WWE used the New Generation Era as a trial-and-error period to experiment with new characters. Vince McMahon used the name to signify the old era of Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage and Roddy Piper was ending. Newer stars like Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels and Kevin Nash were viewed as younger talents worth building around and lived up to that hype.

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The entire roster had a chance to find a unique role on the card with more defined mid-card and tag team positions. Most talents spent time in both the face and heel at some point until finding the ideal character. The following wrestlers showed the better side of face turns for the New Generation Era in WWE.

10 Sycho Sid

Sid in WWE

The WWE run of Sycho Sid featured WWE making multiple changes to his character. Sid returned from an absence as a face when helping out fellow beloved wrestlers Shawn Michaels and Ahmed Johnson. Fans were excited to see Sid again, so the face pivot worked out here.

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However, most would argue that the heel turn for Sid cheating to beat Michaels and win the WWE Championship was an even better move. Sid clearly worked better as a big man heel character, but this smaller face run worked.

9 Lex Luger

Lex Luger 1994

Another subtle face turn that didn’t require too much storyline effort on WWE’s part saw Lex Luger becoming the new Hulk Hogan. WWE originally signed Luger to play a hated heel character with the Narcissist gimmick.

However, a need for a new top star saw Luger turning face after Hogan departed and taking his role as the patriotic good guy. The Lex Express tour bus had Lex going all over the country like a political candidate to win over the audience.

8 Doink The Clown

Doink The Clown

Many fans forget that WWE initially introduced Doink the Clown as a heel character looking to play an evil clown. Doink played pranks on his opponents and tried to embarrass audience members. WWE eventually realized this better suited as a face act.

Doink turned face by pranking the more hated Jerry Lawler and playing to the crowd to signify he had changed his ways. The next few years of face Doink gave WWE a character that worked perfectly for the New Generation Era.

7 Sunny

Sunny WWE

Tammy Sytch getting hired to play the Sunny character in WWE changed her career forever. Sunny was an outstanding heel manager that basically carried the tag division for a while. Every new team to win tag gold saw Sunny becoming their manager as a power-hungry heel.

However, WWE wanted to make a change when they realized fans were going to keep cheering for her.

Sunny turned face naturally when pivoting to other duties like commentating, ring announcing and interviewing. Fans cheered when Sunny returned to managing with LOD 2000 to show she wasn’t the reason that group failed.

6 Henry Godwinn

Henry Godwinn

The pig farmer gimmick for Henry Godwinn made him an over lower mid-card act for quite a few years. Many fans have no idea that Henry was originally meant to be a heel with the slop being an evil threat. WWE even had Godwinn helping top heel Ted DiBiase’s Million Dollar Corporation occasionally.

A heel promo from DiBiase running down Henry and his overall presence as a pig farmer influenced the face turn. Godwinn dropped the slop on DiBiase to a huge ovation and played a fan favorite moving forward in singles and tag action with Phineas.

5 Shawn Michaels

razor ramon shawn michaels summerslam

WWE went a unique route with Shawn Michaels’ face turn in 1995. Michaels was doing great as a heel for a few years after breaking up The Rockers with his betrayal. WWE however realized that a face turn was needed for Michaels to become a main eventer given his size.

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WrestleMania 11 featured Michaels losing as a heel against the face WWE Champion Diesel. The following night saw Michaels and his bodyguard Sycho Sid at odds. Sid brutally attacking Michaels created that sympathy for a face turn and a reunion with Diesel on screen.

4 Razor Ramon

Razor Ramon Intercontinental Champion Cropped

WWE had another different style used for the Razor Ramon face turn in the New Generation Era. Scott Hall came up with the Razor character and pitched it as a heel which started his tenure there perfectly. Vince McMahon saw more potential from the face side when turning him.

Sean Waltman’s epic debut as the 1-2-3 Kid upsetting the heel Ramon created a story between them. Razor won the following matches, but he was starting to gain respect for the underdog. WWE officially turned Ramon face when he helped 1-2-3 Kid defeat DiBiase in a great moment.

3 Mick Foley

dude-love-steve-austin-wwe-tag-team-champions

The heel work of Mick Foley as Mankind worked so well that WWE took a huge risk making any changes. Foley’s memorable interview segments with Jim Ross showed himself behind the mask with his teenage videos pretending to be a wrestler named Dude Love.

Fans started cheering Foley more as Mankind to create enough temptation for WWE to turn him face.

Foley wanted to help WWE Tag Team Champion Steve Austin when his partner Shawn Michaels was injured. The pivot to Dude Love saw Foley turning face as Austin’s partner, even with people backstage like The Undertaker warning him not to ruin what he had going.

2 Goldust

Goldust Marlena

Vince McMahon initially wanted Goldust to be a heel character with an ambiguous sexuality meant to push the homophobic buttons of fans at the time. Dustin Rhodes did a great job getting Goldust over, but WWE felt a face turn was warranted when the original idea had ups and downs.

Triple H feuding with Goldust made him a more natural face, especially once he had the love interest of Marlena played by real-life wife Terri Runnels. WWE already started planting the seeds, but the face turn was complete when Chyna arrived to pick on Marlena. Goldust standing up for his wife and adding some elements of Dustin made him a compelling face.

1 Diesel

Diesel WWF Champion In Your House 1995 Cropped

Kevin Nash received his dream role in WWE starting off as Diesel when becoming the bodyguard of Shawn Michaels. The friendship between the two started as they worked together, and Diesel started backing up Michaels outside the ring. However, it was a bigger plan for Diesel to eventually turn face and get the WWE Championship.

Diesel was fed up with Michaels bossing him around and led to a face-off with crowd investment at Survivor Series 1994. The face turn only needed a few days before Diesel won the WWE Championship from Bob Backlund in 8 seconds at a house show. Fans enjoyed rooting for someone new that WWE planted the seeds of rooting for to enhance the face turn.