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2020 has been a strange year for WWE, where some of the biggest moments occurred without the presence of a live crowd, thanks to the pandemic.
When it usually comes to heel turns, live reactions have been one of the most key elements in making the moment a worthwhile experience for viewers sitting at home. As many notable WWE stars turned over to the dark side, the creative team had to find new ways to execute the same this year.
This feature will be taking a look at the reasons behind why the following WWE Superstars chose to turn their backs on the fans this year. With that being said, here are five WWE Superstars and their reasons for turning heel in 2020.
#5: Tucker betrayed Otis at WWE Hell in a Cell 2020 after being tired of living in his former tag team partner's shadow
At WWE Hell in a Cell 2020, Otis put his Money in the Bank contract on the line against The Miz in a one-on-one match. Towards the end of their bout, Tucker betrayed his Heavy Machinery teammate by hitting him with the Money in the Bank briefcase. The Miz capitalized on this opportunity and pinned Otis to become the new Mr. Money in the Bank.
After the match, Tucker cut a promo backstage and revealed that he was done being the workhorse of Heavy Machinery. Tucker also said without him being by his former teammate's side, Otis wouldn't function properly all by himself.
Clearly, Tucker's on-screen character was sick and tired of being constantly overshadowed by Otis on WWE TV.
The decision of breaking up Heavy Machinery wasn't received positively by the WWE Universe. Such is the case because it was Tucker who took a huge hit in terms of momentum after splitting from Otis.
Otis is an entertaining and charismatic personality. In hindsight, it was Tucker who mostly benefitted from being the former Mr. Money in the Bank's teammate, and not the other way around.
Otis is still a part of WWE SmackDown while Tucker is now a part of RAW after the 2020 draft.
#4: Carmella turned on the WWE Universe after losing her true self as a babyface
Before Carmella debuted her 'Untouchable' gimmick in WWE, she was a babyface who appeared alongside R-Truth and took part in 24/7 title shenanigans.
After a few weeks of vignette teases on WWE SmackDown, Carmella was revealed as the mystery woman of the Blue brand in early October.
She also gave the reason behind why a change in attitude was necessary for her to move forward in WWE.
"Sometimes, you need to take a good, hard look in the mirror to remember who you are. And I admit it, I forgot. I got a little lost along the way [referencing her time with R-Truth]. But I know exactly who to blame, and that's you [WWE fans]. All of you. You wanted me to do things your way, play by your rules. You wanted me to dance around, have fun, and look where that got me. Absolutely nowhere. Then I remembered - I'm Carmella. I'm better than each and every one of you. Know what I'm not though? I'm not your princess anymore."
As quoted above, Carmella doesn't want to cater to the WWE Universe anymore, and she holds herself to a higher standard than the fans.
In typical heel fashion, Carmella recently ambushed WWE SmackDown Women's Champion, Sasha Banks, on several occasions. Fans have seen the 'glam diva' gimmick play out before, but Carmella's take on that role could end up changing the narrative in WWE.
#3: Aleister Black blamed Kevin Owens for not having his back on WWE RAW
After getting his eye injured while feuding with Seth Rollins and Murphy back in July, Aleister Black returned to WWE RAW in August, wearing an eye bandage. Black appeared on The Kevin Owens Show and attacked Kevin Owens, thus turning heel for the first time in his WWE career.
A few weeks later on RAW Talk, Aleister Black explained the motivation behind why he attacked Kevin Owens.
“Kevin is a fraud, who hides behind his family as an excuse for everything. He did not show up on an episode of RAW, due to which my eye was damaged by Seth [Rollins] and Murphy. And the WWE Universe forgives him and makes me out to be the bad guy for attacking him? If I jump into the fire for another man, I expect him to do the same for me.”
A heel never sees themselves as the villain in any storyline, which is exactly in line with Aleister Black's actions since turning over to the dark side. Both Kevin Owens and Aleister Black were drafted to SmackDown during the 2020 WWE draft.
Unfortunately, Black has not had a single match inside the squared circle since the WWE draft. His wife Zelina Vega was recently released from the company on November 13, 2020.
#2: Randy Orton gave a twisted explanation behind brutalizing Edge on WWE RAW
After Edge's highly-publicized WWE return at the 2020 Royal Rumble, Randy Orton turned on his colleague in an episode of RAW.
The Viper didn't explain his actions for a few weeks. But that changed when Beth Phoenix appeared to provide a medical update on her husband, Edge, in early March.
The Viper justified his attack by saying that he was only looking out for Edge as a friend. Edge saved Randy Orton from himself once upon a time, and Orton reasoned that he was paying back the favor by preventing The Rated-R Superstar from making an in-ring return. In Orton's mind, an in-ring return would have put Edge in great danger of a potential mishap and that would have taken him away from his wife and daughters.
Randy Orton's twisted logic painted Beth Phoenix as the enabler who encouraged Edge to put himself at such risk, while Orton thought he was the one looking out for Edge by being more realistic. As many know at this point, that segment ended with Randy Orton delivering an RKO to Beth Phoenix.
Edge and Orton's feud crossed boundaries between fiction and reality. The Ultimate Opportunist defeated The Viper at WrestleMania, while Orton defeated Edge in their rematch at WWE Backlash. Edge suffered a torn triceps injury at WWE Backlash and he is currently gearing up for a return in the near future.
#1: Roman Reigns aligned himself with Paul Heyman upon finally realizing what it takes to stay on top in WWE
For the most part, Paul Heyman has spoken on Roman Reigns' behalf ever since he became The Tribal Chief's special counsel. After years of portraying a babyface, Reigns developed a new attitude knowing that his efforts to cater to WWE fans will always be underappreciated.
Stumbling upon this realization made Roman Reigns hire Paul Heyman's services as special counsel. The main crux behind Roman's new attitude is that in the last few years, he did everything the right way to meet expectations and gain adulation from the fans. That didn't go in Reigns' favor until the leukemia announcement happened. Despite gaining favor with the fans after that point in time, Roman Reigns' character was still restricted due to his babyface role.
This time around, Reigns will do things his own way because that is what it takes to stay on top, and the fans have finally started appreciating him as a WWE character in 2020.
During an appearance on Corey Graves’ After The Bell podcast, Reigns explained how having Heyman by his side works to his advantage.
“I wanted a whole new presentation and we are going to continue to gradually do that. I thought what better way than to align myself with essentially a high powered attorney [Heyman]. If you take the top athlete in the world and mix him with a head mafia boss character, that’s who I am. The mob boss will go out there and do the hit himself but you have to have somebody dotting the ‘I’s” and crossing the “T’s” for you who understands the ins and outs and can add that new layer to the whole character and the personality.”
Although Reigns initially started out as a tweener after returning at WWE SummerSlam, The Tribal Chief's heelish attributes have taken the spotlight in recent memory. The transition towards becoming a full heel shows that Roman Reigns is willing to go to extreme lengths to stay on top in WWE, which is something his character wouldn't have understood a couple of years ago.
