Randy Orton and 6 WWE and AEW Stars Who Should Turn Heel

Oftentimes, a heel turn can go a long way in freshening up a wrestler's stagnant character.

Both WWE and All Elite Wrestling currently boast an abundance of beloved babyfaces and not nearly enough credible villains to combat them. However, that isn't to say steps haven't been taken to correct that issue.

For many weeks, Kevin Owens teased turning on Cody Rhodes after the undisputed WWE champion agreed to team with his longtime rival, Roman Reigns, at Bad Blood. KO finally snapped after the event and attacked The American Nightmare in the parking lot to cement his character change.

Jon Moxley went down a similar path of embracing the dark side when he betrayed his Blackpool Combat Club confidant, Bryan Danielson, at All Out. He went on to take everything away from him—including his group, his career and his AEW World Championship—in the month that followed.

Both of those turns provided a big boost to WWE and AEW's respective main event scenes and set the stage for the final few months of 2024.

In the months ahead, though, more names on each roster can greatly benefit from going rogue and experiencing a resurgence of their own.

SmackDown has had a surplus of main event-level babyfaces for some time now, so between Kevin Owens and Randy Orton, one of them had to turn on Cody Rhodes to give him his next true challenge as undisputed WWE champion.

That doesn't necessarily mean Orton can't also go heel in the next few months, ideally in time for WrestleMania season.

The Viper has had his sights set on the undisputed WWE title since the summer. It would be possible for WWE to have them feud while they're both babyfaces, but the storyline would be infinitely more interesting with Orton as a full-fledged heel.

For as organically over as he's gotten over the course of his career, the 14-time WWE world champion has always been in his element as a bad guy. He'd have the perfect foil in Rhodes, and a championship clash between them would be worthy of the WrestleMania stage.

Owens is fresh off his betrayal of Rhodes, so it should be a while before Orton goes down the same path. He's managed to maintain his composure since returning from injury, but all of the high-profile losses he's endured in the last year should cause him to reach his breaking point sooner rather than later.

After missing over nine months of in-ring action, Britt Baker returned to a massive ovation at AEW's Forbidden Door in June and immediately confronted Mercedes Moné.

Unfortunately, the follow-up has been far from ideal.

Between suspensions, illnesses and unexplained absences from television, she hasn't been able to build much momentum for herself.

Her TBS Championship encounter with Moné at All In in August fell well below fan expectations, though she bounced back with a strong showing against Serena Deeb on the fifth-anniversary edition of Dynamite.

All signs point to her eventually challenging Mariah May for the AEW Women's World Championship, but once she falls short, turning heel should be considered a top priority.

Baker first found her footing as a character by embracing the boos she was getting and going heel in early 2020. She did her best work in that role, including reigning as the AEW women's world champion for nearly a year.

Becoming a babyface was inevitable, but she again finds herself growing stale due to a lack of character development and consistent storyline support. Baker betraying longtime friend Jamie Hayter would be simplest solution.

Most fans forget Bianca Belair started out in NXT as a heel and was easy to jeer because of how frequently she boasted about her undefeated streak in singles competition.

It wasn't until early 2020 that she started endearing herself to the audience and became a fan favorite. She stuck with that status upon moving to the main roster after WrestleMania 36 and has broken out as a big-time babyface since then.

Her current tandem with Jade Cargill provides the best opportunity for her to turn heel for the first time in years.

Cargill was a proven commodity as a villain during her three-year AEW stint and it wouldn't be difficult for her to bring that braggadocious persona to WWE, but Belair as the heel would be the drastic character change she desperately needs.

The longer the The EST of WWE remains in contention for championships and overcomes every obstacle put in front of her, she runs the risk of the crowd turning on her.

It would be wise for WWE to get ahead of that by planting seeds of frustration with Belair and having her betray Cargill out of envy.

The not-so-subtle tension within The New Day at the moment is undoubtedly the best thing they've been involved with in years.

They've been a cohesive unit for almost a decade but had never shown signs of dissension until now. Xavier Woods has adopted the mindset that he's the weak link of the group and can't get the job done on his own.

The 2021 King of the Ring winner even cheated to beat Rey Mysterio on the Sept. 30 edition of Raw, which was the most heelish he's come across since The New Day's beginnings. He subsequently failed to beat Jey Uso for the Intercontinental Championship because he abided by the rules.

The group's resistance to breaking up in the past is why the storyline will likely culminate with Woods and Kofi Kingston getting back on the same page and regaining the tag titles, but Woods branching off as a heel would be the more compelling direction.

Woods waiting until The New Day's 10th anniversary in November to turn on Kingston would be especially dastardly and hopefully set him up for a significant singles push.

Despite being one of AEW's most popular acts this time two years ago, The Acclaimed have cooled off considerably and are overdue for another heel run.

Max Caster and Anthony Bowens debuted as heels in late 2020 but quickly got over with the audience thanks to their entertaining pre-match raps. AEW eventually turned them face when they won the AEW World Tag Team Championship in September 2022.

Their partnership with Billy Gunn has resulted in them becoming big merchandise movers, but in terms of their on-screen work, they haven't been involved in anything exciting in close to two years.

In the ring, The Acclaimed can hang with the best of them. That was evident in their three-way tag team outing against The Young Bucks and FTR at All In, but they haven't captured the same spark that made them a hot commodity at their peak.

A heel turn wouldn't be the automatic answer to all of their woes, but it would get them back on the right track toward evolving their characters and holding gold again.

Heel CM Punk was very much the best wrestler in the world he claimed to be from 2012 through 2013 with the work he was doing both in the ring and on the mic. Amazingly, he has been a babyface ever since.

Of course, being retired from the ring for over seven years was a major factor, but he could have turned villain at almost any point in the past three years and it would have been believable.

When he returned from his hiatus in AEW in the summer of 2021, the potential was there for him to become the bad guy a vast majority of the audience wanted him to be, but he and the company parted ways before that could happen.

In WWE, he was welcomed back with open arms by fans, but Superstars such as Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre were the first to label him a phony.

We have yet to see the other side of The Best in the World, but it should be imminent, especially once the Road to WrestleMania gets underway and he rekindles his rivalry with Rollins.

Although Punk is a perennial fan favorite, he has it in him to bring back his heel persona and remind the world what makes him such an extraordinary villain.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.