Justifiable Heel Turns?

[DitchMarner]

From a kayfabe perspective, what are some of the most justifiable heel turns in wrestling history?

Two stand out for me:

1. Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley in late 1999:

If you objectively listen to her promo the night after Armageddon, her decision to turn on Vince seems totally justified. She mentions that he had her sacrificed in a wedding to The Undertaker just to screw over Austin (which actually gives the convoluted Greater Power story line more of a pay-off).



2. Chris Jericho in 2008:

He tries to hold Michaels accountable after he feigned a knee injury in a match against Batista and later goes on a rant about Michaels' history of treachery. Everything he says is pretty much point on, but he arguably takes things too far when he puts his face through the Jeri-Tron 2000 and then definitely crosses the line when he punches his wife in the face (albeit accidentally).




I guess Hogan's turn in 1996 may qualify. It's well documented how much of a sleaze bag he was behind the scenes, but on-screen he was pretty much portraying his typical goody-goody persona in WCW until a lot of fans were sick of him and he turned.

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[WingsMJN2965]

Punk in 2012. It was a really dumb decision, but the storyline reason made sense.

The Rock when he became, "The Rock". White meat babyface who was told, "Die Rocky, Die". 1996, maybe?

 

[JackSlater]

Randy Savage turning on Hogan and causing the mega powers to explode. Hogan really did have jealous eyes and he really was always hotdogging in an effort to get Macho's spotlight. He did touch Elizabeth's ass too.

 

[Kaner9]

The People's Champion. The people turned on him.

Also Rikishi. He diditfordaRock.

 

[BostonBob]

Barry Windham turning on Flexy Lexy and joining the Horsemen was totally justified. JJ Dillon was 100% correct - Luger was not there when Windham needed him:

 

[CDJ]

Kane when he was going around after being unmasked killing everybody including babies

Gregory Helms turning on Rosey- I’m pretty sure that was after Kurt Angle attacked Hurricane and Rosey wasn’t really there to help. Could be misremembering


But that one hurt because I loved the Hurricane. But then it didn’t because I loved Gregory Helms

 

[LeafsNation75]

I was recently watching Bret Hart on The Broken Skull Sessions with Steve Austin and he was talking about how Vince talked him into turning heel in 1997, because he mentioned who he would be working with as a face compared to as a heel at that time. One thing that stands out is Bret saying he would be not working with Shawn as a heel, at least up until Survivor Series of that year. So does he count or does he not since he was still considered a face in Canada, Europe and other parts of the world.

 

[The Burdened]

Christian in 2011.
Just days removed from being very happy to see him finally win the world title, then fans then picked Randy Orton to be his first title challenger just days after winning it in a ladder match. Him turning heel on the fans was completely justified.

 

[JackSlater]

Barry Windham turning on Flexy Lexy and joining the Horsemen was totally justified. JJ Dillon was 100% correct - Luger was not there when Windham needed him:

That reminds me of the various times that Flair turned on Sting. It was always justifiable too, because Sting was so stupid that he deserved it.

 

[The Shadow]

Randy Savage turning on Hogan and causing the mega powers to explode. Hogan really did have jealous eyes and he really was always hotdogging in an effort to get Macho's spotlight. He did touch Elizabeth's ass too.

I hated when hogan would stay in the ring and steal the spotlight for stuff like when warrior and macho won the titles

 

[alko]

The Rockers failing apart. One guy promoted to the top, but for the other one it was basically the end.

 

[sabremike]

Shame that nobody has mentioned Cactus Jack in ECW because it should've been the very first mentioned. If you have never seen the anti-hardcore promos he did do yourself a favor and find them as they are IMO the greatest series of promos of all time.

 

[DitchMarner]

I was recently watching Bret Hart on The Broken Skull Sessions with Steve Austin and he was talking about how Vince talked him into turning heel in 1997, because he mentioned who he would be working with as a face compared to as a heel at that time. One thing that stands out is Bret saying he would be not working with Shawn as a heel, at least up until Survivor Series of that year. So does he count or does he not since he was still considered a face in Canada, Europe and other parts of the world.

I loved Hart in '97 as a kid.

Looking back, he was very similar to 1994 Bob Backlund.

 

[WingsMJN2965]

Kane when he was going around after being unmarked killing everybody including babies

 

[KIRK]

Using the word JUSTIFIABLE as the guide . . .

Owen Hart turning on Bret.

Blamed him for picking on him as a kid. Blamed Bret for keeping him back in WWE. Blamed Bret for forcing him to wrestle in the Blue Blazer mask.

 

[IceColdOx]

Recent examples: Sami Zayn joining Kevin Owens after Shane ignored him. Ciampa turning on Gargano. Daniel Bryan the Eco Warrior because Vince thinks a guy that cares about the environment is a heel.

 

[PurpleMouse]

Not a heel "turn" but a heel debut- Nailz. The storyline was that Nailz was claiming Bossman beat him up in prison. Wrestling fans had no reason not to believe him because he used to do that to jobbers as a heel- handcuff them to the ropes and what not. (He may have even done it briefly during his face run as well.)

 

[Megahab]

In the every man for himself 1992 Royal Rumble, Sid eliminates Hogan. Hogan is a sore loser and helps Flair eliminate Sid. Somehow Sid is portrayed as the heel in all of this.

I don't know why they didn't just swap the roles - have Hogan eliminate Sid and then Sid helps Flair.

 

[JackSlater]

In the every man for himself 1992 Royal Rumble, Sid eliminates Hogan. Hogan is a sore loser and helps Flair eliminate Sid. Somehow Sid is portrayed as the heel in all of this.

I don't know why they didn't just swap the roles - have Hogan eliminate Sid and then Sid helps Flair.

Swapping the roles just didn't work for one of the wrestlers involved, brother. Better for the Hulkster to get the sympathy of being eliminated, plus the revenge of f***ing Sid over and getting some of that little guy Flair's spotlight.

 

[Megahab]

Swapping the roles just didn't work for one of the wrestlers involved, brother. Better for the Hulkster to get the sympathy of being eliminated, plus the revenge of f***ing Sid over and getting some of that little guy Flair's spotlight.

But even if it was Hogan pulling strings, I would think he'd want himself to be the one who eliminated Hogan. And then Hogan gets eliminated by an already-out Sid. That makes Hogan look stronger than he did and he gets more sympathy that way, instead of being eliminated cleanly.