When was the last time commentary team forced a heel turn?

[The Rick Jericho]

So the 1996-97 Bret Hart storyline arc was amazing as we all know. But the subtle jabs from commentary, right from his first match back at Survivor Series 1996 all the way until Wrestlemania 13.

So many subtle jabs, especially from Vince over the months, they were really forcing the narrative that Bret was whiny, acting like a jerk, and HE was the one who CHANGED.

Have they ever gone back to the well and done this even in recent memory?

My mind is pretty much drawing a blank on if this has been used at all since 1996-97.

[Chiral]

This might not be the exact thing you're asking for but the first thing that comes to mind is 2012ish Cena where Lawler would spend the whole show whining about how mean people are to John and how the heels and fans booing John can't lift as much weights as John etc. etc.

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

Oct 11, 2023 21:27:09 GMT -5 Chiral said:

This might not be the exact thing you're asking for but the first thing that comes to mind is 2012ish Cena where Lawler would spend the whole show whining about how mean people are to John and how the heels and fans booing John can't lift as much weights as John etc. etc.

That still may be one of the most ridiculous things they got a commentator to say

I just imagine how warped Vince's worldview is that he just thinks to himself 'JUST LIFT MORE WEIGHTS UNTIL YOU LIKE CENA YOU STUPID MARKS'

[Zombie Mod]

they stopped trying this once vince fully transitioned to an offscreen position and took up his new sport of shouting down the commentators ears and demanding his new buzzwords be repeated a stupid amount of times per hour.

I think the last real time they attempted to enforce a heel turn via commentary to that level was the undertaker's original American Bad ass heel turn and JR went too far over the top with it and vince decided no one could manage to make it a successful thing a second time.

[Cvslfc123]

I felt this happened with Ryback in 2013. To everyone watching it looked like he attacked John Cena simply to make a statement that he wanted the WWE Title. Michael Cole then tried desperately to tell us that he had turned heel even though the crowd popped huge for it.

[Aceorton]

I feel like both the Marc Mero and Goldust heel turns in late '97 were driven more by the commentary than anything else. When Mero came back with the boxing gimmick and the cool TKO finisher, he initially was facing heels and getting lightly cheered, but they were countering hard on commentary by implying he was not only jealous of Sable's popularity but physically abusing her. With Goldust, he was a lot more direct in terms of "I AM A HEEL NOW," but they added a huge layer to it with all the "daddy issues" stuff at the announce table. People booed him harder because JR was telling us he was insecure and pathetic.

[Confused Mark Wahlberg]

I want to say they did this just before HBK went from tweener to full DX douchebag mode, but I may be misremembering, that was 26 (!) years ago.

Dammit, now I just depressed myself.

[Renslayer]

Oct 12, 2023 14:30:57 GMT -5 Confused Mark Wahlberg said:

I want to say they did this just before HBK went from tweener to full DX douchebag mode, but I may be misremembering, that was 26 (!) years ago.

Dammit, now I just depressed myself.

Nah I think you're right. On raw the next night, Jim Ross went to blaming HBK immediately

["Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik]

The announcers tried with Becky in 2018 but then just gave up when they realized they couldn't fight it.