One of the constants about wrestling, regardless of era, booking, storylines or personalities has been the division between babyfaces and heels. You have the clearly defined good guy who is someone that the fans can support. It has always made for interesting competition when heels and faces square off against one another.
As time progressed, the lines between faces and heels became blurred, and it has become common place to cheer the heel and jeer the overly happy and upbeat faces. Because of the changes in wrestling fandom, becoming a face has been harder to achieve.
Fans have become more and more disenchanted with faces that slap hands and smile while asking for their approval. So over the past few years, face turns have become harder to achieve; however when they have happened, fans have certainly been caught off guard.
It hasn't been done in the most common of ways, and sometimes it has been done out of necessity, getting fans to cheer wrestlers that they had been jeering. Which face turns did we see coming? Which ones caught fans off guard? A number of them certainly surprised the audience in attendance as well as those watching on television.
Here are five WWE face turns since 2010 that we didn't see coming.
#5 Seth Rollins (after Triple H turned on him)
When Seth Rollins returned from injury, he was greeted with a hero's welcome.
There was a huge ovation when he ran down the aisle and attacked Roman Reigns from behind. Whether that was because of the disdain towards Reigns on the part of most wrestling fans, or glee that Rollins had returned, it was clear that the fans were pleased to see him and approved of his actions.
But the next night on Monday Night Raw, Rollins was able to turn those cheers to jeers once again. He stated that no one was really behind him other than the Authority. He believed he once again had Triple H and Stephanie McMahon firmly in his corner.
Also read: 5 WWE Heel Turns Since 2010 We Didnt See Coming
He appeared to return to his typically weasel-like ways, his attack from behind on Roman Reigns included. If we fast forward a couple of months later, Rollins faced Finn Balor for the new WWE Universal title. Despite losing the match, he contended soon after in a fatal four way match with Big Cass, Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens.
What caught fans off guard was the match's conclusion, when Triple H turned on Rollins, costing him the chance to capture the new championship and turning him face in the process.
#4 The New Day (after League of Nations confrontation)
When the New Day debuted a couple of years back, they were booked as a face team. The problem was, they didn't go over very well at all, and by Wrestlemania fans began to jeer them mercilessly and chant 'New Day Sucks.' They tried to counteract that by coining their own chant of 'New Day Rocks'.
Fans weren't buying it, though, and continued to jeer them and their antics. It appeared people preferred to boo this over the top positive group that spouted off about the power of positivity. Soon, they began to use the most unscrupulous of tactics to secure wins, following the fans' lead and turning heel.
They often invoked the 'freebird rule' where any two of the three members could compete at any time, and in the process would leave the third member to interfere and cost their opposition the win. Then, when they were eventually challenged by the League of Nations, it appeared as though the fan reactions towards them began to change.
Everything they said and did was suddenly embraced by the fans.
Quickly, the New Day captured the support of the WWE universe and in the process became unexpected fan favourites.
#3 Daniel Bryan (against the Wyatts)
Daniel Bryan was a face that was seeing his popularity growing rapidly with WWE fans. But during his feud with the Wyatt Family, he eventually gave up and joined his rivals. It was one of the most surprising turns fans had seen in recent memory, and an unwelcome one.
As part of the Wyatt family, Bryan wore a one piece jumpsuit similar to what Erick Rowan wears, which signified his membership. He did the bidding of Bray Wyatt, but soon questions began to arise in relation to the other Wyatt family members. Was there dissension within the ranks? Was Bray showing favouritism towards Bryan?
Regardless, Bryan appeared to be a full-fledged member of the family and showed his support time and time again. What fans didn't necessarily see coming was that Bryan was simply acting the part, and instead hoped to break up the Wyatt family from within.
Bryan turned on Bray during a cage match where they were supposed to be partners, by defying the Eater of Worlds' directions and attacking him. This not only earned the attention of the WWE fanbase, but cemented Bryan as the top face in the company.
#2 Dolph Ziggler cashing in Money In The Bank against Alberto Del Rio
A few years back, Dolph Ziggler was a disliked, cowardly heel that fans did not care for.
During that run, Ziggler was supported by Big E Langston, and had AJ Lee as his valet. Ziggler and Alberto Del Rio had their share of run-ins with one another, and each and every time Del Rio, the World Champion at the time, was able to get the better of his rival.
However, on one occasion it appeared as though the stars were aligned, as the night after losing Wrestlemania he had the chance to win the championship.
As the Money in the Bank briefcase holder, Ziggler could cash in his opportunity at any time. The time he chose was when Del Rio, wounded after a gruelling match against Jack Swagger, was attempting to make his way to his feet. When Ziggler's music hit, the crowd erupted in such a way that it made it impossible to keep him heel going forward.
His hard work, effort and continued pursuit of Del Rio resulted in him being given another title opportunity, and he finally defeated Del Rio to capture the title. In the process, he became a fan favourite and has yet to return to heel status since.
#1 CM Punk (pipebomb)
Often, a person is measured by what he does and not what he says. But in the case of CM Punk, he was measured by what he said. Punk was known as the man that proved himself to be every bit as good as he said he was, by going into the ring and backing it up time and time again.
On one particular Monday Night Raw, Punk was given a microphone. It was that night that the infamous 'pipebomb' went off. Some may dispute his actual status at the time, but leading up to that historic promo, he had been a heel.
Fans loved the fact that Punk wasn't simply opening up what people on social media were already saying, but was doing so in a way that was cutting-edge and fun. It peeled back the veil that wrestling puts in front of fans, behind which secrets are kept that aren't supposed to be talked about.
What followed was the summer of Punk, where he went from being a top heel to a top face quickly. Regardless of how he was being booked on-screen, his honesty and open nature had been what fans loved about him. Punk's pipebomb turned him face in a manner that fans couldn't have seen coming.
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