Top 10 WWE heel turns of all time
4. Bret Hart
Bret Hart turns on the entire USA
Know why Bret Hart is widely regarded as one of the greatest pro-wrestlers of all time, maybe even the greatest? Because he had one of the greatest careers in pro-wrestling history.
Looking back at his run, it’s strange because I can’t imagine anybody in the current scene ever having that kind of a character arc. Bret Hart, throughout his entire career, was always the same person.
You know how wrestling’s always about reinventing yourself to stay fresh and relevant? Chris Jericho is a master of that and it’s the reason why he’s also regarded as one of the greatest pro-wrestlers of all time, and rightfully so. However, if you think about it, none of that would fly in a movie series or a TV show. It’s all about characters and their journeys through life and their struggles and their lessons and their losses and their triumphs that really connect with the audience in the long run.
Sure, being over with different characters is commendable, but making fans feel different emotions throughout your career by essentially being the same person is simply masterful.
That’s exactly what Bret Hart did, and that’s what makes this heel turn so magical. At WrestleMania 13, Bret faced Stone Cold Steve Austin in a Submission Match with Ken Shamrock as the special guest referee. Bret was the veteran babyface and Austin was the hot-headed, menacing heel. But, Bret was getting stale in the fans’ eyes, with many fans audibly booing him in matches. Austin, on the other hand, was catching fire with his tough S.O.B. persona, natural charisma, and, of course, his Austin 3:16.
Throughout the course of this match, the two men told a beautiful story as Bret repeatedly outmaneuvered Austin, but a valiant Austin kept coming back. Both wrestlers beat the living hell out of each other. Most importantly though, that finish. It’s probably the greatest finish of all time. Bret locked Austin in the Sharpshooter, and Austin, with blood pouring from his head into his mouth, screamed in pain but didn’t tap out. The fans totally got behind Austin as they saw this man being relentless in the face of torture. His heart didn’t want to back down even though his body refused to cooperate. But, in the end, Austin couldn’t handle the pain, and he passed out. Shamrock awarded Bret the victory. Bret attacked Austin after the match, cementing his heel turn, while Austin Stunned Shamrock, now an anti-hero with the crowd fully behind him.
And this would go down in history as the greatest double turn of all time, possibly the greatest face turn of all time, and, according to me at least, the 4th best heel turn in history.
After this turn, Bret cut promos on the American fans, because in his mind, it was actually the fans who had turned heel on him. Bret did his best work on the mic in this run. He called out the American fans on their hypocrisy. He said America, as a country, had stopped respecting good guys. He bashed them repeatedly for cheering for guys like Austin, Shawn Michaels, and Undertaker. He talked about how other countries knew the difference between right and wrong, between bad guys and heroes, and how they still regarded him as a hero. He became a heel in America, and a babyface in the rest of the world, and the fans responded exactly like he wanted them to.
He was booed in America and cheered in Canada, Europe, South Africa, Kuwait, etc. He formed the New Hart Foundation with Owen, Jim Neidhart, Brian Pillman, and Davey Boy Smith, and they were treated the same way, hated by America and beloved by the rest of the world.
The fact that Bret was able to garner heat from American fans and love from the rest of the world truly makes him deserving of the moniker “The Excellence of Execution”.