History FaceHeelTurn / ProfessionalWrestling

* Countless competitors in ProfessionalWrestling (which is fitting, as it's the business that [[TropeNamer named the term/trope]]). Often, a heel turn will stem from a face feeling as though he doesn't have the respect of the fans or his fellow faces; this is sometimes set up by having the face lose for several weeks in a row, finally lose his temper and blame the fans or other faces. Usually, the new heel will prove his heelishness with a sneak attack on a former face ally, often aided by his new heel allies, and often followed by a MotiveRant about why they did it. Heel turns by wrestlers who constantly switch between heel and face (Wrestling/LexLuger and [[Wrestling/BigShow Paul Wight]] are two examples) don't have all that much impact on the fans, but when a long-term face goes heel it's a big deal. The biggest example of this might be babyface Hulk Hogan's heel turn at WCW event Bash at the Beach in 1996 after over a decade of superheroics, which shocked fans and generated mainstream attention. A wrestler who turns often enough eventually occasionally settles into [[WildCard "tweener"]] mode, where they're considered neutral, and perform either face or heel tactics as the storyline demands.

* The heel turn is a popular way to split up a face tag team, [[BreakupBreakout especially when one member of the team is thought to have more potential as a singles wrestler]]. One of the most famous of these (and the former TropeNamer for that trope) was when the Rockers, a pair of high-flying pretty-boy faces, appeared on [[Wrestling/BrutusBeefcake Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake's]] talk show "The Barbershop" to air out their tensions of preceding weeks. After seeming to reconcile with a hug, Wrestling/ShawnMichaels proceeded to kick Marty Jannetty in the face and toss him through the (fake) glass window of the set, setting up his new persona of The Heartbreak Kid and a lifetime of superstardom.

* Wrestling/VinceMcMahon's heel turn came very gradually and very subtly, not fully being sown until after the Wrestling/MontrealScrewjob at the 1997 Wrestling/SurvivorSeries. [=McMahon=] had experimented with the heel authority character back in the summer of 1993 in the WWF's developmental promotion in Memphis, picking a feud with [[Wrestling/JerryLawler]]. As the Memphis TV shows were syndicated in only four cities, this was not widely publicized. The later heel turn all began during a routine episode of ''Wrestling/MondayNightRaw'' in the fall of 1996 when, irritated at being relegated to analyst instead of lead play-by-play, Wrestling/JimRoss delivered a worked shoot promo insulting [=McMahon=], outing him as WWF owner and accusing him of holding him back. That angle -- which infamously incorporated the "Fake Diesel"/"Fake Razor Ramon" characters (the former of the fakes was actually Glenn Jacobs, who would find success following a retooling into Wrestling/{{Kane}}) -- eventually went nowhere, but then more seeds were planted when Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin, during an in-ring promo, insulted Wrestling/GorillaMonsoon (who was then in the role of "WWF President," while still doing occasional commentary) and called him [=McMahon=]'s puppet. Throughout the winter, more occasional hints were dropped that [=McMahon=] was WWF owner, although he never acknowledged his true role and remained the amiable face-leaning play-by-play "voice of the WWF." In March 1997, after Wrestling/BretHart went on an angry rant against [=McMahon=] and WWF management (following a loss to [[Wrestling/SidEudy Psycho Sid]] on national television) and even shoved him to the ground during a post-match interview, [=McMahon=] went into a rage before calming down. [=McMahon=] still remained the face-leaning, amiable voice of the WWF. The seeds of [=McMahon=]'s heel turn didn't really start to begin blooming, then, until the fall of 1997 when -- still as the WWF's lead announcer -- his style subtly began to become more neutral, with hidden hints of praise for the heel wrestlers, particularly those who were aligned against Austin. One key event in this was the September 22, 1997, ''Monday Night RAW'' show at New York City's Madison Square Garden, where Austin attacked [=McMahon=] after being told he was still injured (from a legitimate neck injury, suffered in an earlier match against Wrestling/OwenHart due to a botched piledriver). [=McMahon=]'s last episode, where it was clear something was going to happen, came on November 3, 1997.

* Wrestling/VinceMcMahon's heel turn came very gradually and very subtly, not fully being sown until after the Wrestling/MontrealScrewjob at the 1997 Wrestling/SurvivorSeries.[=McMahon=] had experimented with the heel authority character back in the summer of 1993 in the WWF's developmental promotion in Memphis, picking a feud with [[Wrestling/Jerry Lawler]]. As the Memphis TV shows were syndicated in only four cities, this was not widely publicized. The later heel turn all began during a routine episode of ''Wrestling/MondayNightRaw'' in the fall of 1996 when, irritated at being relegated to analyst instead of lead play-by-play, Wrestling/JimRoss delivered a worked shoot promo insulting [=McMahon=], outing him as WWF owner and accusing him of holding him back. That angle -- which infamously incorporated the "Fake Diesel"/"Fake Razor Ramon" characters (the former of the fakes was actually Glenn Jacobs, who would find success following a retooling into Wrestling/{{Kane}}) -- eventually went nowhere, but then more seeds were planted when Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin, during an in-ring promo, insulted Wrestling/GorillaMonsoon (who was then in the role of "WWF President," while still doing occasional commentary) and called him [=McMahon=]'s puppet. Throughout the winter, more occasional hints were dropped that [=McMahon=] was WWF owner, although he never acknowledged his true role and remained the amiable face-leaning play-by-play "voice of the WWF." In March 1997, after Wrestling/BretHart went on an angry rant against [=McMahon=] and WWF management (following a loss to [[Wrestling/SidEudy Psycho Sid]] on national television) and even shoved him to the ground during a post-match interview, [=McMahon=] went into a rage before calming down. [=McMahon=] still remained the face-leaning, amiable voice of the WWF. The seeds of [=McMahon=]'s heel turn didn't really start to begin blooming, then, until the fall of 1997 when -- still as the WWF's lead announcer -- his style subtly began to become more neutral, with hidden hints of praise for the heel wrestlers, particularly those who were aligned against Austin. One key event in this was the September 22, 1997, ''Monday Night RAW'' show at New York City's Madison Square Garden, where Austin attacked [=McMahon=] after being told he was still injured (from a legitimate neck injury, suffered in an earlier match against Wrestling/OwenHart due to a botched piledriver). [=McMahon=]'s last episode, where it was clear something was going to happen, came on November 3, 1997.

* Wrestling/VinceMcMahon's heel turn came very gradually and very subtly, not fully being sown until after the Wrestling/MontrealScrewjob at the 1997 Wrestling/SurvivorSeries.([=McMahon=] had experimented with the heel authority character back in the summer of 1993 in the WWF's developmental promotion in Memphis, picking a feud with Wrestling/Jerry Lawler. As the Memphis TV shows were syndicated in only four cities, this was not widely publicized.) The later heel turn all began during a routine episode of ''Wrestling/MondayNightRaw'' in the fall of 1996 when, irritated at being relegated to analyst instead of lead play-by-play, Wrestling/JimRoss delivered a worked shoot promo insulting [=McMahon=], outing him as WWF owner and accusing him of holding him back. That angle -- which infamously incorporated the "Fake Diesel"/"Fake Razor Ramon" characters (the former of the fakes was actually Glenn Jacobs, who would find success following a retooling into Wrestling/{{Kane}}) -- eventually went nowhere, but then more seeds were planted when Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin, during an in-ring promo, insulted Wrestling/GorillaMonsoon (who was then in the role of "WWF President," while still doing occasional commentary) and called him [=McMahon=]'s puppet. Throughout the winter, more occasional hints were dropped that [=McMahon=] was WWF owner, although he never acknowledged his true role and remained the amiable face-leaning play-by-play "voice of the WWF." In March 1997, after Wrestling/BretHart went on an angry rant against [=McMahon=] and WWF management (following a loss to [[Wrestling/SidEudy Psycho Sid]] on national television) and even shoved him to the ground during a post-match interview, [=McMahon=] went into a rage before calming down. [=McMahon=] still remained the face-leaning, amiable voice of the WWF. The seeds of [=McMahon=]'s heel turn didn't really start to begin blooming, then, until the fall of 1997 when -- still as the WWF's lead announcer -- his style subtly began to become more neutral, with hidden hints of praise for the heel wrestlers, particularly those who were aligned against Austin. One key event in this was the September 22, 1997, ''Monday Night RAW'' show at New York City's Madison Square Garden, where Austin attacked [=McMahon=] after being told he was still injured (from a legitimate neck injury, suffered in an earlier match against Wrestling/OwenHart due to a botched piledriver). [=McMahon=]'s last episode, where it was clear something was going to happen, came on November 3, 1997.

* Wrestling/VinceMcMahon's heel turn came very gradually and very subtly, not fully being sown until after the Wrestling/MontrealScrewjob at the 1997 Wrestling/SurvivorSeries. It all began during a routine episode of ''Wrestling/MondayNightRaw'' in the fall of 1996 when, irritated at being relegated to analyst instead of lead play-by-play, Wrestling/JimRoss delivered a worked shoot promo insulting [=McMahon=], outing him as WWF owner and accusing him of holding him back. That angle -- which infamously incorporated the "Fake Diesel"/"Fake Razor Ramon" characters (the former of the fakes was actually Glenn Jacobs, who would find success following a retooling into Wrestling/{{Kane}}) -- eventually went nowhere, but then more seeds were planted when Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin, during an in-ring promo, insulted Wrestling/GorillaMonsoon (who was then in the role of "WWF President," while still doing occasional commentary) and called him [=McMahon=]'s puppet. Throughout the winter, more occasional hints were dropped that [=McMahon=] was WWF owner, although he never acknowledged his true role and remained the amiable face-leaning play-by-play "voice of the WWF." In March 1997, after Wrestling/BretHart went on an angry rant against [=McMahon=] and WWF management (following a loss to [[Wrestling/SidEudy Psycho Sid]] on national television) and even shoved him to the ground during a post-match interview, [=McMahon=] went into a rage before calming down. [=McMahon=] still remained the face-leaning, amiable voice of the WWF. The seeds of [=McMahon=]'s heel turn didn't really start to begin blooming, then, until the fall of 1997 when -- still as the WWF's lead announcer -- his style subtly began to become more neutral, with hidden hints of praise for the heel wrestlers, particularly those who were aligned against Austin. One key event in this was the September 22, 1997, ''Monday Night RAW'' show at New York City's Madison Square Garden, where Austin attacked [=McMahon=] after being told he was still injured (from a legitimate neck injury, suffered in an earlier match against Wrestling/OwenHart due to a botched piledriver). [=McMahon=]'s last episode, where it was clear something was going to happen, came on November 3, 1997.

* [[Wrestling/FergalDevitt Finn Bálor]] debuted as a face in NXT and the main roster. On Bálor's return to NXT in 2019, he attacked Wrestling/JohnnyGargano, leaving Wrestling/TommasoCiampa defenseless against Wrestling/TheUndisputedEra. In 2022 after Wrestling/HellInACell, Bálor joined The Judgment Day with Damian Priest and Wrestling/RheaRipley... but not Wrestling/{{Edge|Wrestler}}. Rather than submit to The Iconoclast's leadership, he convinced them to betray Edge and operate as equals. %% WWE officially renders the stable's name with the American spelling.

* Wrestling/RomanReigns returned at ''[=SummerSlam=] 2020'' with a more aggressive personality and viciously attacked both Wrestling/BrayWyatt and Wrestling/BraunStrowman. And then the next week on ''[=SmackDown=]'' revealed that Reigns turned heel off-screen (the last time he was a heel was during 2014 as part of The Shield) AND, in an ironic twist, enlisted the aid of Wrestling/PaulHeyman as his personal "special counsel." It is later revealed in the ''[=SmackDown=]'' after ''Payback 2020'' that Reigns' heel turn is actually the result of [[SaveTheVillain saving Heyman from an ocean full of sharks]]. Heyman even assures that it was Reigns who "corrupted" him and NOT the other way around, and this is backed up by the abject fear that takes over Heyman whenever Reigns engages in one of his more brutal beatings.

* [[Wrestling/FergalDevitt Finn Bálor]] debuted as a face in NXT and the main roster. On Bálor's return to NXT in 2019, he attacked Wrestling/JohnnyGargano, leaving Wrestling/TommasoCiampa defenseless against Wrestling/TheUndisputedEra. In 2022 after Wrestling/HellInACell, Bálor joined The Judgment Day with Damian Priest and Wrestling/RheaRipley... but not Wrestling/{{Edge|Wrestler}}. Rather than submit to The Iconoclast's leadership, he convinced them to betray Edge and operated as equals. %% WWE officially renders the stable's name with the American spelling.

*** Triple H was the DesignatedHero for the main event against Wrestling/ChrisJericho at ''[=WrestleMania=] X8'' in 2002 mostly because 1.) many fans believed he TookALevelInBadass by coming back from his infamous quad injury like a true {{Determinator}} and 2.) he was feuding with [[Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon Stephanie [=McMahon=]]] while she was in full-on spoiled brat mode and supporting Jericho in their match. He won against Jericho and then immediately started his heel turn by picking a fight with perennial fan favorite Hogan. Once he attacked Shawn Michaels, it was complete.

** When Wresrling/{{Kane}} won the World Heavyweight Title in 2010, it started a feud between him and underdog face Wrestling/{{Rey Mysterio|Jr}}. Eventually, he confessed that he attacked Wrestling/TheUndertaker that Memorial Day weekend, fully completing his turn.
* Wrestling/TrishStratus was WWE's biggest babyface Diva ever since ''Wrestle Mania X-Seven'' when she turned on Vince. However three years later (notably when the equally popular Wrestling/{{Lita}} had returned) she turned heel at ''Wrestle Mania XX'' when she slapped Wrestling/ChrisJericho[[note]]Who had undergone a HeelFaceTurn when he fell in love with her[[/note]] and allied herself with his ArchEnemy Wrestling/{{Christian}}. Several critics who thought the PPV was disappointing praised the turn as one of the few high points of the night.

* Wrestling/{{Batista}} finally turned heel in the fall of 2009 after nearly five years of being a face. Funny thing is, WWE had attempted to turn him heel twice before, but without success. They had him betray the Undertaker in 2007, but the fans still cheered for him. Then they had him mete out some DisproportionateRetribution to Shawn Michaels in 2008, but that didn't go over, either. Finally, they had him beat the shit out of Rey Mysterio Jr.. Since Mysterio is so squeaky-clean good, the best way to turn another wrestler heel is to have him pick on the Ultimate Underdog (as was done with both Eddie and Wrestling/ChavoGuerreroJr).
** The reason it was even more effective is that Batista and Rey were HeterosexualLifePartners...seriously, the HoYay was palpable. Both of them were good friends of the late Wrestling/EddieGuerrero, they had each other's backs for years, and both were among the top babyfaces in the company. With the heel turn, and still armed with his customary GenreSavvy, Batista was on the cusp of real [[MagnificentBastard magnificence]]. (Too bad it ended almost as soon as it had begun.)

* Play-by-play commentator Wrestling/MichaelCole did an odd form of this. In early 2010 he was still a face on RAW, but on the debut episode of ''Wrestling/{{WWE NXT}}'' he lit the Internet on fire with his de facto burial of "debuting" [[{{Determinator}} underdog face]] [[Wrestling/BryanDanielson Daniel Bryan]] and didn't let up for months, verbally bickering with face NXT commentator Josh Matthews who continually [[LampshadeHanging calls him out on acting]] [[AscendedMeme like an establishment mouthpiece]], with even heel Wrestling/ChrisJericho has joined in mocking Cole when guest commentating. By October 2010, Cole began making the transition to being a heel on RAW as well, serving as the unctuous "mouthpiece" for the brand's [[HeWhoMustNotBeSeen mysterious General Manager]], who communicated with the arena via e-mail alerts. Cole TookALevelInJerkass in December when [[KickTheDog he cost his colleague]] Wrestling/JerryLawler [[NeverMyFault the title]] against [[HoYay the superstar he praises over all others]] Wrestling/TheMiz. He played the DirtyCoward role for all it's worth and entered the ring against Lawler at [=WrestleMania=] XXVII. He won after the General Manager reversed the decision. Teaming with Wrestling/JackSwagger, he continued to antagonize Lawler and Wrestling/JimRoss for a few more months, before he lost the final blowoff match with Lawyer and endured a HumiliationConga to end the feud. While this toned down his more abrasive aspects, Cole would still act heelish until Lawler's real-life on-air heart attack several months later, during which his professional conduct and real-life pain and fear immediately turned him face again.
* Wrestling/EveTorres spent five years of her career as a face and her heel turn came completely out of left field. She was being stalked by Kane for weeks and when John Cena rescued her from an attack, she passionately kissed him. She was supposed to be having a thing with Cena's best friend (and super over) [[Wrestling/MattCardona Zack Ryder]]. The storyline seemed set up to have Kane manipulating Eve, but it's likely WWE took note of the insane amount of heat she was getting. Thus the next week she abruptly announced she'd been using Zack all along and ended up getting branded a [[ReallyGetsAround "Hoeski"]][[note]]When Matt Cardona performed as Zack Ryder, he talked in "Bro-speak", and had a running big boot to the corner called the "[=Broski=] Boot."[[/note]] by Cena in the middle of the ring. The turn paid off as she became [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-diva.html WWE Divas' Champion]] for the third time before the end of the year.
* Wrestling/AJLee had a heel turn that took six months to properly complete. After she accidentally cost beau Daniel Bryan the title at ''[=WrestleMania=]'', he told her he wished she had never been born. AJ actually snapped and became a loose cannon, attacking her former best friend Kaitlyn and eventually developing some disturbing {{Yandere}} tendencies towards Bryan, Kane, and CM Punk. A heel turn was teased when Daniel Bryan eventually proposed to her, but she left him at the altar in favor of becoming the Raw General Manager. She finally turned heel properly at the last PPV of 2012 as she cost John Cena a match against Dolph Ziggler.
* PlayedForLaughs at [=SummerSlam=] 2015, guest host Creator/JonStewart (recently retired from Series/TheDailyShow) turns "heel" by hitting John Cena with a chair.

* Wrestling/RomanReigns returned at ''[=SummerSlam=] 2020'' with a more aggressive personality and viciously attacked both Wrestling/BrayWyatt and Wrestling/BraunStrowman. And then the next week on ''[=SmackDown=]'' revealed that Reigns turned heel off-screen (the last time he was a heel was during 2014 as part of The Shield) AND, in an ironic twist, enlisted the aid of Wrestling/PaulHeyman as his personal "special counsel." It is later revealed in the ''[=SmackDown=]'' after ''Payback 2020'' that Reigns's heel turn is actually the result of [[SaveTheVillain saving Heyman from an ocean full of sharks]]. Heyman even assures that it was Reigns who "corrupted" him and NOT the other way around, and this is backed up by the abject fear that takes over Heyman whenever Reigns engages in one of his more brutal beatings.

* [[Wrestling/FergalDevitt Finn Bálor]] debuted as a face in NXT and Main Roster. On Bálor's return to NXT in 2019, he attacked Wrestling/JohnnyGargano, leaving Wrestling/TommasoCiampa defenseless against Wrestling/TheUndisputedEra. In 2022 after Wrestling/HellInACell, Bálor joined The Judgement Day with Damian Priest and Wrestling/RheaRipley...but not Wrestling/{{Edge|Wrestler}}. Rather than submit to The Iconoclast's leadership, he convinced them to betray Edge and operated as equals.
* Dominik Mysterio's heel turn after his father Wrestling/{{Rey Mysterio|Jr}} and Wrestling/{{Edge|Wrestler}} defeated The Judgement Day, later attacking both Rey and Edge. After ''Clash at the Castle'', Dominik officially joined The Judgement Day.

* Wrestling/ChrisJericho did a very odd and hilarious form of this in 2012. He was returning to feud with then-face Wrestling/CMPunk as a heel, but knew that the fans would cheer for him when he came back thanks to the trappings of HeelFaceReturn. So he decided play into it by returning, pandering to the crowd, shouting out things like "Yeah, baby!", and not actually ''saying'' anything for several minutes -- by the end of the segment the cheers had turned into boos. He continued this behavior for an entire month, until he lost the Wrestling/RoyalRumble, at which point he finally conducted a promo, admitted to {{troll}}ing the audience, and accused them and every other wrestler in the back of being a Jericho wannabe.
* Cora Jade betrayed her partner Roxanne Perez in her title match against NXT Women's Champion Wrestling/MandyRose, revealing that she's attacked her backstage to try replace her in the match.
* [[Wrestling/FergalDevitt Finn Bálor]] debut as a face in NXT and Main Roster. In 2019 Bálor return to NXT he attacked Wrestling/JohnnyGargano, leaving Wrestling/TommasoCiampa defenseless against Wrestling/TheUndisputedEra. In 2022 after Wrestling/HellInACell, Bálor joined The Judgement Day with Damian Priest and Wrestling/RheaRipley...but not Wrestling/{{Edge|Wrestler}}. Rather than submit to The Iconoclast's leadership, he convinced them to betray Edge and operated as equals.

* Wrestling/JohnnyGargano first heel turn after attacked Wrestling/AleisterBlack prior to the original planned triple threat match at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III. Second heel turn by costing Wrestling/TommasoCiampa his title match at NXT Takeover: Portland.

** When Kane won the World Heavyweight Title in 2010, it started a feud between him and underdog face Wrestling/ReyMysterioJr. Eventually, he confessed that he attacked Wrestling/TheUndertaker that Memorial Day weekend, fully completing his turn.
* Trish Stratus was WWE's biggest babyface Diva ever since ''Wrestle Mania X-Seven'' when she turned on Vince. However three years later (notably when the equally popular Wrestling/{{Lita}} had returned) she turned heel at ''Wrestle Mania XX'' when she slapped Wrestling/ChrisJericho[[note]]Who had undergone a HeelFaceTurn when he fell in love with her[[/note]] and allied herself with his ArchEnemy Wrestling/{{Christian}}. Several critics who thought the PPV was disappointing praised the turn as one of the few high points of the night.

* Wrestling/EveTorres spent five years of her career as a face and her heel turn came completely out of left field. She was being stalked by Kane for weeks and when John Cena rescued her from an attack, she passionately kissed him. She was supposed to be having a thing with Cena's best friend (and super over) Wrestling/ZackRyder. The storyline seemed set up to have Kane manipulating Eve, but it's likely WWE took note of the insane amount of heat she was getting. Thus the next week she abruptly announced she'd been using Zack all along and ended up getting branded a [[ReallyGetsAround "Hoeski"]][[note]]Zack Ryder talks in "Bro-speak", and has a running big boot to the corner called the "[=Broski=] Boot."[[/note]] by Cena in the middle of the ring. The turn paid off as she became [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-diva.html WWE Divas' Champion]] for the third time before the end of the year.
* Wrestling/AJLee had a heel turn that took six months to properly complete. After she accidentally cost beau Daniel Bryan the title at ''Wrestle Mania'', he told her he wished she had never been born. AJ actually snapped and became a loose cannon, attacking her former best friend Kaitlyn and eventually developing some disturbing {{Yandere}} tendencies towards Bryan, Kane, and CM Punk. A heel turn was teased when Daniel Bryan eventually proposed to her, but she left him at the altar in favour of becoming the Raw General Manager. She finally turned heel properly at the last PPV of 2012 as she cost John Cena a match against Dolph Ziggler.
* PlayedForLaughs at [=SummerSlam=] 2015, guest host Jon Stewart (recently retired from Series/TheDailyShow) turns "heel" by hitting John Cena with a chair.

* Wrestling/FinnBalor debut as a face in NXT and Main Roster. In 2019 Balor return to NXT he attacked Wrestling/JohnnyGargano, leaving Wrestling/TommasoCiampa defenseless against Wrestling/TheUndisputedEra. In 2022 after Wrestling/HellInACell, Balor joined The Judgement Day with Damian Priest and Wrestling/RheaRipley...but not Wrestling/{{Edge|Wrestler}}. Rather than submit to The Iconoclast's leadership, he convinced them to betray Edge and operated as equals.
* Dominik Mysterio heel turn after his father Wrestling/ReyMysterio and Wrestling/{{Edge|Wrestler}} defeated The Judgement Day later attacked both Rey and Edge. After Clash at the Castle Dominik officially joined The Judgement Day.

* Wrestling/FinnBalor debut as a face in NXT and Main Roster. In 2019 Balor return to NXT he attacked Wrestling/JohnnyGargano, leaving Wrestling/TommasoCiampa defenseless against Wrestling/TheUndisputedEra. In 2022 after Wrestling/HellInACell, Balor joined The Judgement Day with Damian Priest and Wrestling/RheaRipley...but not Wrestling/{{Edge}}. Rather than submit to The Iconoclast's leadership, he convinced them to betray Edge and operated as equals.
* Dominik Mysterio heel turn after his father Wrestling/ReyMysterio and Wrestling/{{Edge}} defeated The Judgement Day later attacked both Rey and Edge. After Clash at the Castle Dominik officially joined The Judgement Day.

* Dominik Mysterio heel turn after his father Wrestling/ReyMysterio and Wrestling/{{Edge}} defeated The Judgement Day later attacked both Rey and Edge.

* Wrestling/VinceMcMahon's heel turn came very gradually and very subtly, not fully being sown until after the Wrestling/MontrealScrewjob at the 1997 Wrestling/SurvivorSeries. It all began during a routine episode of ''Wrestling/MondayNightRaw'' in the fall of 1996 when, irritated at being relegated to analyst instead of lead play-by-play, Wrestling/JimRoss delivered a worked shoot promo insulting [=McMahon=], outing him as WWF owner and accusing him of holding him back. That angle -- which infamously incorporated the "Fake Diesel"/"Fake Razor Ramon" characters (the former of the fakes was actually Glenn Jacobs, who would find success following a retooling into Kane) -- eventually went nowhere, but then more seeds were planted when Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin, during an in-ring promo, insulted Wrestling/GorillaMonsoon (who was then in the role of "WWF President," while still doing occasional commentary) and called him [=McMahon=]'s puppet. Throughout the winter, more occasional hints were dropped that [=McMahon=] was WWF owner, although he never acknowledged his true role and remained the amiable face-leaning play-by-play "voice of the WWF." In March 1997, after Wrestling/BretHart went on an angry rant against [=McMahon=] and WWF management (following a loss to [[Wrestling/SidEudy Psycho Sid]] on national television) and even shoved him to the ground during a post-match interview, [=McMahon=] went into a rage before calming down. [=McMahon=] still remained the face-leaning, amiable voice of the WWF. The seeds of [=McMahon=]'s heel turn didn't really start to begin blooming, then, until the fall of 1997 when -- still as the WWF's lead announcer -- his style subtly began to become more neutral, with hidden hints of praise for the heel wrestlers, particularly those who were aligned against Austin. One key event in this was the September 22, 1997, ''Monday Night RAW'' show at New York City's Madison Square Garden, where Austin attacked [=McMahon=] after being told he was still injured (from a legitimate neck injury, suffered in an earlier match against Wrestling/OwenHart due to a botched piledriver). [=McMahon=]'s last episode, where it was clear something was going to happen, came on November 3, 1997.

** To further illustrate how bad this got, WCW once attempted to turn Sting heel by having him sucker-punch Hulk Hogan. It didn't work, because kayfabe or not, no wrestling fan at that time (late 1999) was going to buy Hulk Hogan as a more heroic figure than Sting. Sting was universally cheered for punking Hogan.

** The one exception at that event was Wrestling/RobVanDam. As one of the ECW invaders, he behaved like a DirtyCoward in his Ladder Match with Jeff Hardy for the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwf-hc.html WWE Hardcore Championship]] but got cheered anyway - and won!

* Wrestling/VinceMcMahon's heel turn came very gradually and very subtly, not fully being sown until after the Wrestling/MontrealScrewjob at the 1997 Wrestling/SurvivorSeries. It all began during a routine episode of ''Wrestling/MondayNightRaw'' in the fall of 1996 when, irritated at being relegated to analyst instead of lead play-by-play, Wrestling/JimRoss delivered a worked shoot promo insulting [=McMahon=], outing him as WWF owner and accusing him of holding him back. That angle -- which infamously incorporated the "Fake Diesel"/"Fake Razor Ramon" characters -- eventually went nowhere, but then more seeds were planted when Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin, during an in-ring promo, insulted Wrestling/GorillaMonsoon (who was then in the role of "WWF President," while still doing occasional commentary) and called him [=McMahon=]'s puppet. Throughout the winter, more occasional hints were dropped that [=McMahon=] was WWF owner, although he never acknowledged his true role and remained the amiable face-leaning play-by-play "voice of the WWF." In March 1997, after Wrestling/BretHart went on an angry rant against [=McMahon=] and WWF management (following a loss to [[Wrestling/SidEudy Psycho Sid]] on national television) and even shoved him to the ground during a post-match interview, [=McMahon=] went into a rage before calming down. [=McMahon=] still remained the face-leaning, amiable voice of the WWF. The seeds of [=McMahon=]'s heel turn didn't really start to begin blooming, then, until the fall of 1997 when -- still as the WWF's lead announcer -- his style subtly began to become more neutral, with hidden hints of praise for the heel wrestlers, particularly those who were aligned against Austin. One key event in this was the September 22, 1997, ''Monday Night RAW'' show at New York City's Madison Square Garden, where Austin attacked [=McMahon=] after being told he was still injured (from a legitimate neck injury, suffered in an earlier match against Wrestling/OwenHart). [=McMahon=]'s last episode, where it was clear something was going to happen, came on November 3, 1997.

* Another famous tag team split occurred in the late 80's in the Jim Crockett Wrestling/{{N|ationalWrestlingAlliance}}WA, when Lex Luger and Wrestling/BarryWindham were the top faces, feuding with Wrestling/RicFlair's devious Four Horsemen stable. In the weeks prior to a huge tag team title match, the Horsemen constantly told Windham that Luger (who had recently ''left'' the Horsemen in a HeelFaceTurn) was only out for himself and would abandon Windham when he needed him most, teasing that Luger would turn on him and join the Horsemen. In the match itself, a badly beaten Windham tried to tag his partner, but Luger had just been knocked off the ring apron by Horsemen associates, thereby "proving" that he wasn't there when he needed him, and prompting Windham to turn on Luger and join the Horsemen himself.

* Another contender for biggest face heel turn, especially of the 1990s though it was overlooked by most fans in the USA, was that of El Hijo Del Santo, when he disguised himself as Felino to attack Felino's brother, Negro Casas. Along with actually pushing younger talent, it is credited with turning around Wrestling/{{CMLL}}, which had to deal with Wrestling/{{AAA}} breaking away and a recession in Mexico.

** Along with RVD, the only other Alliance member who WWE could not get the fans to oppose, for completely different reasons of course, was Wrestling/StacyKeibler.
* There seems to be a distressing tendency for a wrestler's FaceHeelTurn to coincide with his winning a championship title. Supposedly, this is to maintain the "underdog" status of the face wrestler, and let the fans root for him against the JerkAss with the title. Sometimes the turn happens in the title match itself, if the 'underdog' wins the title through a particularly cheap method (use of foreign object, another wrestler interfering with the match, and so on).

** When Kane won the World Heavyweight Title in 2010, it started a feud between him and underdog face Wrestling/ReyMysterioJr. Eventually he confessed that he attacked Wrestling/TheUndertaker that Memorial Day weekend, fully completing his turn.

* Wrestling/{{Lita}} herself also had to turn heel due to real life issues. She had been in a relationship with Wrestling/MattHardy and it was revealed she'd had an affair with Edge. When that became public knowledge, crowds began to chant "slut" and "You screwed Matt!" at her. Thus they turned her heel for the first time ever in her wrestling career and paired her with Edge on screen. This actually resulted in her abrupt retirement from wrestling a year later as she kept getting excessive abuse from Matt's fans.

** The reason it was even more effective is that Batista and Rey were HeterosexualLifePartners...seriously, the HoYay was palpable. Both of them were good friends of the late Wrestling/EddieGuerrero, they had each others' back for years, and both were among the top babyfaces in the company. With the heel turn, and still armed with his customary GenreSavvy, Batista was on the cusp of real [[MagnificentBastard magnificence]]. (Too bad it ended almost as soon as it had begun.)

* Play-by-play commentator Wrestling/MichaelCole did an odd form of this. In early 2010 he was still a face on RAW, but on the debut episode of ''Wrestling/{{WWE NXT}}'' he lit the Internet on fire with his de facto burial of "debuting" [[{{Determinator}} underdog face]] [[Wrestling/BryanDanielson Daniel Bryan]] and didn't let up for months, verbally bickering with face NXT commentator Josh Matthews who continually [[LampshadeHanging calls him out on acting]] [[AscendedMeme like an establishment mouthpiece]], with even heel Wrestling/ChrisJericho has joined in mocking Cole when guest commentating. By October 2010, Cole began making the transition to being a heel on RAW as well, serving as the unctuous "mouthpiece" for the brand's [[HeWhoMustNotBeSeen mysterious General Manager]], who communicated with the arena via e-mail alerts. Cole TookALevelInJerkass in December when [[KickTheDog he cost his colleague]] Wrestling/JerryLawler [[NeverMyFault the title]] against [[HoYay the superstar he praises over all others]] Wrestling/TheMiz. He played the DirtyCoward role for all it's worth and entered the ring against Lawler at [=WrestleMania=] XXVII. He won after the General Manager reversed the decision. Teaming with Wrestling/JackSwagger, he continued to antagonize Lawler and Wrestling/JimRoss for a few more months, before he lost the final blowoff match with Lawyer and endured a HumiliationConga to end the feud. While this toned down his more abrasive aspects, Cole would still act heelish until Lawler's real-life on-air heart attack several months later, during which his professional conduct and real life pain and fear immediately turned him face again.
* Wrestling/EveTorres spent five years of her career as a face and her heel turn came completely out of left field. She was being stalked by Kane for weeks and when John Cena rescued her from an attack, she passionately kissed him. She was supposed to be having a thing with Cena's best friend (and super over) Wrestling/ZackRyder. The storyline seemed set up to have Kane manipulating Eve but it's likely WWE took note of the insane amount of heat she was getting. Thus the next week she abruptly announced she'd been using Zack all along and ended up getting branded a [[ReallyGetsAround "Hoeski"]][[note]]Zack Ryder talks in "Bro-speak", and has a running big boot to the corner called the "[=Broski=] Boot."[[/note]] by Cena in the middle of the ring. The turn paid off as she became [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-diva.html WWE Divas' Champion]] for the third time before the end of the year.
* Wrestling/AJLee had a heel turn that took six months to properly complete. After she accidentally cost beau Daniel Bryan the title at ''Wrestle Mania'', he told her he wished she had never been born. AJ actually snapped and became a loose cannon, attacking her former best friend Kaitlyn and eventually developing some disturbing {{Yandere}} tendencies towards Bryan, Kane and CM Punk. A heel turn was teased when Daniel Bryan eventually proposed to her but she left him at the altar in favour of becoming the Raw General Manager. She finally turned heel properly at the last PPV of 2012 as she cost John Cena a match against Dolph Ziggler.

* Wrestling/TommasoCiampa's heel turn in May 2017 is considered by many to be played to ''perfection''. After brutally betraying his best friend Wrestling/JohnnyGargano, he disappeared for the rest of the year due to a legitimate injury before returning in the winter of 2018, continually taunting the ultra popular Gargano to the point where he is getting some of the most harsh reactions in all of the WWE.
* Wrestling/{{Bayley}}: On the 9/2/19 episode of ''Raw'', Bayley teamed up with Wrestling/BeckyLynch to face off against Wrestling/AlexaBliss and Wrestling/NikkiCross in a tag team match, which they won by disqualification after Wrestling/SashaBanks attacked Lynch from behind and hit her with a steel chair. Bayley stopped Banks at that point, [[BaitAndSwitch then hit Lynch with the chair herself]], thus turning heel for the first time in WWE. She fully turned heel on the 10/11/19 Smackdown after going though a look change and destroying her wacky waving inflatable arm tube men.
* Wrestling/MustafaAli's heel turn after he reveal himself as a leader of Retribution.

* Wrestling/RomanReigns returned at ''[=SummerSlam=] 2020'' with a more aggressive personality and viciously attacked both Wrestling/BrayWyatt and Wrestling/BraunStrowman. And then the next week on ''[=SmackDown=]'' revealed that Reigns turned heel off-screen (the last time he was a heel was during 2014 as part of The Shield) AND, in an ironic twist, enlisted the aid of Wrestling/PaulHeyman as his personal "special counsel." It is later revealed in the ''[=SmackDown=]'' after ''Payback 2020'' that Reigns' heel turn is actually the result of [[SaveTheVillain saving Heyman from an ocean full of sharks]]. Heyman even assures that it was Reigns who "corrupted" him and NOT the other way around, and this is backed up by the abject fear that takes over Heyman whenever Reigns engages in one of his more brutal beatings.

* PlayedForLaughs in Summer Slam 2015, guest host Jon Stewart (recently retired from Series/TheDailyShow) turns "heel" by hitting John Cena with a chair.

* Wrestling/MustafaAli after he reveal himself as a leader of Retribution.

* Countless competitors in ProfessionalWrestling (which is fitting, as it's the business that named the term/trope). Often, a heel turn will stem from a face feeling as though he doesn't have the respect of the fans or his fellow faces; this is sometimes set up by having the face lose for several weeks in a row, finally lose his temper and blame the fans or other faces. Usually, the new heel will prove his heelishness with a sneak attack on a former face ally, often aided by his new heel allies, and often followed by a MotiveRant about why they did it. Heel turns by wrestlers who constantly switch between heel and face (Wrestling/LexLuger and [[Wrestling/BigShow Paul Wight]] are two examples) don't have all that much impact on the fans, but when a long-term face goes heel it's a big deal. The biggest example of this might be babyface Hulk Hogan's heel turn at WCW event Bash at the Beach in 1996 after over a decade of superheroics, which shocked fans and generated mainstream attention. A wrestler who turns often enough eventually occasionally settles into [[WildCard "tweener"]] mode, where they're considered neutral, and perform either face or heel tactics as the storyline demands.

* Wrestling/{{Bayley}}: On the 9/2/19 episode of ''Raw'', Bayley teamed up with Wrestling/BeckyLynch to face off against Wrestling/AlexaBliss and Wrestling/NikkiCross in a tag team match, which they won by disqualification after Sasha Banks attacked Lynch from behind and hit her with a steel chair. Bayley stopped Banks at that point, [[BaitAndSwitch then hit Lynch with the chair herself]], thus turning heel for the first time in WWE. She fully turned heel on the 10/11/19 Smackdown after going though a look change and destroying her wacky waving inflatable arm tube men.

* Wrestling/{{Bayley}}: On the 9/2/19 episode of ''Raw'', Bayley teamed up with Becky Lynch to face off against Alexa Bliss and Wrestling/NikkiCross in a tag team match, which they won by disqualification after Sasha Banks attacked Lynch from behind and hit her with a steel chair. Bayley stopped Banks at that point, [[BaitAndSwitch then hit Lynch with the chair herself]], thus turning heel for the first time in WWE. She fully turned heel on the 10/11/19 Smackdown after going though a look change and destroying her wacky waving inflatable arm tube men.

** The FaceHeelTurn of Wrestling/RandySavage in 1989 was born out of jealousy, envy and, in part, anger and irritation due to Hogan upstaging him, the World Champion, and his overly friendly behavior toward MissElizabeth.

* Wrestling/VinceMcMahon's heel turn came very gradually and very subtly, not fully being sown until after the Wrestling/MontrealScrewjob at the 1997 Wrestling/SurvivorSeries. It all began during a routine episode of ''Series/MondayNightRaw'' in the fall of 1996 when, irritated at being relegated to analyst instead of lead play-by-play, Wrestling/JimRoss delivered a worked shoot promo insulting [=McMahon=], outing him as WWF owner and accusing him of holding him back. That angle -- which infamously incorporated the "Fake Diesel"/"Fake Razor Ramon" characters -- eventually went nowhere, but then more seeds were planted when Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin, during an in-ring promo, insulted Wrestling/GorillaMonsoon (who was then in the role of "WWF President," while still doing occasional commentary) and called him [=McMahon=]'s puppet. Throughout the winter, more occasional hints were dropped that [=McMahon=] was WWF owner, although he never acknowledged his true role and remained the amiable face-leaning play-by-play "voice of the WWF." In March 1997, after Wrestling/BretHart went on an angry rant against [=McMahon=] and WWF management (following a loss to [[Wrestling/SidEudy Psycho Sid]] on national television) and even shoved him to the ground during a post-match interview, [=McMahon=] went into a rage before calming down. [=McMahon=] still remained the face-leaning, amiable voice of the WWF. The seeds of [=McMahon=]'s heel turn didn't really start to begin blooming, then, until the fall of 1997 when -- still as the WWF's lead announcer -- his style subtly began to become more neutral, with hidden hints of praise for the heel wrestlers, particularly those who were aligned against Austin. One key event in this was the September 22, 1997, ''Monday Night RAW'' show at New York City's Madison Square Garden, where Austin attacked [=McMahon=] after being told he was still injured (from a legitimate neck injury, suffered in an earlier match against Wrestling/OwenHart). [=McMahon=]'s last episode, where it was clear something was going to happen, came on November 3, 1997.