10 Times WWE Tried (And Failed) To Make You Cheer For Former Heels
5. Alberto Del Rio
The first (but most definitely not the last) to try and get over using a chant Daniel Bryan should have fought harder to protect, Alberto Del Rio seemed to gain a small measure of crowd support as long as it only required one word's worth of effort.
The "SI!" chant was a cute parody of then-heel Bryan's schizophrenic efforts, but it came during a time in which the company seemed to believe a babyface turn would make the most of a heel performer that had rapidly gone off the rails.
A Royal Rumble and Money In The Bank victor in 2011, Del Rio won and lost the WWE Championship to mild indifference in the middle of a CM Punk story that should have made him the hottest heel in the industry.
He limped into 2012 for more of the same against aforementioned babyface failure Sheamus, and must have had whatever the reverse of 'Hulk Dust' is rub off on him during the feud. Making the save for sidekick Ricardo Rodriguez (and, strangely, the Spanish Announce Team) in a pre-show scuffle with comedy losers 3-Man Band late in the year, Del Rio scored the top prize as a face in a feud with The Big Show that represented his best moment as a blue-eye.
Confronted with a heel fans actually wanted to cheer in Dolph Ziggler the night after WrestleMania 29, the execution of Alberto's return to the dark side took place when he took the title back from 'The Show Off' just a month later.