10 Popular WWE Babyfaces Who Went To Another Level As Heels
Edge, Bret Hart, Chris Jericho and more WWE stars who turned heel to go next level.
Wrestling is a popularity contest.
There's no denying it. You have your favourites, the fella' writing this has his own - hell, even Vince McMahon and Tony Khan have wrestlers they naturally prefer over others. That's just the way things work, and to pretend they don't would be pretty foolish.
Traditional babyfaces once lived and died by fan approval. Things have obviously changed in the modern era (people love a "cool heel" character, for example), but there's still a degree of truth to that. Roman Reigns, who will be explored further on this list, was shoved down everyone's throats as a flagging face before finally embracing the dark side; he toiled as a hero, but was still popular with a section of the audience. Most refuse to acknowledge that.
That makes him an interesting case study, and he's not alone. Reigns, like others, is definitely more effective as a heel though. He feels 'next level' since giving up the goody two shoes act and becoming a bad ass who doesn't care for pandering.
This is not a coincidence. Even some of the most cherished faces in WWE history have levelled up by turning bad...
10. Diesel
Diesel was Vince McMahon's chosen one in the mid-90s. His eye-catching physical size trumped in-ring shortcomings, but it's not like Kevin Nash was a slouch - matches with Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Razor Ramon and more between 1994-1996 are all worth revisiting.
He also turned heel right before leaving for WCW too. That, unfortunately, means his bad-ass behaviour has been forgotten by many. That's a shame, because he was f*cking dynamite as a reborn villain who felt jilted by the rise of old pal Michaels as a babyface and continued focus on others like Hart and The Undertaker.
Between January-April '96, Diesel was on fire as a heel.
Promos around that time paved the way for his sneering, laid back brilliance in the original nWo faction elsewhere. The blueprint for that ultra-cool character was created in the WWF before Nash told McMahon he was leaving for Atlanta - that shouldn't be overlooked.