Now We See You

Where will John Cena’s heel turn eventually rank among the greatest in wrestling history?

This is a bonus post as the events at last night’s Elimination Chamber event have provided me another opportunity to indulge in writing about my previously acknowledged love of professional wrestling. Hopefully you enjoy the article. If not, regular service will be resumed next weekend.

Now We See You

Well it’s finally happened! Something that wrestling fans have been talking about for years but that writers and management never actually pulled the trigger on. After 23 years in WWE as one of the biggest babyfaces that the sport has ever seen, John Cena has turned heel.

By virtue of a low blow to Cody Rhodes and aligning himself with ‘The Final Boss’ The Rock, Cena has ensured that his final run with the company will be something special, adding an extra layer of intrigue to what threatened to be too much of a love-in between fans and the legendary star.

Ironically, since announcing his retirement tour, Cena has received more cheers than he has in years after more than a decade of getting booed by many fans who feel his character is too child-oriented and that he has been forced down their throats. It will be interesting to see what reaction the WWE Universe decide to give him moving forward now that his character has changed.

We don’t yet know what reasoning Cena will give for his actions but perhaps the fact that the fans haven’t seemed to care about him in the past will form a part of it. He is desperate to retake his position at the top of the card one last time and doesn’t seem to care whether it is a run that is showered in glory or in boos. Money, and the gold, talks.

What is certain is that Triple H and the writing team now have far more options for the character moving forward. There are 10 months left to let this story grow and develop, for Cena to really embrace the dark side or, alternatively, to eventually be forced to see the light. It now seems a shoe-in that he will defeat Cody Rhodes at Wrestlemania, but just how long his record title run will last is yet to be decided. Rhodes will have the chance to be the chaser again though which is a position where he is arguably at his best.

How the story develops over the next year will eventually determine where this turn will rank in the annals of history, but given the talent involved it has the potential to be one of the biggest character changes ever. Much of this will be down to Cena himself and how he invests in his new persona.

With all of this in mind, it is worth taking a look at some of the greatest heel turns in wrestling history at this point to lay the groundwork as to why they worked and so that we can eventually judge this storyline against them when it comes to an end.

Hulk Hogan Forms The NWO (1996)

In the 1980s and 90s, Hulk Hogan was easily the most popular star that wrestling had ever seen. The character created by Vince McMahon, alongside Terry Bollea, to sell his product to families around the world and spread the message of saying prayers, eating vitamins and training hard had been loved by all and had made a lot of money.

The fan appreciation was growing a little thin by the time Hogan left the WWF (now WWE) in 1993 though but when WCW picked him up in 1994, rather than taking a chance to refresh his character, they initially pushed forward with the same old Hulkamania schtick. However, the fans didn’t buy it and Hogan was widely booed. It didn’t help that his nepotism meant that he had runs against many of his own friends for the title at the expense of others that had spent years building themselves up in the company.

In the summer of 1996 WCW was ‘invaded’ by Scott Hall and Kevin Nash who had made the move from WWF. They played the role of big league bullies to perfection and after a couple of months of threatening announcers and generally making a nuisance of themselves, they challenged WCW to a six-man tag match where they would be partnered by an as yet unknown third man.

For most of the match, Hall and Nash fought by themselves against the WCW trio of Sting, Randy Savage and Lex Luger, although things were evened up when Luger was taken out early. Eventually, as the Outsiders (as Hall and Nash were known) began to take control, Hogan stormed down to the ring, apparently to help the WCW stars defeat the invaders.

However, what followed was one of the most infamous moments in wrestling history as, rather than helping his friends, Hogan dropped his patented leg drop onto Savage and turned to the dark side, aligning himself with Hall and Nash. In his following interview, as he was showered by trash from the fans, Hogan explained his actions, formed the New World Order of wrestling, and set in motion the path for one of the most successful storylines ever. A heel turn for the ages.

Vince Screws Bret (1997)

Up until 1997, on screen at least, it was never really acknowledged that commentator Vince McMahon was actually the owner of the WWF. This all changed in the autumn of 1997 when he felt that he needed to take matters into his own hands to protect his company.

Vince had decided to go back on a contract with Bret Hart that was the largest that he had signed in company history and had encouraged the Canadian to enter negotiations with rivals WCW to find himself a better deal. ‘The Hitman’ had duly done so and was winding down his time with the WWF.

The problem was that Bret was still the WWF champion and Vince needed to find a way to get the belt off him prior to his departure. The plan was to have Shawn Michaels defeat him for the belt at the Survivor Series in Montreal but the two superstars had grown to hate each other in real life due to a number of run ins and a vast difference in how they conducted themselves within the business.

Bret refused to lose to Shawn, reportedly stating that he would lose at another time to anyone else and not in his own country. In his contract there was some creative control so he perhaps felt well

within his rights to do this. However, Vince was worried, particularly as a couple of years before, women’s champion Alundra Blayze (Madusa) had defected to WCW and put her WWF belt in the trash on live television. He couldn’t have such a thing happen to his main title.

What happened next is already incredibly well known but essentially Vince, aided by a few others in his inner circle, decided to screw Bret. At one point in the match, Bret allowed Michaels to put his own submission finisher on him. As soon as he did, Vince, who had come down to ringside, demanded that the bell be rung and Michaels be declared as champion, even though it was clear that Hart had never submitted.

Bret was clearly incensed, spitting on the owner and eventually punching him out backstage before leaving the company, but in typical fashion, Vince turned the situation to his advantage by turning himself into arguably the greatest heel character ever seen in wrestling.

Stone Cold Joins With Vince (2001)

Following the aforementioned heel turn, the biggest rival that Mr McMahon (as Vince became known) came up against was Stone Cold Steve Austin. This feud changed the tide of the Monday Night War with WCW and cemented the WWF as the number one company in wrestling.

The story of the everyman grappler standing up to his boss and winning out in the end had caused fans to follow in their droves and Austin became a huge celebrity. Eventually, the WWF became so big that they bought out their own opposition.

Around that time in 2001 though, Vince needed to decide how to take the company forward from that point. He had won the war so what was to come next? The answer to this was going to surprise everyone.

Coming into Wrestlemania X-Seven, The Rock was the WWE champion and Stone Cold had won the Royal Rumble, granting him a shot at the title. During their epic encounter, Vince came down to the ring and it was initially unclear what his purpose was as he wasn’t aligned with either man.

His intentions would become obvious in the most shocking way though as he provided Austin with a steel chair to batter and bloody his opponent and win back his belt. Afterwards McMahon and Austin shook hands to seal the deal as the disbelieving fans gawped at ringside and the commentators went mad. The following storyline wasn’t the best but the ruse itself certainly was and ensured the ending to the best ‘Mania ever was truly unforgettable.

Seth Rollins Betrays The Shield (2014)

Upon debuting at the Survivor Series in 2012, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose (Jon Moxley), collectively known as The Shield, set out their stall as one of the most engaging, and dangerous trios in the business.

Over the next 18 months, they cemented their growing reputation, both as heels and then faces, against some of the best on the planet and were definitely seen as the future of the company, having won gold both individually and as part of a team.

During the winter of 2013/2014 they had been feuding with Triple H’s reformed Evolution faction (as part of the wider Authority storyline) but elements of dissent within the group began to show. It was always going to be difficult to keep a group with three such huge personalities on the same page for too long. Something was bound to give.

After finally defeating Evolution at Payback, Triple H addressed the trio in the ring on the following Raw. Rather than backing up his teammates against the authority figure though, in a genuinely shocking moment, Rollins ultimately betrayed them by hitting them in the back with a steel chair and joining the heels as part of the Authority.

Considering the impact that all three men would have in wrestling following this and the various storylines that this action created, this is easily one of the most significant turns of all time.

These are by no means the only heel turns in wrestling and I have doubtless missed some of your favourites. If I had more time I would have certainly included some more of my own such as Andre the Giant ripping the crucifix from Hulk Hogan’s neck, Shawn Michaels superkicking Marty Jannetty through a barber shop window (it was as brilliant as it sounds) and The Rock joining The Corporation.

I don’t have endless time or space however and the ones I have chosen are those that I feel had the biggest impact over time. Hopefully WWE gets it right this time as well and Cena’s turn will be added to this list in the future.