11 Surprising WWE Heel Turns You Never Saw Coming
Deception is reality.
WWE aren't the boundless well of surprises they once were, and frankly, it's understandable.
There sits around a table a collection of creative minds frazzled beyond reason catering to the whims of an increasingly irritable old man, piling on to sneak lines of dialogue into a bloated three hour show that routinely neglects all narrative convention anyway. Writers don't seem to be allowed to work on their own programmes - passion projects with favoured performers - instead contributing the same voices to a host of different personas and angles that subsequently all look, sound and feel identical. In the rare case of a heel turn worth its salt in 2018, the risk of dilution in the very next segment is all too real.
Done right, they provide a storyline with a spine. A raison d'être for a babyface beyond workplace bullying or obnoxious d*ckheadedness at the expense of an authority figure they've suddenly developed a dispute with. The logic of a turn inherently checks out too - corruption is often rewarded until comeuppance is sought and gained.
The most enjoyable are ordinarily those that come as a complete shock. A great babyface should make even the casual observer feel part of their journey, and thus feel the pain of a former friend's devastating change of heart.
11. Shawn Michaels On Hulk Hogan (2005)
Kicking off one of the best runs of his entire career by nearly kicking off Hulk Hogan's head, Shawn Michaels brought new life to his post-1998 tenure with just a single month as an absolute sh*thouse determined to get under the leathery skin of the biggest star in the history of the industry.
The pair had teamed together on and off since 'HBK' begged 'The Hulkster' to help him fend off the feckless Muhmmad Hassan and Daivari earlier in the year, making his hip-swivelling all the more shocking as the duo posed after yet another victory together.
As it transpired, something had snapped within Shawn based on the still-honoured legacy of Hogan. As he'd put it during their bloody post-match handshake, "he had to know" - in kayfabe to know if he had it in him to overcome another icon, to know if he even belonged in various 'Mount Rushmore' discussions alongside his elder, in reality to know if he could get a decent match out of a man that hadn't stumbled near one for years.
He couldn't, as it happened, but his experience of his opponents' political worst brought the real heel back out of the 'Heartbreak Kid'. He bumped like a fool, but it was Hogan's crimson mask that doubled as clown paint as the farcical affair became a circus.