face turn
nounEtymology From professional wrestling, in which the wrestler playing a villain role is called the "heel" and a wrestler playing the heroic role is called the "face".
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Government, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Martial arts, Military, Politics, Professional wrestling, Sports, War, Wrestling A situation in which a wrestler previously identified as a villain changes to being considered a hero.
- In order to retain viewers, both promotions did their best to load their respective shows with as much action and as many dramatic twists as possible, including pay-per-view quality matches, title changes, heal/face turns, and shocking debuts on a weekly basis.2000, Brian Solomon, Pro Wrestling FAQ, →ISBN:
- Here are five superstars who would benefit tremendously from a character change, whether that be a heel/face turn or an entirely new gimmick.2017 November 12, Blake Oestriecher, “5 WWE Stars who Badly Need a Character Change”, in Forbes:
1 more example
- WWE has been known to do heel/face turn experiments at live events.2018 July 29, Corey Jacobs, “Bray Wyatt wrestled as a full-blown babyface on Saturday night”, in Wrestling News:
- Related terms
- about-face, turn the tables