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2018 is about to culminate in a few days.
It was not a stupendous year for WWE. They recorded their lowest ever ratings in history. They produced some incredible shows like SummerSlam and Evolution as well as some real underwhelming ones like Crown Jewel and Backlash.
WWE has evolved a lot in the last decade. It has become much more global and rich, but one thing that is still unchanged is the practice of unexpected heel turns.
2018 saw some big and some small heel turns. But four of them stood apart from others. Namely Shinsuke Nakamura at WrestleMania, Becky Lynch at Summerslam, Dean Ambrose on Raw, and Daniel Bryan on Smackdown Live.
Today we will dwell deep into all these heel turns and will decide who actually had the best heel turn of 2018.
Special Mention: Johnny Gargano
If someone would have told me that Gargano will be a heel at the end of the year, I would not have believed him. But here it is, heel Gargano is a reality in 2018. When Gargano was revealed as the attacker of Aleister Black it was a surprising moment for all of us.
Even his match after turning heel at the Takeover was incredible to see.
At the most recent NXT, he faced Aleister Black in a Steel Cage match. The match ended with Tommaso Ciampa helping him to win that match. This has led to speculation that they both are back together. If that has happened then it would be incredible to see.
Though he is not at the main roster still I found mentioning him is essential.
Now we can finally compare the four mentioned above. We will compare them on three main aspects: the build-up to their heel turn, execution of the turn and aftermath.
#1 Shinsuke Nakamura
Shinsuke Nakamura turned on his friend AJ Styles at the Grandest Stage of All, WrestleMania, this year. Nakamura's heel turn was one of the biggest highlights of this year's Mania.
Build-up:
Nakamura won the Men's Royal Rumble in 2018 and straight after challenged Styles for the match. Throughout the build, Nakamura and Styles portrayed themselves as best of friends and showed mutual respect for each other. They talked about their past and were engaged in friendly banter.
A glimpse of a turn was shown when Nakamura tried to Kinshasa Styles at the go-home show of Mania. But still many were not able to decode it.
Execution:
A defeated Nakamura who was going for a handshake gave a low blow to Styles. The execution of this turn could not have been better than this. It was surprising and enthralling to watch at the same time. Fans both in the audience and at home were not able to believe their eyes.
Aftermath:
Nakamura failed in a thing which was out of his control: his booking.
It started well with a new theme song being given to him. As time progressed his character became stale and dull. He lost too many matches after turning heel.
He not only lost his feud against Styles but was also depicted as a cowardly heel. The only good thing that happened to him after turning heel was his US Title triumph, but since winning it, his reign has been nothing but a disaster. He has been continuously missing PPVs and is not regularly featured on television.
#2 Becky Lynch
The only woman in the list (or should I say, the only Man) is Becky Lynch. Lynch turned on Charlotte Flair at Summerslam 2018. This move started a new revolution in WWE.
Build-up:
Lynch was on a winning streak after being a non-factor for a few months. She earned the title shot by defeating former champion Carmella in a non-title match. Flair was given a shot by also beating Carmella. This enraged Lynch, but she remained sensible. Until the PPV, only a tiny sign of the rift between the two was shown.
Execution:
All three women, Flair, Lynch and Carmella, gave their best in the title match at Summerslam. When Lynch was about to tap out Carmella, Flair hit Lynch with Natural Selection for the win. Similar to Styles and Nakamura, the former friends shook hands in the ring only for Lynch to snap.
Lynch completely annihilated Flair and stood there receiving a thunderous ovation from the crowd.
Aftermath:
Initially, WWE wanted fans to boo Lynch and cheer for Flair. The WWE fans, being stubborn, did exactly the opposite and instead booed Flair and cheered loudly for Lynch.
Lynch soon got turned into an anti-hero personality for fans. They rooted for her in every situation.
Today, Lynch has turned into one of the biggest stars of WWE. She is more over than she has ever been.
She may have lost the title but her feud against Rousey and Flair has been the best thing on WWE television for a long time. She is rumoured to headline WrestleMania next year.
#3 Dean Ambrose
The former Shield member turned his back on his brother Seth Rollins on an episode of Raw.
Build-up:
Ambrose returned on the go home show of Summerslam. He received a great pop from the live audience and helped Rollins in his battle with Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler. Later he joined hands with both Reigns and Rollins to reunite The Shield. They battled Braun Strowman, McIntyre and Ziggler for several weeks.
During this feud, Ambrose teased a heel turn at times. There were many confrontations between Rollins and Ambrose. But it never happened during the entire duration of the feud.
Execution:
There are a few incidents on which wrestling community is not on the same page, and one of them is the timing of this heel turn. Roman Reigns announced at the beginning of the show that he was suffering from leukemia and he had to receive treatment. On the same emotional night, Rollins and Ambrose fought McIntyre and Ziggler for the Raw Tag Team Championship.
They said their win is going to be dedicated to Reigns. Rollins and Ambrose won the title only for Ambrose to snap after it. Ambrose completely destroyed Rollins and even threw all the gold on a shocked Rollins.
Now many say that this could have been saved for next week, and others claim that this was the perfect timing to do this. I personally believe that this was perfect as it helped Ambrose to garner a lot more boos than he would have got otherwise.
Aftermath:
Rollins lost his Tag Team Championship as Ambrose did not defend it with him.
Ambrose claimed that The Shield made him weak all this time. He even burned his Shield jacket in flames. But some goofy segments took away the intensity of this feud.
Rollins and Ambrose finally collided at TLC in a match for IC Title. The match received a very hostile reaction. Fans in attendance chanted 'Boring' and 'Becky' during the match.
Though he won that match still his heel turn has not been very effective.
#4 Daniel Bryan
The most recent addition to this list is the Leader of Yes! Movement Daniel Bryan. Daniel Bryan turned heel on AJ Styles on an episode of Smackdown Live!.
Build-up:
Bryan was cleared to return to the ring in 2018. It was a major boost for both him and WWE.
Bryan became the no. 1 contender for WWE Championship after defeating his arch-rival The Miz at Super Show-Down. He was destined to get his match at Crown Jewel. Bryan pulled himself out from that event due to the controversy around it.
He got his match at the go-home show of the PPV, but lost that match to Styles.
After Crown Jewel, Bryan was announced as the co-leader of Smackdown men's Survivor Series team. At the end of the night, a mini glimpse of The New Daniel Bryan was shown to us.
Execution:
Paul Heyman came out to hype Lesnar vs Styles II on Smackdown Live. He said AJ Styles is one of the best wrestlers in the world, second only to Daniel Bryan. Bryan came out all angry, and a brawl between the two was initiated.
Shane McMahon made a match between the two official for the night with the Championship being on the line. In the closing moments of an incredibly contested match when the referee was knocked down, Bryan cheated his way up. He delivered a low blow to Styles and pinned him one-two-three.
The new WWE Champion did not stop there and destroyed Styles with all his might.
Aftermath:
Daniel Bryan gave Lesnar his best match of the year after turning heel. He told a great story and almost defeated Lesnar in that match only to come up short in the end.
Later he declared the Yes! Movement had died and a new Daniel Bryan had been created. He delivered a great match against AJ Styles at TLC.
His feud with Styles is far from over.
Conclusion
After comparing all the things regarding each heel turn I will say the ultimate winner of this battle is, Becky Lynch. She is followed by Daniel Bryan. Ambrose and Nakamura are close behind him.
So this was my opinion on all these heel turns, there is a strong possibility that my views could be different from yours.
Do sound off in the comment section below.
