6 Heel Turns Before WWE Night Of Champions 2026

WWE

In three weeks time on Saturday, June 27, WWE will head back to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for Night of Champions 2026, an event where titles will be defended and this year’s King & Queen of the Ring will be crowned.

With three Raws and three SmackDowns still to go until we get there however, there is still plenty of time for some surprising storyline developments, including several members of the WWE roster turning heel.

Here are six potential heel turns to take place before WWE Night of Champions 2026.

6. Maxxine Dupri

Perhaps the most telegraphed heel turn in all of WWE right now is Maxxine Dupri, who for the past several months has been spotted meeting up with Austin Theory of The Vision.

Dupri and Theory’s storyline romance has not gone unnoticed by her Alpha Academy stablemates Otis and Akira Tozawa, however, Dupri has simply asked them to “trust her.”

The former WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion showed off more of an edge when she confronted Adam Pearce about his decision to omit her from the Queen of the Ring tournament, so it appears as if it may be matter of time before she flips the switch and embraces her darker side.

Joining The Vision as it’s only female member, Dupri could start taking opportunities by force rather than allowing herself to be forgotten or pushed to the side.

5. Angelo Dawkins

Speaking of Austin Theory, he recently went on a warpath after learning that his tag team partner Logan Paul suffered a torn tricep at Saturday Night’s Main Event on May 23.

Specifically, Paul tore his tricep whilst taking a dive from one Angelo Dawkins, meaning that he soon became a prime target for Theory, as he sought revenge on everyone who disrespected Paul.

As well as Joe Hendry, Dawkins was brutally dispatched by Theory with a conchairto on the May 25 WWE Raw, and since then, we have only seen Dawkins’ partner Montez Ford.

While it would make very little sense for Dawkins to return and join The Vision rather than get revenge on Theory, it would make for an unexpected moment, and give Dawkins and Ford the opportunity to pursue singles careers for the first time in WWE.

4. Ilja Dragunov

Another absent WWE star is Ilja Dragunov, however, unlike Dawkins, who has only been off TV a few weeks, Dragunov hasn’t competed on TV since the 2026 Andre The Giant Battle Royal on April 17.

With no clear and obvious reason as to why Dragunov has been gone, one must assume that the decision is due to a lack of creative ideas for him.

Rather than let him stew on the sidelines, WWE could bring Dragunov back in a new heel role, something that would at the very least give him a shot in the arm.

Whether it be returning to renew his feuds with Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes, targeting the super popular Chad Gable, or joining forces with GUNTHER – Dragunov is too good to be sat on the sidelines for much longer.

3. Royce Keys

While he had to wait a while to properly debut on WWE TV after showing up as a surprise entrant in the 2026 Men’s Royal Rumble, Royce Keys has made up for lost time and firmly established himself as one of Friday Night SmackDown’s top new stars.

With an Andre The Giant Battle Royal win under his belt, Keys as been involved in on-screen angles with GUNTHER, The Bloodline’s Jimmy & Jey Uso, Jacob Fatu and MFTs leader Solo Sikoa.

It is Sikoa that Keys has ran into the most however, and the former United States Champion is not taking no for an answer when it comes to trying to recruit Royce to his family.

After Damian Priest refused to help Keys when being beatdown three-on-one by The MFTs on this past Friday’s SmackDown, Sikoa confronted Keys backstage and implored him to strongly think about joining their family given how little help there is for him on his own. While Keys will most likely be defiant an d continue to fight back, we could potentially see him concede and join Sikoa’s faction, turning heel in the process.

2. Damian Priest

As mentioned, it was Damian Priest who made the call not to help Keys when he was being attacked by The MFTs on the June 5 WWE SmackDown, even pulling his tag team partner R-Truth from the ring to avoid him getting hurt.

While Priest’s reasoning for not trusting Keys is sound enough given his history with Sikoa and The Bloodline family as a whole, not helping the former AEW star is certainly more of a heel-leaning decision, especially given how keen Truth is to lend a helping hand.

Much like The Miz’s partnership with Truth two years ago, it feels like, eventually, Priest may get fed up with Truth’s decision making and the need to watch over him at all times.

Given how beloved Truth is with the WWE audience, Priest doing anything to hurt him would immediately establish him as one of SmackDown’s most despised heels.

1. Bayley

Switching gears to WWE Raw for our last entry, and during the June 1 episode we got a very slight tease of a potential character change for Bayley.

When Lyra Valkyria talked to new WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion Sol Ruca about receiving a future title shot, Bayley seemed a little bit miffed.

Fans will remember that Bayley tried and failed to capture that same title several times in 2025, and Valkyria attempting to win the gold, rather than focus on capturing the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles could be enough to tip WWE’s “Role Model” over the edge.

Bayley turning heel would sadly break up one of WWE’s best women’s tag teams, but it would present Sol Ruca with a potential long-term feud as Women’s IC Champion.

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• heel turn
• wwe
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