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Turns while holding 'the big one'


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The Giant in 1996, as well. He was a heel who beat Flair, and dropped the belt to Hollywood Hogan as a face. I bet there are loads of WCW ones if you have a good think. Didn't Flair win the WCW title from Vader as a face and drop it to Hulk Hogan as a heel, as well? Flair won the WCW title from Hogan in 99, and turned heel soon afterwards, as well.

 

Flair turned with the belt quite a few times, I think. There was the start of 1990 when he gave Sting a smashing and kicked him out of the Horsemen, he turned as NWA champ in 84 as well I think.

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This was the undisputed king of this type of turn really, wasn't it? Savage was absolutely beloved for most of his title reign, then the jealousy storyline and eventual turn made him the most hated man in the company, a role in which Savage excelled. His performance at Mania V is extraordinary, both in terms of the actual wrestling performance but also in behaving like a complete cunt to Liz. I thought Savage was the best heel they had for donkeys years, and what makes it more amazing was just how effective he was at drawing sympathy as a face too. You really believed he was on his last legs in a lot of his babyface matches, whether being belly splashed repeatedly by the Twin Towers or doing the one-legged routine against Ric Flair in 1992. What a brilliant wrestler he was. Go watch the main events of Survivors '88 and Mania V back to back this afternoon, it will be the best hour or so of your life.

 

Better than sitting through Reading v Spurs, anyway.

 

Put me on the list of lads who absolutely loved savaged work. His matches as a heel where distinctly different from those as a face. Absolutely amazing worker.

 

 

Even as an unabashed heel-backer, I have to agree with sentiment here. Randy was one of the few workers I couldn't honestly get myself to hate when he worked as a babyface. Excellent heel, fairly tolerable face...for most of his career, at any rate. Didn't really care much for what he did while in WCW w Gorgeous George and all that.

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In addition to the previously mentioned Flair instances - turning on Sting in 1990, turning to get ready for Hogan in 1994, the double turn with the Hulk in 1999 - there is also 1989 where he was a heel working Steamboat, then turned face to feud with Terry Funk. Which came not too long before Sting joining the Horseys. That was Flair in JCP/WcW to a tee - Ric will be face or heel depending on who we need him to work with, because he's good enough to do it. Most repeated turns are met with diminishing returns but with Flair you can get away with it. People will cheer Ric Flair because he's Ric fucking Flair, but if you remind them what an arsehole he is, they're perfectly happy to boo him.

 

WcW did a few which I suppose are relatively tenuous in that the wrestler turned during the matches he won or lost the title in. But still, interesting footnotes even if they don't 100% count.

 

Lex Luger was technically a babyface when he won the WcW title at Great American Bash 1991. Or at least, if his manner of victory was intended to be a heel turn, it wasn't especially effective - it was clean, crowd still popped. When the next episode of Worldwide aired, they made it clear he was a heel now.

 

Randy Savage won the World title as the heel against Sting at Spring Stampede 1998, then dropped the title as the babyface against Hollywood the next night, and through the formation of the Wolfpack that same night stayed a babyface. Well, until his knee packed in two months later and he had to take time off.

 

Big Kev of course famously turned heel in the act of lying down for Hollywood on the January 4th 1999 Nitro. A much-derided angle now, which on the night itself I thought was amazing. I was frothing at the gash at the idea of Goldberg going through the new elite Wolfpack one by one until finally getting his long awaited rematch with Hogan later on.

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Lesnar's first run where he took it from the Rock at Summerslam seemed to start out heel and end up face. Can't remember if he dropped Heyman mid run or if Heyman screwed him.

 

Otherwise Orton was part of Evolution when he won it against Benoit though he was turning somewhat before he got the title, he had a straight face run afterwards.

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Lesnar's first run where he took it from the Rock at Summerslam seemed to start out heel and end up face. Can't remember if he dropped Heyman mid run or if Heyman screwed him.

 

Yes.

 

Similarly after his pair of matches with said same Undertaker, Brock Lesnar had earned plenty of fan respect and cheers, and was pitted up against big monster heel Big Show in the final month of his reign and was drawing plenty of sympathy with the injury angle. If anything I'd say by virtue of Paul Heyman turning on him, Lesnar was officially turned baby about fifteen seconds before he lost the belt.
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Punk v Cena, is pretty much Savage V Hogan in the modern age.

Says more about the modern age than it does Hogan and Savage.

 

I think it's a credit to the modern age that they have two stars resemble Savage and Hogan to the point of comparison.

 

 

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