Can Cena turn heel?

[Evolution001]

I know I have never posted before but I have read a lot of posts concerning Cena turning heel and Im not sure they can pull it off. When monster faces like the Rock turn heel they were able to pair him off with a mega heel like Vince. I'm not sure the company has a guy like that to pair him with or even a big enough face to turn him against espicaially on raw. Its possible that if they ever tried to do that, the lil 5 yr olds will just root for him anyway. As cool as a cena heel turn could be I'm not sure logistically it can happen.

[Juan]

Half the crowd boos him anyway, it wouldn't be THAT hard to completely turn him. Will it ever happen though? Highly unlikely, seeing as how he's a merch cash cow.

[Exyle]

In an ironic twist, turning John Cena heel causes him to get the same reaction. The half that cheers him now will be booing because he's a heel, and the half that's booing him now will be cheering because it's a fresh change.

[Xero]

The only way I could see him being heel is if he goes an "all business" route, sort of like Jericho, because if they revert back to giving him a real edge he'll have a similar "problem" to Austin where he's a heel but everyone is rooting for him.

Honestly, Cena doesn't NEED to turn, they just need to fix the character, which won't happen until they at least try to cater to the 18-49 demo.

[Hanso Amore]

Have Cena get into it with Austin.

Austin vs Cena at WM25, Cena heel turn rolling into and out of it.

Book it.

[Kane Knight]

If Cena wew to attack someone like HBK (Barring the current storyline), sucker punch him and whatnot, and they sold it as him being a bastard, it'd be easy enough to turn him heel.

Or they could have him wave an Arab flag or something.

[Afterlife]

Cena can easily turn heel. And it would start with him saying that he can do anything because the fans are behind him. And then become delusional, doing heel things and still claiming that the fans are behind him, no matter what. As long as he drags the fans with him and pisses them off by speaking for them, instead of cliche insulting them, it'd be basically turning the real situation into an exaggerated storyline.

[BigDaddyCool]

I like Afterlife's. Becoming complete delusional having Cena completely ignoring what all the fans are saying.

[HeartBreakMan2k]

Not really, not a full blown heel. At this point his character, even if you make it more squeaky clean will forever get cheers from his current fan base. Turn him heel and his old fan base would rally behind him HUGE.

[Afterlife]

I like Afterlife's. Becoming complete delusional having Cena completely ignoring what all the fans are saying.

No matter what, in his mind, they're always behind him. He'd be able to justify any heelish activity by saying "It's what the Chain Gang wants!"

[Afterlife]

Not really, not a full blown heel. At this point his character, even if you make it more squeaky clean will forever get cheers from his current fan base. Turn him heel and his old fan base would rally behind him HUGE.

Also, my suggestion avoids this perceived problem. You don't make him any different in personality. He doesn't become the angry goon he used to be. He stays Birght-eyes, Sunshine Happiness Wigger. He doesn't need a bad attitude. He just needs to say that all the underhanded crap he's pulling is because the fans like him, always will, and thusly they like anything he does. As long as he drags them with him on his way, he's a heel.

[Jeritron]

They can clearly make him heel. Whether they should, or will is really the debate.

[BigDaddyCool]

Kinda make him like babyface Rocky Miavia when he first debuted, big dumb grin, always happy, sickly sweet.

[Lock Jaw]

Make him start shilling all this fake merchandise, like Krusty the Clown level of ridiculous endorsements. And have him go on about how its so great that all the little 12 year old girls out there will buy anything with his face on it.

[BigDaddyCool]

John Cena brand training bras?

[Afterlife]

Or panties. His face on your 12 y/o's crotch. Now THAT'S marketing.

[Jeritron]

Eventually the merchandise sales will slow down, then you'll see some action. Even Hogan and Austin were turned into mega-heels eventually. How many toy spinner belts can you sell before every home in america has one?

[thedamndest]

He would pretty much play the heel he played at ONS. Like Afterlife said, he grins, drops his shirt outside the ring, doesn't care about his fans just being "The Champ" and thinking he is better than the guy across the ring from him.

There doesn't have to be a face right away for him to take on. He can go on beating everyone, because frankly, that's what got him all the heat in the first place.

[BigDaddyCool]

Hogan was only turned heel when he went to WCW.

[Jeritron]

Which makes it even more of a good point. WCW usually just ran with the stars and gimmicks they inherited. Things change eventually. Sooner or later Cena-mania, if it even exists, will be less favorable than a heel turn.
Also, turning Cena heel would be a measure they would take to lengthen his run. It would allow for an eventual face turn.

It'll be a few years at least though, I'd say.

[Afterlife]

He would pretty much play the heel he played at ONS. Like Afterlife said, he grins, drops his shirt outside the ring, doesn't care about his fans just being "The Champ" and thinking he is better than the guy across the ring from him.

There doesn't have to be a face right away for him to take on. He can go on beating everyone, because frankly, that's what got him all the heat in the first place.

Exactly. Claiming they support him, no matter what he's doing, will totally get on their nerves. Especially if he's not all unnecessarily angry, a la Edge.

[BigDaddyCool]

I love the idea. Cause the first thing freshly turned heels do is rip on the audience about how they held him back and now he can focus on his career instead of the cheers.

[Afterlife]

Yup. And this is a total reversal. It's the heel saying the audience supports him being a douchbag. It's something...dare I say aloud...new.

[Lock Jaw]

Isn't Santino all delusional and thinks that everyone is always cheering him?

[BigDaddyCool]

Isn't Santino all delusional and thinks that everyone is always cheering him?

No.

[Xero]

I can't see the fans biting without Cena siding with a major heel, which would kind of defeat the purpose of Afterlife's idea. Otherwise it would be an Austin situation where the fans are cheering the heel.

Not that I wouldn't love it, but I can't see the current Cena fan base going against him with such a subtle storyline.

[BigDaddyCool]

Yup. And this is a total reversal. It's the heel saying the audience supports him being a douchbag. It's something...dare I say aloud...new.

I preffer this kind of natural booking to WWE's lets make everything they way we want it to despite it not turning out that way style of booking, or even to TNA's wait...does it feel like we forgot something...like aren't these guys suppose to do something besides arguing and pretend to be mafia...i could have sworn there was something else to this...style of booking.

[Afterlife]

I can't see the fans biting without Cena siding with a major heel, which would kind of defeat the purpose of Afterlife's idea. Otherwise it would be an Austin situation where the fans are cheering the heel.

Not that I wouldn't love it, but I can't see the current Cena fan base going against him with such a subtle storyline.

But see, he could do that. There's no reason he can't. He would simply "take the fans with him".

[Evolution001]

I agree with you xero and im not sure there is a heel big enough to side him with. Possibly JBL with all the heat he is getting for the HBM employment

[XL]

I like AL idea a lot.

But if you needed him to turn on someone to hammer home the heel turn in a traditional way I think the best option is Rey. Just have Cena smash the shit out of Rey. He's pretty much the most sympathetic character they have. But, doing that is reverting to Booking 101 and it seems we want something different.

Outside of that we have the Austin/Jericho route. Have Cena align himself with a heel McMahon then renounce anything that ties him to his face character. New music, have him revert back to wearing tights and boots, etc. But, once again it's all been there, done that.

Short answer is they can tuen him heel. I don't think they will for a long time to come. And when they do I doubt it'll be a 'subtlr' as AL's idea.

[Xero]

But see, he could do that. There's no reason he can't. He would simply "take the fans with him".

True. Thinking it over, Edge is the only character where this would actually work.

First, turn Edge for a few months. Have him play a Cena-esq character, but as a true face, while Cena is playing the "I'm face but really not" gimmick. Eventually, move Edge over to RAW and start a feud with Cena. Build it up as a "first contact" match, where they don't touch until the match. Have them both drop the gimmick in the match and give Cena a gimmick similar to Edge's (though obviously not as evil) and put Edge back in his old gimmick.

This would put HUGE amounts of heat on Cena. I figure the gimmick you give is, at best, a transition gimmick, and fully turning him like this solidifies Cena as a heel.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Yes, the WWE could very easily turn Cena heel.

[FourFifty]

Cena won't turn heel until 2012. And no, that's not a joke about the Incan doomsday. Working on a blog about where wrestling is headed, and within 3 years I see this industry as being turned upside down.

[Triple Naitch]

Shut up taker707. Oh, sorry. Wrong guy.

[Kane Knight]

John Cena brand training bras?

"Careful, Mr. Cena, those training bras tend to explode on contact with flesh."

[KYR]

My "Rock" radar went off and now I feel compelled to post in this thread.

Irrespective of what I or anyone else would LIKE to see happen (and BTW I love some of the ideas above) I just don't believe it's a real possibility...just yet.

Cena's "character" represents too much of a cash cow to the WWE that I just don't think they would do anything to jeopardise the revenue generation.

The best we could hope for at the moment would be a tweak to his character as Xero suggested.

[thedamndest]

Theoretically, wouldn't a stronger face that garnered better ratings generate better cash flow?

[KYR]

Well yes. And that is encapsulated in the "tweaking" of his character.

At the moment his character is just meh.

[Legend Killer]

John Cena brand training bras?

Already exists.

[Destor]

Half the crowd boos him anyway, it wouldn't be THAT hard to completely turn him. Will it ever happen though? Highly unlikely, seeing as how he's a merch cash cow.Half the crowd doesn't really boo him anymore. Maybe like 3% now really.

[Johnny Vegas]

Whoever thought up the idea of the "double-turn" scenario at WrestleMania between Orton ahd Cena is going to be looked at as a genius if the WWE plays its cards right. With what happen on RAW with Vince and Orton, a double turn would be PERFECT. That is just what Orton needed to get that underdog fan support.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I never liked the idea...until now. But I doubt the WWE will go through with it.

[Fabien Barthez]

They could do alsorts of things with a delusional, money grabbing turn. They could run separate Cena merchandise stands at events and do vignettes of it and stuff, he could start selling all his stuff for 5 dollars more than anybody elses. He could rip off classic t shirts like Hogan, Austin, DX.... If cena was acting like a prick heel, and was trying to sell a Cena 3:16 t-shirt, I think it would sell. They could do this and probably maintain the merchandise sales.

I think they need to get someone for him to fued with first

[Afterlife]

I'm not sure about rip-offs, but jacking up the prices of his stuff would be brilliant. Because no matter how pricy, the fans will buy it. "Because they understand! They get it! THat's why they love me -- no matter what!"

[Dorkchop]

Exactly. Claiming they support him, no matter what he's doing, will totally get on their nerves. Especially if he's not all unnecessarily angry, a la Edge.

Reminds me of when he was feuding with Angle. WWE tried everything they used Angle to make Cena the biggest babyface in this industry, but it backfired. Angle was getting cheered no matter what he said or did because Angle is god.

Although the Cena heel turn idea is different if it were to happen on purpose. It just reminded me of his feud with Angle. They could use that for a bit of inspiration. Cena was the most hated guy in the arena, but women and children still supported him no matter what. I like the idea of this. Too bad it won't happen.

[GD]

It doesn't matter anymore. It would have mattered if it would have been done at the right time. They need to wait.