With all due respect, Killjoy, it has been difficult to deconstruct your stuff over the last couple of days, because for nearly three days, you did not provide any new stuff to deconstruct. Make no mistake about it, I greatly respect the fact that you clearly have your priorities straight and have chosen to focus your time over the last few days with your father, rather than spend it debating professional wrestling with some stranger. Especially when you consider that any time you spent debating this topic over the last few days would have been an exercise in futility, as you have been fighting a losing battle, trying to argue the wrong side of the debate. Simple fact of the matter is, even though the reasons for your absence have been valid, it has left me having a one way conversation without an opposing view to deconstruct.
Surely you aren't trying to suggest that the heel turn of Hulk Hogan in 1996, kickstarted at Bash At The Beach, was not one of the most significant developments in the history of modern day professional wrestling. This was the event that brought WCW from obscurity, in relative terms, and brought them head to head with the juggernaut of the WWF. It was a monumental event which lead to the Monday Night Wars, which WCW was winning for 80+ weeks, buoyed largely by the heel turn of Hulk Hogan and his involvement with the nWo. Taking a guy who was such a super face, a guy who no one ever expected would or could ever turn heel, and having him undergo a dramatic transformation from face to heel, it was enormous. And Hogan wasn't even in the prime of his career at this point and wasn't a focal point, an uber face directly tied to the company at the time. Taking Cena, in the prime of his career, from a position of front and centre in the WWE for the last several years, and turning him full blown heel, this could have equally significant ramifications for professional wrestling, specifically the WWE, for the forseeable future. Which would be a controversial development unlike few events before it.
Suggesting that a heel turn by John Cena would not be a major deal for Cena and the WWE is both uninformed and naive. It would be a huge development, and I cannot believe you would suggest otherwise. It would have half of the WWE thrilled and excited, to finally see the stale character of John Cena tinkered with and tweaked. Of course it would also have the other half absolutely devastated, seeing their hero turn his backs on them in a high profile heel turn. This division of response is the definition of controversy.
Punk and Orton would be there to "pick up the slack"? I don't even know what this even means! Punk and Orton would likely be there as two pivotal face characters to oppose the newly turned John Cena. They would not be picking up any slack, they would be the chief antagonists to the heel Cena. Every heel character needs significant opposition, as no heel turn can work without it. Punk and Orton could be two of these guys. So could these guys:
And ultimately:
A heel turn by John Cena would not require anyone to pick up any slack, but it would require the appropriate cast of characters to enhance it. And WWE cam provide that, and then some.
To answer a couple of question that you posed, frankly, I would be very pissed off to see the Undertaker's streak come to a close. It would disappoint me greatly. And I would not be pissed off whatsoever to see John Cena turn heel, in fact I would love it and I would welcome the freshness of the change. But then again, I do belong to the adult male demographic, many of whom would share my opinion. But to suggest this would do less to the WWE fan base is again incorrect and naive. Pose the same two questions to my 12 year old son. Or some kid from the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Or some random kid in attendance at Monday Night RAW. Or his mother. Or anyone amongst the huge chunk of the fan base that would never, ever want to see a heel turn by John Cena, and you'd get far different responses. In fact, pose these questions to the WWE Universe as a whole, and 50% would answer one way regarding the Cena heel turn, and the other 50% would say the opposite. And that, my friend, spells controversy.
Who's the yearly highlight at Wrestlemania? Well, who was in the main event this year, who concluded the show. It wasn't:
It was:
No one is disputing the depth of the streak, or the fact that it could be controversial. And I do like the fact that you point out an impressive selection of threads which surround various concepts regarding the Undertaker's streak (even if several of the threads don't deal with the topic of whether or not the streak
should end directly). But two can play that game:
http://forums.wrestlezone.com/showthread.php?t=186829&highlight=Cena
http://forums.wrestlezone.com/showthread.php?t=183762&highlight=Cena
http://forums.wrestlezone.com/showthread.php?t=182926&highlight=Cena
http://forums.wrestlezone.com/showthread.php?t=167523&highlight=Cena
http://forums.wrestlezone.com/showthread.php?t=161470&highlight=Cena
http://forums.wrestlezone.com/showthread.php?t=159877&highlight=Cena
http://forums.wrestlezone.com/showthread.php?t=154082&highlight=Cena
http://forums.wrestlezone.com/showthread.php?t=137398&highlight=Cena
And of course:
http://forums.wrestlezone.com/showthread.php?t=185922&highlight=Cena
We can do this all day long. Scour the archives of the Wrestlezone Forums, and you'll find numerous threads on either of the two controversial topics being discussed in this particular thread. Because both issues have their share of controversy associated with them. I'm not really sure this accomplishes too much in the grand scheme of things. Having said this, it is interesting to note that the merged thread involving the Undertaker's streak has 798 posts and 136,014 views, while the Cena merged thread has 1401 posts and 157,832 views. It would appear to me that one topic has generated more interest and sparked more discussion than the other, that being the John Cena heel turn, the more controversial topic of the two.
And that brings us to the survey you conducted involving Dave, Joe, Harthan, Pancake, and deanerandterry. Interesting idea, but meaningless in the grand scheme of things. Five guys who are highly thought of on the forums, five guys I quite like myself, being asked for their opinions. Five guys who all belong to the same demographic and as such, five guys whose opinions were exactly what I would have expected them to be. The opinions of five select guys, though, hardly holds any significance in this discussion. You can cherry pick five guys and post their opinions and make any point you wish to make. I'm sure I could conduct a similar survey and easily find five guys who would side with my side of the debate. No disrespect to either of these five guys, but it's just the opinion of five random guys. Put questions of this nature to a greater number of people and a wider sampling of the WWE Universe, and I think you get a totally different result. As I said, you can cherry pick to get any answer you want to any question. If I were to pose the question, for example, which is the better product, WWE or TNA, and the guys I chose to poll were IDR, Coco, JGKY, shattered dreams, and Zeven_Zion, I think we all know what their answer would be. And while their opinions should be respected, they'd be wrong and would be in the distinct minority in terms of the overall professional wrestling fan base.
You continue to attempt to portray the concept of the John Cena heel turn as a simple yes or no scenario. Nothing could be further from the truth. It goes far deeper than that.
John Cena should turn heel. This will allow him the ability to reconnect with the demographic he appears to have lost, the adult male population. Or will it? Will they continue to boo him anyway? Will ratings receive a boost from such a heel turn? Once the adult male demographic gets back behind him (if in fact they do), will this new fan support ultimately increase his popularity and by default result in him becoming viewed as a face all over again? Will he lose his fan base, the kids and the females? Will they continue to support him anyway, or will they abandon him in favor of the next face? How will merchandise sales be affected? Will they increase or decrease? Can a heel Cena still move a lot of product? How will his perception be affected in terms of mainstream media? Will he still be sought after by foundations such as Make-A-Wish? Will he still be a tireless ambassador for the WWE? Will he continue to make movies and if so, how will they be received? How about music? Will a heel John Cena be a totally different animal and if so, what will be the long term ramifications for him personally as well as for the WWE?
John Cena should remain face. How will the fan base respond to the continued staleness of the product? How much longer can be remain an uber face? Would the obvious benefits of merchandise sales and the maintenance of all the benefits of the status quo, all be too much for the WWE to risk losing?
Would a heel turn even work? Would fan perception and the various niche opinions remain unchanged, or would the world of professional wrestling be tipped upside down, as with Hogan. How long would the WWE be willing to roll the dice on a Cena heel turn? If such things as merchandise sales, ratings, and attendance figures started to suffer, would the WWE have the courage to stay the course, or would they panic and turn him right back again? What would be the perception from the fans if he turned, and then turned back? Would his character have been irreparably damaged, or would his niche fan base welcome him back with open arms? And who would come along as a new heel to spur the transformation of Cena back from heel to super Cena again? How would this all affect his number of title reigns and whether or not he ever surpasses Flair's record?
The questions are endless and the possible outcomes can be debated forever. It is far broader than simply a yes/no question. Unlike the issue of the end of the Undertaker's streak, which would be over and done with very shortly afterwards if the streak ever did end, the issue of John Cena's heel/face status could be a focal point of conversation and story lines for an extended period of time.
As it appears my opponent wishes to wrap things up, I'll go ahead and post my:
[size=+2]Concluding Statements[/size]
This was a very interesting topic of debate for this round of the competition. Simply put, both questions are very controversial subjects. But at the end of the day, the notion of whether or not a John Cena heel turn should happen is far and away the more controversial subject of the two.
The issue of controversy comes down to which topic sparks the most public disagreement. John Cena is the most polarizing figure in WWE history. Never before has there been a guy who simultaneously receives such admiration and derision from the WWE fan base. Here we see a question for which one percentage of the WWE Universe would be vehemently opposed to the idea of a heel turn. The loss of a hero, the disappointment of the younger fan base, the potential negative consequences on ratings, attendance, merchandise sales, etc., all of which are the views of a chunk of the WWE fan base. Meanwhile the other percentage of the fan base is screaming for change, screaming for some freshness in the super Cena character who has been unpopular with them for ages. It is the coexistence of these divergent viewpoints which makes the concept of the John Cena heel turn so controversial.
The end of the Undertaker's undefeated streak at Wrestlemania is controversial too. But for a part time performer, well past his physical prime, involved in a storyline which occupies a third of the year at most, as opposed to the face of the company his physical prime involved in a year round storyline, the choice of which is more controversial is clear. Regarding the Undertaker's streak, most of the controversy tends to not be about
should the streak end, but rather, who do you think should have a shot at it, would he be the right guy to do it, and how would you feel about it if it happened. John Cena's potential heel turn reaches far deeper, has greater long term ramifications, and is clearly the more controversial topic of the two.
At the end of the day, there will never be universal agreement about whether or not John Cena should turn heel. For every argument or wish that he transform into a heel, there's an equally plausible and passionate argument that he should remain a face for his entire career. The split is virtually right down the middle of the WWE Universe, and it is this dichotomy of belief that makes this the more controversial topic of the two proposed.
But I've got no problem. Not that I'm making excuses, but this is a very important week for me since my dad is stopping by. So don't feel worried about any possible delays. I'll be delayed, but not out. Now, show me your A-game because I choose you to kick this thing off. 
