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In professional wrestling, a turn occurs most frequently when a wrestler develops a new gimmick (persona) and changes, frequently from face to heel or sometimes vice versa. Non-wrestling performers such as managers may also turn. Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... In professional wrestling, a gimmick is a wrestlers personality, behavior, attire and/or other distinguishing traits while performing. ... In professional wrestling, a face or babyface is a character who is portrayed as heroic relative to the heel wrestlers, who are analagous to villains. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... In professional wrestling, a manager is a character who is paired with a wrestler. ...

Changes in Appearance

Often, when wrestlers turn one way or another, they also take on a different appearance. This is sometimes an attempt to use a visual shorthand to identify the character (for example, growing a beard or stubble as a heel in order to look more sinister), or it could be an attempt to create a disconnect from a well-known character previously played by the wrestler.

Sometimes the appearance change is subtle. One example is that during Hulk Hogan's heel turn in 1996, he began dressing in black, wearing tights instead of trunks, and added a black five o'clock shadow to his trademark blond mustache. Another example is Stephanie McMahon's heel turn in 1999 where she still dressed and looked the same, but started wearing her hair curly instead of straight. For a while after her heel days had slowed and she wasn't wearing the style every night, some fans coined the term "heel hair" for when she would wear her hair curly, as she would tend to get more heat. Terrence Gene Bollea (born on August 11, 1953) is an American actor and semi-retired professional wrestler better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan. ... Stephanie Marie McMahon-Levesque[1] [2](born September 24, 1976), better known by her maiden name Stephanie McMahon, is WWE Executive Vice President of Talent and Creative Writing. ...

Other times, wrestlers may turn and change their appearance into something a little more drastic. One of the most common ways to do this, as noted before, is to start wearing their hair differently. In the more drastic cases, a cut or dye job usually is in order.

Some examples of this include:

• The British Bulldog, who during the course of his 1995 heel turn traded his long locks for a flattop crew cut
• Scott Steiner emerging with short, bleach blonde hair the night after WCW SuperBrawl VIII in February 1998 when he joined the New World Order
• Kane shaving his head after being forced to unmask in 2003, turning heel in the process
• Chavo Guerrero abandoning his latino heritige and reforming himself as a middle class anglo-american known as Kerwin White, bleaching his hair blonde and shaving off his black goatee he is known for having.

David Boy (Davey Boy) Smith (November 28, 1962 – May 18, 2002) was a British professional wrestler. ... Scott Steiner (born Scott Carl Rechsteiner on July 29, 1962 in Bay City, Michigan) is an American professional wrestler. ... SuperBrawl was an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view in World Championship Wrestling during the month of February from 1991 through 2001. ... The New World Order was a stable of wrestlers, originally in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and later in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). ... Glen Thomas Jacobs (born April 26, 1967) is an American professional wrestler better known by the ring name, Kane. ... Chavo Guerrero, Sr. ...

Types

Swerves

Turns may be used to "swerve" and surprise viewers. For example, on July 7, 1996 at Bash at the Beach long-time face Hulk Hogan turned on Randy Savage, Lex Luger, and Sting and joined Scott Hall and Kevin Nash to form the nWo. The turn inflamed the fans in the building so much that they began throwing things at Hogan, Hall, and Nash in the ring (something Hall claimed had never been done before, although he probably was mistaken), and one even jumped the rail in an attempt to attack Hogan (only to be intercepted by Hall and taken from the ring by security). The nWo storyline was critical in helping WCW gain dominance over the WWF. Hogan's heel turn, after thirteen years as a face, shocked the wrestling world as a whole, and helped to reinvent Hogan as a new, 'hip' and gritty version of himself called Hollywood Hogan, a character who may have been more hated as a heel than any run by Ric Flair before that. It has been called one of, if not the single most important turn of the last century in professional wrestling, and remains to this day one of the most memorable. is the 188th day of the year (189th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Bash at the Beach was a yearly professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced World Championship Wrestling (WCW). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Steve Borden (born March 20, 1959), better known as Sting, is an American professional wrestler, currently wrestling for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Kevin Scott Nash (born July 9, 1959) is an American professional wrestler and actor. ... The New World Order was a stable of wrestlers, originally in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and later in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). ... World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. ...

On November 11, 1996, long-time heel Negro Casas had turned face while his opponent, El Hijo del Santo was taking a break after the CMLL anniversary show. Bestia Salvaje, who was feuding with Casas at the time, claimed he was going to have a little surprise for him at a show at Arena México. The match was Casas, El Dandy, & Héctor Garza on the face side vs. Bestia Salvaje, Scorpio Jr., & Felino. Felino just watched as the match commenced and when Salvaje and Scorpio were attacking Casas, the fans begged Felino to help his brother. Felino removed his cape and his mask to reveal it was actually El Hijo del Santo. This shocked the lucha libre world as Santo had been a face his entire career and his father, the original El Santo, was the most iconic face in the history of Mexican wrestling. A near riot broke out in the arena, with fist fights and pushing matches between fans. The feud sold out the Arena Mexico (17,687 seat capacity) three weeks in a row and rejuvenated a rebuilding CMLL. November 11 is the 315th day of the year (316th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 50 days remaining. ... Negro Casas (real name José Casas Ruiz) is a Mexican professional wrestler in the Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, born on January 10, 1960 in Mexico City, Mexico. ... El Hijo del Santo (The Son of the Saint) is a Mexican professional wrestler and one of the most successful stars in Lucha Libre. ... Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) (Spanish for Worldwide Wrestling Council) is a Lucha Libre promotion based in Mexico City while running cards in Guadalajara, Puebla and elsewhere in central and southern Mexico. ... A professional wrestling feud is a staged disagreement between two wrestlers or factions of wrestlers over a purported slight or insult. ... The Arena México is an indoor arena in Mexico City, Mexico. ... Roberto Gutiérrez Frías is a Mexican professional wrestler who has had most of his success in Lucha Libre as El Dandy. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... One of the most well known Lucha Libre wrestlers (luchadores), Rey Mysterio. ... El Santo with Sasha Montenegro in Asesinos de otros mundos Santo is the professional name of Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta (September 23, 1917 - February 5, 1984), more widely known as Santo, El Enmascarado de Plata (Santo, the Silver-Masked Man in English) who was a Mexican wrestler, film actor, and... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles accessible from a disambiguation page. ...

Tag Team Break Ups

Some turns are used to break up tag teams and make way for the members to pursue solo careers. Some examples: A professional wrestling tag-team consists of two or occasionally three wrestlers who are working together as a team. ...

• On January 11, 1992, Shawn Michaels turned heel when he applied the then-unnamed Sweet Chin Music to long-time tag partner Marty Jannetty during an interview with Brutus Beefcake, then put him through a plate-glass window, launching his singles career.

• The breakup of the Steiner Brothers, where Scott attacked brother Rick during a match and cost them the tag team championships.

• In 1998, Ken Shamrock had two partners turn on him during tag team matches, Mark Henry and Owen Hart. In both cases, the wrestlers joined the Nation of Domination faction.

• In December of 2006 "The Tennessee Cowboy" James Storm turned on his long time Tag Team Partner "The Wildcat" Chris Harris by smashing him in the eye with a beer bottle and injuring his eye.

is the 11th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ... Michael Shawn Hickenbottom (born July 22, 1965) is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Shawn Michaels. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... In professional wrestling, a promo is short for promotional interview, a dialogue or monologue used to advance a storyline. ... Edward Harrison Leslie Jr. ... The Steiner Brothers are the professional wrestling tag team of American brothers Robert Rick Steiner Rechsteiner and Scott Scott Steiner Rechsteiner. ... Scott Steiner (born Scott Carl Rechsteiner on July 29, 1962 in Bay City, Michigan) is an American professional wrestler. ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Ken Shamrock (born Kenneth Wayne Kilpatrick on February 11, 1964 in Macon, Georgia) is an American mixed martial arts fighter. ... Mark Gordon Henry (born June 12, 1971) is an American professional wrestler currently performing for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on the SmackDown! brand. ... Owen James Hart (May 7, 1965 – May 23, 1999) was a Canadian professional wrestler who was most known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). ... The Nation of Domination is a former professional wrestling stable in the World Wrestling Federation. ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Wildcat Chris Harris is a professional wrestler currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. ...

Manager/Owner Screwing

Other times, wrestlers will be turned on by their managers or valets who leave to manage another other wrestler. Some examples:

• At SummerSlam 1996, during a Boiler Room Brawl between Undertaker and Mankind, Taker's manager, Paul Bearer, was supposed to hand his urn to the winner of the match- in this case, the one who escaped the boiler room and got to the ring first. Undertaker got to the ring first, but Bearer instead hit him with the urn and gave it to Mankind, joining forces with him.

• Paul Heyman, as a wrestling manager, has done this turn twice in recent years. At Survivor Series in 2002, he interfered in the WWE championship match between his man, Brock Lesnar, and Big Show, and cost Lesnar the match. In an eerily similar situation four years later, he did almost the same thing as a special referee in an ECW world title match, leading Big Show to a win against Rob Van Dam.

• Vince McMahon has done this on several occasions, but two are most notable. The first was the infamous Montreal screwjob, where he used Shawn Michaels to screw Bret Hart out of the world championship by calling for the bell when it wasn't needed. The second was during the main event at WrestleMania 2000, when he was in the corner of The Rock for the fatal four-way world championship match. During the course of the match he hit Rock several times, helping Triple H to retain his title and in the process reunite with his family.

• In 2005, Lita was managing her on-screen husband Kane. During a match with Edge, Lita turned on Kane by giving Edge the Money in the Bank briefcase, which he used to knock out Kane and pick up the win. At the end Edge and Lita started kissing with Kane giving an angry look.

SummerSlam 1996 was the ninth annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event from the World Wrestling Federation. ... Mick Foley Sr. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Paul Buster Heyman (born September 11, 1965) is a professional wrestling manager, on-air talent, and former promoter. ... Brock Edward Lesnar[4] (born July 12, 1977[3]) is an American mixed martial artist and a professional wrestler. ... Paul Randall Wight, Jr. ... Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) is a professional wrestling brand of World Wrestling Entertainment, based on the independent promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling that lasted from 1992 to 2001. ... Rob Van Dam (born Robert Alexander Szatkowski on December 18, 1970 in Battle Creek, Michigan), is an inactive American professional wrestler. ... Vincent Kennedy McMahon (born August 25, 1945) is an American wrestling promoter, occasional professional wrestler, on-screen personality, former play-by-play announcer, and film producer. ... The screwjob in execution - Earl Hebner calling for the bell as Shawn Michaels holds Bret Hart in the sharpshooter. ... Michael Shawn Hickenbottom (born July 22, 1965) is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Shawn Michaels. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... WrestleMania 2000 (chronologically known as WrestleMania XVI) was the sixteenth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view produced by the World Wrestling Federation. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ...

Other Types

Another common way for heel turns for wrestlers involves getting involved in the match during a situation where the referee might have his back turned, or just coming into the ring to do something. Hulk Hogan's 1996 heel turn was of this variety, as he ran in during a six man tag match which he was not involved in and joined the nWo.

Sometimes wrestlers come back from an injury or time off, redebuting as a turned face or turned heel. For example, the Undertaker was injured in September 1999 during his running of the heel Ministry of Darkness/Corporate Ministry stable and returned in May 2000 as a biker and a face. The Ministry of Darkness was a professional wrestling heel stable in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) during the Attitude Era of the late 1990s. ... The Corporate Ministry was a faction in World Wrestling Entertainment (then WWF) in 1999. ...

Double Turns

A double turn is a booking device used to make a face wrestler a heel and the heel wrestler a face at the same time while they are feuding. This is done either to further a feud with high fan interest by taking the feud in another direction or to play to the wrestlers' strength of character. However, double turns are more difficult to implement and get over with the crowd, since the crowd needs to accept the 'new face' as well as the 'new heel'. In professional wrestling, the term over means making a wrestler look good. ...

Examples of double turns are:

• In the World Wrestling Federation, On March 23, 1997 (WrestleMania 13), Stone Cold Steve Austin became a face during his submission match with Bret Hart by impressing the crowd with his determination and drive to win, even passing out from pain and blood loss rather than submit to Hart's signature hold, the Sharpshooter. Bret subsequently became a heel when he couldn't stand the fans honoring a man who he perceived to be "scum" and then engaging in increasingly ruthless tactics to beat Austin, even attacking Austin while he was unconscious. This is considered an important double turn as it helped to begin the Attitude Era. It proved that popularity of a wrestler doesn't depend only on win/loss or face/heel, but also on how one's character gets over with the crowd.

• In World Championship Wrestling, a face Ric Flair beat Hulk Hogan for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. The next night, Flair became a mentally unbalanced megalomaniacal heel, while Hogan became a "tough guy" face in the vein of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

• In 1988, the WWF's top heel tag team, Demolition did a double turn with the top face tag team, The Powers of Pain when Demolition's manager, Mr. Fuji, defected to the Powers in the middle of their match at Survivor Series 1988. The turn was inexplicable and an unsuccessful swerve for the Powers, as they weren't over with the crowds as heels and were subsequently pushed down the card and broken up.

• When Shane McMahon started feuding with his father Vince McMahon in 2001, Shane was the face and Vince was the heel. However during the subsequent Invasion storyline, the Alliance was led by Shane (the owner of WCW) and Stephanie McMahon (the owner of ECW). Vince and the rest of the WWE team were being cheered while the Alliance turned out to be heels.

• Although a double turn is rare, TNA tried two double turns at a go. In a segment, the Voodoo Kin Mafia and Team 3D were choking The Steiners with the Puerto Rican flag. Latin American Exchange, a Puerto Rican-based team, came to save the Steiners. Before the segment, VKM and Team 3D were faces, while the Steiners and LAX were heels, but all 4 teams turned face/heel after the segment.

• Recently on Monday Night RAW, the former intercontinental champion Santino Marella was playing an underdog character who challenged the monster heel Umaga (who defeated Marella for the title) week after week trying to regain the title. Due to having no real finishing move or any interesting tactics, the fans quickly turned on Marella and started cheering for Umaga.

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. ... is the 82nd day of the year (83rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar). ... WrestleMania 13, subtitled Heat, was the thirteenth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event from the World Wrestling Federation. ... Steven James Williams (born Steven Anderson on December 18, 1964)[2] better known by his ring name Stone Cold Steve Austin, is an American actor and former professional wrestler. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. ... World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. ... Ric Flair (born February 25, 1949 [1] and named Richard Morgan Fliehr upon his adoption several weeks later), is an iconic American professional wrestler currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment on its RAW brand. ... Terrence Gene Bollea (born on August 11, 1953) is an American actor and semi-retired professional wrestler better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with World Heavyweight Championship (WWE). ... Demolition was a professional wrestling tag team in the late 80s / early 90s World Wrestling Federation made up of Ax (Bill Eadie), Smash (Barry Darsow), and later Crush (Brian Adams). ... The Powers of Pain The Powers of Pain were a professional wrestling tag team in the late 1980s. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Survivor Series 1988 was the second annual Survivor Series pay-per-view professional wrestling event for the World Wrestling Federation. ... A swerve is a professional wrestling term in which a wrestler suddenly turns against another wrestler who is supposedly his friend. ... The Voodoo Kin Mafia, originally known as the New Age Outlaws (WWF) and also known as the James Gang (TNA), are a professional wrestling tag team currently in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) that consist of B.G. James and Kip James. ... Team 3D is a professional wrestling tag team of Brother Ray (Mark Lamonica), Brother Devon (Devon Hughes), and on occasion the team becomes a stable with Brother Runt (Matt Hyson). ... The Steiner Brothers are the professional wrestling tag team of American brothers Robert Rick Steiner Rechsteiner and Scott Scott Steiner Rechsteiner. ... The Latin American Exchange (frequently abbreviated to LAX) is a heel Hispanic professional wrestling stable in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, currently consisting of Konnan, Homicide and Hernandez. ... Anthony John Carelli (born March 6, 1974) is an Italian American professional wrestler better known by his ring names, Boris Alexiev and, currently, Santino Marella. ...

Unsuccessful turns

At times, turns do not have the intended effect. In these cases, a face turning heel will still be cheered while a heel turning face will still be booed.

Examples of this are:

• At WCW's Fall Brawl pay-per view in 1999, Sting wrestled Hulk Hogan for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Sting turned heel in the process, attacking Hogan with a baseball bat to get the victory. However, few people got behind Sting as a heel, and by November, he had returned as a face.

• Stone Cold Steve Austin's heel turn at WrestleMania X-Seven provoked a similar reaction, with Austin still being cheered.

• Chris Adams' heel turn during his WCW run in the late-1990s had little or no effect from the fans, except in Texas, where he was wildly cheered whenever WCW promoted cards there, especially in Dallas, where fans fondly remember his memorable heel run in 1984 and 1985.

• In other cases, the turn will get no reaction. At Fall Brawl 2000, veteran "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, whose gimmick for years had been an American patriot, turned heel to little reaction.

• Another turn with no reaction was with Charlie Haas at Armaggeddon he (kayfabe) broke up with his real life partner Miss Jackie, the fans did not seem to care and Haas ended up still working as a face teaming with Hardcore Holly

Fall Brawl was an annual pay per view in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) held in the month of September from 1993 through 2000. ... Four historically significant baseball bats showcased in the National Baseball Hall of Fames traveling exhibit Baseball As America. ... Steven James Williams (born Steven Anderson on December 18, 1964)[2] better known by his ring name Stone Cold Steve Austin, is an American actor and former professional wrestler. ... WrestleMania X-Seven was the seventeenth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view produced by the World Wrestling Federation. ... Christopher Adams (February 10, 1955 – October 7, 2001) was a professional wrestler, wrestling promoter, trainer and judoka. ... Fall Brawl was an annual pay per view in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) held in the month of September from 1993 through 2000. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Robert William Howard aka Bob Hardcore Holly is a professional wrestler performing for World Wrestling Entertainment on the Smackdown! brand. ...

Forced Turns

Some wrestlers are forced to turn after a real life event has effected them. Some of these forced turns are positive, while on the other hand some are negative.

• Chavo Guerrero has went through two forced turns during his WWE career, the first time was in 2004 after a botched Shooting Star Press by Billy Kidman had Kidman's knee land directly on Chavo's head which knocked him unconcious and took him out of action for months. With the fans realising how much pain Chavo went through, the fans quickly warmed up to Chavo on his comeback. Kidman was also forced to turn during this whole storyline from a fan favourite to a huge heel.

Almost a year later Chavo's Uncle and fellow WWE wrestler Eddie Guerrero had passed away during one of their tours. Chavo was a heel on Raw playing as Kerwin White, the middle class american, but quickly after Eddie's untimely death Chavo ended the Kerwin White character and went back to his Guerrero name as well as becoming a face once again. Chavo Guerrero, Sr. ... Peter Gruner (born May 11, 1974 in Allentown, Pennsylvania) is a professional wrestler on the World Wrestling Entertainments Smackdown! Brand, best known by his stage name of Billy Kidman. ... Eduardo Gory Guerrero (October 9, 1967 – June 25, 2007) better known by his ring name Eddie Guerrero, was a Mexican-American professional wrestler born into a legendary Mexican wrestling family. ...

• In early 2005 it was revealed that Matt Hardy's on-screen & also real life girlfreind Lita had been cheating on him for one of Matt's close friends and fellow WWE Raw wrestler Edge. Lita was still playing a face character for a little while during the whole controversy but was definately not receiving good reaction from the fans. Just after Wrestlemania 21 due the the huge heat that Lita was receiving (eg: getting "SLUT!" & "YOU SCREWED MATT!" chanted at her) she was forced to turn heel for the first time in almost over 5 years and aligned herself with Edge.

• In mid 2006 Charlie Haas was set to wrestle a match against Johnny Nitro, Haas's entrance would normally show him running into the ring and warming himself up by sprinting around in the ring. During his entrance the ring announcer Lillian Garcia was exiting the ring around the same time Charlie sprinted and bounced himself off the ropes Lillian was exiting from which knocked her down to the floor, spraining her wrist. Even though it was obviously an accident the fans did not take too kindly to it and often booed Haas during his match and at one point even chanted "Lil-li-an!". During the next couple of weeks Haas was forced into a storyline with him turning heel about the whole incident.