10 WWE Heel Turns That Divided Fans

Publish date: 2024-04-22

Character changes do not come much often in a pro wrestler's career unless the situation asks for it. Only when it is direly needed is when the promotions will look for ways to change a wrestler's character from babyface to heel or vice versa.

Likewise, WWE has also produced multiple heel turns over the years, and while some went on to make the impact it promised, others didn't make any significant development in the wrestlers' careers.

RELATED: 10 WWE Heel Turns That Went Nowhere

Wrestling fans are always hard to satisfy, and it becomes even harder for promotions to sell such character changes when the fans end up divided among each other. With that said, let's take a look at ten WWE heel turns that divided the fans.

10 Dean Ambrose

Dean Ambrose started showing signs of a heel turn after The Shield reunited in 2018. With Roman Reigns as the Universal Champion and Seth Rollins as the Intercontinental Champion, WWE intended to use Ambrose's lack of championships and jealousy as the cause of the heel turn.

However, Roman Reigns dropped a bombshell when he announced his leukemia had returned and that he was relinquishing the Universal Championship. While the fans thought it was back to the drawing board for the company regarding Ambrose's heel turn, WWE chose to carry on with the plan and had him turn heel the same night.

While one side of fans agreed with WWE's decision to go ahead with the turn, others thought that they should've postponed it a bit more and kept Reigns' real-life condition off the storyline.

9 Mustafa Ali

WWE introduced a new notorious faction named Retribution in 2020 which had several masked henchmen vandalize WWE property and attack the wrestlers and crew members.

After weeks of build-up, WWE revealed NXT superstars Dominik Dijakovic, Mia Yim, Dio Maddin, Shane Thorne, and Mercedes Martinez as the assailants.

But when the company introduced Mustafa Ali as the leader of the group, the fans went crazy on social media. Some fans claimed a heel turn would revitalize Ali's career, but others felt that he was not the right person WWE should've introduced as the leader and claimed that he was not ready for that kind of responsibility.

8 Nikki ASH

The fans already had reservations when WWE repackaged Nikki Cross with a superhero gimmick in Nikki ASH in 2021. But Cross went on to win the MITB ladder match and cashed it in to win the Raw Women's Championship.

She also had a good run with the Women's Tag Team Championship alongside Rhea Ripley. But when she turned heel on Ripley on the January 10, 2022, episode of Raw, it caused a division among the fans.

RELATED: 10 Things WWE Fans Should Know About Nikki Cross' Real Life Outside WWE

One side claimed that the heel turn would help Nikki Cross regain some precious lost momentum, but others claimed that the heel turn wouldn't work if she kept the superhero gimmick.

7 Batista

When Batista agreed to make a return to WWE in 2014, he asked the company to bring him back as a heel. But the company already had plans for him to win that year's Royal Rumble match and main event WrestleMania 30 with Randy Orton.

However, Daniel Bryan's rising popularity at the time derailed all of WWE's plans, and they had to insert Bryan into the storyline and also had to turn Batista heel.

While one side of the fans who were blindly supporting Daniel Bryan booed Batista with all their hearts and accepted Batista as a heel, a few fans with rational thinking pointed out WWE's mistake of bringing Batista as a babyface and iterated on the fact that his entire return was already ruined.

6 CM Punk

CM Punk was at the height of his popularity when he started his record 434-day WWE Championship run. Punk's feud with John Cena and the pipebomb segment catapulted Punk into superstardom, and WWE could've continued with him as an anti-hero.

However, WWE chose to turn Punk heel while he was in the middle of his title run and had him feud against Ryback. It also came right in time when the company had plans to put the title on The Rock.

Hence, the heel turn received a mixed response from the fans as one side claimed that WWE was just using CM Punk to put The Rock over and was doing it at the expense of his successful babyface run.

5 Paige

The fans already knew about Paige's real-life struggles in the year 2017 due to the leaked tape incident, injuries, and wellness policy violations. She had all the sympathies of the fans and could've had a perfect babyface run, but the company chose to turn her heel and lead a group consisting of Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville.

The fans were divided by WWE's decision as some fans wouldn't buy her as a heel after all the struggles she endured lately, while others thought it would be a welcome change for Paige to get a fresh perspective.

4 Becky Lynch

When Becky Lynch made her return at the 2021 SummerSlam PPV after maternity leave, she defeated Bianca Belair in a shocking squash match to win the SmackDown Women's Championship.

RELATED: 10 Most Devastating Moves Of Becky Lynch's WWE Career

WWE turned Lynch heel following the event in order to raise up Bianca Belair's stock as the top babyface. The fans met the decision with a mixed response. While some fans accepted the heel turn and chose to side with Belair in the feud, Lynch's loyal fanbase continued to cheer her despite her heel antics.

3 Mick Foley

Mick Foley had a heated rivalry with Edge in 2006, which led to a hardcore match between the two wrestlers at WrestleMania 22. The match turned out to be a hard sight to watch for the fans as the two legends brutalized each other. Edge picked up the victory after spearing Foley through a flaming table.

However, in a shocking turn of events, Foley had a change of heart and aligned himself with Edge, claiming that he was impressed with Edge's hardcore approach.

While some fans accepted the outcome, others were perplexed as to how two wrestlers can become friends after destroying each other in a brutal hardcore match.

2 Finn Balor

Finn Balor had lost all his momentum competing on the main roster following the untimely injury that led to him relinquishing the Universal Championship. Vince McMahon continued to ignore Balor in the main event bookings in the following years, and the trend continued until McMahon announced his exit from WWE.

After Triple H took charge of creative in the company, rumors of him having major plans for Balor in the main event picture started surfacing online. But Cody Rhodes' pec injury left Raw without a top babyface, and the company had to turn Judgment Day leader Edge turn face after Finn Balor turned heel to take control of the group along with Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest.

While some fans were okay with the idea, others were not since it came at the time they were expecting a main event push for Balor.

1 Stone Cold Steve Austin

Arguably the most controversial heel turn in WWE history took place at WrestleMania 17 when Stone Cold Steve Austin shook hands with Vince McMahon after the latter helped Austin defeat The Rock to win the WWE Championship.

The turn received mixed reactions from the crowd as some fans accepted what transpired, the others went on their way to outright deny it and continued to cheer Austin. Austin himself had stated that he regretted the decision despite it being his idea.

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