User blog:CEDJunior/A Look Back: Good Girls Gone Bad in 2015

2015 was quite an interesting year as far as heel turns in the Diva and Knockout Divisions were concerned. While the villainous swerves weren't as plentiful as 2014, they were certainly memorable! Let's take a look back at the good girls who went bad in 2015.

In an odd way, the first Diva to turn heel was Natalya, though only for a brief while and it was a long time coming. She entered 2015 as the centerpiece for Cesaro & Tyson Kidd, but she had remained a babyface while they were heels. All of that changed at Fastlane, when Natalya started donning dominatrix-like gear. It was on the day after that Natalya turned villainous, doing so by intentionally interfering in a WWE Tag Team Championship rematch between her new champions and The Usos, causing a disqualification. In her brief stint as a heel, the evil Natalya feuded with Naomi, who was part of the tag team rivalry. This included several matches between the Divas, and an instance at WrestleMania 31 when Natalya went after Naomi after delivering her Sharpshooter to El Torito, who has also served as a victim of Natalya's villainy. Natalya's heel stint didn't last too long, as she, Cesaro, and Kidd were all turned faces when they began feuding with The New Day. I still hope that 2016 will see Natalya turn into a villainess and never look back.

The most exciting heel turn, IMO, came on NXT in March. Five weeks prior, Emma returned to NXT, with claims that things didn't work out for her on the main roster, and her bad luck continued as she lost to Carmella. Weeks after her loss, Emma decided to mess with Bayley and tell her to change her genial ways and follow a dark path, with Emma stating that being fan friendly got her nowhere and the same thing will happen to Bayley. After Bayley lost to Becky Lynch three weeks later, the evil Emma taunted her again, saying that the fans are fooling Bayley just like they did to her. This time, Bayley stood up for herself and her fans, but she ended up being on the receiving end of a slap from Emma, now a full-fledged villainess. Emma's heel persona has included doing away with her signature dance, and also donning a more darker look to her gear. She also added a partner in crime in the form of Dana Brooke, and the pair feuded with Bayley and Charlotte for weeks before moving on to antagonizing the debuting Asuka, which has not gone well for them as of late.

Naomi would later provide the biggest heel turn of 2015, when she viciously attacked Paige after a #1 Contender's Battle Royal, which Paige won by eliminating Naomi. Naomi's villainous swerve was a long time coming; fans had wanted this for months, hoping that it would lead to a run as WWE Divas Champion, but that has still yet to happen. According to reports, Naomi's heel turn was supposed to go to AJ Lee, as she was supposed to reignite her feud with Paige, but AJ ended up leaving WWE less than two weeks earlier. Naomi turning into a villainess ended up turning the Bellas babyface, because they couldn't have heels feuding with each other. After that feud ended, however, the Bellas became villains again and haven't looked back as of today. Naomi has since served as a member ot Team B.A.D. with Sasha Banks and Tamina, but unfortunately, she and Tamina are basically backup for Sasha. I haven't given up on a title push for Naomi, but if nothing happens in 2016, I'll wave the white flag.

Eleven days after Naomi turned villainous, we finally saw the first villainous swerve in the Knockouts Division, and shockingly, it went to Taryn Terrell, the reigning Knockouts Champion at the time. It was on April 24 that Taryn defended her title against Awesome Kong, and in a shocker, Taryn decided to make it a No DQ match. We would see why later on, as The Dollhouse, Jade and Marti Bell, interfered on Taryn's behalf. After defeating Kong, Taryn revealed herself as the leader of the Dollhouse faction, and as a result, she became a heel for the first time in her entire career. I actually remember wanting Taryn to be a heel GM in ECW back when she was performing as Tiffany, but I loved her strong babyface role. Taryn's villainous role led to her becoming the longest reigning Knockouts Champion in TNA history, holding the title until August, when she lost to Brooke Tessmacher.

It was after losing the title that Taryn was attacked by Gail Kim and Velvet Sky, with the attack resulting in a (kayfabe) broken wrist. During a Knockouts Championship bout between Brooke and Velvet, Jade and Marti entered and beat down Velvet to avenge Taryn. Rebel came in appearing to make things even, but instead, she delivered a kick to Velvet's back and joined in on the attack, turning Rebel into a villainess. After the attack, the evil Rebel was officially announced as the newest member of the Dollhouse. TNA, God bless them, accidentally spoiled Rebel's heel turn about a month before it aired on TV. An episode of their YouTube series, The Question Mark, featured Rebel in Dollhouse gear. The episode was uploaded some time in July. Rebel's villainous turn aired in August. I was elated over Rebel turning heel because she has the look of an evil femme fatale. But if Taryn Terrell really does leave TNA, I would want the Dollhouse gimmick gone, which would give Jade, Marti, and Rebel individual roles. However, Rebel's lack of wrestlng skills wouldn't leave her with much to do, but I would think she would shine as a villainous manager.

In between the Knockouts heel turns was another swerve in NXT, this time involving the once innocent Alexa Bliss. Alexa's heel turn began in April, when she and Carmella battled and also appeared to be forming an alliance with then-NXT Tag Team Champions Blake & Murphy. It was cemented at NXT Takeover:  Unstoppable on May 20 (the same day that David Letterman signed off for good), when during a tag title match between the champinos and Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady, the evil Alexa attacked Carmella from behind, and later shoved Enzo off the top turnbuckle, while officially aligning with Blake and Murphy. I was actually excited over Alexa's heel turn, and I still remain surprised at how good she is at being a villainess, despite looking so cutesy and pixie-like.

Paige is definitely not "cutesy," and she proved that when she turned against her PCB partners, Charlotte and Becky Lynch, one day after the former won the Divas Championship at Night of Champions. Paige's heel turn was about a month in the making, stemming from her failure to win the Beat the Clock Challenge. I was actually willing to wait longer for this to happen, but WWE decided to let Paige loose in September. Despite this, WWE still kept PCB together for over a month until Paige finally severed ties with them completely. Paige's feud with Charlotte certainly had its moments, most notoriously Paige's controversial comment about Charlotte's brother Reid Flair, who passed away in 2013.

If you count the Bellas going through the revolving door twice, and Karen Jarrett turning into a villainess for a brief while as part of the TNA/GFW angle, then that's 10 women who have gone to the dark side in 2015. 2015 ended with Charlotte undergoing a villainous turn of her own, but since it's not complete yet, it doesn't go on the blog. That's one thing I predicted:  Charlotte turning heel in 2016. However, I thought it would happen by the late spring, but they are going through with it, which should be very interesting. Another heel turn I see happening is Velvet Sky. I would think that Velvet wouldn't take too kindly to being overlooked for the rest of 2015, plus she hasn't been champion since the summer of 2013. Here's to a phenomenal 2016!