4. Shawn Michaels Goes Heel Because Hulk Hogan Demanded It - SummerSlam 2005
The only reason Shawn Michaelss heel turn in 2005 failed was because it was cut short before it could really get going. When the Michaels/Hogan dream match was a possibility for Summerslam, the WWE went away from the face/face respect route and decided to turn Shawn heel. What followed next were four-to-five weeks of some of the most captivating television that year. Whether it was the promo in Montreal where Shawn teased Brets music, or the Larry King parody, it felt like it was 1997 all over again. When the match at Summerslam happened, Michaels laid down for Hogan (but not before doing some wacky overselling of Hogans offense), and then shook Hogans hand saying simply, I had to know. The very next night on Raw, Shawn was back as a babyface, going so far as to say, Now back to our regularly scheduled program. He began a feud with Chris Masters, and that was that. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9FyURRVKWo Shawns turn was ultimately a failure because it had so much more legs to it. A 97-style heel HBK against the babyface champion John Cena would have been a fantastic feud. Alas, it was not to be. Honorable mention goes to the ill-advised decision to turn Shawn heel on Daniel Bryan in late 2013, forgetting of course that Shawn had retired as a wrestler and the turn wouldnt lead to a match.
