Heel/face turns that were major whiplashes?

[bogussting]

Lex Luger in 1993 might be the ultimate.

[James Fabiano]

I'm sure there were many in 1998-99 WWF, 1999-2000 WCW, and some of TNA. What do these have in common?

[4real]

Edge’s heel turn in 2010 after Mania felt very sudden after he came back as a face to win the Rumble that year. Then that didn’t long and he was back as a face by the Autumn to feud with World Champion Kane.

[CMWaters]

Michaels turning heel for his match with Hogan, then by the week after that SummerSlam was face again.

Also, maybe because of reactions, but the Austin face turn after Survivor Series 01 (and also Angle's multi-turn during the Invasion and that Raw).

[chazraps]

Orton being a de-facto face after Triple H turned on him after Summerslam 2004.

Just made no sense as Orton was a villain who did horrible things for like 18 months by that point and never got a shred of comeuppens, and now we're supposed to cheer him against Triple H?

[Alice Syndrome]

Charlotte just showing up on Smackdown as a face after a draft, having suffered no consequences at all for being absolutely despicable for like 18 months.

[Futureraven: Beelzebruv]

Jan 24, 2023 4:03:03 GMT -5 chazraps said:

Orton being a de-facto face after Triple H turned on him after Summerslam 2004.

Just made no sense as Orton was a villain who did horrible things for like 18 months by that point and never got a shred of comeuppens, and now we're supposed to cheer him against Triple H?

YES!

Having other heels turn on you doesn't make you a face, it makes you a dumbass.

It's not like it has to take long either, that turn, the next night have HHH tell Orton to lay down for him, Orton gives a passionate promo about the blood sweat and tears he's shed for it, they seemingly patch things up but later in the night HHH goes to turn on Orton, RKO out of nowhere he stands tall, the next week have a segment with Mick mending fences, putting over how tough Orton is.

There, may not be perfect but you have the moment of realisation, the face getting one over, seeming intelligent and making some amends for his past.

[Jindrak Mark]

Jan 24, 2023 4:03:03 GMT -5 chazraps said:

Orton being a de-facto face after Triple H turned on him after Summerslam 2004.

Just made no sense as Orton was a villain who did horrible things for like 18 months by that point and never got a shred of comeuppens, and now we're supposed to cheer him against Triple H?

It also didn’t help that at the beginning of the show Orton cut a heel promo saying he’s already world champion at 24 and all you idiots in the crowd have accomplished nothing in your lives. So obviously those same fans 2 hours later popped when Batista dropped him and HHH bloodied him up. Why wouldn’t they? The guy who just mocked them got his comeuppance.

[sungod2020]

I remember there was a thread a few weeks ago about how Sherri debuted as a face beating The Fabulous Moolah(who was a hated heel for YEARS), and then all of a sudden she becomes a heel, and Moolah returns at Survivor Series four months later is captaining the face team against Sherri's.

It didn't make sense though, especially if you watch the Survivor Series pre-show where they played the ending to that match, Sherri gets cheered for dethroning that old shrew, and Moolah responds in a heelish manner. So people who bought the PPV might've thought even headed into it that the alignments between the two haven't changed.

I don't even think there was an explanation for either turn. At most I think Sherri did a promo between that time insinuating a heel turn, which would make Moolah a face by some weird default since that's who she won the title from. And she(Moolah) wasn't seen for awhile(at least until her Hall of Fame induction) after the event, so WTF?

[tafkaga]

Dino Bravo in 1992. There was no storyline basis for it. He just shows up after a television hiatus with darker hair and he's a babyface.

[Cvslfc123]

Eddie turning heel in 2003, the fans didn't want to boo him and he turned face again very quickly.

He had to act like a real scumbag in 2005 to finally get the boos.

[James Fabiano]

Mick tells Rikishi that we missed the dancing big guy, and he was all like, okay!

[Aceorton]

Jan 24, 2023 5:34:53 GMT -5 Futureraven: Beelzebruv said:

Jan 24, 2023 4:03:03 GMT -5 chazraps said:

Orton being a de-facto face after Triple H turned on him after Summerslam 2004.

Just made no sense as Orton was a villain who did horrible things for like 18 months by that point and never got a shred of comeuppens, and now we're supposed to cheer him against Triple H?

YES!

Having other heels turn on you doesn't make you a face, it makes you a dumbass.

This is how Edge's recent face turn felt to me. Just because Judgment Day turned on him doesn't mean he wasn't acting like a maniacal cult leader.

Owen Hart's heel turn in 1998 is another one that felt weirdly sudden. He had been a face against DX for only a few months and suddenly was going after Ken Shamrock unprovoked like the guy had assaulted his wife. Owen was obviously much better as a heel, but targeting Shamrock so violently like that made no sense.

[bluebeach25]

Jan 24, 2023 3:04:09 GMT -5 4real said:

Edge’s heel turn in 2010 after Mania felt very sudden after he came back as a face to win the Rumble that year. Then that didn’t long and he was back as a face by the Autumn to feud with World Champion Kane.

They mabye just turned because he got drafted to Raw. The stuff with Nexus and him turning on Cena in the Match with Jericho was pretty good booked, basically the only positive thing about that whole Match sadly.

[Vanilla Gorilla]

I don’t remember the lead-up, were there breadcrumbs leading to Tugboat turning on Hogan?

[celtics543]

They should've had Orton and Batista turn on Flair/HHH after Orton won the title. Give the whole "Evolution, has passed you by" speech and become uber-heels. HHH and Flair disappear for a while and maybe come back as faces or leading some other heel stable.

[chrom]

Jan 24, 2023 14:03:14 GMT -5 Vanilla Gorilla said:

I don’t remember the lead-up, were there breadcrumbs leading to Tugboat turning on Hogan?

They did fight one another during a Battle Royal if I recall.

[Futureraven: Beelzebruv]

Jan 24, 2023 13:16:23 GMT -5 Aceorton said:

Jan 24, 2023 5:34:53 GMT -5 Futureraven: Beelzebruv said:

YES!

Having other heels turn on you doesn't make you a face, it makes you a dumbass.

This is how Edge's recent face turn felt to me. Just because Judgment Day turned on him doesn't mean he wasn't acting like a maniacal cult leader.

Owen Hart's heel turn in 1998 is another one that felt weirdly sudden. He had been a face against DX for only a few months and suddenly was going after Ken Shamrock unprovoked like the guy had assaulted his wife. Owen was obviously much better as a heel, but targeting Shamrock so violently like that made no sense.

1998 Just ruined Owen.

Going from ambushing HBK, to constantly losing to HHH, to feuding with X-Pac, moving down the DX ladder.

Joining the Nation as "co-leader" despite The Rock clearly being the leader and being, well, The Rock so anyone would be overshadowed. Plus not fitting into the group, not just the obvious, but he had a different attitude, his gear was completely different.

The weird stuff with Dan Severn...

Turning him, ok, but they could have say, put Severn and Blackman with him, Owen IS the leader, he talks for them, has a vibe that matches the others, call the "The Dungeon" and have them break a few limbs.

Would it have main evented? No but it would have been a better fit.

["Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik]

Austin/Angle both turning the night after Survivor Series 2001 was a lot for me to process.

[Jindrak Mark]

Jan 24, 2023 14:26:19 GMT -5 celtics543 said:

They should've had Orton and Batista turn on Flair/HHH after Orton won the title. Give the whole "Evolution, has passed you by" speech and become uber-heels. HHH and Flair disappear for a while and maybe come back as faces or leading some other heel stable.

I wouldn't want to give up or change the HHH/Batista feud though.