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Appearance changes have been essential for many WWE Superstars over the years. While most cases create a chance for a character refresh, some have been career-changing.
When WWE Superstars (and wrestlers in general) turn heel, a change in look often plays a more significant role than we think. In this list, we look at seven significant heel turns that saw WWE stars make an appearance change:
#7. Roman Reigns - Got rid of any ties to The Shield after returning to WWE in 2020
Before August 2020, Roman Reigns was detached from The Shield, but he was the only superstar to keep remnants of the faction in his character.
For one, Reigns was wrestling with his vest on as well as keeping The Shield's theme song (or at least a modified version of it). The prime goal of his 2020 run was to eventually get rid of any of the last bits of The Shield in his character.
The biggest change he made at first was his appearance in the ring - wrestling without a shirt.
The next step was to change his theme song eventually. It took a while, but in May 2021, Roman Reigns finally changed his theme song. When talking about it, Paul Heyman said that four significant changes needed to happen with Roman Reigns' character, and his theme song was the final one:
"It was the final step away from The Shield. That’s what it was," Heyman stated. "One of the things that Roman Reigns and I spoke about, with all final decisions being Roman Reigns’. I am Special Counsel to the Tribal Chief, and that’s not just a public persona on television. Behind the scenes, I’m Special Counsel to the Tribal Chief. And one of the many things that we were both desirous of, A. Change the mannerisms. B. Change the presentation. C. Change the hairstyle. D. Change the look."
All four changes were successful and resulted in Roman Reigns having the best run of his WWE career. He is currently a year into his Universal Title reign as of this writing, and his run has been praised by fans and wrestlers alike.
#6. Sasha Banks - Changed her hair color when returning to WWE in 2019
Sasha Banks' WWE run in 2019 was a mixed bag. While she became one-half of the inaugural WWE Tag Team Champions alongside Bayley, they lost their titles at WrestleMania 35, following which Sasha Banks took a long hiatus.
She returned to RAW after SummerSlam 2019, where she turned heel and attacked then-RAW Women's Champion Becky Lynch. While the shades of her hair changed between 2015 and 2019, in the summer of that year, she made her big heel turn and appearance change.
Sasha Banks would feud with Becky Lynch, most notably having an incredible match at WWE Hell in a Cell 2019. Following that, Sasha Banks was part of Bayley's heel turn, and the two would start a long heel alliance that lasted over a year.
Sasha Banks would go on to become one of the MVPs of WWE's ThunderDome era. In that time, she won the WWE Women's Tag Team titles again as well as the RAW Women's Championship. In late 2020, Sasha Banks finally turned face and dethroned Bayley to conclude the latter's year-long reign as the SmackDown Women's Champion.
Sasha Banks would also have an appearance change ahead of her historic WrestleMania 37 main event against Bianca Belair.
#5. The Usos - Had a resurgence in their WWE career after an appearance change and heel turn
The Usos had been around for a while in 2016, being one of WWE's resident tag teams. However, the homegrown WWE stars were getting stale and aligning with the most unpopular star at the time, Roman Reigns, who didn't help their cause.
In 2016, the WWE Draft saw them head on their own to SmackDown Live, where they finally turned heel. Alongside this, The Usos would change their look. The timing couldn't have been better for the two brothers. Not only was their new look better, but their heel turn proved to be refreshing.
It led to a resurgent WWE career, where they became the #1 team on SmackDown alongside The New Day. Even then, looking back at it, The Usos' run on SmackDown was arguably more impressive. It certainly helped that they were part of the hottest wrestling show in 2016 - SmackDown Live.
It all came together for them, and the heel turn and appearance change proved to be precisely what The Usos needed. Since then, they have had the best run of their WWE career, winning the SmackDown Tag Team titles five times. Their feud with The New Day in 2017 was arguably the highlight of that run.
#4. Sheamus - Turned heel and debuted a new look in his WWE return in 2015
By 2014, Sheamus felt like just another superstar on the WWE roster. He hadn't done too much, and it seemed like his World Championship days were well behind him.
Returning from an injury in 2015, Sheamus decided to change things up. Alongside a heel turn, Sheamus returned to WWE with an entirely new look.
It was a mohawk and a bit of an unconventional beard. Sheamus would hear "you look stupid!" Chants from the WWE Universe every appearance he made, and he loved every bit of it. The WWE higher-ups seemed to enjoy it as well, as he won the Money in the Bank briefcase in 2015 and cashed it in on Roman Reigns to win the World Title at Survivor Series that year.
His WWE World Title reign lasted less than a month, but his heel turn and change in look turned out to be a big success in 2015. While he hasn't had the same level of singles success since he spent nearly 3 years from 2016 to 2019 along with Cesaro as a part of "The Bar" - where he enjoyed great success in the WWE Tag Team division on both RAW and SmackDown.
#3. Otis - Turned heel in WWE in 2021
Otis has had an interesting run on the WWE main roster so far. Heavy Machinery seemed to have hit their ceiling on the main roster, but WWE Chairman Vince McMahon seemed to see something in Otis.
His 2020 storyline with Mandy Rose and Dolph Ziggler caught the attention of the WWE Universe, and the higher-ups seemed to like it as well. He received a big push, and it's unfortunate that there was no crowd present for his match against Dolph Ziggler at WrestleMania 36.
He shockingly won the Money in the Bank briefcase, but since WWE had no concrete plan for him, it came to a dead end. He lost the Money in the Bank briefcase to The Miz, who later cashed in on Drew McIntyre to become the WWE champion.
In 2021, Otis changed his look when he aligned with Chad Gable. Not only did he turn heel for the first time in his WWE career, but the beard and long hair went away as well.
It's yet to be seen how successful Otis' appearance change in WWE will be. So far, he's got TV time, which seems to be good enough.
#2. The Rock - Turned heel and had a drastic appearance change in 1997 after rejection from the WWE Universe
When Dwayne Johnson made his WWE debut at Survivor Series 1996 as Rocky Maivia, he was a young, white meat babyface who had ribbons attached to his gear. While he got a great reception from the WWE Universe on the night of his debut, they quickly turned on him. Seeing that he was a generic babyface with no actual character, fans turned on him, chanting "Die Rocky Die!" infamously.
Vince McMahon saw an opportunity when The Rock was out of action with an injury. He pitched the idea of The Rock turning heel, which is exactly what happened when he returned in 1997.
He joined The Nation of Domination, changed his look, and began going by the name "The Rock". His heel turn was arguably one of the most important in WWE history, as it kickstarted his journey to megastardom.
The Rock finally unlocked his true potential and would go on to become the biggest star of his generation alongside 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin. The rest, as they say, is history.
#1. Hulk Hogan - The WWE legend with the most significant heel turn in wrestling history?
Hulk Hogan technically wasn't in WWE when this happened, but we still feel he can be added to this list as he is a WWE legend and it was WWE that purchased WCW.
Hulk Hogan admitted that he had wanted to turn heel for a long time. He revealed that he pitched the idea of turning heel after The Ultimate Warrior beat him at WrestleMania 6, introducing The Hollywood Hulk Hogan character.
It wouldn't be until 1996, six years later, when The Hollywood Hulk Hogan character finally came to fruition. In Vince McMahon's eyes, Hulk Hogan was too valuable as a babyface to ever turn heel, which has been seen in later years with John Cena and Roman Reigns (until 2020).
In WCW, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall were the two "outsiders" poised to make a ground-breaking change. There was a mystery "third man", who turned out to be Hulk Hogan. It was at the Bash at the Beach pay-per-view, and Hulk Hogan's assault on Randy Savage marked his first heel turn in a decade-and-a-half.
The heel turn was arguably the most significant in wrestling history. It truly amped up the Monday Night Wars between WWE and WCW, with Hulk Hogan and the New World Order (nWo) being the most popular entity in that period.
It was also a highly-acclaimed heel turn that saw Hulk Hogan drastically change his look. He went from being a patriotic babyface with the iconic yellow and red colors to an all-black and significantly cooler heel.
The nWo helped propel WCW to new heights, and they wouldn't have done it without the WWE legend Hulk Hogan.
