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 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 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.
- April 22 - Max Abrams, CJ Valor, Santi Rivera and Jacari Ball turned heel on EVOLVE.
- April 28 - Tavion Heights most likely turned heel on NXT by attacking Tony D'Angelo and being called out on it by Myles Borne.
- At some point, WWE has to acknowledge Trick Williams as a babyface and Sami Zayn as a heel, even though they are playing into gray areas and not fully committing to it.
- (PENDING) May 9 - Asuka may have turned babyface at Backlash.
- May 29 - Chelsea Green certainly seemed like a babyface after repeatedly trying to help Tiffany Stratton and even slapping hands with fans at ringside on SmackDown.
- June 5 - Chad Gable turned babyface by going around and apologizing over his disrespect of lucha libre.
- June 5 - Giulia had been a babyface since breaking apart from Kiana James.
- June ??? - WWE was all over the place with Karmen Petrovic. In the span of a week, she was a pure babyface on EVOLVE, part of a heel alliance on NXT with Nattie and Nikkita Lyons at least temporarily, 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 June 23 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.
- July 6 - Maxxine Dupri turned heel by low-blowing Angelo Dawkins and helping The Vision win back the World Tag Team Championship titles to join the group.
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: TBD
WILL TURN BABYFACE: TBD
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