This list will keep track of the babyface turns and heel turns that happen in WWE throughout 2026, 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 2026:
- January 19 - Natalya turned heel on Raw by costing Maxxine Dupri her title match against Becky Lynch.
- January 31 - Chad Gable returned as Original El Grande Americano, being booked as a babyface to feud with Ludwig Kaiser's impostor El Grande Americano II, who remains a heel on WWE programming unless it is AAA, where he is a babyface.
- February 3 - Uriah Connors turned heel on NXT by leaving Chase U and joining the faction of Stacks, Arianna Grace and Lexis King.
- February 24 - Zaria turned heel on Sol Ruca by attacking her on NXT and costing her the NXT Women's Championship match against Jacy Jayne.
- February 28 - Seth Rollins returned and went after Logan Paul while seeming to share a respectful nod toward Cody Rhodes, likely indicating a babyface turn going forward.
- March 7 - The War Raiders shifted heel in AAA by attacking Psycho Clown, despite continuing to be booked as babyfaces on WWE programming.
- March 9 - Finn Balor was booted out of The Judgment Day, and while he had not officially done anything to mark a true babyface turn, that was clearly the direction.
- March 10 - Charlie Dempsey turned heel on NXT by betraying Tavion Heights and joining Birth Right.
- March 13 - Randy Orton turned heel by beating down Cody Rhodes on SmackDown.
- March 17 - Jasper Troy turned babyface by making the save for Booker T opposite Keanu Carver.
- March 20 - B-Fab and Michin turned heel to align with Jade Cargill and beat down Rhea Ripley.
- March 24 - Bronco Nima and Lucien Price turned babyface on NXT during their feud with DarkState, with the direction reinforced when they teamed with Mike Santana against the group the following week.
- April 3 - Pat McAfee turned heel on SmackDown by aligning with Randy Orton against Cody Rhodes.
- April 17 - Sami Zayn turned heel as his "Last Real Good Guy" character developed into a full-blown villainous role.
- April 19 - Trick Williams effectively turned babyface during his feud with Sami Zayn, although WWE continued playing both characters in gray areas for a while afterward.
- April 22 - Max Abrams, CJ Valor, Santi Rivera and Jacari Ball turned heel on EVOLVE.
- April 22 - Sloane Jacobs turned heel on EVOLVE by attacking Laynie Luck and aligning with Nikkita Lyons.
- April 28 - Tavion Heights most likely turned heel on NXT by attacking Tony D'Angelo and being called out on it by Myles Borne.
- May 5 - Myka Lockwood turned heel on NXT by helping Jackson Drake defeat Jasper Troy and aligning with The Vanity Project.
- May 9 - Asuka turned babyface at Backlash by embracing Iyo Sky after their match, with the direction reinforced two nights later on Raw during their heartfelt goodbye.
- May 9 - Jacob Fatu appeared to turn heel at Backlash by attacking Roman Reigns after their World Heavyweight Championship match and assaulting a referee.
- May 19 - Saquon Shugars turned babyface after DarkState kicked him out, with his subsequent feud against the group confirming the direction.
- May 22 - Chelsea Green turned babyface by helping Tiffany Stratton against Nia Jax during Stratton's title defense against Lash Legend. The direction was reinforced on May 29 when Stratton returned the favor.
- June 5 - Chad Gable turned babyface by going around and apologizing over his disrespect of lucha libre.
- June 5 - Giulia turned babyface after breaking apart from Kiana James.
- June 15 - Roman Reigns and The Usos effectively shifted heel as The Bloodline moved back into a villainous role, highlighted by Reigns ordering Jacob Fatu to continue his attack on Eric Andre.
- June 16 - WWE was all over the place with Karmen Petrovic. In the span of roughly a week, she was a pure babyface on EVOLVE, part of a heel alliance on NXT with Nattie and Nikkita Lyons, and part of a heel faction in AAA all at the same time. But she seems to have settled into being a full-blown heel out of this.
- For that matter, Bronco Nima was in that group, but on the June 23 episode of NXT, Nima was still a babyface alongside Lucien Price and Jaida Parker, so...
- June 22 - Lyra Valkyria turned heel on Bayley during Raw after losing a women's tag team title match.
- June 23 - After Naraku had been very babyface-like while helping Tony D'Angelo over several weeks, he used a fireball to injure D'Angelo and try to take him out of the NXT Championship match. Mason Rook was very babyface afterward, meaning they seemed to have somewhat switched alignment.
- June 23 - Shawn Spears turned babyface after The Culling kicked him out, with his subsequent feud against the group confirming the direction.
- June 24 - Kale Dixon turned heel on EVOLVE by using help from his new valet to defeat Kai Kavari.
- June 30 - Kali Armstrong turned heel on NXT by attacking NXT Women's Champion Kendal Grey.
- July 6 - Maxxine Dupri turned heel by low-blowing Angelo Dawkins and helping The Vision regain the World Tag Team Championship to join the group.
- July 7 - Tavion Heights turned babyface (if that was even a true heel turn in the first place) by reconciling with Myles Borne and fighting off The Vanity Project alongside him.
- July 8 - Veronica Haven turned heel on EVOLVE by aligning with Nikkita Lyons, Sloane Jacobs and Gianna Capri during Lyons' championship celebration.
- July 10 - Baron Corbin returned to WWE as a heel by attacking Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes on SmackDown.
- July 25 - Dominik Mysterio turned heel in AAA by betraying El Grande Americano and joining El Nuevo Ojo.
- July 29 - It's Gal is officially being referred to as a fan favorite on EVOLVE, even though he's still looked at by the locker room as a heel.
- August 1 - The Bella Twins turned heel when Brie and Nikki attacked Paige after losing their match to Fatal Influence at SummerSlam.
- August 2 - Kevin Owens returned at SummerSlam, now a babyface.
- August 3 - Becky Lynch returned to Monday Night Raw and is now a babyface.
- August 8 - Drake Morreaux debuted his new character in AAA as a heel by attacking Psycho Clown during Verano de Escandalo.
- August 17 - Solo Sikoa turned babyface on Raw by refusing Roman Reigns' order to attack LA Knight, hitting Reigns with a Samoan Spike, taking out Jey Uso and leaving alongside Knight.
At the beginning of the year, I made predictions for who I thought would turn heel or babyface, with quarterly updates added around the bigger stretches of the WWE calendar. Correct picks are struck out below.
PREDICTIONS FOR HEEL AND FACE TURNS IN 2026:
** QUARTER 1 PREDICTIONS [FROM JANUARY 1] **
WILL TURN HEEL: Alexa Bliss, Carmelo Hayes, Charlotte Flair, Jordynne Grace, Natalya, Randy Orton, Tiffany Stratton, Tyra Mae Steele, Zaria
WILL TURN BABYFACE: Finn Balor, Giulia, Kelani Jordan, Liv Morgan, Rusev
** QUARTER 2 PREDICTIONS UPDATES [AROUND WRESTLEMANIA] **
WILL TURN HEEL: Ilja Dragunov, Lyra Valkyria, Michin, Sami Zayn
WILL TURN BABYFACE: Candice LeRae, Johnny Gargano, Kairi Sane, Tama Tonga, Trick Williams
** QUARTER 3 PREDICTIONS UPDATES [BEFORE SUMMERSLAM] **
WILL TURN HEEL: Bayley or Lyra Valkyria, Maxxine Dupri
WILL TURN BABYFACE: Chad Gable, Saquon Shugars
** QUARTER 4 PREDICTIONS UPDATES [BEFORE SURVIVOR SERIES] **
WILL TURN HEEL: Alexa Bliss, Bronco Nima, Damian Priest, Dorian Van Dux
WILL TURN BABYFACE: Roxanne Perez, Solo Sikoa
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