10 Most Shocking Heel Turns In WWE

8. Sergeant Traitor

When he left WWE in the mid-80's, Sgt. Slaughter was one of the hottest babyfaces in the territory after standing up to the hated Iron Sheik. 

He made way for a new man defending America's honour, though, as Hulk Hogan stepped in and Sarge took off for the AWA. 

When he returned in 1990, it was perhaps a natural that Slaughter would team with Hogan, who was still riding high as the do-gooder face of the company. Vince McMahon, however, had other ideas, and proposed that he turn his back on the stares and stripes and feud with the red-and-yellow menace instead.

Ramping up the heat a few notches, Sarge's heel turn would occur during Iraq's invasion of Kuwait (which led to the Gulf War), with the real-life GI Joe becoming an Iraqi sympathiser amidst complaints that his own country had gone soft. 

As part of the attitude and character change, Slaughter aligned himself with General Adnan and Colonel Mustafa (Iron Sheik) and began wearing Arab headdresses and using the Camel Clutch as a finisher. 

It was a truly shocking change in tact and resulted in Slaughter receiving death threats. Thankfully, the company didn't go through with him burning Old Glory on air, as had been discussed (a sacred Hulk Hogan t-shirt was used instead). 

While some questioned the taste of Slaughter's newly heel ways considering what was going on in the world at the time, it was successful for the man behind the gimmick, as he won the WWE Title from the Ultimate Warrior and main-evented WrestleMania opposite the Hulkster.