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Most Understandable Heel Turns


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Even in the context of Savage's storyline (and real life) possessiveness, Hogan was always putting himself in situations he should have known would stoke Randy's anger. After a while he's like the idiot who keeps poking a bear with a stick then is surprised when he gets mauled.

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I'd say that in the Hulkamamiacs vs. Money Inc. feud of 1993, Hogan is mostly in the right.

 

However, at Wrestlemania 9, he does illegally steal IRS's briefcase, break into and enter it, then steals Dibiase's money and gives it away like an orange Robin Hood.

 

And this is after Jack Tunney yet again screws Ted over by changing the rules of wrestling on the fly for no reason!

 

Hogan would complete his heel turn later that night.

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I agree with Savage. Hogan left him alone in the ring to take Liz back and cry over her while Savage got beat on. That plus Hogan hogging Savages spotlight and his jealous eyes. Randy was right.

I also agree with the Wahoo and Andre heel turns. Both were veterans who helped every babyface but never were rewarded with title shots. They wanted the big win before they're opportunity past them by.

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Hogan as the real heel in his feuds has been around since I had AOL dialup and an onion tied to my belt in the mid-90s, haha.

 

I think it'd almost be harder to find a feud where he was legitimately the face - probably Earthquake? Slaughter is a tough one to argue he's the heel. The Dungeon ... you'd have to figure out what the hell was going on in the first place to unpack that one.

 

How about Shawn and Marty? Shawn didn't really "do" anything until he superkicked Marty if I recall correctly, and weeks before that, Marty rolled an unconscious Shawn in the ring to take the pinfall from Flair.

 

Sid and Shawn after the WM 11 was weird too - HBK hired Sid to be a bodyguard, and his job was very obviously to interfere on his behalf, so he does, which doesn't even cost him the match, HBK berates him and fires him, and Sid attacks him. And is the heel? Even watching it all back it seems awkward.

Shawn didn't fire Sid, he just gave him the night off iirc. (Sid rebelled because he is all about earning his paycheck and working scheduled dates.)

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"Die, Rocky Die!"

Rocky joining The Nation has to be among the top on this list.

 

Also same year both Bret and Shawn's turns were justifiable.

 

Eddie Guerrero and a few years later Batista turning on Rey Mysterio seemed out of justifiable rage.

 

I actually wasn't watching WWE in '05 but Eddie's promo after turning on Rey is fucking amazing. Basically boils down to "because the Dark side makes me feel strong".

 

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Wahoo McDaniel's heel turn in JCP.

 

It's criminal that this one is getting slept on. I just watched the Flair/Wahoo/Tully angle the other night, where Tully sucker punches Flair, and Flair gets in Wahoo's face about not helping him, and Wahoo pretty much tells Flair that since Tully had given Wahoo a shot at the title he holds, that he had no problem with Tully.

 

Flair: You want a title shot, you got it!

Wahoo: Show me a contract, I know how to write!

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Just remembered Davey Boy's turn back in 1995, which I believe was his first heel run in the WWF. He'd been teaming with Luger as the Allied Powers just before his turn, and I remember he turned up on Raw with Jim Cornette on Raw the week after he'd turned. Cornette cut this great promo pointing out that, despite them representing two nations, the crowd had chanted "USA" during all the Powers' matches - "This man is from England!". As a young Brit, I'd noticed the crowd chants during the Powers' matches, so I was right on side with the Bulldog.

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Eddie Guerrero and a few years later Batista turning on Rey Mysterio seemed out of justifiable rage.

 

I actually wasn't watching WWE in '05 but Eddie's promo after turning on Rey is fucking amazing. Basically boils down to "because the Dark side makes me feel strong".

 

 

 

Its a shame what the whole angle ended up being about.

 

Never mind how Eddie's memory was treated for about a year and change after his death in November.

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You could argue that the original Vince turn on Austin began with Austin being a bullying aggressor "exposing" Vince as the true figurehead.

 

Andre-Hogan is another instance of Hogan being patronizing and dishonorable to a "friend".

 

I liked Bret's heel turn a lot as well, as a lot of it was based on America has started to embrace a lot of creepy values, Austin's a jerk who's getting cheered for being obnoxious, I got screwed out of the world title repeatedly, and Shawn Michaels is a cowardly tool. Sentiments one can get behind, or at least understand. It was in tune with the notion that a heel believes that they're the one who's acting sensibly in an insensible world.

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I thought part of the awesome year-long build towards WrestleMania V was the job the WWF did providing justification for Savage to turn. It was invisible to me as a kid, but of course, when they put together the "Savage's side of the story" video package, it made Hogan seem every bit of "the luster" Savage and Ventura said he was.

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Bret Hart in 1997. It's made even more understandable by the fact that he wasn't a heel at all anywhere else other than America. He completely subverted the trope of villainous foreigner, in what was probably one of the most meta angles in wrestling history. I would even argue that he didn't lose as many American fans as the company would have suggested. There were a few of them in the Wrestling With Shadows movie. And I for one didn't like Bret up until then anyway (brother's favorite wrestler, so obviously not one of mine). But I liked how loose he could get on the mic now that he could speak his mind, specifically with regard to how much better Canada (actually) is better than America.

 

It's also made obvious by the fact that the WWF kind of moved on without him during his absence in 1996. His return was much ballyhooed, but seemingly overwhelmed by Austin getting hot. And his (at first kayfabe, but then very real) frustration at Shawn Michaels is obviously justified in retrospect. And above all that, I like that before he left for WCW, he wasn't mincing words about how he felt about the sleazy direction the company was going in.

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It's basically inferred in the build-up that Heenan got in his ear about how Hogan never gave him a shot at the title. I always thought that was the germ of the feud.

He pissed him off during his trophy ceremony. Hogan kind of stole his thunder. I just watched the build a few months ago and my wife even commented without a word from me that Hogan came across badly on that segment.

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