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Hulk Hogan, The Rock, John Cena - every generation needs their hero. Wrestling is a sport built on characters, and every great villain needs an even greater hero to stop him.
While face turns are often not considered as dramatic or exciting as heel turns, the simple act of turning a bad guy into a good guy can have a huge impact on not only the wrestler, but also on the industry as a whole.
Like a lot of heel turns, face turns have provided us with some of the most iconic moments in wrestling history. Let's take a look back at the ten best face turns in the history of the WWE.
#10: Virgil- Royal Rumble 1991
Virgil was never quite the star that some fans thought that he could be, and his career quickly spiraled when he went solo, and the less said about his post-WWE career, the better. While he may have had no lasting impact, Virgil turning on his master, Ted Dibiase at the Royal Rumble 1991 is still considered one of the most memorable face-turns in WWE history.
After taking abuse from Dibiase for years, Virgil finally snapped at Royal Rumble 1991. After the two men had lost a tag match, Dibiase ran Virgil down and ordered him to get his Million-Dollar Championship belt.
Virgil did just that, but instead of handing it to Dibiase, he attacked him with the belt, finally stepping out of Dibiase's spotlight and becoming his own wrestler.
Unfortunately, Virgil's face run was really not all that special, and while his feud with Dibiase throughout the rest of 1991 wasn't bad, he couldn't hold on to any of his momentum and he soon disappeared into obscurity.
#9: The Undertaker- 1992
Like some of the other Superstars on this list, it seems difficult to imagine The Undertaker being anything other than a face these days but for the first two years of his esteemed career, he remained a largely silent presence.
In 1992, Jake 'The Snake' Roberts had managed to get control of The Undertaker, and he would often use The Deadman to his advantage during matches. During a feud with Randy Savage, Roberts attempted to hit Miss Elizabeth with a chair, leading to Taker stepping in and stopping him.
This would all lead to a famous Funeral Parlour segment, where, when asked whose side he was on by Roberts, The Undertaker simply replied 'not yours'. The crowd popped big for Taker at this and they have pretty much reacted the same way to him ever since.
The rest of the segment is fairly ridiculous and includes several urns, The Undertaker getting his hand caught in a coffin, and Paul Bearer screaming, a lot. While the segment has certainly dated, it still remains one of the most important face-turns in the history of the WWE.
#8: Andre The Giant- WrestleMania VI
By the time WrestleMania VI rolled around in 1990, Andre the Giant was not in great shape. Only three years on from what many consider to be the most iconic moment in WrestleMania history, Andre the Giant's body was not working with him any longer and it was getting clearer that his time in the ring was coming to an end.
At WrestleMania VI, Andre the Giant teamed with Haku to take on Demolition in what would turn out to be his final ever WrestleMania appearance.
Andre and Haku lost the match, and after the bell had rang, their manager, Brian Heenan blamed The Giant for the defeat and slapped him in the face. This led to Andre finally snapping and taking out both Haku and Heenan.
Andre the Giant had one of the most memorable careers in WWE history, and it was fitting that he would leave the grandest stage of them all as a hero one last time.
#7: John Cena- SmackDown 2003
John Cena's face turn in 2003 wasn't a particularly memorable moment, in fact, most fans can barely remember John Cena being anything other than a face, but this one makes the list purely for how much that one turn would go on to give us the superstar that defined an era.
In November of 2003, before he would go on to adopt hustle, loyalty, and respect as his three major attributes, John Cena was a bad-ass rapper who liked nothing more than to rip his opponents apart verbally. It was this gimmick that helped get him super-over with the fans, and he would still use it for the first couple years of his face-run.
At the 2003 Survivor Series event, Brock Lesnar was going to lead a team of behemoths into battle with a team of superstars selected by Kurt Angle. In a segment on SmackDown, Lesnar, Heyman, and his team came down to the ring to try and recruit Cena to Team Lesnar.
Cena was clearly going to reject the opportunity when he was attacked by The A-Train. The future Lord Tensai would end up becoming the fifth member of Lesnar's team, and Cena would turn face and join forces with Kurt Angle, ultimately going on to win the match for the team at the Survivor Series event.
#6: Batista- Raw 2005
2005 was a key year for the WWE with both Batista and John Cena rising to the top of their respective brands and cementing their places as the stars of their generation.
With Batista, he secured his place as one of the biggest faces in the WWE when he turned on his Evolution mentor, Triple H on an episode of Raw.
Having won the Royal Rumble that January, Batista had to choose between a match with Triple H at WrestleMania or a match with SmackDown's JBL at the event.
In the week's leading up to the turn, Triple H and Ric Flair had tried to manipulate Batista into heading over to SmackDown so that Evolution could rule the whole of the WWE. Batista began to see through it though, and when he realised that Triple H was plotting to have him taken out, The Animal's decision was made for him.
The turn itself took place during a segment on Raw. Both Teddy Long and Eric Bischoff, the GMs of SmackDown and Raw at the time were out with contracts for Batista, and they were soon joined by Triple H and Ric Flair.
After a pep talk from The Game, Batista threw the Raw contract to the floor and held the SmackDown contract up. Triple H and Flair put their thumbs up to Batista and then, just as it looked as though he was going to join SmackDown, Batista put his own thumb up and quickly turned it upside down, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
Everything about this turn was perfectly executed and it set Batista up as one of the biggest stars of that decade.
#5: Daniel Bryan- Raw 2014
Okay, so this one is cheating a little bit. After being screwed by the authority several times throughout late 2013, Daniel Bryan had just about had enough and he joined Bray Wyatt and his team of bearded outcasts.
While few fans genuinely believed that Bryan was going to be involved with the group for very long, the company still did their utmost to sell it, even having Bryan turn up wearing their attire at events.
This didn't last too long though, and after losing in a cage match on Raw, Bray Wyatt went to hit Bryan with a sister-Abigail as a punishment for losing, only for Bryan to reverse the move and drive the crowd crazy.
The image of Bryan sat on top of the cage, with the whole crowd chanting 'YES!' is one of the most iconic images of this decade, and while Bryan was never an out and out heel, this moment really helped elevate the Yes movement to main-event status.
#4: Hulk Hogan- WrestleMania 18
Hulk Hogan is probably the most famous wrestler of all time. He is the first name that springs to the minds of most people when you mention the sport, and as a result of this, he is always going to be popular wherever he goes.
When Hulk Hogan returned to the WWE after his run in WCW in 2002, the powers that be tried to replicate the NWO's success from WCW in the WWE. This, of course, involved Hogan playing the heel leader of the group.
The only problem for the WWE was that the fans were insistent on cheering Hogan, no matter what he did.
This all culminated at WrestleMania X8, when Hogan went one on one with The Rock is a cross-generational dream-match. Despite The Rock being the face, and Hogan being the heel, the fans made it clear that they were supporting Hogan, and The Rock received boos everytime he took control of the bout.
This led to the WWE deciding to turn Hogan face after the match. After being defeated by The Rock, Hogan was attacked by his NWO team-mates, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. The Rock then ran down to the ring to help out his opponent, and The Rock and Hogan laid waste to Nash and Hall, sending the crowd into a frenzy in the process.
#3: CM Punk- Raw 2011
Few would have thought when CM Punk sat at the top of the stage at the end of an episode of Raw in 2011 and picked up a microphone, that he was about to change the face of the wrestling industry in the modern era.
Punk's iconic pipebomb promo that night shook the industry to its core and kickstarted the Summer of Punk, arguably the company's best creative period this decade.
Seeing Punk speak his mind about the state of the backstage politics in the WWE, and how individuals like himself have just been looked over for years hit a cord with the 'smarks' of the world and was the first time the WWE had broken the fourth wall in such a way in their history.
Punk's later relationship with the WWE may have left some with a sour taste in the mouth, but his 2011 run is one of the finest face/anti-hero runs in recent WWE history.
#2: Macho Man and Miss Elizabeth- WrestleMania VII
When wrestling is at its best, it can transcend kayfabe and take fans on an emotional roller-coaster, and one of the finest examples of that came at WrestleMania VII when Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth finally reunited after two years apart.
Savage had dropped Elizabeth two years prior at WrestleMania V in favour of the Sensational Sherri, embarking on a heel run in the process.
At WrestleMania VII Savage put his career on the line against The Ultimate Warrior and ended up losing the match. Following his defeat, Savage was attacked by Sherri for humiliating them which led to Miss Elizabeth coming to his aid.
The two then hugged in the middle of the ring in what is considered one of the most iconic WrestleMania moments of all time. The image of Savage holding Elizabeth up on his shoulders in the middle of the ring is one of the truly great feel-good moments in Mania history.
#1: Stone Cold Steve Austin- WrestleMania 13
There are fewer things more difficult to pull off in wrestling than a double-turn. When they do get it right, however, it can often create a moment that can change the careers of everyone involved and leave fans with an unforgettable moment.
Bret Hart and Stone Cold's double turn at WrestleMania is one such moment and is often cited as the most iconic moment in the history of WrestleMania.
Austin was on the rise as one of the hottest young stars in the WWE back in 1996, and his match with Bret Hart was one of the most anticipated Mania matches of all time. Chuck in Ken Shamrock and a submission match stipulation and you've got the perfect storm.
The match itself is one named as one of the best Mania matches of all time, and for good reason. It's a brutal and hard-hitting encounter that grips the viewer, even if you know exactly what is coming.
The ending saw Bret Hart lock Stone Cold into his signature sharpshooter hold, only for the rattlesnake to refuse to tap out, instead, passing out under the pain. The image of Austin's bloody face screaming out as Hart locks in the hold is one of the most iconic in the history of WrestleMania, and Hart's post-match assault of Austin cemented the double turn.
Austin was a fan favourite after this and the rest, as they say, is history.
