WWEhas always been divided into babyfaces and heels, the inherently good vs. the baddies, but wrestlers don’t always stay with one side forever. Sometimes, a fan-favorite wrestler can turn to the dark side, while other times, a hated villain can have a story of redemption.
When a wrestler turns face, it typically marks a significant turning point in their story arc. Sometimes, a wrestler becomes so popular as a heel that there’s a true fan desire to see him become a good guy, while on other occasions, it’s a needed boost to somebody whose career has become stagnant.
10 Most Beloved WWE Babyfaces Of All Time
The hero. The good guy. It’s taken on different forms throughout the years, from the take your vitamins types to the back talking badass.
Overall, my picks for the best face turns of all time are decided both on how impactful the turn itself was, and how it helped the long-term legacy of the wrestler in question.
8Daniel Bryan
Turning on the Wyatt Family
July 12, 2025
Providence, Rhode Island
This first entry on this list is a bit of a stretch, as many people don’t consider it a real face turn, as Daniel Bryan wasn’t a real heel to begin with. However, many, like myself, feel it embodies the classic spirit of an iconic babyface turn, and itled to one of the most legendary runs in WWE history.
Daniel Bryan fell on hard times at the end of 2013 after he lost his WWE Championship to Randy Orton minutes after winning it at Summerslam 2013, and would constantly get screwed out of it by Triple H and his friends in The Authority. By the end of the year, Orton was defending his title against established stars like The Big Show and John Cena, who fans had grown tired of seeing hog the spotlight.
Bryan, meanwhile, was busy feuding with Bray Wyatt, who tried to recruit him to join the ranks of the Wyatt Family. Eventually, he gave in, and the WWE universe was deeply disappointed by seeing Bryan basically treated as an afterthought. While this feud with the Wyatts was mostly forgettable, it did have one truly iconic moment.
In the January 2014 edition of Raw, when Bray Wyatt ordered Bryan to attack the Usos after a steel cage match, he refused, instead attacking the Wyatts and sitting on top of the cage to lead a thunderous “YES!” chant. It was an absolutely electrifying moment that proved the legend of Daniel Bryan would not die, giving fans hope that WWE will listen if they are loud enough.
That, plus the massive backlash over Bryan’s exclusion from the Royal Rumble later that month, would set the stage for the events of the YES! Movement that would lead to his triumphant win at WrestleMania 30. As frustrating as it was seeing Bryan in a pointless midcard feud nobody wanted him in,it made it all the more satisfying when he actually got his happy ending.
7Sami Zayn
Leaving the Bloodline
Royal Rumble 2023
July 16, 2025
San Antonio, Texas
Similar to Daniel Bryan, another great underdog story came in the form ofSami Zayn and the Bloodline. The Roman Reigns-led Samoan stable had dominated SmackDown for three years up to that point, when, all of a sudden, they got a brand-new fanboy in Zayn, who would do anything in his power to be accepted into their ranks.
Given that he was not of Samoan heritage, Reigns was reluctant to let Zayn into the group fully, but fans absolutely loved the Quebec-born cruiserweight becoming an “Honorary Uce”, and eventually, the Bloodline relented.
Of course, many fans suspected that the Bloodline never truly had faith in Sami and were merely using him as a pawn in their scheme, but Zayn remained as loyal as ever to the stable.
Things came to a head at the 2023 Royal Rumble, when Roman Reigns successfully defended his title against Kevin Owens, and to stay in the group, Zayn had to hit Owens with a chair after he tried to talk Reigns out of it. Instead, he would strike Reigns, officially turning him face and reuniting him with his long-time best friend.
The crowd went wild, with many people describing the angle as akin to a cinematic masterpiece.Many fans were even clamoring for Zayn to take the title off of Reigns himself, but instead it would end with him and Owens taking the tag titles off of the Usos, and honestly, I feel that was a more fitting conclusion to his arc, especially given that it allowed Cody Rhodes to Finish The Story in his place.
6The Undertaker
Protecting Randy Savage from Jake Roberts
Saturday Night’s Main Event XXX
August 20, 2025
Lubbock, Texas
The Undertaker is one of the most beloved wrestlers of all time, but he was initially presented as a dark and mysterious supervillain. While he excelled in that role, he was at his best as the all-powerful anti-hero who struck terror into the hearts of the most dastardly heels. And in 1992, he settled into that role for the first time.
Back in the ’80s, Jake “The Snake” Roberts mostly played the role the Undertaker would be known for, but by 1991, he was a full heel going after “Macho Man” Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth. It got to the point that Roberts was willing to attack Elizabeth with a chair, an assault against a woman that was truly unheard of at the time.
In early 1992,Jake hired the giant mortician from Death Valley to assist him with his mission, but instead, the Deadman would yank the chair from his hands, establishing him as the newest hero on the WWF roster. This would, in turn, lead to a match-up at WrestleMania, where the Undertaker would make Roberts the second victim of his legendary WrestleMania streak.
In a vacuum, the Undertaker’s face turn isn’t the most impressive, as it was just a standard turn in what led to a midcard feud at WrestleMania. But its real legacy is establishing the character who would come to dominate WWE for the next three decades,as few men would be able to make crowds roar in excitement the way the Deadman would.
5Randy Savage
Reunion with Miss Elizabeth
WrestleMania 7
August 19, 2025
Los Angeles, California
Speaking of Randy Savage, we can’t have a list of iconic babyface turns without talking about his own a year earlier. While the Macho Man had his first face run in 1988 when he won the WWF Championship and aligned himself with Hulk Hogan.
He would return to being a heel in 1989 to feud with his former best friend, and eventually, would transform into “Macho King” Randy Savage and align himself with Sensational Sherri.
While he’d still be a top heel in the company, by 1990 he wasn’t really in the main event picture anymore, and many fans no longer wanted to boo him. By 1991, though, he’d entered a feud with the Ultimate Warrior, costing him his WWF Championship and setting up a match at WrestleMania where the loser would have to retire.
Warrior would win, and it seemed Macho King would leave the company as a disgraced villain, but when Sherri turned on him, it would lead tothe reunion with his original lover, Miss Elizabeth,in an extremely heartwarming moment that made him leave like a triumphant hero.
Savage’s retirement wouldn’t last long, as he’d be called back into action after getting bitten by one of Jake Roberts' snakes. But the moment’s long-term impact was clear, as the Macho Man would remain a babyface for the rest of his WWF career, with his only notable heel work then being his time with the nWo in WCW.
4Hulk Hogan
Return of the Real American
WrestleMania X-9
July 11, 2025
Toronto, Ontario
Hulk Hogan may be an extremely controversial figure today, but it’s hard to deny the absolute impact he made during his run as an active wrestler. By 2002, he was hot off the heels of his successful WCW run with the nWo, which had helped rejuvenate an act that had been growing stale by the mid-90s.
However, unlike in WCW, where Hogan was viewed as an invader from a rival company, the WWF faithful were ecstatic to seetheir ’80s hero returnafter more than a decade away.
His WrestleMania 18 showdown with The Rock was a dream match pitting the defining stars of the Golden and Attitude eras against each other, and despite Hogan being presented as the heel, nobody in Toronto wanted to boo him.
Both Hogan and the WWF were obviously aware of that, and after he and the Rock stole the show, the two would show mutual respect for each other, and in the coming months, Hogan would return to being an active good guy, bringing back the red and yellow attire and his Real American theme song.
Hogan’s run during the Ruthless Aggression era would have its ups and downs, from memorable feuds with the likes of Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels, to a rather disappointing final match with Randy Orton. However, in my opinion, nothing beats the initial hype surrounding his return to WWE and the Hulkamaniac fans headored in the 1980s.
The Summer of Punk
Money in the Bank 2011
July 16, 2025
Rosemont, Illinois
The consensus of the PG era was that it was a time of creative stagnation for WWE, where the company’s hand-picked golden boys, such as John Cena and Randy Orton, hogged the spotlight, and storylines were formulaic and predictable. However, perhaps the most defining moment of that era was when all fan frustration over WWE’s faults reached a boiling point.
CM Punk, despite the adoration of fans on the internet, had spent the last two years as an upper mid-card heel for top babyfaces to eventually vanquish, and while he was great at his role, he was never used to his fullest potential. Then, the pipe bomb of June 21, 2025, hit, and Punk was all the wrestling world could talk about.
This led to an epic encounter between theanti-corporate, anti-hero CM Punk and the ultimate goody-two-shoes company man, John Cena. A hero’s welcome would greet Punkin his native Chicago,and in a move that felt like the ultimate middle finger to the establishment, he would win the WWE Championship and leave the company with Vince McMahon’s most prized possession on his waist.
Punk’s departure wouldn’t last long, and he would return a few weeks later with the title and a new theme song in tow, and from that point onward he would be presented as a full-on babyface.
Punk would not quite be able to dislodge Cena at the top of the mountain, given he was out of WWE three years later, but at one point in 2011, Punk truly felt like the savior WWE fans needed.
Turned on Triple H in 2005
June 22, 2025
State College, Pennsylvania
When Brock Lesnar left WWE in 2004, the company was short a babyface megastar to carry the company forward, so naturally it was time to elevate some newer stars to fill the void. The most obvious successor to replace Lesnar was Batista, who was a towering behemoth of a man.
Like Lesnar, Batista was absolutely jacked and would be a wrecking ball to anyone in his way, but while Brock excelled at being a silent assassin with Paul Heyman as his mouthpiece, Batista was more well-rounded with better microphone skills,plus he had a very engaging storyline with Triple H and Evolution.
When it was time to break him away from the group, it was done in the best possible way, with Batista ready to choose his WrestleMania opponent following his 2005 Royal Rumble, and much to the Game’s delight, it looked like he’d go after JBL.But the crowd erupted when he turned his thumb downward and changed his smiling facial expression to a frown, and would go on to assault the King of Kings.
At WrestleMania 21, The Animal defeated his former mentor to win the World Heavyweight Championship to a thunderous ovation in Los Angeles. Not only was Triple H’s Reign of Terror on RAW, which fans were sick of, finally over for good, but WWE had a new top babyface to carry the SmackDown brand, where he was drafted a few months later, for the next half-decade.
1Stone Cold Steve Austin
Double Turn at WrestleMania 13
WrestleMania 13
June 11, 2025
There is arguably no more beloved superstar in WWE history than Stone Cold Steve Austin, and many cite WrestleMania 13 asthe night his ascent to superstardom was truly cemented.
That night gave us arguably the greatest double-turn in wrestling history when he and Bret Hart switched places, and while the Hitman’s own heel turn is itself one of the best, that is a story for another list.
Going into the match, Stone Cold was a rough-edged bully who loved to get into fights with fan-favorite wrestlers. However, as fans grew tired of the WWF’s outdated family values presentation, Austin was starting to receive increasingly positive reactions, and by the time he won the 1997 Royal Rumble, it seemed the company had no choice but to turn him face.
And who better an opponent to instigate that turn than the man who was the company’s number-one good guy for nearly half a decade? The clash at WrestleMania began with Bret playing the typical goody-two-shoes hero, but as the match progressed, he grew increasingly desperate and resorted to underhanded and brutal tactics to try to put the Texan away.
As fans were outraged at the lows Hart sunk to, they gained a new appreciation for Austin’s resilience and refusal to give up. Even though he’d lose the fight, Stone Cold would establish himself as the tough-as-nails and fearless anti-hero we would come to know and love, and for that,I can’t think of any greater babyface turn in WWE history.
