5 Great WWE Heel Turns Nobody Talks About

There’s an art to the wrestling heel turn that is hard to pin down, and yet you know what makes a great heel turn when you see it. It’s the kind of unforgettable moment that is either completely out of nowhere or a turn you saw coming but persistently hoped would never actually happen, though there are some that manage to somehow achieve both. There have been some classic heel turns in WWE over the years, and while everyone praises heel turns like Hulk Hogan and the nWo or Seth Rollins and The Shield, there are others that are fantastic and yet tend to get overlooked. That’s why we’re breaking down 5 great WWE heel turns that nobody talks about enough.

5. Adam Cole

Adam Cole has made a small career of shocking heel turns, but his best turn took place in WWE NXT. In 2021, Cole pretty much blew up one of the strongest factions around when he attacked Finn Balor as well as his Undisputed Era teammate Kyle O’Reilly, but that was the prologue to the true heel turn that happened next.

On the February 24th episode of NXT, Roderick Strong came out to confront Cole about what he did, and yet when Balor came out to get revenge on Cole, Strong helped his friend and took down Blair. Cole begged for forgiveness from his friend and lamented how he screwed up, and Strong hugged him and then went to help him up, only to then get rocked with a low blow from Cole.

Cole added insult to injury by taunting Strong and calling him stupid repeatedly before yanking off his necklace and hitting him with a super kick to the face, solidifying that NXT’s premiere faction was, in fact, done, and becoming the biggest heel of black and gold in the process.

4. JBL

While Cole’s heel turn was about manipulation and twisting the knife, JBL’s heel turn twisted the knife on a personal level and destroyed one of WWE’s closest bonds. Few were better friends in WWE than Faarooq and Bradshaw, who had become fan favorites during their time as the APA. Paul Heyman would bring an end to that friendship during his tenure as General Manager after tacking on a stipulation to their match that they would be fired if they lost.

They did indeed lose that match, and after storming Heyman’s office, he revealed that he had actually only meant to fire Faarooq as part of the deal. Heyman said he saw upside in Bradshaw, and when Faarooq dismissed Heyman’s manipulation and said they were leaving, Bradshaw didn’t move. Bradshaw just stood still and looked away from Faarooq, and Faarooq quickly put things together as he realized his friend was choosing a job in WWE over their friendship.

There actually wasn’t a ton of dialogue in this scene, but it didn’t matter, as so much was said in their mannerisms and facial expressions. Bradshaw would try and fix it later in the show, but he ended up doubling down on his decision, turning fully against Faarooq and chasing Heyman and WWE. That was soon followed by a now classic promo where Bradshaw officially became the powerful businessman JBL, kicking off a huge heel era rich with Championship gold.

3. Bayley

Like Adam Cole, Bayley has a few heel and face turns to her resume, but the one that stands out most is when the Hugger era officially ended on the September 2nd episode of WWE Raw in 2019. Bayley had been having issues with her best friend Sasha Banks for a while, and was constantly pushing back on Banks’ heel actions. That would all boil over after a match where Bayley aligned with Becky Lynch against Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross, and it was Banks who would interfere and attack Becky Lynch to cause a disqualification.

Banks went to send a message with chair shots to the back of The Man, but Bayley grabbed the chair from Banks. After some hesitation and exchanges between Bayley and Banks, Bayley smiled and started hitting Becky with chair shots, and after connecting with 7 of them, Bayley officially became a heel and started down the road of one of her best all-time runs with the company.

Now, it was actually the October 11th episode of SmackDown that same year that cemented the Role Model era, which saw Bayley debut a new haircut, new gear, and the now iconic moment of cutting down her Bayley Buddies on the entrance ramp. Still, the actual turn happened before, and it’s a truly underrated heel turn that delivered big results down the line.

2. Finn Balor

These days Finn Balor is more known as a heel thanks to his time in the Judgement Day, but back in 2019, he was a much bigger babyface, especially in NXT. Balor was one of NXT’s most beloved Champions, as evidenced by the reaction when he recently returned to Full Sail and couldn’t help but smile, despite the fact that he’s still very much in heel mode and has been for years.

Speaking of beloved superstars, the same can be said of Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano, who were facing off against The Undisputed Era. Balor then joined Gargano and Ciampa against Undisputed Era, setting up for a huge collision, but then just as suddenly, Balor out of nowhere dropped a pele kick that rocked Gargano and knocked him to the mat, and with the crowd completely stunned, Undisputed Era then all ambushed Ciampa as Balor admired his handiwork.

The crowd continued to lose it as Ciampa was just getting stomped, and Balor’s reaction in the corner is just priceless, showcasing that he was all about him and no one else. Balor then charged across the ring and hit a running dropkick that sent Gargano through the railing and knocked it down, and yet Balor was still not done. Balor followed up by spiking Gargano on the entrance ramp, completely destroying Johnny Wrestling and making a statement that this was going to be a very different Balor era.

1. Dakota Kai

It turns out that 2019 was a huge year for heel turns, and one of the most underrated heel turns was also one of WWE’s most brutal. That occurred during NXT Takeover in November of 2019, and specifically during the WarGames match. While she was a heel for most of her main roster run and the latter part of her NXT run, Kai was pure good guy before that, something that was played on in various storylines against stars like Shayna Baszler.

Everything changed at WarGames, as after it was her turn to enter the ring for her team, she instead ran back to the cell and brutally attacked her teammate and best friend, Tegan Nox. With Rhea Ripley watching helplessly from the WarGames ring and Baszler laughing from her team’s cell, Kai knocked Nox down with a kick to the face before slamming her into the side of the cell multiple times.

Kai wasn’t done though, and this is where Kai really embraced the viciousness that would define her for a while afterwards. Kai pulled Nox through the bars and slammed her into the side of the cell and then slammed the door on her arm, only to then pull Nox’s legs through the bars before slamming the door repeatedly on Nox’s previously injured knee. Kai would then pull off Nox’s knee brace and keep it as a memento, which would factor into their bitter feud that would continue for months.

Not only was this a great heel turn, but it led to a compelling feud and helped bring out a side of Kai that she was able to tap into when Damage CTRL eventually happened down the line.

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