Most disappointing face/heel runs

[RedTwoster]

Inspired by John Cena’s extremely disappointing heel run…

What are the most disappointing face or heel runs wrestling has ever brought us? Specifically from wrestlers who had previously been good - rather than people who flopped from the outset.

Randy Orton’s babyface run during his first World title reign in 2004 has to be up there for me - it took quite some time for him to recover from that; yet when he initially turned it felt like he had a legitimate chance to become what John Cena eventually became for WWE. They struggled to figure out who babyface Orton was though, and in the end his stock dropped significantly for a while.

[tiger_rick]

Orton is a great shout. Triple H's return as a face in 2002 was a great moment but the rest of the run sucked balls. That one immediately sprung to mind.

Disappointing might suggest anyone ever thought it was a good idea, but after being touted as the biggest moment in history, Goldberg's heel turn in 2000 was as big a mistake and laughably shit as you'd expect.

Trying to think of more modern examples but have a terrible memory for recent stuff and/or I just don't care!

[TheBurningRed]

Seth Rollins first heel run betraying The Shield started off alright. The moment he cashed in and won the title was one of the worst heel runs and the stert of me going off him. Terrible matches with Kane and Orton in a cage match stand out.

Kevin Owen’s universal title heel run. Went from prizefighter to coward. Then lost to Goldberg. 

[TheScarlettChad]

Orton's face run from 2010 to 2013. 

[air_raid]

Turning Sting heel on Hogan in late 99 WCW was peak “bad idea executed poorly.”

[TheScarlettChad]

Sting as a heel at any time was awful. 

[wandshogun09]

From this…

To this…

[RedTwoster]

2 hours ago, tiger_rick said:

Trying to think of more modern examples but have a terrible memory for recent stuff and/or I just don't care!

The one that stands out to me is Wardlow - he came out of his match against MJF with all the momentum in the world, and very little worked for him from there - and he’s floundered at best since then.

It’s too soon to completely write it off - after all, Jon Moxley turned things around - but I’d actually put MJF’s most recent heel turn forward for this too. He wasn’t exactly setting the heather alight as a babyface, but he wasn’t doing terribly either - certainly, he was a more interesting character than he is now. He’s retreading the worst of his original heel run and outside of the occasional promising moment, he’s been fairly poor. 

[CTXRussomark]

Bam Bam Bigelow's shitty face run as Diesel's best buddy in 1995.  Went from Mania main event to facing Henry Godwinn on PPV in a matter of months and was gone by the end of the year.  They could have easily capitalised on the residual momentum from the Mania build and even used the LT defeat as motivation for him to brutalise Diesel, Shawn or Bret.  A feud with Bam Bam would have been better than what those 3 ended up doing over the summer. 

[wandshogun09]

5 minutes ago, CTXRussomark said:

Bam Bam Bigelow's shitty face run as Diesel's best buddy in 1995.  Went from Mania main event to facing Henry Godwinn on PPV in a matter of months and was gone by the end of the year.  They could have easily capitalised on the residual momentum from the Mania build and even used the LT defeat as motivation for him to brutalise Diesel, Shawn or Bret.  A feud with Bam Bam would have been better than what those 3 ended up doing over the summer. 

Yeah, he was fucked in large part because his babyface turn came right around the same time as Shawn’s babyface turn. And with the face side then consisting of champ Diesel, Shawn, Bret, Undertaker and Razor, he was never gonna be more than sixth top face in the pecking order. Then add in a big dose of Kliq bullshit and he was doomed. He was always better as a monster heel anyway and, like you say, he would’ve made a much better heel opponent for any of that babyface Top 5 than most of the shite they were saddled with in 95. 

[Callum1993]

Reigns’s initial face run after the Shield broke up has to be in there. No matter what they tried he just couldn’t get over with the audience. There’d be spells where he’d get cheered(Thinking of that Raw where he won the World Title against Sheamus where he pretty much got universal cheers) but then was pretty much back to boos the following week. Suckering Suckatash Son. 

[Carbomb]

Jeff Jarrett comes back from sabbatical to look after his family following his wife's tragic passing. Becomes one of the best, fieriest blue-eyes you'll ever see, even makes the Noel Edmonds look work. 

After only a few months, turns heel to pull a betrayal angle and join the shit-show that is Immortal. He's obviously a great heel, but he just doesn't stand out at all.

I don't know if it’s because he prefers being a heel, but I would have been so up for seeing a fired-up Double J fighting for the sole of the company as the founder. Pissed away.

[air_raid]

Quite a few times they turned Kane heel and it never lasted because people seemed to like his act so he always ended up back. The most “let’s pretend that didn’t happen” one being when he turned on Taker, feuded with Jericho over spilled coffee, then was back as a face and teaming with his brother within six months of the turn.

Conversely by the time of Corporate/Authority Kane everyone was fucking sick of him so that stuck, but woefully they tried to make a hero of him again as “Demon Kane” and it was crap. Rollins getting lumbered with him straight after he’d been working John Cena and Sting felt like a joke at Seth’s expense.

[RIDDUM_N_STYLE]

Ahmed Johnson’s heel turn in 97, he was still fairly over yet the turn, to join the one group that had tried to make his life hell all through 96 and the early part of the year, absolutely killed his run stone dead (well that and the injuries)

Matt Hardy’s heel run in early 09 that started by costing Jeff the WWE Title out of jealousy, failed on two fronts because 1) they tried it 7 years earlier and it failed and 2) the shameless way they used Jeff’s dog’s death to get Matt heat

[simonworden]

6 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

Yeah, he was fucked in large part because his babyface turn came right around the same time as Shawn’s babyface turn. And with the face side then consisting of champ Diesel, Shawn, Bret, Undertaker and Razor, he was never gonna be more than sixth top face in the pecking order. Then add in a big dose of Kliq bullshit and he was doomed. He was always better as a monster heel anyway and, like you say, he would’ve made a much better heel opponent for any of that babyface Top 5 than most of the shite they were saddled with in 95. 

Am I remembering it right from something I read years ago that he wanted to turn face? 

Was totally the wrong time to do that when he could've had the Mabel spot for a few months smashing it up with Diesel.