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Over the last month, two of the biggest names in the WWE have switched sides. By attacking Ricochet during their United States Championship feud, AJ Styles not only won the title once again but also cemented his heel turn alongside the Club, who have been renamed as the OC.
And in his quest to rid the WWE Universe and weekly programming of too much Shane McMahon, Kevin Owens turned face after dropping a scathing promo on Shane-O-Mac. Heel and face turns freshen things up when stars have done all they could on one side of the fence of WWE wrestlers.
A good deal of Superstars have remained one way or the other for most of their WWE careers. Stars like Finn Balor and Bayley have always been smiling babyfaces that the crowd could get behind.
But once they've run their course, what's next for them to accomplish? Since Owens and Styles recently turned, it's helped to switch things up in WWE. Here are five more heel turns and five more face turns that would continue to refresh the product.
#6 Heel Turn - Apollo Crews
Ever since his original stint in NXT, Crews has been a smiling good guy. He's always had some of the best in-ring skills in the company but failed to connect with the crowd beyond his wrestling moves.
His main accomplishment thus far was receiving two Intercontinental Championship shots against both Dean Ambrose and the Miz respectively. His run with Titus Worldwide allowed for Titus O'Neill to be his mouthpiece, but that pairing didn't go very far.
Crews recently returned to NXT for a match to Kushida. He received a hero's welcome from the NXT faithful. That crowd is often louder and more passionate than some of the usual WWE crowds due to the smaller size.
Since Crews has gone as far as he might go as a face, the best thing for him might be to make him a heel. He or a manager can boast about his physical prowess and how much better he is than the rest of the roster. Smiling hasn't gotten him too far so it might be time to stop smiling and start growling.
#5 Face Turn - Cesaro
Whether as a singles competitor or as a member of a tag team, one thing is certain regarding Cesaro - he is one of the most gifted stars in the world. While being one of the best all-round wrestlers in the world is a good accolade, things haven't translated into main-event success for the man from Lucerne, Switzerland.
For much of his career, Cesaro has been a mid-card staple as a singles star and a perennial tag team champion or contender when a member of a tag team. He regularly showcases his amazing feats of both strength and skill in every match, and his matches with Ricochet and Aleister Black have furthered that claim.
Fans always cheer when he performs the "Cesaro Swing" and do it more so when he either swings someone more than 20 times or swings a bigger star like Big E or Samoa Joe. There was a reason why "Cesaro Section" signs popped up a few years ago and it could be time to take advantage of his impressive physical skills on the side of the heroes in WWE.
#5 Heel Turn - Bayley
Bayley is the quintessential face in WWE. She's always happy and nice and willing to help out others. She had basically lost all of that luster until she moved to SmackDown and won both the Money in the Bank contract and SmackDown Women's title.
Although her tenure on the blue brand has helped her to regain some credibility, once she loses the title, she'll go back to being the same character. Instead of resuming her lovable persona, she should be allowed to explore a different side of her character.
Turning her heel not only gives her a fresh start but it also opens up several new feuds for her as a heel. She's literally feuded with every heel on the roster and since the depth in the division isn't great, she's battled other faces like her current feud with Ember Moon.
By allowing Bayley to turn to the dark side, she gets a refresher and a reboot that she might need once she loses the title. She isn't going to hold it forever, so once she drops the belt, WWE needs to take her down a different path.
#4 Face Turn - Shinsuke Nakamura
Nakamura is a performer that despite his limited English skills, can still wonderfully pull off being either a heel or a face. While he has been a heel since hitting AJ Styles with a low blow after their WrestleMania match, he has accumulated reigns as both the United States and the Intercontinental Champion.
A good deal of the crowd still cheers for him regardless of what he does. He just has that type of unspoken charisma that several stars like Bobby Lashley and Crews lack. The partnership he had with Rusev earlier in the year was strange as they teamed up after he almost hurt Lana.
Since that partnership is over, things on SmackDown need to change from top to bottom once the show moves to Fox. A face Nakamura would give the crowd another top star to get behind, especially once Kofi Kingston drops his title. Whoever takes it from Kingston will need face challengers, and outside of Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens, there aren't many main-event type stars who could challenge for the title right away. Nakamura could.
#4 Heel Turn - Finn Balor
Face Finn Balor hasn't run its course, but with the reluctance to ever let him have another run as either WWE or Universal Champion, his options are limited. He has had two runs with the Intercontinental Championship but those were short-lived. His "Demon" persona comes out when he needs to close a feud out with a slam-dunk win, but even that's an aspect of his character that needs a slight change.
There have been rumblings of Balor joining the Club sometime in the near future and if he did, he would obviously be a heel. That side of his character has yet to be explored and it is something that could propel him to the next level.
If he still uses "the Demon" as a heel, it could be used as a vicious and relentless visage rather than a painted guy who crawls to the ring. Balor already has the in-ring skill, but sometimes character work and tweaks give stars better shots at greater glory. If the Club is supposed to be taken seriously, adding Balor would help but he needs a dangerous edge to solidify that.
#3 Heel Turn - Asuka
Asuka was the longest-reigning titleholder in NXT history. Her reign of over 500 days was unprecedented at the time and was something that predicted major future success when she moved to the main roster.
While she did have an undefeated streak to start her main-roster tenure, it was ended at WrestleMania 34 when she lost to Charlotte Flair. After that, Asuka sort of fell down the card a bit but still maintained an aura of danger as one of the most feared women in WWE.
Her tag team with Kairi Sane, albeit a good idea, has been a bust because of the lack of TV time dedicated to the titles. Asuka needs a big change to return to the top of the card, and a heel turn is the way to do it.
She could easily attack Bayley or even her partner Kairi Sane because both are so darn lovable. An arrogant Asuka is a dangerous Asuka and could be done closely to how Io Shirai's turn has been handled in NXT.
#2 Face Turn - Alexa Bliss
Because she's so damn good at it, Alexa Bliss has been a heel for almost all of her time in both NXT and on the main roster. She originally debuted as a happy-go-lucky pixie fairy type who blew "pixie dust" when she was in the ring.
But since she honed her promo skills, she's been a heel for most of her run and one of the best heels in the ladies' division. WWE has loosely teased a face turn with her being nice to Nikki Cross, but everyone believes her kindness is only to serve her own interests. If Cross ends up turning on her, there you go, you have a face Alexa Bliss.
She's smaller so it would be easier for her to come across as a face. When the smaller stars are picked on by the larger ones, it's an easy heel-face dynamic. Bliss is talented enough to pull off either side of the coin, so if they feel she might have some untapped potential as a gallant babyface, Bliss is certainly a face turn that could be explored.
#2 Heel Turn - The New Day
This one will likely not happen as long as Kofi Kingston is the WWE Champion. The group started off its faction-life as a group of heels trying to change the status quo. After routinely using their one-man advantage to interfere in matches, their collective charisma was just too good not to turn them into lovable faces.
It's been nearly four years as the top faces in the tag division but in those four years, they've routinely provided the best promos of the night. That's all well and good, and Kofi's "Power of Positivity" is a good lesson to teach the younger ones, but they'll be missing out on a great storyline whenever the group disbands.
Who knows? Maybe they might stay together until they retire. But turning them heel would not only allow another team to move into the spot as top face team but also allow them (or a member of two) to challenge other faces. The group is too valuable from a marketing standpoint to be heels, but the disbanding of a team or faction is always money if done right.
#1 Heel Turn - Roman Reigns
Just like the possibility of the New Day turning heel, Roman Reigns doing the same thing is highly unlikely. That doesn't mean that we cannot predict or suggest that him doing so might freshen things up for both Reigns and the WWE.
He's still in the "Honeymoon" phase of returning from his Leukemia diagnosis, so a heel turn isn't happening any time soon. But once enough time has passed, a turn would be something that most people wouldn't see coming. We've all come to expect Reigns to be the face the fights anyone and helps his friends. That might get old as it did during his pursuits of Brock Lesnar and the Universal Championship.
A heel Reigns would be a remorseless assassin that would instantly gain credibility as a bad guy. He's literally feuded with all the top heels in the company at given moments - Drew McIntyre, Braun Strowman, Lesnar, Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Randy Orton, Kevin Owens. So what's to happen when he runs out of bad guys to vanquish?
Revisiting those feuds would be entirely stale and thus a huge change would be needed. I'm not suggesting a Bray Wyatt-level change. All they have to do is have him either attack Seth Rollins or whoever is the top babyface of the moment and there we go. A heel Reigns might be the best thing for his character once all of his other options are exhausted.
#1 Face Turn - Drew McIntyre
If someone atop the WWE turns heel, then someone in the main event also needs to turn face. McIntyre has been operating as if he's the main non-Lesnar heel on RAW, but how many times can he lose to Reigns or others and still be considered a dangerous man?
Beating up the likes of Dolph Ziggler and Cedric Alexander doesn't hold up when he's expected to be challenging for the Universal Championship. That alone (his pursuit of the big red belt) is enough for a turn.
He initially stated that he wanted to rid the locker room of complacency and also win the Universal Championship. Neither of those things are reserved only for heels. Getting the best out of people is something that great coaches do and winning titles is a goal that everyone strives for. McIntyre just needs that signature win or wins to catapult him where he belongs.
The partnership with Shane McMahon has hurt McIntyre more than anyone. How is it that McMahon can beat Reigns but McIntyre can't on two separate occasions? He needs a reversal of fortune and being the man to dethrone Lesnar could help that.
If Rollins fails in his bid to do so at SummerSlam, then the WWE needs to strap its cart to McIntyre as the next big star. He's clearly more than ready for it but just needs the backing from those behind the curtains.
