Here we go in no particular order.
Trish Stratus - WrestleMania XX - March 20, 2004. This is a favorite heel turn of mine cause of how unexpected that it was. Good for how well it was done. Good for how she ran with it afterwards. I'm a big Trish fan and was at the time too. It was exciting at the time to see her able to take her character in a different direction. There had been a triangle at the time between Trish, Chris Jericho, and Christian. Trish and Jericho had paired up with Christian being the heel. During the match, Jericho caught an elbow from Trish with the story being that she thought it was Christian. Christian rolled up Jericho and got the pin. After the match, Trish launched an attacks of slaps on Jericho that was fast and furious. Christian would follow up with an unprettier in the middle of the ring. Trish joins up with Christian. It led to a great series of matches and added more to that really fun feud of 2004. Trish would remain a heel for a while and was fun to watch.
Shawn Michaels - December 1991. Who knew just how important this heel turn would be? The trouble between The Rockers had been brewing for a while including problems at Survivor Series 1991. The Barber Shop was the site for what many fans hoped would be where they would work out their troubles. However, things didn't work out that way. There was the tease that all was well including them posing as the segment came to an end. All was not well after Shawn followed it with a superkick. Shawn then launched his singles career next by firing Marty through the Barber Shop window. The rest is history. Shawn went on to become a big heel for the company and a go to guy for those great solid matches even that early on in his career. The Rockers were a very popular tag team and the split gave us many great matches between the two former partners.
The Rock - Survivor Series 1998 - November 15, 1998. The championship tournament was the setting for this big turn in St. Louis in what was called the Deadly Games tournament. I need to throw another mention of a great heel turn in this moment as earlier in the night, Shane McMahon had a good turn of his own. He ran into the ring as a referee to make the three count for Austin but it didn't happen. He paused after two and gave Austin a salute. Shane was now paired up with his dad. In the tournament finals, the McMahon's had used Mankind to do their bidding against the man who was picking up some serious steam as a face, The Rock. Rock looked poised to become the next champion and the fans were ready for it. However, they didn't get it like they had planned. Rock turned and joined up with the McMahon's to become the "corporate champion" instead of the people's champion. This was a surprise to me as they had really made a turn with Rock. Fans had turned him heel as Rocky Maivia. As The Rock, fans were turning him back to a face. This set up a feud that would last for many years with Rock and Austin.
Andre The Giant - 1987. I tried to decide about this one on whether it was a sudden turn kind of deal. It really was. Just done in a different way. The others required an action in the ring. This one required one thing and that was the World Wrestling Federation Heavyweight title, Hulk Hogan, and Bobby Heenan. Andre walked out on to the set of Piper's Pit with Heenan. Jesse Ventura was also there stirring things up about how Hogan had been ducking Andre cause he was afraid of him. Andre shows up with Heenan demanding a title shot. A stunned Hogan is in shock that Heenan is with Andre and refusing to believe what he is seeing. Heenan says if you don't believe it, maybe you'll believe this Hogan. Andre proceeds to rip the cross right off of Hogan's neck. Piper looks for reaction from Hogan who is shocked and saddened at what is just occurred. This would lead to Hogan and Andre at WrestleMania 3. Andre was one of the most beloved superstars at the time so for him to join forces with Heenan against Hogan was a huge deal.
Ric Flair - Clash Of The Champions X - 1990. What a memorable night that was. Flair and Sting had been teaming together upon Flair's return from injury in 1989. The tease of trouble was probably given at Starrcade 1989 when Sting defeated Flair in the iron man tournament which gave Sting the overall victory. In early 1990, the Horsemen were reformed and Sting was right there with them. It seemed likely that he would join the group. However, on this night of the Clash, Sting was kicked out of the group and viciously too. Telling him how he was not a Horsemen and Flair just lighting him up with comments. Later in the night, the already booked cage match with the Horsemen taking on the Gary Hart crew did take place. The story of the match was Sting trying to get into the cage being pulled away by security as he tried to get to Flair and the Horsemen. That was the story. The real life situation that played out was much worse. During one moment of jumping up and climbing the cage, Sting banged his knee hard against the cage. It would require surgery and Sting was out of action for many months. He would arrive at shows on crutches at times including Wrestle War 90. With Sting's injury and Flair's heel turn, Luger was turned babyface. Sting would be there to try and motivate Luger to win the world title. The Horsemen got involved and Luger's attention to saving his friend instead of trying to fulfill his goal of becoming world champion. The match was eventually set up once Sting was healthy. Sting would defeat Ric Flair at The Great American Bash in July of 1990. Flair's heel turn that night at the Clash was a vicious one and set up one of my favorite feuds of that time with Sting and Flair.
Owen Hart - Royal Rumble 1994. All you had to do was tag me. That was what Owen yelled after he left Bret laying in the middle of the ring. I was not a Bret Hart fan at all at that time in my young life. Any time somebody rose up against Bret Hart, I was ready to jump behind them. When his brother was the next to rise up, I was immediately on board. This was such a great heel turn. Trouble had been coming up between the two with Owen being jealous of his older brother, Bret. The two seemingly had patched things up in a united front to go after the tag team titles at The Royal Rumble against The Quebecers. The story of the match was Bret's knee getting beaten on throughout. Owen kept cheering Bret on to tag him. Instead of tagging though, Bret tried to go for the win himself and hooked the sharpshooter. Bret went to the mat in pain and the ref stopped the match. Bret was helped to his feet and once he was on his feet, down he went. Owen delivered a kick to Bret knee sending him crashing to the mat. Owen then yelled "all you had to do was tag me" all the way to the locker room. I remember thinking at the time that he was right. Owen was ready to try and win but his brother wouldn't tag him. Owen was in the right. Even more to my biased anti-Bret stance. LOL. The two had an incredible series of matches in 1994 and on into 1995. I love hearing Bret talk about how much he enjoyed their matches. You could tell they loved working against one another and they stepped up delivering big time in their matches. Bret and Owen is one of my favorite feuds of all time including great matches at WrestleMania X and a cage match at SummerSlam 1994. Owen would get that big win at WrestleMania stunning the wrestling world and sending me and my friend into a cheering ovation of celebration. LOL.
Stephanie McMahon - Armageddon 1999. This pick will be met with likes and dislikes. I loved this turn. It set up for a lot of great TV in the future. The McMahon Helmsley era began on this night in December of 1999. Stephanie had been played up to be the good girl all year. Nice storylines of love with Test earlier that year. Just the girl that you cheered for with her having to battle her father and brother. Test and Stephanie would be ready to be married on a Raw episode. Triple H despite being threatened about interrupting it had a video to air. Stephanie had passed out at her bachelorette party and Triple H took her. He married her at a drive thru wedding chapel while she was passed out. The video aired and the two were married so Test couldn't marry her. The feud between Vince McMahon and Triple H came to a head in this no holds barred match which blew away expectations on how good it was going to be. Vince would go for revenge for his baby girl. Vince was destroyed by a sledgehammer and Stephanie weeped over her dad. Triple H wound up to nail her. She turned around to see Triple H with the sledgehammer and had a look of shock and horror on her face. She gets up, smiles, and hugs Triple H. Who saw that coming???!!! LOL. Stephanie and Triple H were in power and it was the start of a great relationship on TV. It also ended up being the start of a real life relationship for them outside of the ring.
Paul Orndorff - 1986. A well built heel turn. He had been teaming with Hulk Hogan and jealousy started to consume Orndorff. Hogan was getting all the attention and cheers and Orndorff couldn't stand it. Orndorff got infuriated when he made a phone call to Hogan at one point and was told that Hogan was too busy to be able to take the call. This all exploded during a match between Hogan and Orndorff taking on King Kong Bundy and Big John Studd. Hogan and Orndorff would collide at one point during the match. Orndorff would hold the eye every time that Hogan would try to reach over to tag. Eventually, Orndorff clotheslined Hogan and hit him with a piledriver. It was put over huge as a horrible attack and turn on his friend. The feud would draw a lot of fans over its run. Over 60,000 at The Big Event in Toronto where that match headlined the show. There was also the big championship cage match on Saturday Night's Main Event in 1987 where there was a controversial moment of the two dropping down out of the cage at the same time. The ref ruled it as a tie and restarted the match leading to Hogan winning and retaining the title. This was a really good feud back in 1986-1987.
Randy Savage - The Main Event - February 5, 1988. The Mega Powers are ready to explode. I remember watching this as a kid and being so infuriated with what I had seen. I was a true and proud Hulkamaniac and this heel turn rocked me as a kid. The Mega Powers were formed in 1987 but things really got rolling for the team in 1988. Savage would win the WWF championship at WrestleMania IV. For the next ten months, teases were laid in place where Savage wasn't so thrilled with what he was seeing out of Hogan. Hogan hugging Elizabeth. Eliminating him at the Royal Rumble. The moment on Saturday Night's Main Event where Hogan was in trouble but Savage wouldn't come to his aid despite Elizabeth's pleas while Savage said that Hogan would be ok. Many moments. It all boiled over to The Main Event airing on NBC. The Mega Powers vs. The Big Boss Man and Akeem. This was the feud that had been going on for many months. The story of the match was when Savage was thrown from the ring on to Elizabeth. She was knocked unconscious. Hogan went to her aid quickly and Savage was not happy about it. Savage looked for a tag but there was no Hogan. Hogan carried Elizabeth to the back where she was tended to by officials. Hogan returns to the ring and is ready for the tag. He gets a tag all right. A tag or slap right to the face. Savage bails and leaves Hogan to face the two opponents. Savage rants and raves to Elizabeth about Hogan. Hogan wins the match and returns to the back where he gets an angry Savage who says that Hogan is jealous of him. How he had lusted after Elizabeth. The result was a belt to the face of Hogan followed by a vicious assault while Elizabeth cried in the background. The following months after would see Savage doing promos looking back on the last year and giving his points on how Hogan had done him wrong. They were great promos. Elizabeth stayed in the middle supporting both of them. The Mega Powers exploded at WrestleMania V with Hogan winning back the World Wrestling Federation championship. Savage would launch another assault on Hogan after the show was over which we did not see on TV until the following week. The feud would continue with a series of rematches through the year. Sherri joined with Savage. Elizabeth would make some appearances in Hogan's corner. It was great stuff.
Hulk Hogan - Bash At The Beach 1996. Was there ever a heel turn so vicious and so angrily received by fans? The number one good guy. The childhood hero. The guy who stood for everything right in wrestling. The Real American. The red and yellow turns to black and white. Scott Hall and Kevin Nash arrived in WCW in the summer of 1996 with the tease that they were still with the World Wrestling Federation. If you were a fan watching on TV and weren't familiar with the inside workings of the wrestling world, I can't imagine how your brain must have went crazy over this. The rest of us on the internet and all knew that Hall and Nash were due to show up in WCW at any time. The big moment was set. The Outsiders looking to take apart WCW and they teased that they had a third guy. A match was set up at Bash At The Beach with Hall, Nash, and a surprise third guy taking on Sting, Lex Luger, and Randy Savage. The match started and there was no third guy. Paranoia reigned through the match. Luger was injured early on. Things look bad at the end of the bout and out comes Hulk Hogan. Here comes the hero to save the day. Crowd goes crazy. Then, you hear the crowd cheers turn to gasps as Hogan legdrops Randy Savage. Hogan had turned and gives Hall and Nash the thumbs up. It was a surreal moment. What followed was Gene Okerlund walking in the ring getting an interview. Hogan would tell the fans to stick it while the ring was littered with trash. To follow up on the trash, Hogan would tell the fans that the garbage in the ring represents every one of the fans. In just a few minutes, Hogan shredded everything on that persona and became the most hated man in wrestling. The nWo was formed and a new era of WCW was born. It was a night that will never be forgotten and the result was a LOT of fun especially in those first several months of the nWo.
Trish Stratus - WrestleMania XX - March 20, 2004. This is a favorite heel turn of mine cause of how unexpected that it was. Good for how well it was done. Good for how she ran with it afterwards. I'm a big Trish fan and was at the time too. It was exciting at the time to see her able to take her character in a different direction. There had been a triangle at the time between Trish, Chris Jericho, and Christian. Trish and Jericho had paired up with Christian being the heel. During the match, Jericho caught an elbow from Trish with the story being that she thought it was Christian. Christian rolled up Jericho and got the pin. After the match, Trish launched an attacks of slaps on Jericho that was fast and furious. Christian would follow up with an unprettier in the middle of the ring. Trish joins up with Christian. It led to a great series of matches and added more to that really fun feud of 2004. Trish would remain a heel for a while and was fun to watch.
Shawn Michaels - December 1991. Who knew just how important this heel turn would be? The trouble between The Rockers had been brewing for a while including problems at Survivor Series 1991. The Barber Shop was the site for what many fans hoped would be where they would work out their troubles. However, things didn't work out that way. There was the tease that all was well including them posing as the segment came to an end. All was not well after Shawn followed it with a superkick. Shawn then launched his singles career next by firing Marty through the Barber Shop window. The rest is history. Shawn went on to become a big heel for the company and a go to guy for those great solid matches even that early on in his career. The Rockers were a very popular tag team and the split gave us many great matches between the two former partners.
The Rock - Survivor Series 1998 - November 15, 1998. The championship tournament was the setting for this big turn in St. Louis in what was called the Deadly Games tournament. I need to throw another mention of a great heel turn in this moment as earlier in the night, Shane McMahon had a good turn of his own. He ran into the ring as a referee to make the three count for Austin but it didn't happen. He paused after two and gave Austin a salute. Shane was now paired up with his dad. In the tournament finals, the McMahon's had used Mankind to do their bidding against the man who was picking up some serious steam as a face, The Rock. Rock looked poised to become the next champion and the fans were ready for it. However, they didn't get it like they had planned. Rock turned and joined up with the McMahon's to become the "corporate champion" instead of the people's champion. This was a surprise to me as they had really made a turn with Rock. Fans had turned him heel as Rocky Maivia. As The Rock, fans were turning him back to a face. This set up a feud that would last for many years with Rock and Austin.
Andre The Giant - 1987. I tried to decide about this one on whether it was a sudden turn kind of deal. It really was. Just done in a different way. The others required an action in the ring. This one required one thing and that was the World Wrestling Federation Heavyweight title, Hulk Hogan, and Bobby Heenan. Andre walked out on to the set of Piper's Pit with Heenan. Jesse Ventura was also there stirring things up about how Hogan had been ducking Andre cause he was afraid of him. Andre shows up with Heenan demanding a title shot. A stunned Hogan is in shock that Heenan is with Andre and refusing to believe what he is seeing. Heenan says if you don't believe it, maybe you'll believe this Hogan. Andre proceeds to rip the cross right off of Hogan's neck. Piper looks for reaction from Hogan who is shocked and saddened at what is just occurred. This would lead to Hogan and Andre at WrestleMania 3. Andre was one of the most beloved superstars at the time so for him to join forces with Heenan against Hogan was a huge deal.
Ric Flair - Clash Of The Champions X - 1990. What a memorable night that was. Flair and Sting had been teaming together upon Flair's return from injury in 1989. The tease of trouble was probably given at Starrcade 1989 when Sting defeated Flair in the iron man tournament which gave Sting the overall victory. In early 1990, the Horsemen were reformed and Sting was right there with them. It seemed likely that he would join the group. However, on this night of the Clash, Sting was kicked out of the group and viciously too. Telling him how he was not a Horsemen and Flair just lighting him up with comments. Later in the night, the already booked cage match with the Horsemen taking on the Gary Hart crew did take place. The story of the match was Sting trying to get into the cage being pulled away by security as he tried to get to Flair and the Horsemen. That was the story. The real life situation that played out was much worse. During one moment of jumping up and climbing the cage, Sting banged his knee hard against the cage. It would require surgery and Sting was out of action for many months. He would arrive at shows on crutches at times including Wrestle War 90. With Sting's injury and Flair's heel turn, Luger was turned babyface. Sting would be there to try and motivate Luger to win the world title. The Horsemen got involved and Luger's attention to saving his friend instead of trying to fulfill his goal of becoming world champion. The match was eventually set up once Sting was healthy. Sting would defeat Ric Flair at The Great American Bash in July of 1990. Flair's heel turn that night at the Clash was a vicious one and set up one of my favorite feuds of that time with Sting and Flair.
Owen Hart - Royal Rumble 1994. All you had to do was tag me. That was what Owen yelled after he left Bret laying in the middle of the ring. I was not a Bret Hart fan at all at that time in my young life. Any time somebody rose up against Bret Hart, I was ready to jump behind them. When his brother was the next to rise up, I was immediately on board. This was such a great heel turn. Trouble had been coming up between the two with Owen being jealous of his older brother, Bret. The two seemingly had patched things up in a united front to go after the tag team titles at The Royal Rumble against The Quebecers. The story of the match was Bret's knee getting beaten on throughout. Owen kept cheering Bret on to tag him. Instead of tagging though, Bret tried to go for the win himself and hooked the sharpshooter. Bret went to the mat in pain and the ref stopped the match. Bret was helped to his feet and once he was on his feet, down he went. Owen delivered a kick to Bret knee sending him crashing to the mat. Owen then yelled "all you had to do was tag me" all the way to the locker room. I remember thinking at the time that he was right. Owen was ready to try and win but his brother wouldn't tag him. Owen was in the right. Even more to my biased anti-Bret stance. LOL. The two had an incredible series of matches in 1994 and on into 1995. I love hearing Bret talk about how much he enjoyed their matches. You could tell they loved working against one another and they stepped up delivering big time in their matches. Bret and Owen is one of my favorite feuds of all time including great matches at WrestleMania X and a cage match at SummerSlam 1994. Owen would get that big win at WrestleMania stunning the wrestling world and sending me and my friend into a cheering ovation of celebration. LOL.
Stephanie McMahon - Armageddon 1999. This pick will be met with likes and dislikes. I loved this turn. It set up for a lot of great TV in the future. The McMahon Helmsley era began on this night in December of 1999. Stephanie had been played up to be the good girl all year. Nice storylines of love with Test earlier that year. Just the girl that you cheered for with her having to battle her father and brother. Test and Stephanie would be ready to be married on a Raw episode. Triple H despite being threatened about interrupting it had a video to air. Stephanie had passed out at her bachelorette party and Triple H took her. He married her at a drive thru wedding chapel while she was passed out. The video aired and the two were married so Test couldn't marry her. The feud between Vince McMahon and Triple H came to a head in this no holds barred match which blew away expectations on how good it was going to be. Vince would go for revenge for his baby girl. Vince was destroyed by a sledgehammer and Stephanie weeped over her dad. Triple H wound up to nail her. She turned around to see Triple H with the sledgehammer and had a look of shock and horror on her face. She gets up, smiles, and hugs Triple H. Who saw that coming???!!! LOL. Stephanie and Triple H were in power and it was the start of a great relationship on TV. It also ended up being the start of a real life relationship for them outside of the ring.
Paul Orndorff - 1986. A well built heel turn. He had been teaming with Hulk Hogan and jealousy started to consume Orndorff. Hogan was getting all the attention and cheers and Orndorff couldn't stand it. Orndorff got infuriated when he made a phone call to Hogan at one point and was told that Hogan was too busy to be able to take the call. This all exploded during a match between Hogan and Orndorff taking on King Kong Bundy and Big John Studd. Hogan and Orndorff would collide at one point during the match. Orndorff would hold the eye every time that Hogan would try to reach over to tag. Eventually, Orndorff clotheslined Hogan and hit him with a piledriver. It was put over huge as a horrible attack and turn on his friend. The feud would draw a lot of fans over its run. Over 60,000 at The Big Event in Toronto where that match headlined the show. There was also the big championship cage match on Saturday Night's Main Event in 1987 where there was a controversial moment of the two dropping down out of the cage at the same time. The ref ruled it as a tie and restarted the match leading to Hogan winning and retaining the title. This was a really good feud back in 1986-1987.
Randy Savage - The Main Event - February 5, 1988. The Mega Powers are ready to explode. I remember watching this as a kid and being so infuriated with what I had seen. I was a true and proud Hulkamaniac and this heel turn rocked me as a kid. The Mega Powers were formed in 1987 but things really got rolling for the team in 1988. Savage would win the WWF championship at WrestleMania IV. For the next ten months, teases were laid in place where Savage wasn't so thrilled with what he was seeing out of Hogan. Hogan hugging Elizabeth. Eliminating him at the Royal Rumble. The moment on Saturday Night's Main Event where Hogan was in trouble but Savage wouldn't come to his aid despite Elizabeth's pleas while Savage said that Hogan would be ok. Many moments. It all boiled over to The Main Event airing on NBC. The Mega Powers vs. The Big Boss Man and Akeem. This was the feud that had been going on for many months. The story of the match was when Savage was thrown from the ring on to Elizabeth. She was knocked unconscious. Hogan went to her aid quickly and Savage was not happy about it. Savage looked for a tag but there was no Hogan. Hogan carried Elizabeth to the back where she was tended to by officials. Hogan returns to the ring and is ready for the tag. He gets a tag all right. A tag or slap right to the face. Savage bails and leaves Hogan to face the two opponents. Savage rants and raves to Elizabeth about Hogan. Hogan wins the match and returns to the back where he gets an angry Savage who says that Hogan is jealous of him. How he had lusted after Elizabeth. The result was a belt to the face of Hogan followed by a vicious assault while Elizabeth cried in the background. The following months after would see Savage doing promos looking back on the last year and giving his points on how Hogan had done him wrong. They were great promos. Elizabeth stayed in the middle supporting both of them. The Mega Powers exploded at WrestleMania V with Hogan winning back the World Wrestling Federation championship. Savage would launch another assault on Hogan after the show was over which we did not see on TV until the following week. The feud would continue with a series of rematches through the year. Sherri joined with Savage. Elizabeth would make some appearances in Hogan's corner. It was great stuff.
Hulk Hogan - Bash At The Beach 1996. Was there ever a heel turn so vicious and so angrily received by fans? The number one good guy. The childhood hero. The guy who stood for everything right in wrestling. The Real American. The red and yellow turns to black and white. Scott Hall and Kevin Nash arrived in WCW in the summer of 1996 with the tease that they were still with the World Wrestling Federation. If you were a fan watching on TV and weren't familiar with the inside workings of the wrestling world, I can't imagine how your brain must have went crazy over this. The rest of us on the internet and all knew that Hall and Nash were due to show up in WCW at any time. The big moment was set. The Outsiders looking to take apart WCW and they teased that they had a third guy. A match was set up at Bash At The Beach with Hall, Nash, and a surprise third guy taking on Sting, Lex Luger, and Randy Savage. The match started and there was no third guy. Paranoia reigned through the match. Luger was injured early on. Things look bad at the end of the bout and out comes Hulk Hogan. Here comes the hero to save the day. Crowd goes crazy. Then, you hear the crowd cheers turn to gasps as Hogan legdrops Randy Savage. Hogan had turned and gives Hall and Nash the thumbs up. It was a surreal moment. What followed was Gene Okerlund walking in the ring getting an interview. Hogan would tell the fans to stick it while the ring was littered with trash. To follow up on the trash, Hogan would tell the fans that the garbage in the ring represents every one of the fans. In just a few minutes, Hogan shredded everything on that persona and became the most hated man in wrestling. The nWo was formed and a new era of WCW was born. It was a night that will never be forgotten and the result was a LOT of fun especially in those first several months of the nWo.
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