3 Drastic WWE character changes that worked and 3 that did not

#1 WWE character change did not work: Seth Rollins

When a major WWE babyface is ruled out for several months, it is not uncommon for WWE’s higher-ups to make drastic changes to another Superstar’s on-screen personality.

In October 2018, for example, Braun Strowman and Elias suddenly became good guys on WWE RAW after the brand’s top babyface, Roman Reigns, had to take time off due to his battle with leukemia

Two years earlier, Finn Balor had been heavily pushed as one of WWE’s main babyfaces in the build-up to him winning the Universal Championship against Seth Rollins at SummerSlam 2016, and his serious shoulder injury left the WWE RAW roster short of good guys.

Ironically, Rollins – the person whose powerbomb move injured Balor in the first place – suddenly became a babyface to fill the void left by the Irishman.

The former Shield member revealed in a 2017 interview with Sporting News that he did not originally want to turn babyface when he came back from injury in May 2016, but he agreed to the character change due to the circumstances.

“I could have been a babyface when I came back but it didn’t feel right at the time. Then we had stuff go on with Finn Balor’s injury and stuff like that.”

Rollins gained a lot of momentum as a good guy in 2017-18, but he initially struggled to receive support from fans after his post-SummerSlam 2016 face turn.