Expecting too much from Heel Turns...

It's been a couple of weeks since Ryback 'turned heel' or became a 'bad guy' to those of you that need the term simplified! Something about it still doesn't sit well with me, though. Maybe I am expecting too much but the last two major heel turns that I can think of weren't that obvious when they occurred. I'm of the opinion that a heel turn should be shocking and you should know, there and then, that that individual has become a villain.

Let's go back to Raw 1000 last year and the CM Punk 'heel turn'. As I watched him Clothesline and then perform a GTS (Go To Sleep) on The Rock, it didn't instantly scream HEEL TURN! to me. If anything, The Rock had come back, staked his claim at the WWE Championship, mocked the champion and received a physical warning from that Champion: he wasn't going to sit back and be disrespected the way The Rock had done earlier in the show.

CM Punk stands over a fallen Rock - Raw 1000, 2012

If Jerry Lawler had not have confirmed to us, the TV audience, that 'CM Punk has turned his back on the WWE universe', then I don't think we'd have been none the wiser until the next week on Raw. On the following Raw and beyond it became very apparent that Punk had indeed turned to the dark side. Until then it only appeared that the popular, cool-heel-face CM Punk had simply sent a message to a challenger to his title.

Fast forward to the night after Wrestlemania 29 - Raw, Monday 8th April - where, at the end of the show, Ryback had seemingly saved John Cena from Mark Henry, before Clotheslining the Champ and delivering his finishing maneuver Shellshocked. Again, this didn't scream HEEL TURN! to me; it simply said that John Cena - as new WWE Champion - had a large target on him; heels and faces alike could make a statement at the expense of the new Champion if they chose to do so. For me it was fair game that Ryback would show that he is in the hunt for that title.

Ryback stakes his claim to the WWE Championship - Raw, 2013

I was genuinely confused all week when I started to read reports that that was perceived as an actual heel turn. Then, on Raw the Ryback pre-recorded promo was aired - explaining his actions - showing that Ryback had turned heel. Again, this was not clear until that admission from Ryback and the subsequent references from Michael Cole that Ryback sounded like he was 'just making excuses'. Ok, so heel turns are a whole lot easier in execution than I remember! You simply need a finishing maneuver followed by a Commentator's disapproval = newly turned heel.

I think what may have added to the confusion was that he turned on John Cena - the guy who has such a mixed reaction wherever he goes that I've stated before that it is virtually impossible to turn someone heel against him.

Steve Austin and Vince McMahon did the unthinkable in 2001

All the major heel turns that I can think of over the years have been very obvious and straight to the point. The two Steve Austin turns in 2001 - first, at Wrestlemania; aligning with Vince Mcmahon and secondly, turning on Team WWF at Invasion later that year - instantly told the viewer that he had become a villain. There was no doubt whatsoever. Even the last heel turn before the CM Punk one last year - Big Show - was obvious straight away; punching out Cena and aligning with Evil General Manager John Laurinaitis.

Maybe WWE only know how to turn someone by aligning them with other heels, and have forgotten how to turn someone properly; or maybe the new approach is the forcing-it-down-our-throats approach a la Miz and Alberto Del Rio's face turns at the end of last year. Them guys were turning face whether we liked it or not!

As is the title of this piece; maybe I am expecting too much from heel turns these days. Or maybe I'm just looking for a more shocking turn here and there that'll keep my attention and keep me excited for a product that doesn't seem to make the effort to keep me on the edge of my seat anymore?

@jimmosangle