Bob Morris Posted May 19, 2008 Report Share Posted May 19, 2008 Watching the 1991 Royal Rumble show, I was pretty impressed with the overall quality of the show. But one thing that really stood out for me was the face turn of Virgil. I really think this was one of the best face turns pulled off, especially since it came without Virgil saying a word. Fans picked up on the relationship between Ted DiBiase and Virgil pretty quickly, and the instant they started teasing that Virgil was tired of being DiBiase's lackey, fans bought into it quickly. They did a couple angles on Superstars in which Virgil appeared ready to break away from DiBiase but didn't. Then came the Royal Rumble, in which the two faced Dusty and Dustin Rhodes. The whole story, of course, was DiBiase and Virgil still teasing a split and then Virgil accidentally clotheslining DiBiase and getting tossed from the ring for it. The fans seemed certain that the Rhodes team would win it, but when they didn't happen, they seemed deflated. Until they did the postmatch angle with DiBiase and Virgil. You could tell the fans were antsy to see Virgil finally split from DiBiase, and they popped when he dropped the Million Dollar Belt on the mat. Then when DiBiase declared, "Need I remind you about your family... about your mother" and Virgil ends up picking up the belt, looking defeated, you can see the crowd becoming deflated again. And then, DiBiase makes the big mistake of turning his back on Virgil and leaving himself open for the belt shot. And when that happened, the crowd reaction was just incredible. I don't think there was one fan who wasn't cheering for Virgil's turn. Can you tell from my writing I marked out for it? Seriously, it was really a great face turn... the build was simple and to the point that Virgil didn't have to say a word. So what are some other face turns you all think were built well? (And yes, I await the heel turn thread that's sure to follow from this. ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Cooke Posted May 19, 2008 Report Share Posted May 19, 2008 Dutch Mantel in March 1986 - he loses his title, Dundee/Landel start talking shit about him behind his back in promos and matches, finally beat him up. Dutch sings Wildwood Flower with Eddie Marlin and is a face Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdw Posted May 19, 2008 Report Share Posted May 19, 2008 What we see of Dusty's face turn on the Dusty DVD is a hoot. Dusty in the studio with Gordon as they're watching and voice-overing the turn. Dusty is still pretty much cutting a heel promo throughout, just aiming it at Pak Song and Gary Hart... and he's great. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHawk Posted May 20, 2008 Report Share Posted May 20, 2008 Jimmy Snuka in the WWF in 1982. Classic stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resident Evil Posted May 20, 2008 Report Share Posted May 20, 2008 I second the Virgil turn. It's definitely one of top 3 fav turns of all time. I'm also a big fan of the Macho Man's turn at Wrestlemania. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khawk20 Posted May 20, 2008 Report Share Posted May 20, 2008 Jerry Blackwell's face turn at the June 1984 St. Paul Battleroyal was nicely built over a few months, and even with the fans behind him in the months after that, they kept it so he wasn't completely accepted until after his lights-out match with Brody when long-time mortal enemy Greg Gagne came to his aid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soup23 Posted May 20, 2008 Report Share Posted May 20, 2008 I love Buddy Rose's face turn in Portland when everyone in the building rushed the ring and filled it completely up. In a jaded wrestling world where everyone is in on the biz, it was nice to see such a legit reaction from a crowd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Sorrow Posted May 20, 2008 Report Share Posted May 20, 2008 The Roddy Piper face turn in 1986-87 leading up to WrestleMania 3 was fucking awesome, as it developed somewhat slowly. He wasn't suddendly a good guy and the only good guys at first who'd back him up against Adonis, Orton, and Muraco were the Bulldogs. At the time, it was really wild that Piper was gonna be a good guy, and it was so fucking cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Posted May 20, 2008 Report Share Posted May 20, 2008 Boss Man's face turn in early 1990 was extremely underrated. Ted DiBiase finally met his match: A heel (a big one too) who he couldn't buy, and he found that out the hard way after Boss Man returned the Million Dollar Title to Jake Roberts after he took it back for DiBiase. I really dug the slow build to being a full-fledged face, too, as Boss Man afterwards said that he hated DiBiase but that he still didn't care that much for Roberts either, because he still hated snakes (Boss Man was booked as special referee for a few house shows between the two, IIRC). After the DiBiase feud, Boss Man went on to a fun feud with the Heenan Family with some nice matches with Barbarian, Hennig, etc. Fun times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeCampbell Posted May 20, 2008 Report Share Posted May 20, 2008 I second the love on Piper's face turn. Great stuff. Would Sting at WCW UnCensored '97 count as a face turn? It wasn't so much that he'd turned heel, just that nobody was exactly sure where he stood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.L.L. Posted May 20, 2008 Report Share Posted May 20, 2008 I don't think you could say it was well-built, strictly speaking, but The Undertaker's face turn remains the definitive moment of my formative years as a wrestling fan, and that's good enough for me. Also, kinda surprised DiBiase's face turn in Mid-South hasn't been mentioned yet. It's the stuff of legends for a reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrisZ Posted May 20, 2008 Report Share Posted May 20, 2008 Sgt. Slaughter's face turn in 1984 in WWF was molten hot and people forget that he was as popular if not more than Hogan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Evans Posted May 20, 2008 Report Share Posted May 20, 2008 I got two sorta newer ones, Cena's face turn in 2004 and Cibernetico's turn a year ago. Ciber's was awesome because it lead to Ciber/Mesias. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The 3H's Posted May 20, 2008 Report Share Posted May 20, 2008 Austin at Wrestlemania 13. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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