This list keeps track of the babyface turns and heel turns that happened in WWE throughout 2022, including confirmed turns and notable alignment changes that were unclear at the time.
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 2022:
- January 4 - Andre Chase and Bodhi Hayward were now babyfaces on NXT.
- January 6 - Amale appeared to be a babyface and Stevie Turner appeared to be a heel going forward.
- January 10 - Nikki A.S.H. turned heel on Rhea Ripley.
- January 11 - Wendy Choo was a babyface after the Mei Ying switch and teaming with Indi Hartwell and Persia Pirotta.
- February 4 - Ronda Rousey seemed to be a babyface after returning to WWE.
- February 28 - Damian Priest turned heel on Raw.
- February 28 - Edge turned heel on Raw.
- March 11 - Pete Dunne was renamed Butch and turned heel by joining Sheamus and Ridge Holland on SmackDown.
- March 28 - Bobby Lashley looked to be a babyface going forward.
- March 29 - Dakota Kai had been leaning babyface for a few weeks with Wendy Choo, but it became definitive when she made amends with Raquel Gonzalez on NXT.
- Late March / Early April - The Creed Brothers had been leaning babyface for quite a while in a slow turn.
- WrestleMania - Logan Paul did not truly show himself as a babyface until July, but his turn can be traced back to The Miz turning on him after their match at WrestleMania.
- April 8 - Madcap Moss turned babyface after splitting from Happy Corbin, apologizing to the WWE Universe for his actions and transitioning to fighting heels.
- April 8 - Lacey Evans returned as a babyface.
- April 18 - Rhea Ripley turned heel.
- April 19 - Sanga had been at least tweener, if not babyface, since facing Grayson Waller.
- April 21 - Trent Seven turned heel on the NXT UK tapings.
- April 22 - Xia Li turned heel by saying nobody was worth her protection, that she would only worry about herself, and mean-mugging the camera to show the villain direction.
- April 25 - Mustafa Ali returned to Raw as a babyface for some reason.
- April 25 - Tommaso Ciampa turned heel after attacking the freshly-turned babyface Mustafa Ali, also for some reason.
- May 10 - Xyon Quinn seemed to be a heel going forward.
- May 20 - LA Knight was renamed Max Dupri and joined the SmackDown roster as a heel.
- June 5 - Cedric Alexander turned babyface at Hell in a Cell.
- June 6 - Finn Balor turned heel on Raw by joining The Judgment Day.
- June 6 - Edge was set up to return as a babyface after The Judgment Day took him out, but since heels turning on heels does not automatically mean a babyface turn, it was only confirmed later at SummerSlam when he helped The Mysterios beat Judgment Day.
- June 6 - Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode seemed to become babyfaces after starting a feud with Omos and MVP, although Roode was not 100% confirmed.
- June 7 - Apollo Crews was positioned as a babyface on NXT.
- June 24 - The Viking Raiders turned heel on SmackDown by attacking The New Day.
- July 1 - Mansoor turned heel as a member of Maximum Male Models.
- July 8 - Lacey Evans turned heel again because the fans were not cheering loud enough on SmackDown.
- July 12 - Cora Jade turned heel on Roxanne Perez on NXT.
- July 30 - Becky Lynch turned babyface at SummerSlam by embracing Bianca Belair with a handshake and hug, then backing her up against Bayley, Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky.
- July 30 - Iyo Sky and Dakota Kai returned/arrived as heels by aligning with Bayley at SummerSlam.
- July 30 - Ronda Rousey seemingly turned heel at SummerSlam by attacking Liv Morgan and a referee after the match, although her direction remained somewhat tweener afterward.
- August 2 - Legado del Fantasma turned babyface on NXT by turning on Tony D'Angelo and Stacks.
- August 8 - Tamina was definitely a babyface after forging an alliance with Dana Brooke.
- August 16 - Gallus turned heel on NXT by attacking Diamond Mine from behind.
- August 22 - Kevin Owens turned babyface.
- September 3 - Sheamus, Butch and Ridge Holland turned babyface by starting their feud with Imperium ahead of Clash at the Castle.
- September 3 - Solo Sikoa turned heel at Clash at the Castle by helping Roman Reigns retain the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship over Drew McIntyre.
- September 4 - Damon Kemp turned heel at NXT Worlds Collide.
- September 16 - Shotzi Blackheart turned babyface again by helping Raquel Rodriguez fight off Damage CTRL on SmackDown.
- October 7 - Legado del Fantasma turned heel on SmackDown, applying to Santos Escobar, Joaquin Wilde and Cruz Del Toro.
- October 7 - Max Dupri reverted back to LA Knight and was a babyface once again.
- October 8 - Ronda Rousey was seemingly a heel going forward after her behavior at Extreme Rules.
- October 10 - Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows returned to WWE as babyfaces.
- October 10 - PENDING: Brock Lesnar may have turned heel when he attacked Bobby Lashley on Raw, but he was still booked in an almost tweener way.
- October 14 - LA Knight turned heel on SmackDown.
- October 25 - PENDING: Indi Hartwell was spoken about on NXT as though she was growing more bitter, possibly indicating a future heel turn.
- October 25 - Sanga turned heel on NXT.
- October 25 - Elektra Lopez turned heel on NXT.
- October 28 - Emma returned to WWE as a babyface.
- November 4 - Natalya appeared to be a babyface.
- November 5 - Bobby Lashley attacking Brock Lesnar after their match at Crown Jewel led to him spiraling out of control into a heel turn.
- November 7 - Mia Yim returned to WWE as a babyface.
- November 7 - Seth Rollins sure seemed like a babyface after the Austin Theory Money in the Bank cash-in and Bobby Lashley situation.
- November 8 - Zoey Stark turned heel on Nikkita Lyons after their NXT Women's Tag Team Championship match.
- December 13 - Scrypts turned heel by attacking Ikemen Jiro on NXT.
- December 19 - Bronson Reed returned to WWE as a heel.
- December 30 - Charlotte Flair returned to SmackDown as a babyface.
Below are the prediction notes from throughout the year, preserved after the actual turn list so the archive focuses first on what happened and then on what I expected to happen.
PREDICTIONS FOR HEEL AND FACE TURNS IN 2022:
** QUARTER 1 PREDICTIONS [FROM JANUARY 1] **
WILL TURN HEEL: Alexa Bliss, Aliyah, Aoife Valkyrie, Asuka, Damian Priest, Dave Mastiff, Dominik Mysterio, Erik, Ivar, Persia Pirotta, Pete Dunne, Randy Orton, Rhea Ripley, Solo Sikoa, Timothy Thatcher
WILL TURN BABYFACE: Becky Lynch, Bobby Lashley, Dakota Kai, Danny Burch, Natalya, Seth Rollins, Tony D'Angelo, Wendy Choo
** QUARTER 2 PREDICTIONS UPDATES [AFTER WRESTLEMANIA] **
WILL TURN HEEL: Alexa Bliss, Aliyah, Aoife Valkyrie, Asuka, Dave Mastiff, Dominik Mysterio, Persia Pirotta, Randy Orton, Rhea Ripley, Ronda Rousey, Solo Sikoa, Tommaso Ciampa
WILL TURN BABYFACE: Becky Lynch, Madcap Moss, Natalya, Omos, Seth Rollins, Tony D'Angelo
** QUARTER 3 PREDICTIONS UPDATES [BEFORE SUMMERSLAM] **
WILL TURN HEEL: Alba Fyre, Cameron Grimes, Dave Mastiff, Dominik Mysterio, Joe Coffey, Katana Chance, Kayden Carter, Randy Orton, Ronda Rousey, Solo Sikoa
WILL TURN BABYFACE: Edge, Sami Zayn, Shotzi
** QUARTER 4 PREDICTIONS UPDATES [BEFORE SURVIVOR SERIES] **
WILL TURN HEEL: Alexa Bliss, Cameron Grimes, Elias, Randy Orton
WILL TURN BABYFACE: Doudrop, Sami Zayn
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