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In professional wrestling, a turn occurs most frequently when a wrestler develops a new gimmick (persona) and changes, frequently from face to heel or sometimes vice versa.
A new gimmick is not always needed, as some gimmicks, such as Kurt Angle and John Cena's, have remained essentially the same, just with good and evil versions of the same character. Another example of this is The Undertaker. A perennial fan favorite is tag team partners turning, often on each other, especially if they are related either in real life or in the storyline.
Often, when a wrestler turns one way or another, they also take on a different appearance. This is sometimes an attempt to use a visual shorthand to identify the character (for example, growing a beard or stubble as a heel in order to look more sinister), or it could be an attempt to create a disconnect from a well-known character previously played by the wrestler. One example is Hulk Hogan's heel turn in 1996 - he began dressing in black, wearing tights instead of trunks, and added a black five o'clock shadow to his trademark blonde mustache.
Types
There are various types of turns, used for various purposes. Turns may be used for to "swerve" and surprise viewers. For example, on July 7, 1996 (Bash at the Beach) - long-time face Hulk Hogan turns on Randy Savage, Lex Luger, and Sting and joins Scott Hall and Kevin Nash to form the nWo. The nWo storyline was critical in helping WCW gain dominance over the WWF. Hogan's heel turn, after nearly twenty years as a face, shocked the wrestling world as a whole, and helped to reinvent Hogan as a new, 'hip' and gritty version of himself called Hollywood Hogan, a character who may have been more hated as a heel than any run by Ric Flair before that. It has been called one of, if not the single most important turn of the last century in professional wrestling, and remains to this day one of the most memorable.
On November 11, 1996 - Long-time heel Negro Casas had turned face while his opponent, El Hijo del Santo was taking a break after the CMLL anniversary show. Bestia Salvaje, who was feuding with Casas at the time, claimed he was going to have a little surprise for him at a show at Arena Mexico. The match was Casas, El Dandy, & Héctor Garza on the face side vs. Bestia Salvaje, Scorpio Jr., & Felino. Felino just watched as the match commenced and when Salvaje and Scorpio were attacking Casas, the fans begged Felino to help his brother. Felino removed his cape and his mask to reveal it was actually El Hijo del Santo. This shocked the lucha libre world as Santo had been a face his entire career and his father, the original El Santo, was the most iconic face in the history of Mexican wrestling. A near riot broke out in the arena, with fist fights and pushing matches between fans. The feud sold out the Arena Mexico (17,687 seat capacity) three weeks in a row and rejuvenated a rebuilding CMLL.
Some turns are used to break up tag teams and make way for the members to pursue solo careers. On January 11, 1992, Shawn Michaels turned heel when he applies the then-unnamed Sweet Chin Music to long-time tag partner Marty Jannetty during an interview with Brutus Beefcake, then puts him through a plate-glass window, launching his singles career.
A rare kind of turn is a "double turn", where both participants turn. On March 23, 1997 (WrestleMania 13), Stone Cold Steve Austin becomes a face during his submission match with Bret Hart by impressing the crowd with his determination and drive to win, even passing out from pain and blood loss rather than submit to Hart's signature hold, The Sharpshooter. Bret subsequently becomes a heel by engaging in increasingly ruthless tactics to beat Austin, even attacking Austin while he is unconscious. This match, and its included double-turn, is held up by wrestling fans as being one of the finest examples of in-ring storytelling.
Unsuccessful turns
At times, turns do not have the intended effect. In these cases, a face turning heel will still be cheered while a heel turning face will still be booed. At WCW's Fall Brawl pay-per view in 1999, Sting wrestled Hulk Hogan for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. He turned heel in the process, attacking Hogan with a baseball bat to get the victory. However, few people got behind Sting as a heel, and by November, he had returned as a face. Bill Goldberg's heel turn would also prove to be unsuccessful. In WWE, Stone Cold Steve Austin's heel turn at WrestleMania X-Seven provoked a similar reaction, with Austin still being cheered.
In other cases, the turn will get no reaction. At Fall Brawl 2000, veteran "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, whose gimmick for years had been an American patriot, turned heel to little reaction.
See also
"Turn (professional wrestling)"