12 WWE Face & Heel Turns That IMMEDIATELY Backfired
10. Fans Don’t Want To Boo Eddie Guerrero (2004)
The butterfly effect of Chavo Guerrero's injury in mid-2003 was insane. He tore his biceps, which stalled WWE's plans for the Los Guerreros tag-team with Eddie, and therefore forced 'Latino Heat' to sub in Tajiri as a temporary replacement. They'd win out at Judgment Day, then drop the tag titles back to Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin on the 3 July episode of SmackDown.
Post-match, Eddie was furious and attacked Tajiri for his part in things. Old 2002 Guerrero was back again, but fans wanted nothing to do with it. They'd fallen in love with Eddie's "Lie, Cheat & Steal" gimmick alongside Chavo, so they didn't fancy booing him just because he'd slapped a Cruiserweight about; Tajiri didn't have enough sympathy to heap hatred on Guerrero.
Not even close.
By September, WWE gave in to the cheers that accompanied every Eddie appearance and turned him babyface on TV yet again for a feud opposite rising star John Cena. They had no choice. People point blank refused to boo or jeer Guerrero even when he was cutting menacing promos, telling them to shut up or kicking the ever-loving crap out of babyfaces right in front of them.
In fact, they encouraged him to do that. 'Latino Heat' was over, man. WWE's fanbase was more than ready to embrace Eddie as a top star, which is something they'd get to do when Vince McMahon strapped a rocket to him in early-2004 and had Guerrero beat Brock Lesnar to become WWE Champion.
The heel turn on Tajiri backfired as soon as it happened. No question.