10 Amazing Heel Turns That WWE Immediately Ruined

10. Shinsuke Nakamura

Things were going oh so well for Shinsuke Nakamura in early 2018. Having debuted on the WWE main roster the prior year, the King of Strong Style won the 2018 Royal Rumble - last eliminating Roman Reigns - and was lined up to challenge for AJ Styles' WWE Championship at WrestleMania 34.

Of course, Nakamura and Styles had put on an all-timer at Wrestle Kingdom 10, and thus expectation was high for another classic at the Showcase of the Immortals.

While that 'Mania match slightly disappointed - being just fine, not great - a loss to AJ here caused Shin to turn heel post-match, laying out the Phenomenal One with a low blow. A low blow? Well, that's certainly a good way to cement a villainous turn...

The problem is, this surprising turn was followed by low blow after low blow after low blow after low blow after... you get the idea. For what felt like the next six months of programming, Nakamura developed an obsession with punching Styles in the dribbler. In reality, it was actually three months, but this dragged on across SmackDown episodes and across three further PPVs.

As a result of this, Nakamura became somewhat of a joke figure, not least in how he still couldn't dethrone AJ as the WWE Champion. Likewise, for Styles, it made him look like a total idiot for taking so long to just wear a cup.

Authored by Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

Posted On: 22nd Jun 2023

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