11 Weird Heel Turns WWE Icons Would Like You To Forget

On the subject of mentors turning their backs on their students, the legendary William Regal did something similar in 2022 as he brought his time in AEW to a close.

Coming into Jon Moxley's fight with MJF at Full Gear, Regal had acted as the Blackpool Combat Club's leader and manager. The British icon had also clashed with 'The Salt of the Earth' on the mic, with Maxwell's bitterness over Regal's email response to him as a young wrestler trying to break into WWE eventually motivating him to become the despicable megastar he did.

But then, rather than help his fellow BCC member walk out of the PPV with the AEW World Championship, Regal suddenly opted to assist Friedman instead, handing him his famous brass knuckles to finish off Mox.

.@RealKingRegal is #BlackpoolCombatClub until the day he dies.#AEWDynamite is LIVE on TBS! pic.twitter.com/DaHOO9dQMp

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) December 8, 2022

Why, oh why would this respected figure do such a thing?

Well, by the time Regal was set to depart the company to return to WWE a few weeks later, the legend had explained his dastardly actions in a pre-recorded interview as being his own final lesson to the BCC. 

Much like HBK's strange reason for betraying D-Bry in 2014, Regal just wanted to teach the team that didn't need him anymore that they should never trust anyone and always stay one step ahead. As if veterans Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli and the aforementioned Bryan Danielson (!) weren't already aware of this lesson.

He'd also justify helping the villainous Maxwell - who'd later turn on Regal - by stating that it was his way of giving the new champ precisely what he wanted, in the process putting a target on his back in a sort of "be careful what you wish for" move... or something.

The bizarre turn just overcomplicated everything in the end, and the company swiftly moved on from the weird events afterwards.