What’s Up With WWE’s Flip Flop Fever?

This week’s question has been brewing for a little while. Honestly, it was really brought to the surface by last week’s Kevin Owens heel turn. That was the most recent example, but not the only one in recent memory. When it happened, and I pondered it, a few thoughts hit me. First, it seemed inevitable-as much as I had wanted to see a nice long KO face run, you just knew eventually he’d go back to his heel ways. Second, I get it. Turns, both heel and face, are part of the business. They happen frequently, so I get it. I mean, in the end, I will admit that KO was going to turn back sooner or later. But if you think about it…what’s up with WWE’s flip flop fever?

Like I said, this goes back past last week. Look back over the last year, roughly, and we can think of a few other examples of Superstars who were turned, only to be turned back in short order. That’s where the beef is for me-not that WWE turned a Superstar. Rather, it’s that they didn’t let that turn do much of anything for very long. Perhaps in each case it was the plan, to flip flop…but if it was, it does not feel like a great plan. Those other examples? How about Rusev, Braun Strowman and Elias.

Rusev

Admittedly, this one bothered me a bit for a couple reasons. First, WWE really fumbled the whole Rusev Day gimmick. Had they played it right, Rusev could have been over in a major way. Instead, they seemed uninterested in pushing him, despite fans clamoring for it. Before we knew it, Rusev and Aiden English split up, with English being a heel. Give it a few months, and Rusev was a heel too. Rusev Day was killed off before it ever had a chance to do as well as it could have. It’s unfortunate, and just a bit disappointing.

Braun Strowman

This was an odd one too. Braun obviously came in as a heel, part of the Wyatt Family. Debuting as a heel makes things easier for guys, as its a lot easier to get heel heat than it is to get over as a babyface. Over time, fans warmed to the big man, and he did turn and become a face. When The Shield was enjoying their reunion-before Reigns went down with cancer-Strowman ended up aligned with heels Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler. Fans were not happy.

The good news is Strowman wound up flipping back to a babyface before too long…but that heel stretch kind of felt like a slap in the face. It was another example of WWE not giving fans what they cheered for (although the disappointment was, as I said, short lived).

Speaking of disappointment…

Elias

Here’s another example of a Superstar who was, by all accounts and measures, getting over with fans. Now, he was a heel, but week in and week out, we got to see how his appeal grew. More and more fans wanted to walk with Elias. Eventually, WWE gave in, and we got a babyface turn for Elias. It was great. It was fun.

And it was wickedly short-lived.

By the Royal Rumble, we had heel Elias back…and given his current activities against Roman Reigns, it looks like heel Elias is here to stay for a while.

So what’s the point here? Well, it’s four very recent examples of guys WWE turned, but turned back rapidly. Heck, I could have even tossed in Dean Ambrose or the returning Bray Wyatt, if I really wanted to. My point is simple…sometimes turns are short-lived, and I get that. But to do it that many times in the span of less than twelve months just looks peculiar, to be nice about it.

The upshot is that with Strowman and Ambrose, WWE went back on the decision and people were happy. The others? Not so much. The McMahon family was on TV last December vowing to give fans what fans wanted…but all those moves seem to indicate that Vince and family either don’t know, or don’t care, at least in certain aspects.

WNZ readers, does WWE have a flip flop problem, or was this just odd timing but otherwise business as usual?