Will the WWE miss the chance to turn Cena full blow heel?
 

He's long overdue. They've teased it a few times. Even teased it at Royal Rumble where he was clearly working as a heel. He seems to be getting close to his final run with WWE and it needs to count. They need to turn him heel and stay heel long enough for him to have a comeback face story.

Am i wrong here? I dont want to see this guy be constant face for 97% of his career.

I don't think he wants to. He seems to really enjoy the make a wish stuff and now he is getting movie roles and bits on SNL. He probably doesn't want to rock the boat by going full on heel.

Couple that with the fact that he has won over so many of the hardcore fans by having so great matches recently, he probably doesn't see a need to rock the boat.

As you say, he can always play heel in a match if the situation calls for it.

Moms buying merch for their kids, and his involvement w/Make-a-Wish is why I'd speculate they refuse to turn him heel.

The payoff of being a heel for 5 months and then turning face because of something... it's a huge payoff if written right.

Maybe for shock value but I don't see it helping the company or Cena. Cena needs to be a face for his audience. Everything is about self promoting these days. Cena won't want to damage his own brand.

I agree. Same thing for Roman... turning heel would finally get him over.

Obviously, I don't know what goes on in the minds of creative, or what their reasons are... I just assume merch sales among the kids has something significant to do with it.

You cant turn him. Half the crowd boos him half the crowd cheer him. You would only flip which half does which while throwing good money in the trash.

I mean it would be good tv but I agree that the make-a-wish and stuff of that ilk is too important.

Being a babyface like he is is kind of special, not his hugest fan but they've stayed the course to this point she he may as well just stay babyface.

I think it would be a mistake at this point. I used to think he could have this Hoganesque resurgence if he turned heel but if you think about it, Terry Bollea is a heel, and John Cena just isn't. Hulkamania was an act and Cenanation is just who Cena is. I'm not saying Cena couldn't pull it off but I just think better off as the best good guy ever. Plus even when he retires they will still make millions off his merch.

Yeah, there's just no plausible scenario any more that would cause Cena to turn heel. I mean, he's lost his temper with rivals in the past and maybe displayed heelish tendencies... but he's endured and dismissed the crowds booing him for so long, what would he hope to achieve by suddenly being a "bad guy"? (in kayfabe).

At this point, I doubt they ever do or it simply won't have the same impact now that he's a part timer.

They already missed seeral big chances for a meaningful turn like the Rock-Cena feud or when he started to call himself the "gatekeeper" against new stars. Even winning #16 could have been a big chance to turn him.

I think beating Flairs record would be the thing to turn him.

Have him become so obsessed with it, but can't do it. Then finally, he spazzes and chair shots the champ to death in the last effort for him to finally do it.

Yes they will.

Correct answer. Going heel would be a vanity move at this point.

Who would heel Cena even go against at this point? Dean Ambrose? Apollo Crews & Kalisto?

This.

Cena's also finally getting good will behind him. Getting killed by Brock, the US Title reign and just generally getting better have put him through the wash. He is finally the babyface that Vince wanted to push him as over a decade ago.

At WrestleMania they should have John Cena & Nikki beat The Miz & Maryse. Then Cena grabs the mic and cuts a heartfelt speech. He says that there's something he needs to get off his chest to Nikki Bella. She starts tearing up because she thinks he is going to ask her to marry him. He tells her that everything Natalya said was right. Nattie then starts making out with Cena in front of Tyson Kidd in the front row. Nattie puts out a Tweet later on that night and says "That was the best sex ever. No wonder they call him Big Match John. You can keep the cats Tyson x"

On SmackDown Cena and Nattie do a Live Sex Celebration but it's interrupted by Cesaro who takes off his tear-away suit and tells Cena to put it on because they have something to talk about. Tyson Kidd is his best friend and he wants to fight for his honor since Cena picked on a guy that can't fight. Cena vs. Cesaro then headlines Backlash: Start of the Road.

If the Cena/Nikki lovefest thing was played out more in a wrestling storyline than in a "reality tv show" storyline, I'd be all for that! It would be a great move on his part if he told Nikki to take a walk and started making out with Nat on the "grandest stage of them all." Truly a Wrestlemania Moment to remember.

But seriously, I doubt a full-fledged Cena heel turn will ever happen. The last real moment that they had to do it to which would have been a mega turn was at the end of Wrestlemania 29 when Cena/Rock stood on the ramp at the end raising each others' hands. That was THE MOMENT.... never happened. Won't ever happen unfortunately.

Nikki should propose to John Cena after he taps out to AJ Styles, proving to audiences that there is valor in defeat, and that at the end of the day you still have love.

Ship's sailed if you ask me. Had a few opportunities to pull it off. But, like most said, when he's a PR machine for Make-A-Wish, morning talk shows, movies, merchandise, etc., kinda hard to make him a full blown heel.

I usually have the argument with a few people. We grew up with Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, The Rock to name a few. All of them were faces, heroes to the children. But during their career, all went to the other side at some point and played a "bad guy" (no, not Razor Ramon). nWo Hollywood Hogan, America hating Bret Hart, etc. Eventually, they became good again.

Why Vince/Creative never ventured into the dark side with John Cena is beyond me. Probably one of the bigger mysteries in pro wrestling. Would have loved for it to happen. But after all these years of the bullshit shoved down our throat, I've learned to live with the fact we ain't going to see heel John Cena. Atleast not anytime soon.

I think the more immediate question is whether or not Roman Reigns turns heel or is just silently the heel he currently is?

I think they can still turn him. It would be a retelling of Hogan coming to WCW. Giving him the belt right off the bat, shoving him down everyone's throats, etc.

Hope you get a fan rebellion then turn him mega heel.

It's gonna take a while though. He'd have to leave completely for a little while while they establish other guys and then you hope he has another few years left in him and that he does wanna come back.

BIGGER question is is he still Vince's #1 guy for the future?

Who would be in the current day WWE version Dungeon of Doom to start Cena's downfall into completely unbearable?

I think so. Vince is stubborn like that. I think Taker/Reigns is going to be used to "pass the yard" over to Reigns and Brock or Goldberg is used to pass the title onto him. That being said, I don't know why they didn't just go with Reigns as champion if that were the case. Hmm.

Well, I don't know if Reigns is going to be sustainable as the A1 guy, but I think he'll be at that main event level and be available to slip into the title programs whenever they need him to. Kind of like what Undertaker was like for years.

If only The League of Nations were around.

I will say Cena will never turn.

There is no one who is currently on the roster, or in NXT that comes close to his ability to do the great PR work he does. Whether he's doing a radio plug, commercial, talk show, Make-A-Wish, etc, he can't be replaced.

Also, turning heel does nothing IMO. The people who cheer him now will boo him, and the people who boo him now will cheer him. Cena is who he is.

That ship has sailed. I think they should've turned him a few years back. I don't see how he would've needed to stop doing his charity work though, everyone knows it's just a storyline.

Hollywood Cena, like hollywood rock but made to fit cena as a heel.

Maybe sAnItY Perhaps?

You think a 5 year old on his death bed does?

I think that ship has sailed. The money he brings in is too great and the make a wish stuff is too important. Why turn him heel if it's just to appease smarks?

Yeah too late now. Look at when he won the title at the Rumble and waded through the crowd to celebrate with what I assume was a Make-A-Wish kid, and how much that must have meant to the kid/his parents. He's got as much good will with the WWE audience as he's had in years, and his stock has never been higher in the mainstream. Why risk it?

I also think Roman Reigns has helped Cena out. We see where the ship is heading and we prefer to stick with the devil we know. That's not a knock on Reigns' talent in a "Cena is better" sense, but we have already been through this before -- people are NOT taking it again. You finally beat us into loving Cena, but that experiment has left us too exhausted to passionately protest Reigns. In comparison, the "Final Form Cena" is a lot more enticing than going through the evolution of Roman Reigns and getting to a point of peace a decade into the push.

Reigns could be the villain in the next chapter of John Cena's story. He is the "failed sun" that collapses under the hate and becomes a black hole of destruction bent on taking his frustrations at his own failures out on The Franchise he could never become. That fits him. He might even come off as "cool" doing it, and people might start to see some charisma in him.

I swear to god you should be on the creative team, Noid. That idea for Reigns would literally be the best thing that could happen to both him and Cena at this point.

Reigns vs Cena would be the most confusing feud ever if they both went into it as the WWE chosen face. The crowd wouldn't know what to do.

Crowd would cheer for Cena, or at the very least they'd boo Reigns way more. At this point I'd be willing to bet that 90% of the people saying "Cena sucks" are just doing it out of habit or because it's "cool". The Reigns hate on the other hand is very much legitimate.

It should have been done during the Authority storyline. Where, during the Rumble match, he just randomly leaves, because he has nothing to lose if they lose. And then he starts expecting things to go his way.

I like an evil Reigns going on a tear en route to taking out the man whose shoes he wasn't big enough fill.