AEW Stars To Turn Heel Soon

AEW

With AEW looking ahead to All Out 2026 on September 26, there could potentially be some character changes en route to the event.

The past few months have been no stranger to heel turns, with Kenny Omega perhaps being the most high profile example. But with ‘The Cleaner’ now seemingly back on the babyface side, as well as Swerve Strickland, there is room for some other babyfaces to turn to the dark side.

Here are three AEW stars to potentially turn heel soon.

Callum Newman

Taking up a position in Will Ospreay’s corner for his AEW World Championship match with Kenny Omega at All In London was Callum Newman, Henare and Francesco Akira of United Empire.

The group once again had Ospreay’s back on this past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite (September 2), teaming up with ‘The Aerial Assassin’ (along with Andrade El Idolo) to defeat the team of The Demand (Ricochet, Toa Liona & Bishop Kan) and The Dogs (Gabe Kidd & Clark Connors).

While things appear to have smoothed over entirely between Ospreay and Newman, they spent much of the Summer at odds with one another due to Will’s relationship with Jon Moxley and the Death Riders.

With Ospreay and Moxley set to share the ring at All Out, it will be interesting to see if more tensions emerge between Ospreay and his protégé in the lead up to the event, as a full blown heel turn could be coming for Newman later down the line.

Adam Copeland

At AEW All In London, Christian Cage and Adam Copeland successfully defended their AEW World Tag Team Titles against the Young Bucks with thanks to a cast used as a weapon by Cage in the closing moments.

Christian expressed zero remorse for the manner in which they won on Wednesday’s Dynamite, but Copeland – being the self admitted voice of reason – did, and offered both the Bucks and the returning FTR a shot at the Tag Titles at All Out.

While Copeland has remained the level-headed of his team, we all know that the ‘Rated R Superstar’ has done his best career work as a heel, and now might be the time for AEW to allow both he and Christian to fully embrace that role.

Perhaps doing so with another questionable retention of their gold at All Out, Cope & Cage can roll back the years with their first heel run together since 2001.

The Hurt Syndicate

After arriving in AEW to much fanfare back in 2024, The Hurt Syndicate’s position and importance in the company has dwindled quite significantly over the Summer.

Appearing pretty much exclusively on Collision, Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin and MVP have been busy feuding with Shane Taylor Promotions for the past few months, but appear to have now settled their issue after defeating them during the All In London Buy In.

The Hurt Syndicate spending All In on the pre-show, and teaming with Big Boom AJ and Big Justice at that, signifies how much their stock has dropped, and it’s about time their fortunes turned around.

Rather than being babyface mercenaries for hire, Lashley and Benjamin should work of their own volition and seek to reclaim top spots by force. While he is 50-years-old, Lashley is a former two-time WWE Champion and has both name value and credibility. It’s time for AEW to find a better use for him and The Hurt Syndicate.

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