10 Failed Heel Turns Of Popular Wrestlers
8. Bret Hart - WCW (1998)
The Montreal Screwjob was arguably the most controversial moment in pro wrestling history. Blurring the lines of fiction and reality, Vince McMahon's double-cross of loyal champion, Bret 'The Hitman' Hart, was as real as it gets.
As the most talked about wrestler in the industry, WCW had a winning hand with Hart - if they knew how to use him. Sadly for all concerned, they did not. 'The Hitman' would make his inauspicious debut on 15 December 1997, where he was announced as the special referee for the Bischoff/Zbyszko bout at Starrcade. Hardly an earth-shaking debut for wrestling's hottest commodity.
Hart would also find himself involved in the confusing conclusion to the Hogan/Sting main event at Starrcade. The finish was a mess and did no favours to the debuting Hart. After initially reprising his role as valiant hero with an opposing stance against the nWo, Hart inexplicably helped Hogan regain the WCW Title in April 1998.
Labelled an "associate member" of the New World Order, Hart was the prime example of a half-baked heel. Instead of being placed in the same bracket as Sting, Goldberg, and DDP as heroic opposition to Hogan's army, he was given a peripheral nWo role that left him in no-man's land.
Through no fault of his own, Hart's heel turn kept him at arm's length from the World Title picture and he was left to tread water as a mid-card bad guy.