TOP FIVE LIST: The Top Heel Turns of All Time including Bret Hart turns on the U.S., Vince McMahon becomes the bad guy, Andre wants title shot against Hulk Hogan,

As we all anticipate the match between Cody Rhodes and John Cena, part of the intrigue is how Cena will perform as a heel. John rose to the main event as a heel, but that was so many years ago, that many young fans didn’t see that era of Cena’s character development. I personally have a 22-year old son who grew up loving John Cena as his second favorite wrestler (he couldn’t fight the urge to “Whoo! Whoo! Whoo! You know it”), and he has no memory of the bad boy rapper, Leader of the Chain Gang, version of John Cena. I thought I’d look back at some of the greatest heel turns in wrestling history.

Before we start, a couple of honorable mentions. Two heel turns that preceded my time in watching, but had legendary ramifications. These are when the Fabulous Freebirds turned on the Von Erich Brothers, and when Dusty Rhodes was turned on and left lying bloody in the cage by a group of men that would come to be known as the Four Horsemen.

John Cena Attacks Cody Rhodes After Cody Turns Down The Rock

I couldn’t argue with anyone who would call this the most shocking heel turn of the last two decades. No one saw it coming. I hadn’t heard rumors, the clues were subtle, and, in many ways, it didn’t make sense. This was hoping to be John Cena’s final run. He was being cheered as a legend after leaving the legacy of being the most booed babyface in history to that point. This is the biggest interest point for most going into WrestleMania 41, and if it was two babyfaces, I don’t think it would be as anticipated.

Bret Hart Turns on the U.S.

In the most unique heel turn, Bret Hart’s turn was only focused towards one country. As the man who prided himself on being the hero of what he had called, in his own words, a morality play, he wasn’t comfortable changing the core of his character. For anyone too young reading this to know, the 90s was a rebellious era. Gen X was coming of age, and we just didn’t have the same reverence for what was right or wrong, good or bad (many of us still feel that way!). It was also the beginning of the information age, and fans were learning more and more about throngs behind the scenes. For whatever reasons the crowd booed, Hart was not getting the cheers he was used to. He was frustrated with what the crowd wanted, and blamed it the audience becoming more and more perverse, which turned him into a heel who could let loose on the crowd and work for the jeers, but at the same time, was seen as a babyface in the eyes of international audiences. It was brilliant storytelling and another reason that the late 90’s was the last hot era in professional wrestling.

Vince McMahon Becomes the Bad Guy

Everyone has an opinion on the man, but let’s set that aside for a moment and focus on the character that Vince McMahon played on our television sets. There was a time that Vince wasn’t known as the owner and promoter of the company. He was simply thought of as a play by play announcer, seen sitting next to Jesse Ventura, Lord Alfred Hayes, or Jerry “The King” Lawler. Then comments were made in interviews that would allude to the fact that McMahon had some type of authority in the company. By the end of the infamous “screw job,” the entire audience was let in that Vince was actually the owner of the entire company. Once that was out in the public, and since the crowd hated him already for what Vince had done to Bret Hart, it was able to make him into a character, and with that power his character became a true threat to an extremely hot babyface in Stone Cold Steve Austin. While the evil authority figure far outlasted it’s welcome as a trope, it’s hard to argue that this one didn’t work.

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Andre the Giant Wants His Title Shot Against Hulk Hogan

This is another angle that precedes my watching of wrestling, but the WWE has done such a fantastic job helping this angle last, and even maybe let the legend grow, with all of the video packages and documentaries over the years, that you can easily relive the story. This was a story told over and over. You can go back to Bruno Sammartino having his protege, Larry Zbyszko, turn on the top star due to a case of jealousy and see it happen years ago in the territory. The WWF had done it with hogan before with Paul Orndorf, and would do it many times again with Randy Savage and Tugboat. The Macho Man fan in me wanted to list the Megapowers exploding, but that didn’t have the same effect of business. Andre was the special attraction babyface in every territory, so it was very unsuspected to think that Bobby “The Brain” Henan would be able to convince him to take down everyone’s hero, Hulk Hogan. This was the angle that packed out the Silverdome with the largest crowd to see professional wrestling in the US, & it would hold that record for years to come.

Hulk Hogan joins the NWO

What else could top the list? One could argue that it’s the biggest angle in wrestling history, which you’ll see where it places in my view with a future article breaking down the top five angles. It was unheard of to take the top protagonist of your company and take the risk of your company falling apart without your top merchandise seller and mainstream name that still drew casual viewers, which WCW desperately needed when Hulk Hogan arrived. While true that his star had fallen, it was still a massive risk for not only the company, but the performer who, like John Cena, was seen as nothing but a hero for 2 generations. The charity work and the positive image that got him endorsements, were just the start of potential issues this could create for his personal brand. Wrestling fans should be happy that he took the risk. While much can be said about the man who performs as Hulk Hogan, we still have this heel turn to thank for changing the entire art form we all enjoy with one night of subverting expectations.