The 12 Most Earth-Shattering Character Turns in WWE History

Well, it happened. After years of electrifying fans, earning dozens of accolades, and selling out arenas around the world… Travis Scott made his WWE debut at Elimination Chamber. Oh, and John Cena turned heel.

Wait. WHAT?!

John. Cena. Turned. Heel. This is real.

On his retirement tour, the former (insert crying emoji) leader of the Cenation kicked his WrestleMania 41 opponent Cody Rhodes squarely in the nuts, forsaking his fans and selling out to The Rock in order to better position himself to secure that elusive, record breaking 17th world title. Whether or not Big Match John is able to actually win the gold remains to be seen.

To put John Cena’s utterly stupefying actions into context, we’ve assembled the 12 most earth shattering, attitude adjusting heel and face turns in WWE history.

Two wrestling legends. A damsel in distress. Jealousy. More finger pointing (literal and figurative) than an OG Bloodline segment. It was the worst of times for Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage.

In the late ‘80s, the dynamic duo united to form an unlikely (and even more unstoppable) tag team, ruling the WWF with Miss Elizabeth at their side as the Mega Powers.

Savage began to grow jealous of Hulk’s fondness for Elizabeth, which culminated in an explosive backstage segment that spelled their downfall. Macho Man got in Hogan’s face, nearly poked him in the eyes at least thrice, and smacked him in the head with his WWF Championship belt while an injured Elizabeth looked on in horror.

You can still feel the tension through the screen as Savage appears legitimately angry at the Hulkster, and the scene becomes even scarier when Macho Man physically tosses Elizabeth out of the way (yikes) so he can keep beating up Hogan.

The rivals-turned partners-turned rivals again eventually squared off at WrestleMania V, but their blow-up (aka Savage’s heel turn) is the moment that lives on in infamy. Years later, Hogan would pay Savage back for the crimes he committed.

A prerequisite for any successful tag team is that they will eventually break up. The Rockers were no different, and their split continues to serve as a standard bearer for how to expertly execute friend-on-friend betrayal in pro wrestling.

Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty teamed together from the mid-80s to early ‘90s, showcasing their high-flying, fast-paced style and influencing the likes of the Hardy Boyz, Los Guerreros and the Usos.

However, cracks in their foundation formed when Jennetty accidentally cost Michaels multiple matches and the duo suffered a deflating defeat against The Legion of Doom for the tag titles (which the Rockers never won).

Brutus Beefcake attempted to mend the Rockers’ relationship on his show The Barber Shop. but Michaels wound up super kicking Jannetty and tossing him through the barbershop window, face first.

To say the break up had significant ramifications would be an understatement. The Heartbreak Kid transformed into one of the best and most influential wrestlers ever, while Jannetty failed to reach an even remotely similar level of success. Still, The Rockers’s demise, due to Michaels’s turn, served as a blueprint for the division of many tag teams to follow.

If you go to the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida–home of WCW’s 1996 Bash at the Beach–look closely. You can still see janitors cleaning up the debris that fans chucked at Hulk Hogan when he revealed himself to be the third Outsider nearly 30 years ago.

Hogan turned the (heel turn) tables on Randy Savage, hitting him with a leg drop after viewers assumed he was there to help WCW repel Kevin Nash and Scott Hall.

Not so.

He enacted revenge on the Macho Man, but more importantly, revealed his evil intentions to form the New World Order (NWO), which would change the wrestling world forever.

For wrestling fans in the ‘90s, a Hulkster heel turn was as imaginary as a unicorn. That’s why when it actually happened, it represented something far greater than a shocking swerve. It was a paradigm shift in how wrestling promotions and fans viewed even the godliest of characters. They too can have evil inside of them. More on this later.

The fabled “double turn” gained its fame thanks to two WWE Hall of Famers: Bret Hart and Steve Austin.

Leading up to their match at WrestleMania 13, a heel(ish) Stone Cold was developing into a rebellious, foul-mouthed anti-hero. His promo at the 1996 King of the Ring pay-per-view in 1996 gave rise to “Austin 3:16” and his most famous catchphrase: “And that’s the bottom line cuz Stone Cold said so.”

Meanwhile, the WWF audience was growing tired of Bret Hart’s stale babyface character. He carried himself with a nauseating self-importance, often whining about the injustices he faced in the ring. Austin called him out for it, and the stage was set for a role reversal.

The commentators, ironically led by Vince McMahon, championed Stone Cold’s badassery and bemoaned Bret Hart’s sour attitude. Austin’s tough S.O.B. status was solidified when he, bleeding profusely from his head, refused to tap out to the Sharpshooter (making good on his promise) until he passed out.

The Hitman earned the victory, but Austin won respect from the fans for not giving up and for walking out on his own power. On a macro level, the performance set him up to become the most overwhelmingly beloved WWE superstar of all time.

The WWE’s Attitude Era was built on the understanding that Vince McMahon hated Stone Cold Steve Austin and vice versa. They were arch nemeses like Batman and the Joker, forever intertwined in mutual disdain… until WrestleMania X7.

Stone Cold challenged The Rock for the WWF title in Houston, Texas, the Rattlesnake’s home state. A brutal battle ensued, with the superstars bloodying each other with weapons and landing finishing maneuver after finishing maneuver.

Late into the match, McMahon strutted down to ringside, and pulled Rock off of Austin as the Brahma Bull went for a cover following a Rock Bottom.

No one knew why.

Shortly thereafter, Austin called for Vince to bring him a chair, with which he proceeded to repeatedly nail The Rock with violently. It took several chair shots and false finishes for Stone Cold to pin the champ, until the evil deed was finally done.

As The Chairman and Austin shook hands, WWF commentator Jim Ross was beside himself, delivering a handful of trademark “GOD ALMIGHTY’s” and “FOR THE LOVE OF GOD’s,” while berating Austin for “shaking hands with Satan.”

It was truly a jaw dropping surreal moment that only an unexpected turn could deliver.

In the lead-up to their historic bout at WrestleMania X8, Hulk Hogan hit The Rock in the back of the head with a literal hammer. Then, he rammed a semi-truck into the ambulance carrying The Great One away to a hospital.

It didn’t matter that the Hulkster (a heel) effectively attempted to kill the People’s Champ (a face). Hulkamania would run wild once again on the grandest stage of them all.

During the Icon vs. Icon match, a thunderously boisterous and partisan Toronto crowd cheered Hogan’s dirty tactics of biting, scratching, stomping, low-blowing and belt-whipping, and chanted “Rocky sucks” whenever The Rock gained an advantage.

Reading the “room” in real-time, Rock and Hogan orchestrated an improvised face turn mid-match(!) for the latter. Watching Hogan Hulk up for the first time in nearly a decade and fans lose their collective shit was surreal.

The unplanned turn had several consequences. Most notably, it earned Hogan one more run as WWE Champion and pushed The Rock to turn heel, during which time he masterfully embodied the role of Hollywood sellout.

Five years before LeBron James chose to take his talents to South Beach, Batista elected to keep his talents on Monday Night Raw. Instead of revealing the decision in an interview with Jim Gray, he did so by power bombing Triple H through a table. To each their own.

WWE teased The Animal’s turn for months, and they executed the moment to perfection.

In a nod to Triple H’s banishment of past Evolution member Randy Orton, Batista smiled and gestured a thumbs up to his stable-mates, indicating that he’d listen to The Game and Ric Flair’s wishes and leave for Smackdown. His expression quickly changed to one of anger, and his hand turned over to offer the most dramatic thumbs down in the history of thumbs. Just look at Flair’s face.

The Animal’s alliance with Evolution was officially over, and Triple H’s days as World Heavyweight Champion felt numbered–much to the delight of fans and the chagrin of his former mentor.

Babyface Batista went on to defeat The Game at WrestleMania 21, while John Cena knocked off JBL for the WWE Championship, unofficially ushering in a new era of WWE.

Eddie Guerrero lied, cheated, and stole his way to the hearts of fans. That is, until he added betrayal to his rap sheet.

On a 2005 episode of Smackdown, Latino Heat brutally attacked his tag team partner Rey Mysterio. As blood oozed out of Rey’s torn mask, Eddie vertically suplexed his former best friend onto steel steps, a move that looked legitimately painful to both parties involved. The crowd was stunned, their silence deafening.

The following week, Eddie sauntered to the ring (his patented low-rider notably absent) dressed in black to the tune of his theme music, slowed and reverbed. He cut a promo equally as disturbing as the beating, pulling Mysterio’s mask out of his pocket and screaming at the inanimate object as if it was Rey himself… or rather, Rey’s severed head.

It would have been easy to fumble the literal theatrics, but Eddie’s ability to convincingly take on the persona of an unstable, psychopathic abuser capable of snapping at any moment (see his “LOOK AT ME WHEN I’M TALKING TO YOU” scream) would make a Shakesperian actor proud.

Back when Chris Jericho and Bon Jovi looked like the same person, Y2J was the best in the world at what he did: heeling.

Jericho officially cemented himself as an irredeemable villain when he attacked babyface Shawn Michaels for turning into “a lying, cheating, pathetic, little worm of a human being.” Ouch.

Y2J kicked his childhood hero in the groin and shoved his head to the ground, shades of the aftermath of their WrestleMania XIX bout. Double ouch.

Then for good measure, Jericho violently rammed Michaels’ face into the Jeritron 6000 flat-screen TV. Triple ouch (not H).

Jericho’s actions were ruthless, but they stemmed from logical reasoning. He claimed Michaels could get away with anything, like retiring the legendary Ric Flair (which he did at WrestleMania XXIV) and cheating to win matches (which he also did), and still receive the adoration of fans. He wasn’t wrong, and because he wasn’t wrong, his subsequent feud of the year with HBK felt so right.

At the Payback pay-per-view, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, and Roman Reigns defeated Triple H, Randy Orton and Batista (Evolution) in a no holds barred, elimination match in clean sweep fashion. The following night on Raw, Batista quit the WWE (giving us an iconic GIF), and Triple H famously unveiled his “Plan B” for taking out The Shield.

Rollins stabbed his Hounds of Justice brothers in the back.

The chair shots echoed long and loudly. The group’s black vests that once seemed bulletproof–thanks to two and half years of dominance–couldn’t resist the double-cross.

While Rollins’ treachery put an end to The Shield, it skyrocketed his career. He went on to win the Money In The Bank briefcase, successfully cash it in at WrestleMania 31, and hold both the WWE and United States Championships at the same time (becoming the first and only man to ever do that).

The effects of Rollins’ heel turn continue to ripple a decade later as Reigns opted to smash Rollins in the back with a chair during his WrestleMania XL contest with Cody Rhodes (electing revenge and perhaps costing victory), and Rollins refused to partner with Reigns at Survivor Series: War Games in 2024. That is long-term storytelling at its finest.

For years, the WWE Universe refused to accept Roman Reigns as the company’s new John Cena-esque face. Finally, Reigns embraced his inner villain.

Coming out of (a brief) retirement, he attacked Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman at Summerslam. A few days later, the Big Dog revealed a surprising partnership with former nemesis Paul Heyman.

The result?

A 1,316-day run as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion for Reigns, which included four WrestleMania main events and victories over Seth Rollins, Brock Lesnar, John Cena, Logan Paul, Cody Rhodes, Drew McIntyre, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, are more.

Reigns’ in-ring success worked in tandem with the flawless development of his Tribal Chief persona, which sprouted from a physically and emotionally abusive rivalry with cousin Jey Uso, and blossomed into a domineering, ruthless, gaslighting, and cult leader of the Bloodline faction.

Week-in and week-out, the Bloodline delivered can’t miss television–especially when Sami Zayn entered the fray–becoming a mini universe unto itself. Reigns commanded so much gravity that it even drew The Rock into his orbit.

Roman’s reign of terror came to an end in perhaps the greatest storyline payoff in WWE history. Cody Rhodes–with the help of Seth Rollins, John Cena, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, the Usos, and The Undertaker–finally beat the immovable object at WrestleMania 40 and won the WWE Championship to finish his story.

Without a Roman Reigns heel turn, the WWE today looks drastically different.

Hell officially froze over. The lochness monster was found. The forever face that ran the place has gone to the dark side. Hustle, loyalty and respect is dead.

John Cena, for the first time in 7,786 days, over 21 years, is a heel.

Back in January, we suggested that a retirement tour turn was in the cards, but in order to effectively pull it off, WWE would need to thread the smallest of needles. The needle is threaded. Now it’s time to stitch together a beautiful run.

Cena has a clear motivation, which is to win the Undisputed WWE Championship and break Ric Flair’s world title record.

He didn’t emerge victorious in the Royal Rumble, meaning his opportunities started to dwindle. So, he aligned himself with The Rock, a TKO (WWE’s parent company) board member, to ensure he’d have a shot at the gold at WrestleMania 41 against Cody Rhodes (the John Cena of the modern era).

Still, many questions remain: How will Cena explain his actions? Does he come out to new theme music? Are his jorts and colorful shirts gear of the past? Will the turn have the type of long-term effects that Hogan joining the NWO did? Is he going to retire as a heel?

Regardless, John Cena’s time as a babyface is up. John Cena’s time as a villain is now.