To be exact I wanna talk about the potential and idea of Cena turning heel. If you have ever been on twitter and seen anything about Cena on there, chances are it's about one of a few things;
1. Cena is WWEs god and can do no wrong and is the best of the best of the best of the bestest best!
2. Cena sucks and needs to be heel by next week or I'm tuning out
3. Cena sucks and needs to die.
Now point number 3 needs to stop. If you are wishing death upon a performer for doing their job, a job you would wear your own testicles as earrings to do, you are a shabby human being and need to do some thinking about your own life.
Points 1 and 2 have some real merrit to be discussed further.
Whether you like him or not, whether you buy into the character or not, there is no reason to totally discount the first two points.
John Cena is a driving force within the WWE and is helping achieve global success in new or existing avenues such as the Be a Star campaign or MakeAWish from which he has been pretty much knighted. He has been on TV almost everyweek and at least 90% of PPVs through out his employment at WWE, and it goes with out saying Cena can literally carry the weight of the company on his shoulders, around his neck, around his waist and in his Jort pockets. He has had plenty of "outside" wrestling work, even if it has been funded by or because of WWE. These include a rap album which peaked at number 3 in the US Rap Albulm chart and 15 in the overall US Billboard chart, sevral movie roles (again, like them or not, they happened), advertising campaigns and endless talk show and media appearences. When you take all that and couple it with the amount of merchandise he shifts, everything from garden gnomes to the all famous cap, tshirt and wristband combo he advertises all too well, makes him one of the WWEs top guys of all time. In that respect he's up there with Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, Stone Cold and possibly his biggest rival, The Rock.
When it comes to experience he doesn't really come up short there either. Cena is one of the few full time guys on the current roster, if not the only guy to mix it up with Attitude era alumni such as Undertaker, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho, Edge, Kurt Angle and of course The Rock aswell current main eventers such as Randy Orton, Sheamus, Dolph Ziggler and Del Rio. There isn't a another full time wrestler on TV who can claim to have had more main events with main eventers than Cena.
All that said there is, as we know, a huge chunk of wrestling fans that can be described as the "Cena Nuff" fans. I don't blame them, I too have definatley been a part of that group all too frequently. The five moves of doom, the carbon copy promos, his feuds can seem samey even with new opponents and his Superman complex just kinda makes him hard to stomach.
As I say, almost every week we see him shoot through the curtain dressed like a rainbow farted out a bag of skittles, gets on the stick, makes a quick joke out him self, says he's gonna beat someone, says it again in not many words then lastly starts shouting it. Just to make sure we heard if not the first two times? Any way this usually works as he steams through opponents. BUT! But there is a twist, every now and again we are lead to believe he's really up against it. Sometimes he looks vunerable, on the brink of defeat and backed into the corner and oh boy does he play up to that very well. How many times have you seen Cena in a predicament that looks too hard for him to fight out of and come out on top? My guess is more than 4 1/2. None of the less we tune in, either in hope to see him get through it or in pure hope of seeing him dethroned. To the dismay of many the latter doesn't seem to happen often. So yes, the Cena spiel can seem very meh from time to time, but it's a proven winning formula for the rest.
If your reading this and over the age of say 16-18 you may very well say that 'the rest' I talk of are just kids. If you did say that then you are bang on the money! Yes, Cena much like the WWE overall product is aimed at kids and family orientated fun. So in a nut shell the negative feeling you have towards him, not that it's not wrong to feel that way, may just be slightly moot in WWE's eyes. Just like the Power Rangers, dressing in bright colours, having super powers with mild peril ensuing from time to time and sure defeat looming, until Mega-Zording the kaka out of the wrong doers seems to be a sure fire hit with kids.
Now you may say WWE is ignoring its fanbase by not giving the older fans what they want with Cena, maybe your right, but I see it as investing in the future, the future of the business. By getting kids into wrestling when they are exactly that, kids, WWE has almost locked them in like they did us, the Hulk Hogan era kids. I'd say most adult wrestling fans have been fans since childhood or teenagehood, it being very rare when an adult becomes involved in wrestling.
So it begs the question, why would WWE turn him heel? Yeah yeah yeah, I am aware of that little group called the nWo and what Hogan did. But that was nearly 20 years into saying prayers and taking vitamins, the Hogan kids had long grown up and new superfaces had been made to take his place. That could well be what WWE would want before turning him a heel, all the little pocket money spending children of the Cenation to grow out of their blue and yellow purple tees and usher in a new top guy. Until then I think its safe to say Cena is not budging.
I think it would be really cool to have more the Cena who schooled The Rock through mic work (who'd thought anyone would say that 3 years ago?), a aggressive Cena who doesn't laugh at himself, and considers himself the Superman he portrays. Regarding his ring ability he isn't no Kurt Angle or Undertaker but niether is The Rock or Hogan, however he does have more about him than the five moves of doom, something he has shown us with Edge, Shawn Michaels, CM Punk and his debut on Smackdown against Angle. Maybe just maybe if these traits were shown more often by Cena we'd all be less inclined to jeer and more likely to cheer. Will this happen? I can't say. Will he turn heel? Probably, but I dont think its's gonna be this side of 2015.
Keeping the heel turn in mind what do you think would happen if he did go heel? I have a big feeling that those familiar cheers and jeers he recieves now would only switch the younger fans to boo in dispair and the older fans to cheer with relief. A little like The Rock's Hollywood heel turn, if you're not sure what I mean check out "Finally The rock has come back to To run his mouth" on Youtube.
One thing is for sure, no matter if he is heel, face, ass or elbow Cena still draws as much emotion into any arena as any top WWE star ever has, and as long as that doesnt change I really dont mind what he does, as long as its productive for the WWE and wrestling in general.
You may feel different, you may just happen to agree. Either way let me know where you stand. I would love to hear how everyone feels now he's not between The Rock and a hard place and has the chance to adapt a little. What would you like to see from Cena in the coming weeks, months or years?
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