5 WWE Superstars who requested Vince McMahon to turn them heel

One of the most important aspects of Pro wrestling is the clash between babyfaces and heels. This is the basic premise that has been used by WWE and every other promotion over the past several decades, to create and advance their storylines. The idea of a bad guy targeting a good guy, and the latter doing everything they can to put down the villain and succeed in doing so on a big stage is something that's been intriguing fans for a long time.

Superstars switch between heel and babyface characters at least once during their careers, barring rare exceptions. There have been a bunch of Superstars in WWE's storied history who have personally asked the company to turn them heel. Many Superstars have benefited from turning heel on WWE TV, and a Superstar requesting WWE to turn them heel makes complete sense when we look at what a heel turn did to the careers of the likes of Hulk Hogan, The Rock, and many more.

#5 Roman Reigns

The Big Dog made his huge return to WWE at SummerSlam 2020, and launched a brutal attack on both Braun Strowman and The Fiend. A week later, he defeated the duo to win the Universal title at WWE Payback. Roman is now a full-fledged heel and the WWE Universe has finally gotten what they were demanding for years on end.

Mere days after Roman Reigns won the belt, Dave Meltzer reported that Roman was the one who requested Vince McMahon to turn him heel. It's interesting that Vince McMahon gave Reigns the green flag and turned him heel. WWE refused to do so for a long time even though Reigns was being booed by the WWE Universe on every occasion. With Paul Heyman by his side, Roman Reigns is hell-bent on staying on top of the Blue brand, and it won't be an easy task for any WWE Superstar to conquer The Big Dog.

#4 Stone Cold Steve Austin

It goes without saying that Stone Cold Steve Austin is one of the greatest Superstars to ever step foot in a WWE ring. He was a cultural icon back in the late 90s and was the perfect fit to lead WWE in its new direction that catered to adult audiences. Austin enjoyed a long run as an anti-hero, but it all changed at WrestleMania 17. He turned heel and shook hands with Vince McMahon himself.

Back in 2014, The Rattlesnake opened up on his heel turn in 2001 and revealed that it was his idea. Austin dubbed it as his worst call alongside his refusal to job to Brock Lesnar on WWE RAW. Austin acknowledged the fact that he made a lot of money working as a babyface, but he liked working as a bad guy. He further stated that Vince bought into his idea and he eventually turned heel at the end of WrestleMania 17. Austin defeated The Rock with help from Vince McMahon and left the stadium with the WWE title on his shoulder.

#3 Hulk Hogan

At WrestleMania 6, Hulk Hogan took on The Ultimate Warrior in the main event. It was one of the most anticipated matches of all time, in which WWE's two biggest babyfaces were colliding in an epic encounter. Years later, Hogan revealed that he had requested Vince McMahon to let him turn heel after losing to The Ultimate Warrior, but the WWE Chairman rejected the idea.

And I was like, 'D**n, Vince what if after the finish I point to God, give him the belts and leave, but I do that slow Three Stooges turn, I go back...and call myself Triple H, Hollywood Hulk Hogan? He said, 'that would never work and you can't be a heel.' So, he squashed that.

The night ended with Hogan and Warrior raising each other's hands and sending the fans home happy. Hogan would leave WWE years later and jump ship to WCW. In 1996, Hogan turned heel and formed the nWo with Scott Hall and Kevin Nash. The stable revolutionized the business like never before and kick-started a series of events that would be collectively known as The Monday Night Wars.

#2 Triple H

Around two decades ago, Triple H established himself as one of the biggest heels in the business. The Game revealed years later that he pitched the idea to turn heel to Vince McMahon, and the WWE Chairman wasn't thrilled with it one bit. Triple H wanted to turn on D-Generation X and approached the boss with the idea.

“I went to Vince, I pitched this. ‘I wanna flip, I wanna turn on the group, I wanna turn heel and I wanna do this’ and they just didn’t get it. It caused a lot of strong conversations to happen with all of us about, you know, ‘God no, don’t do that yet. Not yet, ride this out until it’s done, man. We have so much more legs on this.”

Eventually, Vince agreed to go ahead with Triple H's pitch. At WWE WrestleMania 15, Triple H and Chyna interfered in the European title match between Shane McMahon and X-Pac and helped the former retain his title belt. Triple H's star only rose from this point on, and he went on to become one of the most successful heels in WWE history.

#1 Randy Orton

At WWE Extreme Rules 2018, Randy Orton returned and launched an attack on Jeff Hardy following the latter's United States title match against Shinsuke Nakamura, and turned heel in the process. Orton kicked off a feud with Hardy and defeated him in a Hell In A Cell match at the namesake pay-per-view.

Soon after Orton turned heel, WrestleVotes reported that The Viper had personally asked for a heel turn. Apparently, Orton had been wanting to turn heel for a while at that point. It's not exactly a secret that Randy Orton is one of the greatest villains in the history of WWE. He has turned heel as well as babyface on various occasions in his career, but he has done his best work as a heel. Orton's runs with Evolution and Legacy, his stint as the face of The Authority, and his turn to the dark side earlier this year have all indicated that he is a natural heel. Orton is currently one of the best heels in WWE and is set to take on Drew McIntyre for the WWE title at Clash of Champions.

Edited by Kaushik Das