AJ Styles and 4 other WWE stars who turned heel immediately after making a return
Former WWE Champion AJ Styles finally made his return to WWE TV this past Friday. In the closing moments of SmackDown, the Phenomenal One came to the aid of Randy Orton and L.A. Knight, both of whom were on the business end of a beatdown by The Bloodline. In the end, the three babyfaces stood defiant in the ring as Roman Reigns and his cohorts hightailed it away.
That is until Styles laid Knight out with a short-arm clothesline, turning him heel in the process. Or, so it seems, anyway. This is WWE in 2023 - nothing is all that cut and dry.
AJ Styles isn't the first Superstar to make a triumphant return to action, only to shock the fans with a switch in their alignment.
So, like AJ did to LA - let's lay this out. Here are four other Superstars who turned heel upon their return to television.
#4. Sheamus returns with a new haircut and a bad attitude.
When the Celtic Warrior lost his WWE United States Championship to Rusev in May of 2014 and effectively written off TV for nearly a year - he was a well-established good guy in the company. While he began his WWE tenure as a villain, Sheamus had slowly morphed into one of the company's more traditional babyfaces.
When the Great White raced to the ring on Raw on March 30 of the next year, it seemed like he was coming to the aid of Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler. However, after chasing off their attacker, Wade Barrett, out of the ring, Sheamus would turn around and kick Bryan and Ziggler right in their respective faces.
That looks oddly familiar.
Sheamus would go on to form an alliance with Barrett - as well as Alberto Del Rio and the aforementioned Rusev - named the League of Nations. Despite the idea behind the group being widely panned by fans, the Celtic Warrior did manage another WWE Championship reign during this time.
#3. Neville returns to become the tyrant king of the WWE Cruiserweights
WWE clearly had high hopes for Neville (now known as Pac in All Elite Wrestling) when they launched him (almost literally) onto the main roster. Debuting with a superhero-like gimmick, the British high-flyer began his run with feuds against the likes of Bad News Barrett and Bo Dallas. He even had a high-profile match against Cody Rhod... er, Stardust and Barrett, teaming with Arrow and Heels star Stephen Amell at SummerSlam 2015.
Things weren't exactly going great for him at that point, however, and he needed a change. Following a month-long break to heal some nagging injuries, Neville returned at Roadblock: End of the Line to congratulate then-Cruiserweight champion Rich Swann on his successful title defense, raising his arm in a show of mutual respect before assaulting him.
With a rough new look and even rougher new attitude, Neville declared himself the "King of the Cruiserweights," and demanded his "crown" - the WWE Cruiserwight Championship. Which he would eventually be coronated with at the 2016 Royal Rumble, defeating Swann for the title.
#2. Sasha Banks makes a triumphant return, beats up Natalya
By WrestleMania 35 in 2019, Sasha Banks had already achieved the kind of success most performers only dream of. She had multiple Women's Championship reigns to her name and was one-half of the very first WWE Women's Tag Team Champions alongside Bayley. Needless to say, she was a pretty big deal.
However, a loss of those titles at the aforementioned WrestleMania (a loss that she and Bayley allegedly only found out about right before the match) and a bout with depression led to The Boss taking some time off. Four months, in fact, with speculation rampant that she was even leaving the company.
Then, on the August 12, 2019 edition of Raw, Banks made a shocking return during an already emotional promo by an injured Natalya.
By now, you're probably sensing a theme here.
The Boss would then go on to even more success, including main eventing Night One of WrestleMania 37 along with Bianca Belair.
#1. Roman Reigns wrecks everybody and then leaves
He may be Head of the Table now, but lest we forget the long and winding road it took to get Roman Reigns to that point.
While he had held a number of world championships and other accolades by 2020, Reigns was still a pretty divisive figure amongst fans. So devisive, in fact, that many were suggesting - actually, "begging" might be a better term - for WWE to turn him heel. Still, the Big Dog kept on doing what he was doing - right up until the lead-in to WrestleMania 36.
What's important to remember here is that this particular WrestleMania was being held just as the COVID-19 pandemic began running rampant. Reigns was slated to face then-Universal Champion Goldberg at the event. However, because his previous bout with Leukemia had left his immune system compromised (and the fact that he also had two newborn children at home), Reigns pulled out of the match, being replaced by Braun Strowman.
Flash forward to SummerSlam that year. Strowman was looking to reclaim the Universal title he had defeated Goldberg for from "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt. Not only was he unsuccessful, but the night was about to get a lot worse for the Monster Among Men.
Wearing a shirt emblazoned with the on-the-nose slogan "Wreck Everyone and Leave", Reigns destroyed both Strowman and Wyatt, signaling his intention to reclaim the title he never actually lost (he was forced to vacate the Universal Championship following his leukemia diagnosis a year earlier.)
Which he did a week later at Payback, defeating the two men in a Triple Threat match to claim the championship for a second time.
Things seem to be going OK for him since then.
Which heel turn was your favorite? Sound off in the comments below.