Mr. Nerfect
04-27-2016, 07:32 AM
With three major stars set to return in the coming months, and with at least two of the three likely to receive favorable reactions, and the WWE having a bit of a heel problem at the moment (if you don't count Roman Reigns), I'd like your thoughts as to which star returns and reveals themselves to be an utter conniving utter bastard.
John Cena: The perennial babyface of the WWE world. He's been a face since he turned back in 2004, and he grants all those wishes for the kiddies. But with Roman Reigns looking to take the, *ahem*, reigns, there's an obvious barrier with Cena there as to who is the true franchise of WWE. Plus, the WWE has arguably never had so many potential uprising babyfaces in a long time, and they also have some substantial merchandise movers who could fill the gap a heel Cena would leave -- The New Day, Dean Ambrose, Sami Zayn, Kalisto, Enzo & Cass, etc. No one is going to become the #1 babyface with Cena still around, even if he is feuding with Ryback and Stardust over the United States Title.
It will never happen, right? Well, Cena is not getting any younger, he was arguably doing the best work of his life before he left, plus his new show runs up against SmackDown. Is it entirely insane to hypothesize that perhaps Vince McMahon is getting a bit angst about Cena leaving the WWE corporate family in order to pursue life outside wrestling, and eventually using the WWE as a pool of regeneration as he breaches Hollywood? A heel turn would revive Cena in the world of wrestling, draw eyeballs to the product, and potentially piss on Cena's good guy image, challenging him to reinvent himself and regain stock in the entertainment realm. It won't really hurt him, actually, but maybe in Vince's mind it will? I think a case could be made for heel Cena merchandise flying off the shelves and enhanced interest in a bad guy Cena for movie roles -- Hell, he's practically played a heel in most of film gigs anyway.
Randy Orton: He apparently prefers to play the bad guy, and he's got the chinlocks almost programmed into his style. Orton could easily return, take issue with a Sami Zayn, beat him up and it's back to business as usual for The Viper. The downside is that Orton is arguably more electric as a babyface, garnering huge reactions with just a stare into the audience even when he's not engaged in anything meaningful program-wise. There is arguably a lot more money left on the table with a heel Orton, who has basically done everything he is going to do (although there are fresher opponents for him now).
Seth Rollins: A few months ago, it would have almost been a lock that Rollins would return as a heroic babyface, looking to prove his worth to the fans newly won to his side, eventually beating Triple H with his own move at SummerSlam to a chorus of cheers from a Brooklyn audience. But now Seth's return time has reportedly been moved up, and with Reigns as a babyface champion, Ambrose still a babyface and a whole bunch of new opponents for him to have great matches with, Rollins might return to that large pop, and then do an evil cackle and remind everybody how much he loves being Triple H's shoe-shiner.
So what will it be? Orton or Rollins? We all know it won't be Cena.
John Cena: The perennial babyface of the WWE world. He's been a face since he turned back in 2004, and he grants all those wishes for the kiddies. But with Roman Reigns looking to take the, *ahem*, reigns, there's an obvious barrier with Cena there as to who is the true franchise of WWE. Plus, the WWE has arguably never had so many potential uprising babyfaces in a long time, and they also have some substantial merchandise movers who could fill the gap a heel Cena would leave -- The New Day, Dean Ambrose, Sami Zayn, Kalisto, Enzo & Cass, etc. No one is going to become the #1 babyface with Cena still around, even if he is feuding with Ryback and Stardust over the United States Title.
It will never happen, right? Well, Cena is not getting any younger, he was arguably doing the best work of his life before he left, plus his new show runs up against SmackDown. Is it entirely insane to hypothesize that perhaps Vince McMahon is getting a bit angst about Cena leaving the WWE corporate family in order to pursue life outside wrestling, and eventually using the WWE as a pool of regeneration as he breaches Hollywood? A heel turn would revive Cena in the world of wrestling, draw eyeballs to the product, and potentially piss on Cena's good guy image, challenging him to reinvent himself and regain stock in the entertainment realm. It won't really hurt him, actually, but maybe in Vince's mind it will? I think a case could be made for heel Cena merchandise flying off the shelves and enhanced interest in a bad guy Cena for movie roles -- Hell, he's practically played a heel in most of film gigs anyway.
Randy Orton: He apparently prefers to play the bad guy, and he's got the chinlocks almost programmed into his style. Orton could easily return, take issue with a Sami Zayn, beat him up and it's back to business as usual for The Viper. The downside is that Orton is arguably more electric as a babyface, garnering huge reactions with just a stare into the audience even when he's not engaged in anything meaningful program-wise. There is arguably a lot more money left on the table with a heel Orton, who has basically done everything he is going to do (although there are fresher opponents for him now).
Seth Rollins: A few months ago, it would have almost been a lock that Rollins would return as a heroic babyface, looking to prove his worth to the fans newly won to his side, eventually beating Triple H with his own move at SummerSlam to a chorus of cheers from a Brooklyn audience. But now Seth's return time has reportedly been moved up, and with Reigns as a babyface champion, Ambrose still a babyface and a whole bunch of new opponents for him to have great matches with, Rollins might return to that large pop, and then do an evil cackle and remind everybody how much he loves being Triple H's shoe-shiner.
So what will it be? Orton or Rollins? We all know it won't be Cena.