Shining a Spotlight 9.06.12: A Turn For the Better

It has to be carefully done, that’s always the key. Some guys have bounced between heel and face so much, it’s sucked the shock out. Kane is a great example of that but you can almost excuse it as the character has always been portrayed as mentally unstable so who knows what he’s going to do from one day to the next? It was a bit easier in the days before the Internet where surprises could come easier but that wasn’t a guarantee of success either. The best turns had to have real history out there, motivation for the guys and be truly effective with the men making it work. So to look at some of the best:

Ole Anderson: Ole Anderson is not the most popular of men to say the least. His temper and hard-nosed attitude have pissed off pretty much every person he ever met and his poor showing of booking in WCW made no friends either. However, in his early days with Georgia Championship Wrestling, Ole was capable of some pretty damn good stuff. And nothing was better than his brilliant 1980 arc where he seemed to make friends with rival Dusty Rhodes, the two forming a partnership as Ole became a big face. It built up to them facing the Assassins in a cage match for the tag titles at which point, Ole turned on Dusty and pounded him down, the Assassins surprised but soon helping. On TV, it was a major deal, Ole boasting that he had planned this all out to get Dusty unawares and how he’d hated acting a friend to people. It was great seeing other guys react like Baron von Raschke declaring it a plot worthy of Machiavelli and heel Mike George offering aid to Ole. Truly brilliant in how it set Ole up as a monster heel and possibly the best angle he ever booked.

Hulk Hogan: It’s the turn that truly changed wrestling. Yes, Hogan’s act had gotten stale by 1996, as many boos for him as cheers among WCW crowds. But still, making him “the third man” with Hall and Nash was a major risk for the man who had been the patron saint of fan favorites for over a decade. But it worked as seeing Hogan drop the leg on Savage was the moment of 1996 and his post-match promo where he railed against the fans for not supporting him properly, perfectly fed the image of Hogan as an egomaniac. Finally able to cut loose, Hogan was soon over as the biggest heel in the sport, forging the New World Order and sending WCW on the two-year long dominance that would forge a new era for wrestling.

Paul Orndorff and Andre the Giant: Yes, Hogan went to the “betrayed by a good friend” thing once too often but the first two times worked beautifully. With Orndorff, it was built well with the man trying to get in touch with Hogan but seemingly brushed over, apparently overcoming it for a tag match but turning on Hogan during it and making it clear he was jealous and wanted the title. With Andre, it was better, this long-time veteran and huge star feeling left out of the spotlight and his own lust for a title long denied him caused him to throw in with Heenan. Andre also gets props for his face turn in 1990 when he and Haku lost the tag titles at Wrestlemania VI, Heenan screaming at Andre and slapping him in the face. Beautifully, Andre sold it like he’d finally had some sense slapped into him, pounding down Heenan and Haku to leave to cheers once more, a fine way to sell a nice turn.

Barry Windham: At first glance, the idea of Barry Windham joining the Four Horsemen seemed odd as the man had been a great face and had feuded with Flair for the belt in 1987. He and Lex Luger had just beaten Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard for the NWA tag titles at the first Clash of the Champions and seemed set for a long reign. So when Windham suddenly turned on Luger, it was a shocking move, even Anderson and Blanchard seemed confused before pinning Luger to regain the belts. But it was sold well afterward with Windham clearly wanting to get a boost to his career and lured by the Horsemen lifestyle. The man took to heeldom much better than anyone expected, killer promos, more intense in the ring and was soon U.S. champion, proving it a great turn and the highlight of both Windham’s career and one of the best points in Horsemen history.

Shawn Michaels: He’s bounced between heel and face a lot but it’s still that first turn that remains so memorable. For weeks, the Rockers had been shown having problems, Michaels distracted in matches and the two close to winning the tag titles but failed when Michaels blew a tag. They were brought onto the “Barber Shop” to talk things over, Marty Jannetty offering his back and after a pause, Shawn shook his hand. Just as they were celebrating, Shawn kicked Jannetty in the face and then threw him through a glass window. That may not sound extreme today but trust me, in 1992, this was shocking and Shawn made it better by holding up a magazine story on “Are the Rockers in trouble” and tearing it up, ending their partnership and launching himself as one of the best acts of the ‘90’s.

Larry Zybsko: The idea of the rookie turning on his mentor had been done before but not to the degree of money-making that Larry Zybsko did in 1980. The man had been presented as clean-cut kid mentored by the former champion Bruno Sammartino, getting along well with tag team matches and such. But it was soon clear Zybsko wanted a bit more, challenging Sammartino to a match, the elder man agreeing. Sammartino dominated in the early going and Zysbsko was shown chafing more and more until he finally erupted, smashing Bruno over the head with a wooden chair and brutally attacking him, leaving him in a pile of blood. Zybsko was born to be a heel, great on the mic boasting of what he’d done and so good at it that fans would actually pelt his cars or taxis when he was traveling. It would lead to a major money feud and stands still as one of the best “bite the hand that fed you” angles ever.

Stephanie McMahon: I know some may do a double take but hear me out. Through 1999, Stephanie had been presented as Vince’s little girl, an innocent, smiling and good-natured. She’d been at the center of a feud with “fiancee” Test and Shane and appeared horrified when HHH drugged her into marriage. This set up the wild HHH-Vince battle where Stephanie’s interference caused Vince to lose. She appeared terrified as HHH stood there, staring….and then smiled. Watch that smile and it’s stunning how, in a single instant, her entire demeanor completely transforms from innocent girl to conniving vixen, hugging HHH and revealing they were together all along. It was an amazing moment that she sold wonderfully and set up a great character to use for WWF for a while.

Nikita Koloff: I’m of the camp that if Magnum T.A. hadn’t gotten into the car accident in 1986 and had beaten Flair for the NWA title at Starrcade that year, Crockett would have never had to sell to Turner. Magnum was incredibly talented in the ring and on the mic, monster heat with fans and could have pushed the NWA higher as champ. Magnum had sympathy too as he’d just lost a best-of-seven series for the U.S. title against Nikita Koloff, another guy monster over. When he went out, it was a massive blow, especially with the biggest show of the year a month away. But Dusty Rhodes came up with what is seriously one of his single most brilliant moves ever by heading to a cage match with the Andersons and astonishingly, Nikita came out as his partner. The story was sold that over the course of the series, Nikita had come to respect Magnum as a worthy opponent and upon hearing of the accident, was so moved that he disavowed his rulebreaking ways and the Soviet Union and dedicated his career to Magnum’s memory. Nikita took off as a face much better than expected and while he’d never gotten the World title, he was still one of the biggest faces for Crockett and ahead of his time with the “evil Russian going good.”

Virgil: It was meant to be a big in-joke, Ted DiBiase’s man-servant having the real name of Dusty Rhodes. But Virgil was a big part of the Million-Dollar Man’s act, always around to help DiBiase with his dirty work, driving him around, helping him remove his tux before a match and interfere on behalf of his employer, taking lumps along the way. As 1990 drew to a close, they began to show Virgil upset over DiBiase’s actions and Roddy Piper trying to sway Virgil by telling him to stand up for himself. It came to a head at the 1991 Royal Rumble as DiBiase and Virgil faced Dusty and Dustin Rhodes, DiBiase beating Virgil down after being accidentally struck. After sneaking a win, DiBiase got on the mic to berate Virgil and demand he wrap his Million-Dollar Belt around his waist. Virgil threw it down, DiBiase yelling to pick it up, threatening to cut off Virgil’s family. As Virgil knelt to get it, DiBiase laughed to the crowd only to turn around for Virgil to nail him in the jaw with the belt to a huge pop. Truly wonderful with how it gave Virgil a chance to stand up at last and put DiBiase in his place.

Bret Hart: The great thing about Bret Hart’s turn in 1997 was that he didn’t alter his act too much. Sure, he laid on the anti-American stuff but Bret had always been shown as cocky and proud of his Canadian heritage so didn’t require much change there. Indeed, that pushed the angle on as when he interrupted a match with Owen and Davey Boy to broker peace, telling them it was better for the family to finally stop fighting. The irony was brilliant, Bret finally getting them together only as heels. It pushed them on as they took on the Canadian pride to the extreme, making their turn as faces in Canada, heels elsewhere work wonderfully and elevate WWF in a key time.

Randy Savage: We all knew it was coming and yet when the Megapower explosion happened, it was still great. It worked thanks to how Savage was already on the verge of snapping a lot and a tense individual. The real-life aspect was wonderful, how Savage felt Hogan was out to steal his spotlight, teasing tension over Elizabeth for several months with various clashes. So when Savage finally lost it and attacked Hogan, it was the payoff to his going totally nuts, which meant far more entertaining. Just as good was when Savage turned face again at Wrestlemania, making sense that after losing his career and attacked by Sherri, reuniting with Elizabeth would redeem him. It made sense for Savage and his stardom, a man able to rise any angle high.

Chris Jericho: Jericho’s first turn back in 1998 was more funny than dangerous, the guy basically snapping after being ignored, turning whiny, then coming loose as the arrogant heel. But his 2008 turn was far more effective. After coming back as Y2J again, Jericho realized it wasn’t as good this time around. A heel turn was needed but Jericho made it work better than expected by getting with Shawn Michaels for the angle of HBK cheating in several victories and Jericho pointing out the hypocrisy of Michaels cheered for cheating while Jericho got booed for doing the right thing. It built more and more intense until Jericho finally snapped and attacked Shawn, smashing him into the “Jeri-Tron” screen. But the real genius was Jericho shedding the Y2J character by dressing in a suit, talking flatly and modeling himself after Javier Bardem’s character in No Country For Old Men, a self-rightous honest man which just made stuff like punching Shawn’s wife better.

Curt Hennig: Hennig’s turn to a heel in 1987 had been well done, the clean-cut kid deciding it was time to break the rules to get the AWA world title. But that was nothing compared to the genius of his 1992 turn. After a year away and spending time as “advisor” to Ric Flair, Hennig had been prepping Flair and Razor Ramon to face Randy Savage and the Ultimate Warrior at the Survivor Series. However, a week before the show, Warrior left WWF so they needed a backup plan that ended up being truly great. On an episode of “Prime Time Wrestling,” Savage talked about he wanted Mr. Perfect to be his partner, Perfect and Bobby Heenan at first laughing it off. However, Savage talked of how he respected Perfect as an athlete and Heenan opened his big mouth to talk about how Perfect wasn’t at that level. Perfect took exception to that, asking Heenan point-blank if he didn’t think he could beat Flair and Heenan lost it, screaming at Perfect how he would do what Ric Flair wanted and then slapped him across the face. Now truly pissed, Perfect grabbed Heenan, poured a pitcher of water on him and said he was tired of being shoved in the background and accepted Savage’s offer. Truly amazing how a man who hadn’t been in the ring for over a year and as a huge heel was able to instantly change in a way that was done…well, perfectly.

Billy Jack Haynes: When it came to local territory heroes, Billy Jack Haynes was one of the biggest. The veteran of Portland wrestling, Haynes was a mainstay in the state, even during a brief WWF run. By 1990, he was having some troubles financially with a failing gym and health issues. So when Haynes teamed with Rip and Larry Oliver for a tag match, things turned into a brawl, Haynes hit from behind and thinking Oliver did it. He snapped, attacking Oliver with a kendo stick, smashing him down as the fans looked on in horror. He then did a blistering promo on how he was sick of representing Oregon when the state did nothing for him, trashing the fans for ignoring him, tearing the Oregon state logo off his tights and yelling the fans could “Kiss my ass!” which was pretty big for 1990. A nice subtext was that Billy didn’t really care whether or not Oliver hit him, this was just the straw that broke the camel’s back and stunning seeing the hero of the land turned into its big villain.

Demolition and the Powers of Pain: The double turn is a very, very tricky thing to pull off. Trying to make one guy a face and another a heel at the same time is very difficult, depends on timing and the performers. To my mind, the best double-turn ever was at the 1988 Survivor Series. For months, Demolition had been dominating as the heel tag team champions with Mr. Fuji as their manager. When the Powers of Pain split from the NWA, WWF was quick to sign them up as faces to go after the Demos. However, fans didn’t warm to the Powers while Demolition (much like the Road Warriors before them) were hearing more pops thanks to their tough attitude. But it was still amazing how WWF pulled it off as the two teams were captains for their Survivor Series match where you had ten guys on each team. It came down to the Demos and the Conquistadors against the Powers when Ax went to the ropes only for Fuji to pull them down. A great bit was Gorilla Monsoon asking if it was a mistake and Jesse Ventura saying that Fuji had done it deliberately. When Ax argued, Fuji hit him with his cane, Smash throwing him to Ax, who slammed him onto the floor. Counted out, Demolition left, at which point, the Powers moved over to help Fuji up and brush him off. Monsoon and Ventura were confused as hell as the match continued, Fuji helping the Powers win as they held him up on their shoulders. Demolition came to run them off to loud cheers as the Powers left with Fuji, who in a post-match promo said he was tired of Demolition ignoring his advice and feeling too good for him. It gave Demolition new life as faces and one of the best double twists wrestling has seen.

I could go on all day, tons more from various eras and places but think you get the point. A shock turn is good but building it up can be as effective, not give it away but make it feel more organic and making sense. It’s meant to elevate a guy (like Rocky Maivia turning into the Rock) and be a lead-in for a major angle to come.