Top 10 WWE Heel and Face turns of 2019

Turns in WWE and the world of wrestling are always fun. Since wrestling is a unique form of entertainment in its own right and WWE has shows that run 52 weeks a year non-stop, the entire process of writing and storylines are worlds apart from regular TV shows.

It's not like there are start and stop seasons (even though there is technically a "season premiere" out of formality) where stories can be left with suspense and renewed only a year later. WWE doesn't have that privilege and many argued that if there were off-seasons, the quality of the show would be higher.

Here's the thing - there's no disputing that. The quality of the show would undoubtedly go up when there is a gap and higher anticipation for the shows. However, with WWE, the wheel keeps spinning and that's the way it is.

As a result, they have to keep characters fresh by having them flip-flop from one side to the other. Here are the 5 best heel turns and 5 best face turns of WWE in 2019!

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#5. Heel turn: Finn Balor

NXT's arrival to the USA Network was always going to bring some big surprises and perhaps the best one was the return of Finn Balor to the yellow and gold brand. He's now a permanent member of the roster again, except it's not the same Balor that left NXT three years ago.

It's a new Balor and he's taken his old "Prince" moniker, showcasing a heel persona for the first time in his WWE career. It's interesting because he isn't associated with anyone. It's been clear from the get-go that he's a lone wolf and will stay that way. It was the best possible move for him in 2019.

#5. Face turn: Alexa Bliss

2019 has been a very different year for Alexa Bliss on the main roster. It's been the first since her arrival in 2016 where she hasn't won a singles title on any brand and it's clear that after a couple of big concussion issues, she took a step back from the main event in the Women's scene, even though she could have been a clear-cut challenger to Becky Lynch.

Instead, WWE chose to go a different direction with her and paired her with the rather underutilized and forgotten Nikki Cross. Before pairing with Bliss, Cross was sitting in catering while Sanity was all split up and nothing was going on with her creatively.

While the duo was first a heel tag team, they eventually changed directions and Bliss started showing babyface traits for the first time on the main roster. Slowly but surely, the team turned babyface and they're now on Friday Night SmackDown where they are very much a babyface team. It was a good and much-needed change for Bliss after dominating for a long time.

#4. Heel turn: Shane McMahon

Shane McMahon attacking The Miz at Fastlane

Shane McMahon had a very interesting 2019. He started off being a babyface with The Miz, where he even won the SmackDown Tag Team titles at Royal Rumble 2019 before dropping it soon after.

At Fastlane 2019, it was Shane McMahon who turned heel by blindsiding The Miz, leading to their WrestleMania 35 match, which he won. After that, McMahon suddenly got a big push and in the Saudi Arabia PPV, he even beat Roman Reigns. Rumors were floating about that WWE was planning on having Shane McMahon dethrone Kofi Kingston for the WWE title, but thankfully that never happened.

With the change in SmackDown and it going back to Friday Nights on the new FOX Network deal, the direction was set to change entirely and authority figures would essentially be a thing of the past. As a result, Shane McMahon's run would conclude three and a half years following a ladder match against Kevin Owens where the loser would get fired from WWE.

It was a good heel turn and he did a good job, putting Owens over big time as a babyface before he left. And it helped Owens in the long run.

#4. Face turn: Randy Orton

Randy Orton has admitted in the past that he enjoys being a heel far more than a face and that's his natural and preferred role. History has proven that he's a much better heel, but sometimes, you simply need to change things up.

After WrestleMania 34 in 2018, Orton had quietly turned heel again and had a decent run, although it didn't live up to the overall expectations as one would have hoped. After 3 years with the blue brand, the October 2019 WWE Draft saw The Viper head to RAW and since then, he has been indulging with newer talent such as Ricochet, Drew McIntyre, etc. He has renewed his rivalry with AJ Styles from earlier this year, except the roles are reversed.

Orton, just as he quietly turned heel, had quietly turned face as well and though he isn't at his most exciting, there's no denying that he's gained some momentum in the recent weeks.

It'll be interesting to see where he goes with his babyface direction and who he ends up facing at WrestleMania 36 in Tampa, Florida.

#3. Heel turn: AJ Styles

AJ Styles moved to Monday Night RAW in the Superstar Shake-Up 2019. It was certainly a well-timed move since AJ Styles was the face of the SmackDown Live for almost three full years. Moreover, he did everything there was to do in the brand and beat everyone there was to beat.

Two WWE Championship reigns and two United States title reigns later, The Phenomenal One moved to RAW and was immediately in contention for the Universal Championship. He fell short in an epic match and following that, they began to tease a reunion with Gallows & Anderson.

He would have a friendly feud with Ricochet at first where they exchanged wins, but following a win by Ricochet, Styles would use Gallows & Anderson to attack Ricochet and turn heel for the first time in over two years.

Again, it was a well-timed move and led to AJ Styles winning his third United States title. He was a great champion and a consistently entertaining part of RAW. There's no doubt that he had one of the best heel turns of the year and it's worked out great as The Club has now reformed as The OC.

#3. Face turn: Charlotte Flair

We must admit that we're slightly on the border with this one. Corey Graves openly admitted on the After The Bell podcast that Charlotte Flair has never been more irrelevant than she is right now.

Flair herself responded saying that he isn't fully wrong and something is lacking in her character. With that said, however, we couldn't exclude this from the list simply because of her status in the women's division.

She was the face of the SmackDown Women's division and after the October 2019 Draft, joined Becky Lynch on RAW. The only difference this time around is that Becky Lynch is the face of the entire division across both brands and not Flair.

It's been a long time since Flair has been second to someone and it appears as though she's going to stay that way for a while. However, she quietly turned face after her move to RAW and has still maintained a certain level of popularity. It's going to be interesting to see the direction she takes and we fully expect a heel turn in 2020 at some point.

#2. Heel turn: Ronda Rousey

Ronda Rousey's year-long run in WWE is undoubtedly going to be looked back on with a lot of praise and also as one of the most important runs in the timeline of WWE's Women's division. It was clear from day one that her goal was to elevate the entire women's division and she did it in the best way possible.

We'll be the first to admit that we thought that we wouldn't see a Women's WrestleMania main event until a generation later at least, but Rousey's undeniable star power gave Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch the spotlight and the opportunity to main event WrestleMania.

Rousey was a babyface for most of her run, but once her feud against Becky Lynch began, it was clear that she was going to get booed. WWE did the right thing and turned her heel and though she wasn't the most prolific talker, she got the desired reactions and certainly the desired impact.

Rousey's heel turn was a brief one, lasting all but two months up until she finished with WWE at WrestleMania 35. However, it was one with a long-lasting impact.

#2. Face turn: Dean Ambrose

This one is certainly an emotional one to look back on. There are mixed emotions with the entire matter because fans desperately wanted Dean Ambrose to stay, but after he left and got on the Talk is Jericho podcast following his AEW debut, they got the full perspective and understood why he was right in leaving the company.

When there's that much frustration creatively and otherwise, it's hard to continue working and we respect the fact that Ambrose/Jon Moxley chose to ride out the rest of his contract rather than make a big deal out of it beforehand.

Knowing that he was done with the company after WrestleMania, WWE wanted one last Shield reunion and they did that, turning Ambrose face and reuniting The Hounds Of Justice one last time before calling it quits. They had a match in the main event of Fastlane and then there was The Shield's Final Chapter, a live-streamed house show that marked the end of the legendary faction.

Ambrose would get compensated a whopping 500$ for that final appearance. He joked with Chris Jericho that he would frame that cheque.

#1. Heel turn: Bayley

We rank this as the top heel turn of WWE in 2019 simply because of the shock value of it all. Bayley has been an eternal babyface since her time in NXT and even going back then, it was hard to imagine her being anything but a face.

2019 turned out to be the year of resurgence for her as she won the Money in the Bank and the SmackDown Women's Championship. She would turn heel in early September by attacking Becky Lynch and aligning with a heel Sasha Banks. Post-heel turn, she would even regain the title from Charlotte Flair and she took an entirely new persona.

She stopped with the inflatable tubes in her entrance, the happy and bubbly music and she even cut her hair to give an entirely new look. It appeared as though it was something Bayley desperately wanted to do and it was undoubtedly the biggest makeover on the roster in the entire year.

It also benefited her big time as she went from being the face of the women on SmackDown Live to the top heel of the division on the Blue brand. She has had continuous momentum since then and it was a brilliantly-executed turn that deserves all the praise in the world.

#1. Face turn: Kevin Owens (the second time)

Kevin Owens has had a whirlwind of a 2019 but it looks to be ending on a positive note. He returned as a babyface and was rumored to be Daniel Bryan's Original WrestleMania 35 (which changed due to Kofi Kingston's incredible momentum). After WrestleMania, he turned heel again to unsuccessfully challenge for the WWE title and it was clear that he was in a creatively flustered position.

After becoming a more rebellious persona, he restarted his feud with Shane McMahon and turned face for the second time and this time around, it blew up positively. He would be responsible for ending Shane McMahon's WWE career in this run and send him away before being drafted to Monday Night RAW in what was reportedly a last-minute swap.

Since then, he's been regularly featured on television and post-Survivor Series has been a part of the hottest angle in WWE. From the look of things, Seth Rollins' heel turn will result in him possibly becoming the face of Monday Night RAW for the time being and that's a huge spot to be in after over a year of being creatively frustrated.

Edited by Shruti Sadbhav