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In the world of wrestling and WWE, the entire set-up of programming and character build-up/progression isn't the same as a regular television show. You don't have off-seasons and while WWE superstars get to take time off that helps them return in a more refreshing way, there's normally a need for someone or the other to flip sides in terms of their character.
It could be a Superstar who's been a babyface or heel for too long and the timing and story are right for them to flip sides. Or, it could simply be a way of throwing a curveball on WWE fans.
We've seen a handful of heel and face turns this year, but in this list, we'll be focusing specifically on heel turns. There could be a variety of reasons but given that we're in the "COVID"/"Pandemic" era of WWE, the circumstances are entirely different.
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Now we're not ruling out the possibility of them ever turning heel at some point in the future, but here are five individual cases and why they shouldn't turn heel.
#5 Samoa Joe - a long-time heel for WWE
Samoa Joe is a superstar who has been a heel for most of his WWE career. While he had a brief babyface run on RAW earlier in 2020, another concussion would put him out of action for a while - with WWE deciding to have him replace Jerry 'The King' Lawler on commentary instead.
He's been great in that role - as he is in any role. The indication of his involvement in the Seth Rollins-Dominik Mysterio storyline seems to be that he'll be making his WWE in-ring return soon and once he's fully immersed in WWE programming again, he should remain a babyface.
While RAW could do with some top heels, Samoa Joe deserves a good run as a babyface and hopefully, a title run at some point as well. However, it all depends on where WWE feels he should be placed on the roster. It wouldn't make much sense for Samoa Joe to suddenly turn heel after supporting Dominick Mysterio.
While his beef with Dominick and Rey Mysterio from last year seems to have been quietly forgotten, Samoa Joe is the kind of superstar who is an all-rounder - meaning that he can fit perfectly in any role that's given to him at any point.
#4 Big E - delving into WWE singles stardom for the first time in years
While Kofi Kingston isn't out for an extensive period of time, the "six-week" period is still a month and a half - and as we know in WWE, a lot can happen in a short span. Kofi Kingston, just like Xavier Woods, understood the potential that Big E has as a singles star and insisted that Big E uses the time he has to establish himself.
There have been multiple rumors in the past that Vince McMahon was initially so high on Big E that he wanted him to be the golden boy of WWE - only for Roman Reigns to take that spot in his mind instead.
Regardless, Big E is among the most accomplished tag team wrestlers in WWE history and he's young enough to establish himself in a singles run - with or without The New Day.
Since he's still getting his footing, we hope that WWE sticks to Big E as a singles star and keeps him as a babyface character for the remainder of 2020 - until the time is right to turn him heel.
#3 Aleister Black - WWE's Dutch Destroyer
Aleister Black seems to be one of the few WWE Superstars who benefited greatly from Paul Heyman's presence. It was clear that the underutilized WWE star was handpicked by Heyman and moved over to RAW - where he started to enjoy a lot more TV time and a steady and solid push as well.
It was a great run that saw his character progress quite a bit, but he was written out of WWE TV in late July via an attack to the eye. His return to WWE seems inevitable at some point, but we can only hope that Paul Heyman being gone doesn't mean that Aleister Black's push is gone.
He's remained a babyface since his NXT run dating back to 2016 and while we've never got to explore his character in-depth, it seems like there's a lot more to it than meets the eye.
He seems like he can pull off being a top heel perfectly if given the opportunity by WWE. However, this isn't the year to do that. Aleister Black must remain a babyface and get a steady push as a babyface to progress into 2021 in WWE.
#2 Asuka - WWE's Empress
Who would have thought that Asuka would become a WWE Grand Slam Champion in such a short period in WWE? She has only been on the main roster for close to three years and in that time, she's become the SmackDown Women's Champion, RAW Women's Champion, WWE Women's Tag Team Champion, the first-ever Women's Royal Rumble winner, Ms. Money in the Bank 2020 - and that isn't even counting her record-breaking NXT Women's Championship reign.
She was a heel for a while with Kairi Sane as a part of The Kabuki Warriors, but following her Money in the Bank 2020 victory and Becky Lynch's departure, WWE had no choice but to turn Asuka babyface and have her become the leading woman on Monday Night RAW.
Kairi Sane has now left WWE and Asuka is once again a lone wolf of sorts. Given that Sasha Banks and Bayley have been the most dominant women in 2020 and that they're both heels, it makes no sense for Asuka to turn heel again at any point this year. Once the roster is re-established and the crowds are back, perhaps things might be a bit different.
#1 Kevin Owens - The most reliable WWE star this year?
We're a bit surprised that post WrestleMania 36, WWE hasn't put Kevin Owens in any major rivalry. He defeated Seth Rollins at WrestleMania and while Rollins ended up challenging for the WWE Championship the next PPV anyway, Owens sat on the sidelines for various reasons.
He's still active on RAW and has gotten in the middle of certain feuds, but he hasn't been the central focus as he once was. Kevin Owens is one of WWE's most reliable superstars and he needs to start having feuds of his own. For the time being, however, it seems as though WWE is content with keeping him as a "side character" and he certainly deserves better.
With that said, 2020 should see Kevin Owens remain a babyface till the end. He's enjoyed a great babyface run since last year and his fit quite well into that role. It would be a shame for WWE to have Kevin Owens turn heel when he's thriving as a babyface. We would have never expected him to fit into the role as well as he did.
