In the Golden Era of WWE, which is 1984 to 1993, there were scores of faces who were basically superheroes. Hulk Hogan was the best of course, along with The Ultimate Warrior, Tito Santana, and more. There were also a lot of great heels who turned face, such as Randy Savage, Roddy Piper, The Hart Foundation, and some others. Some of these turns made them such great faces that they stayed that way for the rest of their careers and did a great job with it.

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But not all face turns in WWE were so successful. Some were poorly done for guys who were much better suited as heels. Others could have worked, but some mistakes ruined it and did damage to a guy’s career. Some folks weren’t meant to be faces, while others saw their turns marred as these 10 babyface turns never got fans on their side the way WWE hoped.

10 Harley Race

King Harley Race

After becoming the first man to hold the NWA World Title seven times, Harley Race joined WWE in 1987 for a last run at the top. He was the first guy to hold the “King” gimmick and still had the goods in the ring. After taking time off because of an injury, Race was upset when Haku was given the King label and challenged him in matches.

Race was never a guy to be a heroic figure and was not helped by how he was winding down as an in-ring competitor. He left shortly after losing several matches, and it's better to remember Race for his years on top as a heel than this bad face run.

9 The Natural Disasters

Natural Disasters as WWE World Tag Team Champions

If two guys seemed perfect for a heel team, Earthquake and Typhoon were it. They were huge guys, with Earthquake having once squashed Jake Roberts’ snake, and were terrifically challenging for the tag team titles.

Related: 10 Golden Era Wrestlers Who Changed Gimmicks And Completely Fell Off The Map

Jimmy Hart betrayed them to help Money Inc win the tag titles, turning The Natural Disasters into faces. Trying to buy two guys that size as imperiled faces never worked and it wasn’t helped by how they needed Hart as a mouthpiece. They did have a brief run as tag team champions, but as faces, the pair were disasters.

8 Nikolai Volkoff

Nikolai Volkoff as face
via wwe.com

Through the 1980s, Nikolai Volkoff had been a terrific Russian heel, able to get a crowd going by singing the Soviet national anthem before every match. He was still carrying it into 1990 as he and Boris Ustinov were a good heel team.

But with the Cold War ending, Volkoff suddenly turned into an American-loving guy, teaming with "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan and trying to sing “America the Beautiful” and other songs before a match. It never quite fit him as he bounced around the lower card before a worse bit with Ted DiBiase in the 1990s. Going pro-USA was a blow to Vokoff’s career.

7 Paul Orndorff

Humperdink and Paul Orndorff

Paul Orndorff had briefly turned face in 1985 to feud with Roddy Piper and then developed a friendship with Hulk Hogan. This led to one of the greatest heel turns of the time, with Orndorff attacking Hogan and setting up a great feud.

Related:10 Things You Never Knew About Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff

In late 1987, with that heat winding down, Orndorff became jealous of Rick Rude boasting of having a better physique, causing him to feud with Rude. It was a lame excuse for a face turn and hard to accept Orndorff after his wild feud with Hogan. He left WWE shortly after as this was not a “Wonderful” period for Orndorff.

6 Big John Studd

Big John Studd Wins The Royal Rumble

A great early figure for the 1980s WWE, Big John Studd lived up to his name, standing nearly seven feet tall and with an impressive build. He had a memorable feud with Andre the Giant and showed good stuff before retiring in 1986. Two years later, Studd returned but seeing old foe Andre now with his former manager Bobby Heenan had him turning face for pretty much no reason.

He did get a historic moment winning the first PPV Royal Rumble and later being the referee for an Andre-Jake Roberts WrestleMania match, but the face turn did nothing to help Studd as he left WWE shortly afterward.

5 The Red Rooster

The Red Rooster in WWE

Terry Taylor was an amazingly talented wrestler by the time he joined WWE in 1988. He had a good start as a face before turning heel and acquiring Bobby Heenan as his manager. It looked like he was in for a good run…and then he latched onto the Red Rooster gimmick.

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His face turn was a bit logical as he was tired of Heenan running him down all the time. But then WWE just pushed him more into this stupid character, from a red streak in his hair to “crowing” to turn him into a joke. It took a while for Taylor to recover from a bad face turn combined with one of the stupidest characters of his era.

4 Don Muraco

Don Muraco

Oddly forgotten among the top heels of the 1980s, “The Magnificent One” was a great Intercontinental Champion and looked like a rough warrior. He had terrific feuds with Tito Santana and a top heel with Bob Orton.

So making him into a face in late 1987 by saving "Superstar" Billy Graham was an odd move. Renamed “The Rock,” Muraco wore Graham’s tie-dyed shirts and fought with Butch Reed and others, but him as a face lacked the same fire. He left WWE in mid-1988 as this face turn was hardly magnificent.

3 The Nasty Boys

The Nasty Boys WWE Tag Team Champions Cropped

With a name like the Nasty Boys, being anything but heels wasn’t right. Brian Knobbs and Jerry Saggs were perfect that way, reigning as WWE tag team champions and still in contention. Yet, in 1992, they suddenly turned on manager Jimmy Hart, supposedly because they were upset Hart was spending more time with Money Inc.

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The Nasties as good guys never worked, as even the Natural Disasters were more likely to be cheered than they were. They left WWE not long after this poor turn, back to being heels (and champs) in WCW, as the Nasties were always better at living up to their name.

2 Ken Patera

Ken Patera being interviewed by Mean Gene Okerlund

In the early 1980s, Ken Patera had been a fantastic heel reigning as Intercontinental Champion. Then a run-in with the law had him going to jail for two years. Returning as a face was one thing, but odder was that Patera somehow blamed the whole thing on Bobby "The Brain" Heenan.

Why WWE thought fans would flock to the guy because of this is baffling and the turn ended up being a mess. Even beating up Heenan didn’t get fans on his side. Expecting folks to cheer him for blaming someone else for his problems was a terrible move.

1 Sgt. Slaughter

Sgt. Slaughter

The only thing worse than a bad heel turn is trying to top it with a bad face turn. After becoming an Iraqi sympathizer and a brief run as WWE Champion, after months of bad-mouthing America and attacking the faces, Sgt. Slaughter began an “apology tour.”

He was shown at various famous military landmarks, speaking of losing his way in his quest to become a champion and “I want my country back.” It was a blatant plea for a second chance that fans never took to and just made Slaughter’s original heel run worse in hindsight.