10 Wrestling Face/Heel Turns That Shouldn't Have Worked (But Did)
7. Bob Backlund Reinvents Himself At 44
Bob Backlund had no business winning the WWE Title in 1994. He was at least a decade removed from his athletic peak, and deep into his 40s, yet the company still decided to crown him following a Survivor Series submission match with Bret Hart. Granted, Backlund only held the gold for three days, but it was an impressive accomplishment nonetheless.
WWE audiences knew Backlund only as a goody-two-shoes babyface prior to 1994. He had a multi-year title run that bridged the Sammartino and Hogan eras in the '70s and '80s, but public opinion gradually turned against him throughout the reign, with audiences clamouring for a more exciting, dynamic personality as champion.
A long hiatus followed, but Bob returned to the company in 1992, working the same bland shtick as before. Time had passed him by a long time ago, and most of the audience didn't even know who he was, but a '94 heel turn birthed his Indian summer. Bob went from saccharine good guy to crazy, messianic villain. It was completely at odds with the character Bob had portrayed up to that point, but it worked, and he couldn't have had that brief title reign without it.