WWE Heel and Face Turns in 2022 List of Superstars Who Turned Babyface or Heel This Year | Smark Out Moment

This list will keep track of all the official babyface turns and heel turns that happen in WWE for the year 2022.

At the beginning of this year, I've made some predictions for who I think will end up turning face or heel at some point. I won't be altering these predictions at all throughout the entire year, but I will be adding some revised guesses quarterly around the big events, so it'll be interesting to see who I'm right and wrong about. Anybody who I'm right about, I'll strike out.

KEEP IN MIND: When a babyface attacks another babyface, this is almost always a heel turn. When a heel attacks another heel, it doesn't hold the same meaning. Villains turning on villains does not make the beaten down person suddenly a hero, but the actions that come out of that dictate whether a turn happens or not.

Also check the heel and face index for a full breakdown of who is currently heel, face, or some form of unknown.

  • January 4 - Andre Chase and Bodhi Hayward are now babyfaces
  • January  6 - It seems Amale is a babyface and Stevie Turner is a heel going forward.
  • January 10 - Nikki A.S.H. turned heel on Rhea Ripley
  • January 11 - Wendy Choo is a babyface after the Mei Ying switch and teaming with Indi Hartwell and Persia Pirotta
  • February 4 - Ronda Rousey seems to be a babyface now
  • February 28 - Damian Priest turned heel on Raw
  • February 28 - Edge turned heel on Raw
  • March 11 - Pete Dunne is now a heel and renamed Butch after joining Sheamus and Ridge Holland on SmackDown.
  • March 28 - Bobby Lashley looks to be a babyface going forward
  • March 29 - Dakota Kai had been leaning toward a babyface role for a few weeks while teaming with Wendy Choo, but that is 100% definitive now that she's made amends with Raquel Gonzalez on NXT.
  • Late March, Early April - The Creed Brothers were leaning toward babyface for quite a while in a slow turn.
  • WrestleMania - While Logan Paul didn't truly show himself as a babyface until July, his turn can be traced back to The Miz turning on him after their match at WrestleMania.
  • April 8 - Madcap Moss is now a babyface after splitting from Happy Corbin, subsequently apologizing to the WWE Universe for his actions, and transitioned to fighting heels
  • April 8 - Lacey Evans is a babyface now
  • April 18 - Rhea Ripley turned heel
  • April 19 - Sanga has 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 is a heel now as of saying nobody is worth her protection and she's only going to worry about herself, then mean-mugging the camera, clearly indicating she's being positioned as a villain going forward
  • April 25 - Mustafa Ali returned to Raw as a babyface for some reason
  • April 25 - Tommaso Ciampa is now a heel after attacking the freshly-turned babyface Mustafa Ali, for some reason.
  • May 10 - Xyon Quinn seems to be a heel going forward
  • May 20 - LA Knight has been renamed Maxi Drupi 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 to join The Judgment Day on Raw
  • June 6 - Edge most likely will return as a babyface after being taken out of The Judgment Day, but for now, heels turning on heels don't automatically mean an official babyface turn. This was confirmed at SummerSlam when he helped The Mysterios beat Judgment Day.
  • June 6 - Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode seem to be babyfaces after starting a feud with Omos and MVP, but Roode may not be 100% confirmed.
  • June 7 - Apollo Crews has been positioned as a babyface on NXT now.
  • June 24 - The Viking Raiders are now heel after attacking The New Day on SmackDown.
  • July 1 - Mansoor is now a heel as a member of Maximum Male Models
  • July 8 - Lacey Evans is back to being a heel because the fans weren't cheering loud enough on SmackDown.
  • July 12 - Cora Jade turned heel on Roxanne Perez on NXT.
  • July 30 - Becky Lynch turned face by embracing Bianca Belair with a handshake and a hug at SummerSlam, then backing her up against Bayley and her crew.
  • July 30 - Io Shirai (now Iyo Sky) and Dakota Kai are both now heel, aligning with Bayley for that stare down at SummerSlam.
  • July 30 - Ronda Rousey seemingly turned heel at SummerSlam, attacking Liv Morgan and a referee post-match. She's at least been acting somewhat tweener since then. Her direction is unclear.
  • August 2 - Legado del Fantasma are babyfaces after turning on Tony D'Angelo and Stacks on NXT
  • August 8 - Tamina is now a babyface for sure after forging an alliance with her new teammate, Dana Brooke
  • August 16 - Gallus turned heel on NXT by attacking Diamond Mine from behind.
  • August 22 - Kevin Owens is a babyface now
  • September 3 - Sheamus, Butch and Ridge Holland turned babyface to start feuding with Imperium ahead of Clash at the Castle
  • September 3 - Dominik Mysterio turned heel at Clash at the Castle
  • September 3 - Solo Sikoa turned heel at Clash at the Castle
  • September 4 - Damon Kemp turned heel at NXT Worlds Collide
  • September 16 - Shotzi Blackheart is back to being a babyface after helping out Raquel Rodriguez fight off Damage CTRL on SmackDown 
  • October 7 - Legado del Fantasma's Santos Escobar, Joaquin Wilde and Cruz Del Toro turned heel on SmackDown
  • October 7 - Max Dupri reverted back to LA Knight and is a babyface once again
  • October 8 - Ronda Rousey is seemingly a heel going forward after her behavior at Extreme Rules 
  • October 10 - Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows returned to WWE, now as babyfaces
  • October 10 - PENDING - Brock Lesnar may have turned heel when he attacked Bobby Lashley on Monday Night Raw, but he's also been booked in an almost tweener way. We'll see where they land.
  • October 14 - LA Knight turned heel on SmackDown
  • October 25 - PENDING - Indi Hartwell was spoken about on NXT as though she's growing more and more bitter, possibly indicating a heel turn in the future.
  • October 25 - Sanga turned heel on NXT
  • October 25 - Elektra Lopez turned heel on NXT
  • October 28 - Emma returned to WWE, now as a babyface
  • November 4 - Natalya appears to be a babyface now
  • 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, now as a babyface
  • November 7 - Seth Rollins sure seems like a babyface after the whole Austin Theory Money in the Bank 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 during NXT
  • December 19 - Bronson Reed returned to WWE, now as a heel
  • December 30 - Charlotte Flair returned to SmackDown, now as a babyface, it seems

PREDICTIONS FOR FUTURE HEEL/FACE TURNS:

** 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

list of babyface turns and heel turns in WWE in 2022
AUTHOR OF THIS POST: ANTHONY MANGO

The founder, editor-in-chief, head writer, podcast host, and more for Smark Out Moment and all branches under A Mango Tree including Fanboys Anonymous. Tony Mango is not just a pundit/analyst, but also a creative director/consultant, media manager and more. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

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