User blog:CEDJunior/A Look Back: Good Girls Gone Bad in 2014

2014 was a terrific year for the wicked women in wrestling, whether it's in WWE, TNA, or the independent scene. Like last year, this blog only details the heel turns that have occurred in the Divas and Knockouts Divisions, and there were plenty! By my count, this year saw 13, count 'em, 13 Divas and Knockouts turn heel; eight WWE Divas, one NXT Diva, and four TNA Knockouts. In fact, all four Knockout heel turns involved the same woman, which has to be unprecedented. The total of 13 Diva/Knockout heel turns averages to one every month of the year, with two taking in one month, but that's not exactly how it happened. Here's how these women joined the dark side in 2014.

While the first heel turn of 2013 took place in January, I would have to wait until March this year, with two taking place on back to back weeks. After Lockdown, Angelina Love made her return to TNA after competing in Shine Wrestling for a year, doing so on March 13, and asked Velvet Sky to reform The Beautiful People with her. Velvet accepted on the following week, but Madison Rayne wouldn't; mainly due to Angelina's disrespectful attitude towards her and how she was treated before when she was a member of the BPs. Angelina insisted to Madison in a backstage segment that she's a changed woman and it's all about equality, but when Madison's back was turned, Angelina attacked her to make her inevitable villainous turn. Velvet acted appalled at Angelina's actions and confronted her on the following week, and even appeared to be conflicted when she stood at ringside during Angelina's match against Madison. However, Velvet would attack Madison at ringside and officially show her solidarity to Angelina, who went on to defeat the then-reigning Knockouts Champion. So with that, the BPs were back in full villainous form.

Madison's woes wouldn't end there. She soon found herself as the object of adoration and obsession by new TNA Knockout Brittany, who debuted on March 13. The angle began just a couple of months later, and it would feature an in-ring segment which would see Brittany reveal to Madison that she wanted to "be with her." Once Madison turned her down, Brittany's mental downward spiral began. Now, we all know what happened with Trish Stratus and Mickie James in 2005-06, so it was a foregone conclusion that Brittany would turn into a villainess and take her frustrations out on Madison. That moment happened on July 3, when Brittany called out Madison and told her that she promised to just remain friends with her, which led to the two Knockouts hugging. However, once the niceties came to an end, the evil Brittany attacked Madison both inside and outside the ring, while stating that she learned to "never meet your heroes, because they always disappoint!" I was expecting Brittany to receive a huge push now that she was a villain, but that didn't happen. She truly showed out and did a great job displaying her heel persona in her No DQ match against Madison, but after that, her TV appearances became sporadic, and she would later be paired with Samuel Shaw before she left TNA last month. As for Madison, well, let's just say that she would get her groove back later this year. More on that later.

While three Knockouts became villainesses, not one Diva had turned heel within the first half of the year. Finally, Cameron would become the first, and her swerve was over a month in the making. It was on the day after Payback that Cameron began turning into a villainess; with her motivation being attempting to show out against then-Divas Champion Paige. Cameron was definitely in heel mode in her matches, but she was defeated every time. She would later watch Naomi defeat Paige on Main Event, and she would try to take the spotlight and later tried to attack Paige after the match ended. Naomi earned a title opportunity, but Cameron wasn't too happy for her longtime partner. On July 7, the Funkadactyls were defeated by AJ Lee and Paige, and they would brawl in the ring after their match. As a result, the evil Cameron completed her villainous turn and engaged in a feud with Naomi, which included a victory over Naomi at Battleground. What made the tag team match interesting, however, was that Cameron and Naomi weren't the only team in that bout at odds with each other.

Paige's year saw her debut on the main roster on the post-Mania Raw and capture the Divas Championship from AJ. Two months later, AJ returned from her hiatus and regained the title from her. Despite the loss, AJ and Paige acted cordial and friendly towards each other, but it was clear that Paige had something evil planned for AJ. Battleground would see Paige fail to regain the title from AJ, but the two still teamed together the next night and defeated Emma and Natalya. After their victory, Paige attacked AJ in and out of the ring to finally cement herself as a villainess. The feud lasted much, much longer, with Paige capturing the Divas Championship at SummerSlam on her 22nd birthday, only to lose it back to AJ at Night of Champions. Paige formed an alliance with Alicia Fox in her feud with AJ, but that ended after Paige lost to AJ at Hell in a Cell; with Paige blaming her loss on Alicia and attacking her.

Unceremoniously, Eva Marie went back to her wicked ways this summer, doing so when she became one of the Divas sent by Stephanie McMahon to torment Nikki Bella. Eva Marie's villainous turn began when she faced AJ a couple of times, but it became official when she faced off against Alicia Fox in a match officiated by Nikki Bella--per Stephanie's orders. Both women decided to attack Nikki in the ring; obviously a set up by Stephanie, who was still stinging (literally and figuratively) over Brie Bella slapping her at Payback.

The biggest and best heel turn of 2014 definitely came from Nikki Bella. With what Nikki was going through, we all figured that she would take it out on Brie in some form or fashion. That time came at SummerSlam during Brie's grudge match against Stephanie McMahon, with both Bellas appearing to deliver some payback towards Stephanie. But at that moment, the evil Nikki attacked Brie with a vicious elbow to her face, and later helped Stephanie up as she went on to defeat Brie. We've all seen what has occurred after this (not-so-)shocking swerve. Nikki would spend weeks physically and verbally tormenting Brie, and was later rewarded with a Divas Championship opportunity at Night of Champions. She lost at the event, but she would go on to defeat Brie at Hell in a Cell, and per the stipulation, Brie had to work as Nikki's personal assistant, and I emphasize "had to", because it was either suffer more torment at the hands of her sister, or quit again. Nikki would become #1 Contender again by winning a battle royal, and she would defeat AJ at Survivor Series to win her 2nd Divas Championship. As to how she won it, more on that later.

The following month saw Summer Rae and Layla, known as The Slayers, revert back to being heels due to the former's Total Divas feud with Natalya. The duo began as rivals when Fandango dumped Summer Rae for Layla, but they joined together as babyfaces when they were tied of Fandango's ego. This was the second straight year to feature villainous turns from Summer Rae and Layla, with the latter's 2013 heel turn coming when she attacked Paige on NXT. Layla was originally set to turn into a villainess heading into WrestleMania 29, with her motives heavily involving Kaitlyn. The swerve would have seen Layla eventually attack Kaitlyn and become a heel #1 contender for Kaitlyn's Divas Championship. The plan was nixed, but Layla turned into a villainess on August 2 of last year when she betrayed Kaitlyn after aligning with her.

The only NXT Diva heel turn came on October 23. After Sasha Banks defeated and attacked Emma, she was confronted by Becky Lynch, who was appalled by Sasha's actions. Sasha would basically give Becky the same speech that she received from Summer Rae:  that being nice gets you nowhere. She also told Becky to look in the mirror and ask herself what she really wants in NXT. On the aforementioned date, Becky entered to save Bayley from a post match attack by Sasha, but at that moment, Becky took it upon herself to attack Bayley and align herself with Sasha. As I said, it was the only heel turn for the NXT Divas this year, but I was happy that it was Becky. Becky has the look of a nasty and vicious villainess, and I see her becoming a top Diva in NXT and beyond.

I mentioned Madison Rayne earlier in this blog, and that so far, she had been on the receiving end of three vicious heel turns in a matter of months. However, Madison would undergo a villainous transformation of her own later in the year, and the constant in her dark path was the returning Taryn Terrell. Madison and Taryn share the common bond of being the only two women in the Knockouts Division to give birth and return to the ring. It did seem like Taryn was getting more attention than Madison for just that, and Madison did seem a little bitter about it in an interview she gave before she faced Taryn on August 27. After her heelish promo, Madison attempted to cheat her way to victory by using the ropes for leverage, but she was caught and eventually defeated by Taryn in their #1 Contender's Match. The two faced off against Angelina Love in another #1 Contender's Match on October 8, and this time, Madison won--doing so by grabbing Taryn's tights. Madison laughed evilly as she celebrated her victory, and acted innocent when Taryn confronted her. Once then-Knockouts Champion Havok entered, Madison ran out of the ring and left Taryn to be attacked by her.

Madison and Taryn competed against The Beautiful People on October 29, and before their match, Madison explained her actions to Taryn, stating that Taryn would have done the same thing. Taryn basically said that they should focus on the BPs and handle their issues later, but it was clear that Madison had her own evil plans for Taryn. The match saw Madison refuse to tag in on more than on occasion, opting to enter on her own time to handle Love and Sky. The end of the match saw Madison enter on her own and take down both Love and Sky in the ring. After doing so, the evil Madison attacked Taryn with a kick to her head and her Rayne Drop finisher, and gave her queen wave right before she left the ring. So after experiencing three Knockouts attacking her and turning heel, Madison became a villainess herself. The irony of that is just epic!

So I mentioned that Nikki Bella won the Divas Championship at Survivor Series. What I didn't mention is how she won. Nikki's victory came after Brie Bella distracted AJ and kissed her, reminiscent of how Daniel Bryan lost the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 28. What I and others seemed to notice was how Brie acted after her sister's victory. She wasn't acting like she was forced into doing what Nikki told her to do; she was clearly proud of her actions, as a result, we have what I call on Twitter, #HeelBrieMode! The Bellas are back together and are badder than ever, and I have to say that I do love Heel Brie 2.0 so far. The obvious fact is that Nikki is the more natural heel, and IMO, that was proven the last time they were heels together. But in my view, Brie has done a good job acting as a villainess so far. In fact, the photo to the left shows how sexy and evil Brie looks as she enters with Nikki on the milestone 800th episode of SmackDown.

Survivor Series also saw Rosa Mendes begin her current stint as Fandango's new dance partner, meaning that for the second straight year, she has reverted to being a heel. It's a fact that Rosa has been one of those Divas that has gone through the face/heel revolving door a lot, clearly meaning that WWE has no idea what to do with her. I am, however, glad that Rosa's still in WWE, regardless of everything, and I'll post more about her in a future blog.

Whew! That's all of them! 13 was definitely a lucky number for 2014! It's four more than last year's total of nine, and as I said before, eight of them were main roster Divas. I loved Nikki Bella's the best, mainly because it was a long time coming. Plus, the type of character she played was absolutely delicious. I absolutely loved Madison Rayne's slow transformation into a villainess and seeing her mess with Taryn Terrell for weeks on end as well. Though, I can't help but love Brittany attacking Madison this past summer. I said for over a year that Santana/Brittany would be great as a heel, and she proved me right.

So who will and should turn heel in 2015? I still want Natalya to turn, and I do think she will in the New Year. I actually want to see Naomi turn heel this year. We have never really seen her as a villainess at all, and now that she's off Total Divas, I think they should push her as a heel. And honestly, I want WWE to shock us and somehow turn Lilian Garcia heel. I'll go into more detail about that in a later blog. As for the Knockouts, the current ratio really gives no room for heel turns, but I would love it if Christy Hemme returned from maternity leave and became a villainess by becoming Samuel Shaw's new main squeeze. I thought that would happen this year, but TNA didn't make the swerve. But now that Brittany's out of TNA, I could see Christy falling for Shaw and saying that she was jealous of Brittany. I actually wanted Taryn Terrell to return as a heel and get revenge on babyface Gail Kim, but that didn't happen. It would be something of Taryn turned heel in 2015, but I'm not holding my breath. I do see Taryn and Madison in a title feud in 2015, which should be absolutely terrific!