This list will keep track of all the official babyface turns and heel turns that happen in WWE for the year 2026.
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, sometimes, I update the heel and face index, but not as often as the updates you see below.
- 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, wherein 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, attacking her on NXT and costing her the NXT Women's Championship match she had with Jacy Jayne
- February 28 - Seth Rollins returned and went after Logan Paul and seemed to share some respectful nod toward Cody Rhodes, which likely indicates a face turn going forward
- March 9 - Finn Balor has been booted out of The Judgment Day, and while he hasn't officially done anything to mark a true babyface turn, it's clear that's the direction
- March 13 - Randy Orton turned heel by beating down Cody Rhodes on SmackDown
- March 17 - Jasper Troy turned babyface to make 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're playing into the gray areas and not fully committing to it.
- (PENDING) May 9 - Asuka may have turned face at Backlash
- May 29 - Chelsea Green certainly seems like a babyface after trying to help Tiffany Stratton a lot and even slapping the hands of the fans ringside on SmackDown
- June 5 - Chad Gable has turned babyface by going around and apologizing over his disrespect of lucha libre
- June 5 - Giulia has been a babyface since breaking apart from Kiana James
- (PENDING) June ??? - WWE doesn't seem to know what they're doing with Karmen Petrovic. She's somehow a 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.
- ^ For that matter, Bronco Nima was in that group, but on June 23rd's 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 to help Tony D'Angelo over several weeks, he then made a fireball injure D'Angelo to try to take him out of the NXT Championship match. Mason Rook was very babyface afterward, too, meaning they seem to have somewhat switched alignment.
PREDICTIONS FOR FUTURE HEEL/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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