10 Wrestling Heel Turns That Totally Saved Careers
4. Bob Backlund
Bruno Sammartino’s WWE career was on the downswing by 1978, and with his franchise player’s best years finally behind him, Vince McMahon Sr. needed a new face for his company. Bob Backlund became his chosen one, and though he held the WWE Championship for over six years, the fans grew sick of him towards the end.
Bob’s bland goody two shoes persona looked outdated compared to the surging Hulk Hogan. Fans were yearning for a more dynamic, charismatic figurehead by the early '80s, but Backlund refused to evolve, turning down the opportunity to turn heel, and eventually dropping the belt to the Iron Sheik. He disappeared from the company shortly afterwards, but returned in 1992, reverting to his old persona.
Now in his 40s, Backlund’s act was completely out of sync with the time period, and few fans remembered him. He finally snapped in 1994, reinventing himself as a crazy, messianic heel that propelled him to an unlikely WWE Championship victory that November. He lost the belt three days later, but turning allowed Bob to stay relevant when it looked like the sport hand long since passed him by, and he stayed with WWE all the way through to 2000.