit every wrestler because the only way that it will benefit the wrestler is that if fans hate him as a face and want him to turn heel so that he can organically get over.
By Kwame Shakir
