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Five most unexpected heel turns in wrestling history

Following Seth Rollins's betrayal of The Shield on RAW, Sports Mole looks back at five of the most shocking heel turns in the history of professional wrestling.

Seth Rollins shocked the WWE Universe on Monday's RAW when he betrayed The Shield to align himself with Evolution.

The former Hound of Justice used a steel chair to decimate long-time allies Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns at the order of Triple H.

It seems that Rollins has now sold his soul to The Authority, who were one henchman short following Batista's kayfabe walk out to mask his return to movie-making in Hollywood.

It was a heel turn that surprised everyone, and got Sports Mole reminiscing about other moves to the dark side that people did just not see coming. Below is our top five.

1. Stone Cold Steve Austin – WrestleMania X-Seven

Stone Cold Steve Austin and Vince McMahon had a passionate hatred for each other that the foundations for the popular 'The Attitude Era' were built upon.

McMahon would spend most of his time trying to screw Austin out of the WWE Championship, and 'The Texas Rattlesnake' would respond by causing the boss as much pain and embarrassment as possible.

And then the unthinkable happened. In probably the most talked-about WrestleMania finish in history, Austin took a McMahon-sponsored steel chair and destroyed The Rock with it to walk out with the title.

Austin claimed that befriending his great nemesis was a price he was willing to pay to ensure that he would be champion, and the two formed an even more unlikely alliance with Triple H the night after.

It was not long until there was trouble in paradise, though, and only a matter of months later, Stone Cold was stunning McMahon again and trying to put him out of business. Ah, the good old days.

2. Triple H – 2002

As we found out on Monday, 'The Game' always has a plan, and it's often devious.

Triple H spent one edition of RAW persuading the recently-returned Shawn Michaels to reunite D-Generation X.

HBK finally gave in to nostalgic temptation, and it seemed like 1997 again when the two best friends made their way down to the ring to DX music and sporting the faction's merchandise.

However, it proved to all be a hoodwink on the part of a jealous Triple H, who shocked Michaels with a thumping Pedigree to trigger a fierce rivalry in which 'The King of Kings' exorcised the demons he felt when playing second fiddle to 'The Show Stopper' during their original run together.

There is a good reason that one of his many monikers is 'The Cerebral Assassin'.

3. Sgt Slaughter– 1990

Sgt Slaughter became a much-loved figure in the 1980s by defending America's honour as the ultimate patriot.

He battled the hated Iranian powerhouse, The Iron Shiekh, in a feud which catapulted his popularity to a level whereby he was the company's second biggest face star, behind only Hulk Hogan.

So when he returned to the WWE in 1990 to challenge Hogan for the top belt, imagine the crowd's astonishment when they found Slaughter to now be a sympathiser of the Iraqi regime.

With US political relations with the Middle East sticky to say the least at the time, the turncoat Slaughter became so disdained by fans that he received death threats and was accompanied by masses of security at every public appearance.

Alas, good old Sarge returned to his US flag-bearing ways as the years went on and the WWE fans still occasionally see him on television today, with all forgiven if not quite forgotten.

4. Paul Bearer – 1996

Paul Bearer and The Undertaker had been practically inseparable for all but four months of 'The Phenom's' WWE career prior to SummerSlam 1996.

The 2014 Hall of Fame inductee, who passed away in March 2013, always carried with him the urn said to contain the ashes of The Undertaker's deceased parents.

This gave Bearer a magnetic hold over 'The Deadman', which seemed like it would never be broken, having led Taker to two world titles and WWE domination.

But then Bearer performed the ultimate betrayal, casting his adopted son aside to associate himself with Taker's arch-enemy Mankind, helping the latter win their Boiler Room Brawl match at SummerSlam 1996.

He would later reprise his ghostly marriage with 'The Phenom' on a couple of occasions, and ditch him for his brother Kane each time, but this was the most unexpected of Bearer's back-stabbings.

5. Hulk Hogan – 1996

This quite rightly goes down as the most shocking heel turn of all time.

Hulk Hogan had been booked as the ultimate American hero for the entirety of his WWE career, encouraging kids to eat their vitamins and say their prayers.

Hogan and Vince McMahon between them created 'Hulkamania' and a character that was famous way outside of the world of professional wrestling.

What WCW did with him was make him the most hated man on their roster, by bravely having him turn against the fans who had adored him for well over a decade.

Rumours were rife about who would be the third member of 'The Outsiders' heading into Bash at the Beach 1996, but nobody in their right mind had anticipated 'The Hulkster' joining forces with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall.

The New World Order was formed, and well, the rest is history.

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