As we've seen throughout the history of professional wrestling, heel turns require careful planning, timing and execution. We've seen companies force unnecessary heel turns down our throats far too often, to the point where they just end up being monumental failures.

On the flip side, we've been fortunate enough to witness some remarkable and unexpected heel turns that changed the overall direction of professional wrestling. Let's dive into the five very best in wrestling history, along with the five worst.

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10 10. Failed: Dean Ambrose

On the Oct. 22, 2018 episode of Raw, Roman Reigns revealed that he was dealing with leukemia and had to step away from wrestling. Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose fought for their friend and won the Raw Tag Team Championships that same night.

However, Ambrose turned on The Shield and WWE Universe by attacking Rollins, becoming a heel for the first time in four years. His heel turn was teased for quite some time, but it was a giant mistake from the get-go. The promos were lackluster and extremely forced, and WWE never really gave him much of a push as a heel.

Ambrose got fed up with WWE and rejected a new contract in early 2019, and he went on to sign with the rival AEW promotion several months later.

9 9. Succeeded: Seth Rollins

The Shield made a statement and asserted themselves as the WWE's most dominant faction after finishing off Evolution (Triple H, Batista and Randy Orton). However, The Game revealed "Plan B" following Batista's departure on the June 2, 2014 episode of Raw.

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Plan B turned out to be Rollins' betrayal; he attacked both Reigns and Ambrose with a steel chair before siding himself with The Authority. This was the start of a massive main event push for Rollins, who became the new WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 31. Four years later, and The Architect remains one of the company's premier superstars. It all got started with a heel turn that changed his career for the better.

8 8. Failed: Rikishi

At Survivor Series 1999, 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin had to be pulled from a WWE Championship match after somebody ran him over with a car (keyfabe). 11 months later, Rikishi was revealed as Austin's attacker, and it turned this lovable babyface into public enemy No. 1.

Rikishi was then pitted in a program against Austin, but the entire storyline dragged on for far too long - and the former just wasn't the suitable opponent for The Texas Rattlesnake at the time. It just felt like WWE turned Rikishi heel for the sake of it.

7 7. Succeeded: Daniel Bryan

Bryan had spent the vast majority of his career as the lovable underdog and babyface. His return to the ring in 2018, after head and forced him to retire two years earlier, was one of the most emotional and feel-good stories in the history of WWE.

But after defeating AJ Styles to become the new WWE Champion on the Nov. 13, 2018 episode of SmackDown Live - Bryan pulled off a totally unexpected heel turn. He attacked Styles, berated the fans and called himself "The New Daniel Bryan."

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It made him the top heel on the "B show" when they needed it most, and you can argue that Bryan is at his absolute best as a bad guy. His bad guy persona was also key in helping Kofi Kingston get over at WrestleMania 35.

6 6. Failed: Becky Lynch

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Becky Lynch attacked Charlotte Flair at SummerSlam 2018 with the intention of turning heel. Instead, the WWE Universe got fully behind the perennial babyface, and their support for Lynch only got stronger from then on out.

WWE had no choice but to listen to the fans, so they built Lynch into a main event babyface. She won the 2019 women's Royal Rumble and headlined WrestleMania 35 against Charlotte and Ronda Rousey - with both the Raw and SmackDown Women's Championships on the line. "The Man" won the match and became a two-time champion, and she remains the top face of the women's division.

Even if the heel turn didn't go according to WWE' inital plans, it wound up leading to bigger and better things for Lynch.

5 5. Succeeded: Andre the Giant

Andre the Giant was a worldwide attraction due to his monstrous size and admirable personality. The wrestling world simply loved cheering for Andre, due in large part to the fact that they had never witnessed anything like him.

Andre was friends with Hulk Hogan in storyline, but he pulled off an unexpected heel turn by challenging The Hulkster for his World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania III. A baffled and crushed Hogan tried reasoning with his friend, but Andre wouldn't allow it.

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That set the stage for their legendary WrestleMania match at the Pontiac Silverdome. In what is arguably the most iconic moment in the history of pro wrestling, Hogan picked up Andre and bodyslammed him before pinning him for the victory. That was the first loss of the latter's career, and the history of WrestleMania and WWE had changed forever.

4 4. Failed: Sting

With WWE surging ahead of WCW in the Monday Night Wars, Eric Bischoff were forced to make drastic changes to their product. So when Sting went up against long-time rival Hulk Hogan at Fall Brawl 1999, the decision was made for the perennial good guy to turn evil.

Sting attacked Hogan with a baseball bat and easily defeated him in the main event to become the new World Heavyweight Champion. But WCW fans refused to accept this heel turn, having grown to love and admire the top superstar in the company for all those years. Sting continued to receive strong fan support despite portraying a bad guy character. This was one of the many poor booking decisions that eventually led to WCW's demise in 2001.

3 3. Succeeded: 'Macho Man' Randy Savage

After Hulk Hogan, 'Macho Man' Randy Savage was perhaps the biggest name in the sports entertainment world. He was the complete package, with a charismatic personality and elite in-ring skills.

Savage and Hogan formed "The Mega Powers" tag team duo, but WWE made the bold decision to turn the former heel. Miss Elizabeth (Savage's wife) managed both superstars, but Savage got jealous in storyline whenever Hogan got close to her. At The Main Event II, a bitter Savage finally snapped and attacked The Hulkster, much to the dismay of Elizabeth - thus disbanding their tag team.

Savage didn't really have much else to accomplish as a face, and this heel turn set up a legendary feud with Hogan - highlighted by a World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania V - won by The Hulkster.

2 2. Failed: 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin

'Stone Cold' Steve Austin was the top babyface of WWE throughout The Attitude Era. His on-screen rivalry with Mr. McMahon is widely considered the greatest in the history of professional wrestling.

But fans were stunned when Austin sided with Vince in the main event of WrestleMania X-Seven. The Texas Rattlesnake went up against The Rock for the WWF Championship. Vince came out and handed Austin a steel chair, which he used to attack Rock en route to a pinfall victory. Austin had sold out to the WWE chairman after all those years of sticking it to him.

Austin was simply too gifted as a babyface, so fans weren't able to buy his heel turn - and he wasn't able to fully pull it off. The whole thing just felt forced, and to have him suddenly align himself with Vince just made zero sense - given their past history. This is the No. 1 heel turn that all WWE fans would simply love to forget about.

1 1. Succeeded: Hulk Hogan

Hulk Hogan agreed to join WCW in 1994, and he spent the first couple of years as the babyface we all knew and loved. But Eric Bischoff believed it was time for a change. One that would completely flip the switch of the wrestling world.

At the 1996 Bash at the Beach pay-per-view, Hogan came out to supposedly save Randy Savage from Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. However, Hogan pushed aside the referee and hit Savage with the Leg Drop. Hogan then berated the fans and announced the formation of the legendary "New World Order" stable.

Well, Hogan's chance changed everything about the wrestling industry. Fans totally got behind the idea of the ultimate good guy turning into the merciless villain, and it led to the "Monday Night Wars" with WWE. Without Hogan's heel turn, who knows how much longer WCW would have lasted, and where WWE would have gone today if Bischoff didn't start the wrestling wars?

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