This list keeps track of the babyface turns and heel turns that happened in WWE throughout 2016.
KEEP IN MIND: When a babyface attacks another babyface, that is usually a heel turn. When a heel attacks another heel, it does not automatically make the victim a babyface. Follow-up booking determines whether an actual turn happened.
Also, sometimes, I update the heel and face index, but not as often as the updates you see below.
WWE HEEL AND FACE TURNS IN 2016:
- January 4 - Charlotte turned heel on Raw by attacking Becky Lynch after losing to her in a non-title match, firmly cementing the attitude change that had been teased during her Divas Championship reign.
- January 4 - Curtis Axel turned heel on Raw by joining Adam Rose, Bo Dallas and Heath Slater to form The Social Outcasts.
- January 18 - Paige returned as a babyface on Raw by accompanying Natalya for her match against Brie Bella.
- January 28 - Big Show turned babyface by helping Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Chris Jericho fend off The Wyatt Family.
- February 1 - Brie Bella turned babyface on Raw by moving into her feud with Charlotte after Charlotte's heel turn.
- February 1 - Sasha Banks turned babyface on Raw by splitting from Team B.A.D. after Naomi and Tamina attacked her, with Becky Lynch making the save.
- February 8 - The Dudley Boyz turned heel on Raw by attacking The Usos after their match. This applies to Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley.
- February 21 - The New Day turned babyface around Fastlane by leaning into their crowd support and moving into a feud with The League of Nations. This applies to Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods.
- February 22 - Ryback turned heel on Raw by abandoning Kane and Big Show during a six-man tag team match against The Wyatt Family.
- March 7 - Chris Jericho turned heel on Raw by attacking AJ Styles after their Y2AJ partnership failed to win the WWE Tag Team Championship.
- April 4 - The Wyatt Family possibly turned babyface on Raw by confronting The League of Nations, but the direction was not fully followed through after Bray Wyatt's injury.
- April 4 - Primo and Epico turned heel on Raw by dropping the Los Matadores presentation, reverting from Diego and Fernando into The Shining Stars and being presented as smarmy travel-brochure hucksters.
- May 12 - Fandango turned heel on SmackDown by forming Breezango with Tyler Breeze.
- May 30 - AJ Styles turned heel on Raw by pretending to welcome back John Cena before attacking him with Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson.
- June 19 - Natalya turned heel at Money in the Bank by attacking Becky Lynch after their tag team loss to Charlotte and Dana Brooke.
- Sometime in the summer, Tye Dillinger gradually transitioned into a babyface role on NXT as the "Perfect 10" crowd support became part of his presentation.
- July 26 - Heath Slater turned babyface on SmackDown by starting the free agent storyline that led to him teaming with Rhyno and trying to earn a SmackDown contract.
- July 26 - Naomi quietly transitioned into a babyface role on SmackDown with the early stages of her "Feel the Glow" presentation.
- August 1 - Titus O'Neil turned heel on Raw by cheating to defeat Darren Young and continuing their feud after the Prime Time Players split again.
- August 22 - The Dudley Boyz turned babyface on Raw during their farewell segment by attacking The Shining Stars.
- August 23 - Nikki Bella returned from injury in a somewhat gray area at SummerSlam, but settled into a babyface role once Carmella targeted her on SmackDown.
- August 23 - Carmella turned heel on SmackDown by attacking Nikki Bella and starting their feud.
- August 23 - Heath Slater more clearly locked into a babyface role by teaming with Rhyno on SmackDown during his underdog free agent storyline.
- August 29 - Seth Rollins began transitioning into a babyface role on Raw after Triple H betrayed him and helped Kevin Owens win the vacant WWE Universal Championship.
- September 5 - Alicia Fox turned babyface on Raw by starting a feud with Nia Jax after Nia destroyed her friend Ann Esposito.
- September 6 - The Usos turned heel on SmackDown by attacking American Alpha after losing to them in the SmackDown Tag Team Championship tournament. This applies to Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso.
- September 19 - The Brian Kendrick turned heel on Raw by joining the cruiserweight division as a manipulative veteran who was desperate to reclaim the spotlight.
- October 5 - Andrade "Cien" Almas turned heel on NXT by attacking Cedric Alexander after their tag team match.
- October 24 - Curtis Axel turned babyface on Raw by turning against Bo Dallas after Dallas attacked him.
- October 25 - Randy Orton turned heel on SmackDown by attacking Kane and joining The Wyatt Family.
- November 21 - Sheamus turned babyface on Raw by finally cooperating with Cesaro as their reluctant tag team became more fan-friendly during the Raw Tag Team Championship chase.
- December 4 - James Ellsworth turned heel at TLC by betraying Dean Ambrose and helping AJ Styles retain the WWE Championship.
- December 5 - Alicia Fox started working heel on Raw through her possessive storyline with Cedric Alexander and Noam Dar.
- December 6 - Noam Dar turned heel on 205 Live by flirting with Alicia Fox and antagonizing Cedric Alexander.
- December 18 - Neville turned heel at Roadblock: End of the Line by attacking Rich Swann and TJ Perkins after the Cruiserweight Championship match.
Before the year began, I made a batch of predictions for which WWE Superstars might turn heel or babyface in 2016. Those picks are preserved below for archive purposes, with the names struck out when the prediction ended up being right.
PREDICTIONS FOR HEEL AND FACE TURNS IN 2016:
WILL TURN HEEL: Asuka, Big Show, Charlotte, Curtis Axel, Dean Ambrose, Diego, Fandango, Fernando, Randy Orton
WILL TURN BABYFACE: Alicia Fox, Big Show, The New Day, Nia Jax, Seth Rollins, Tye Dillinger
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