User blog:CEDJunior/A Look Back: Good Girls Gone Bad in 2013

In case you haven't noticed, I absolutely love female heels in wrestling! I truly do! The one thing I love more than a female heel is when a woman turns from face to heel at an instant, and as 2013 is nearing the end, I thought I'd look back at all of the heel turns that took place in WWE's Divas Division and TNA's Knockouts Division. By my count, a total of nine Divas and Knockouts combined turned heel in 2013; three WWE Divas, three NXT Divas, and three TNA Knockouts. So let's not dilly dally anymore. Let's take a look back at all of the women who took dark and sinster paths in 2013.

The first woman to turn heel this year was Summer Rae; doing so on the January 30 edition of NXT. When the new-look NXT debuted last summer, Summer Rae served as a ring announcer for the most part, and she was doing just that on the aforementioned edition which saw Paige face off against Aksana. Paige ended up winning, and she accidentally bumps into Summer while celebrating her win. Summer appeared to shrug it off, but when Paige's back was turned, the blonde beauty took it upon herself to attack her from behind! Summer's path of villainy led to her defeating Paige two weeks later, and referring to herself as the "First Lady of NXT." It would also see her become the first and (so far) only NXT Diva to make it to the main roster; doing so as Fandango's dance partner after WrestleMania 29.

The next female heel turn wouldn't take place until June, but it was nearly two months in the making. Shortly after becoming the #1 Contender for the Knockouts Championship, Mickie James started slowly turning into a villainess during her title opportunity against Velvet Sky by attacking her injured knee. Despite her viciousness, Mickie was unsuccessful in defeating Velvet, but she would defeat her to become Knockouts Champion a month later after delivering a chopblock to Velvet's bad knee. On June 13, Mickie completed her heel turn by attacking Velvet after she announced that she was cleared to receive her rematch. As a full fledged villain for the first time since 2006, the evil Mickie had successful title defenses against Velvet and fellow heel Gail Kim before losing the title to ODB in what would be her last match for TNA on September 19.

Out of the nine Diva and Knockout heel turns that occurred this year, three of them took place in August, which has been a hotbed for female heel turns for the last decade. The first of the three took place on the second day of the month, and it would see Layla turn heel for the first time since early 2011. On that day, Layla accompanied Kaitlyn to the ring as she was set to compete against AJ Lee for the Divas Championship. Before doing so, Layla appeared during an interview segment and had nothing but nice things to say about Kaitlyn; saying that no one had the drive to be Divas Champion other than Kaitlyn. And Kaitlyn took that drive to the ring and gave titleholder AJ a great fight that escalated outside the ring. Once both Divas were out, Kaitlyn was set to deliver a devastating spear to the very woman who had been tormenting her for several weeks, and possibly closing in on regaining the Divas Championship that she lost to AJ at Payback. But at that very moment, the evil Layla stood right in front of Kaitlyn and prevented her from harming AJ. That brief distraction allowed AJ to recover and defeat Kaitlyn, all while Layla watched in wicked glee. To add insult to injury, Layla left the ring with the victorious AJ.

WWE originally planned to turn Layla into a villainess in the weeks leading to WM29, with the planned Divas match seeing Heel Layla go against then-Divas Champion Kaitlyn for the title. They kiboshed that plan, but they decided to turn Layla heel months later. I was hoping that Layla would attack Kaitlyn during the match, but I was happy with the heel turn nonetheless. I figured that it would happen once Layla started accompanying Kaitlyn to her matches after attempting to console her at Payback. Even after Kaitlyn became alienated from the rest of the Divas Division, Layla was the only one who stood by her. Though after what occurred that night on SmackDown, it appeared that Layla was only using Kaitlyn and waiting for the right time to betray her. In fact, in her first heel promo, Layla stated that she betrayed Kaitlyn just to get attention. The Layla/AJ alliance didn't last long; ending abruptly at Night of Champions.

SummerSlam had a controversial ending to the main event when Daniel Bryan defeated John Cena to win his first WWE Championship. That wasn't the controversy. The controversy came when Triple H, who officiated the match, Pedigreed Bryan and allowed Randy Orton to cash in his Money In The Bank briefcase to take the WWE Title. The next day on Raw, Stephanie McMahon confronted Bryan and said, in so many words, that she agreed with her husband's decision and would refer to Bryan as "a B+ player." With that, Stephanie became a villainess for the first time in seven years, and would become a heel authority figure for the first time since the days of the McMahon-Helmsley Regime. When Stephanie started popping up on WWE TV again this year, I was hoping that I would see one last heel run from her; that's all I wanted. So far, I am loving what I'm seeing from Heel Stephanie! She's more evil now than she was in the Attitude Era; something I didn't think would happen.

Brooke Tessmacher would begin her dark path just days later when she returned to Impact Wrestling as Bully Ray's new girlfriend. By doing so, Brooke also became the First Lady of Aces & Eights; a role I thought would eventually go to another Brooke. I knew that Brooke Tessmacher would turn heel eventually, but I thought it would happen in the New Year, so this was a nice early surprise. Brooke didn't do much competing as a member of Aces & Eights, but she did receive a Knockouts Championship opportunity at Bound For Glory. Of course, the faction is now no more, but Brooke is still working her heel magic in the ring, thank goodness. I still say that this heel character will lead to a push to the Knockouts Championship.

On NXT on September 11, Sasha Banks was set to compete against NXT Women's Champion Paige in a non-title match, but for weeks, she had a devil on her shoulder attempting to corrupt her. The proverbial "devil" was none other than Summer Rae, who responded to Sasha's judgment about her evil actions by stating that her bad attitude and conduct is basically the reason why she's moved up in the world. She even told Sasha, in her own words, to follow that same dark path so she'll be noticed. As for the match, Sasha gave a game effort, but she was defeated by Paige. After the match ended, however, Sasha took it upon herself to attack Paige in the ring, and after she was finished, she took a look at her handiwork and gave what appeared to be a contented smile on her face. It was as if a huge weight was lifted off Sasha's shoulders as she finally shedded her babyface shell and unleashed her heel side to the crowd. As part of her heel gimmick, Sasha referred to herself as "The BOSS of NXT," and aligned with Summer Rae to become the faction known as the Beautiful Fierce Females, or "BFFs" for short.

The following day on Impact saw AJ Styles as the winner of the Bound For Glory Series, and after his victory, he stated that he was going to confront TNA President Dixie Carter the following week. I was hoping that the confrontation would lead to Dixie turning heel somehow, mainly because I had wanted Dixie to become an evil authority figure for a long time. I figured that it wouldn't happen because of Dixie's documented stance against playing an on-screen character. Apparently, Dixie changed her mind about doing so on the evening of September 19 on Impact! The confrontation was the last segment of the show, and AJ said his piece about what he felt Dixie was doing wrong in TNA; well, he said way more than his piece! In response, Dixie turned into a villainess by verbally chewing out her longtime star; saying that she cooked up the "Phenomenal One" nickname and that he should be considered lucky that she "allows" him to be employed in her company, among many other things. Dixie even went as far as shut off the lights to prevent AJ from doing anymore talking.

I was so, so happy that Dixie finally turned heel because I've said for years that she has it in her to be a terrific villainess if given the chance. So far, I've been proven right. Part of Dixie's heel gimmick includes an exaggerated Southern accent, putting her name all over everything, and, of course, putting her own spin on everything to make herself look good; all while sticking her proverbial nose in the air. Plus, Dixie is getting massive Vickie Guererro-type heat! I have love seeing the evil Dixie attempt to mess with AJ, even though he ended up as TNA World Heavyweight Champion anyway. Of course, Dixie now has her own puppet World Champion in Magnus, so that should make things really interesting at the Impact Zone.

The next beauty who would become a villainous vixen in 2013 would be Rosa Mendes, who did so quietly and without pomp and circumstance. Rosa returned to WWE TV in a babyface role; as The Miz's dance partner during his battle with Fandango. However, after weeks off TV, Rosa returned as a heel on October 7, teaming with villanous Divas Alicia Fox and Aksana in a losing effort against Total Divas cast members Natalya, Eva Marie, and JoJo. I've had my mixed feelings about Rosa, and that is mainly because her in-ring skills really haven't improved. But what I do love about Rosa is that she brings a lot of personality and enthusiasm to her role as a villainess. Rosa has to be the only Diva in WWE who can look evil without even trying.

Finally, the November 13 edition of NXT kicked off with a tag team match pitting Charlotte and Bayley against the aforementioned BFFs; a match made due to a confrontation from the previous week. Now in that segment, Charlotte appeared to be annoyed with Bayley, who had been with her for a few months, and that was a sign that the "Nature Girl" would become a villain during the bout. Sure enough, that's what happened. After Bayley successfully fought off her opponents, she reached out to tag Charlotte in. But instead of tagging in, Charlotte turned heel by slapping Bayley on her face and attacking her in the ring, leaving her as fair game for Sasha Banks. After the match ended, Charlotte became the third member of the BFFs. Due to injury, Charlotte hasn't competed since her villainous turn, but I can't wait to see her in action. I wanted Charlotte to turn heel because she has the look of a sexy and powerful villainess. Now it's only a matter of time before we see her work in the ring again.

The total of nine Diva and Knockout heel turns in 2013 is two higher than the total of seven in 2012. Out of all of them, I really loved Mickie's the most; mainly because she hadn't been a heel in so many years and she had not missed a step. I truly loved Layla's heel turn in August, but I still can't help but wonder what type of villainess she could have been had they turned her months earlier. And Dixie's heel turn was a long overdue treat for this wrestling fan!

Now begs the question, who will take the dark path in 2014? I still say that the New Year will see Kaitlyn finally turn heel, especially because WWE has basically teased us with that three years straight! I also want a heel turn for Natalya, because let's face it, she needs it. I also want heel turns for Cameron and Nikki Bella, mainly Cameron because she and Naomi can't be joined at the hip forever. Plus, Cameron has a natural heel look; almost like Melina. As for the Knockouts, I really don't know who could turn heel in TNA. The only one I can possibly think of is Velvet, but I hope that if they turn her, she's not with Chris Sabin. If Velvet is going to become a villainess, it should be against other KOs, IMO. Honestly, if just Kaitlyn turns heel, I'll be happy. The others will just be a big plus to me.