10 Dumbest Wrestling Heel Turns Ever

9. Curt Hennig

Jeff Hardy Abyss Jeff Jarrett
WWE.com

After years of really nearly turning up in WCW, Curt Hennig at long last made the jump in late-1996. Well and truly p*ssed off with WWE's decision to notify his insurance company that a policy-quashing return to the ring was forthcoming, the former 'Mr Perfect' finally took the other kind of money and ran South to a resurgent Eric Bischoff regime.

Unable to wrestle for several months as per a no compete clause, Hennig was hot property in the summer of 1997, courting the affections of the New World Order and The Four Horseman. Curt was already a perfect fit for Flair's group based on their own prior association, with wrestling's fateful timing stepping in to seal the deal.

In an evocative Nitro segment, a retiring Arn Anderson proudly gave his Horseman spot to Hennig ahead of their upcoming WarGames match with the nWo. Ric Flair was in tears at the whole scene long before that became as big a part of his act at the Figure Four.

Then WCW flushed the emotion down the toilet with a cheap swerve turn in the match itself. Illogically and only to maintain a drab status quo, Hennig was nWo 'all along'. The heels again prevailed, whilst Stone Cold soared on the other side.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett