WWE SmackDown stars to turn heel soon: Four names who will go to the dark side on Friday nights

Published: 2 hours ago by SP3 | Last Updated: 9 hours ago by SP3

Born in Harlem, New York and now living in the Bronx, Sid Pullar III aka SP3 is a lifelong wrestling fan who has been covering the industry for over nine years as a podcaster and writer. His passion for the industry has been documented with over 3,000 videos on YouTube and 8,000 written pieces across multiple outlets, such as WrestleTalk, Sports Illustrated and more.
@TruHeelSP3

The Friday Night SmackDown roster has seen some alignment changes in recent months.

Most recently, Damian Priest turned heel when he betrayed and attacked his tag team partner R-Truth.

Following in Priest’s footsteps, there could be even more SmackDown talent who are set to turn heel in the coming weeks and months.

Here are four WWE SmackDown stars to potentially turn heel soon.

Tiffany Stratton

After losing her Secret Her-vice, Chelsea Green attempted to make friends with Tiffany Stratton.

Despite her apprehension, Stratton eventually joined forces with Green and they have since become the best friends.

Along the way, Green went on to win the Interim WWE Women’s Championship.

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Now with her entry into the Women’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match on October 10, Stratton could win this bout and turn on Green by cashing in her contract to become WWE Women’s Champion again.

Carmelo Hayes

At the start of 2026, Carmelo Hayes was featured weekly as the United States Champion.

After weeks of open challenges, Hayes lost the gold to Sami Zayn and was left off the WrestleMania 42 card as a result.

Since then, Melo has not been able to find his footing on SmackDown and has not been featured in a couple of months now.

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Wanting to get his spot back, Carmelo Hayes could turn heel and go after his former friend Trick Williams to regain the United States Championship on SmackDown.

Charlotte Flair

Charlotte Flair has had a transformation in the past year thanks in large part to her friendship and partnership with Alexa Bliss.

Then, Bliss brought in some backup for herself and Flair in the form of Tatum Paxley to do battle with Jade Cargill and The Baddies.

Since then, there has been a bit of dissension between Flair and Paxley over their different personalities and not being able to get on the same page.

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With a WWE Tag Team Championship opportunity on the October 9 SmackDown, Flair might take failure in this bout as a reason to turn on Tatum Paxley and turn heel once again.

Cody Rhodes

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At WWE Sunday Night’s Main Event, Randy Orton defeated Cody Rhodes. During the course of the bout, Rhodes had the chance to deliver a Punt Kick to Orton, but he chose not to pull the trigger.

There has been some questions around if Rhodes has it in him to pull the trigger when the time is right.

This crisis of confidence has been a dark cloud over “The American Nightmare” and could lead to a shift in his character.

Cody Rhodes turning heel feels like long overdue at this point and should cause a domino effect on Friday Night SmackDown moving forward.

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