This list keeps track of the babyface turns and heel turns that happened in WWE throughout 2023, 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 2023:
- January - Brock Lesnar was classified as a perpetual flip-flopper, as he is heel or face based on whatever feud he is in and will turn on a dime, making his turns not worth tracking every time.
- January 2 - Alexa Bliss turned heel on Raw by attacking a referee and going too far against Bianca Belair.
- January 6 - Hit Row turned heel on SmackDown.
- January - Alpha Academy kept being positioned more as babyfaces without any true 100% turn.
- January - Mustafa Ali started a heel turn back in January.
- January 29 - Sami Zayn turned babyface at Royal Rumble by refusing to help The Bloodline destroy Kevin Owens and hitting Roman Reigns with a chair.
- January 31 - Alba Fyre was now a heel aligned with Isla Dawn.
- February 6 - Piper Niven seemed to revert back to being a heel, if she had ever been a babyface even temporarily.
- February 6 - Nikki Cross started a soft transition around this point into becoming a babyface.
- February 7 - In retrospect, Jacy Jayne attacking Gigi Dolin was used to turn Dolin babyface.
- February 13 - Santos Escobar, and by proxy the rest of Legado del Fantasma, turned babyface by becoming allies of Rey Mysterio.
- February 14 - Drew Gulak turned heel by aligning with Charlie Dempsey and ditching Hank Walker.
- PENDING February 17 - Emma and Madcap Moss appeared to be heading toward a heel turn after Moss lost to Gunther and blamed the fans, but both were released before it fully came to fruition.
- February 18 - At Elimination Chamber, Brock Lesnar was treated as a perpetual tweener, with Bobby Lashley moving into a pending spot as someone who could turn heel soon.
- February 18 - Logan Paul was officially playing heel for his feud with Seth Rollins and could continue past that.
- March 7 - Carmelo Hayes (and by proxy, Trick Williams) are at least temporary tweeners, if not on the path to full babyfaces (Update from Stand & Deliver on April 1: Trick cheated twice in the title match and Hayes capitalized to win the belt, showing they're back to being heels, if not that they were always heels to begin with) (Update 2 from NXT April 4: Hayes and Williams were respectful in their promo, while Bron Breakker attacked them. Who knows at this point what WWE wants out of the heel/face dynamics of these guys?)
- March 14 - Tatum Paxley turned heel by betraying Ivy Nile on NXT.
- March 20 - Asuka turned heel by attacking Bianca Belair on Raw, then doubled down on the May 12 SmackDown.
- April 4 - Bron Breakker seemingly turned heel on NXT by attacking a respectful Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams.
- April 10 - Trish Stratus turned heel by attacking Becky Lynch.
- April 11 - Brooks Jensen turned heel by pushing Josh Briggs down and trying to convince Fallon Henley to use a foreign object to win, only to turn back babyface on April 25.
- Spring - Von Wagner became more sympathetic after the storyline about the childhood photo of him.
- May 23 - Reggie seemed to drop the SCRYPTS name and tried to make amends with Axiom, indicating a babyface turn.
- May 27 - Jimmy Uso turned babyface at Night of Champions by superkicking Roman Reigns.
- May 28 - Oro Mensah turned heel by aligning with Noam Dar for NXT Battleground.
- June 16 - Jey Uso sealed his babyface turn by choosing to side with Jimmy Uso.
- June 19 - Tommaso Ciampa turned babyface upon returning to Raw and fighting The Miz.
- July 1 - Shayna Baszler turned babyface by splitting from Ronda Rousey at Money in the Bank.
- July 17 - Shinsuke Nakamura started a heel turn by kicking Tommaso Ciampa out of frustration after losing to Bronson Reed, then sealed it on the August 7 Raw.
- July 18 - Scrypts turned heel by turning on Axiom during NXT.
- July 28 - LA Knight appeared to be positioned as a babyface after weeks of the fans already treating him like one.
- PENDING July 31 - Thea Hail started what seemed to be a heel turn after losing to Tiffany Stratton and being mad at Andre Chase for throwing in the towel, but it never became 100% clear.
- August 4 - Bobby Lashley and The Street Profits started a slow heel turn around this date, which was set in stone on September 29.
- August 6 - Jimmy Uso turned heel at SummerSlam.
- August 8 - Myles Borne started a heel turn by joining Drew Gulak, Charlie Dempsey and Damon Kemp, later cementing it by turning on Josh Briggs, Brooks Jensen and Fallon Henley to help them.
- September 2 - Zoey Stark turned babyface after splitting from Trish Stratus at Payback, with the turn solidified when she helped Shayna Baszler fight off Chelsea Green and Piper Niven on September 11.
- October 30 - The Miz seemed to be transitioning into a babyface role for his feud with Gunther.
- November 10 - Santos Escobar turned heel on SmackDown.
- November 13 - Drew McIntyre turned heel on Raw by siding with Judgment Day over Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso.
- December 15 - AJ Styles turned heel on SmackDown by attacking LA Knight and letting The Bloodline off the hook, for some reason.
The prediction section is preserved here as an archive of the year's original guesses and quarterly updates. Successful picks are struck out.
PREDICTIONS FOR HEEL AND FACE TURNS IN 2023:
** QUARTER 1 PREDICTIONS [FROM JANUARY 1] **
WILL TURN HEEL: AJ Styles, Alba Fyre, Alexa Bliss, Ashante "Thee" Adonis, Asuka, B-Fab, Braun Strowman, Cameron Grimes, Charlotte Flair, Elias, Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows, Randy Orton, Top Dolla
WILL TURN BABYFACE: Bayley, Dakota Kai, Dominik Mysterio, Doudrop, Iyo Sky, Sami Zayn, Tommaso Ciampa
** QUARTER 2 PREDICTIONS UPDATES [AFTER WRESTLEMANIA] **
WILL TURN HEEL: AJ Styles, Apollo Crews, Asuka, Braun Strowman, Cameron Grimes, Charlotte Flair, Elias, Emma, Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows, Natalya, Randy Orton, Riddick Moss, Trish Stratus
WILL TURN BABYFACE: Bayley, Chad Gable, Dakota Kai, Iyo Sky, Tommaso Ciampa
** QUARTER 3 PREDICTIONS UPDATES [BEFORE SUMMERSLAM] **
WILL TURN HEEL: Cameron Grimes, Charlotte Flair, Drew McIntyre, Elias, Emma, Ilja Dragunov, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, Natalya, Randy Orton, Riddick Moss, Shinsuke Nakamura
WILL TURN BABYFACE: Damian Priest, LA Knight, Iyo Sky
** QUARTER 4 PREDICTIONS UPDATES [BEFORE SURVIVOR SERIES] **
WILL TURN HEEL: Carmelo Hayes, Drew McIntyre, Odyssey Jones (shot in the dark), Tegan Nox
WILL TURN BABYFACE: Ashante Adonis, B-Fab, The Miz (surprisingly)
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