Cena Heel Turn

[tmad82]

Ok guys. I want to get everyone's opinion. Due to the crowd reactions toward John Cena lately (as in like 6 months), I feel WWE should turn him heel. This all goes back to the Edge\Cena feud. When CM Punk returned last week, the pop he got was huge.I for one think it would be a breath of fresh air. Now, some of you may say that Cena is WWE's poster boy and can't turn heel. So was Hulk Hogan. Granted, he turned heel in WCW with the nWo, but, Hogan was the "go to" guy. A Cena heel turn would bring new life to everything, especailly in the Main Event picture.

This would not be a hard setup either. All they would have to do is continue the CM Punk\Cena feud through Survivor Series. Have CM Punk remain champion. Somehow factor The Rock in, having him interfere and Cena lose. This will also set up more anticipation for the WM28 feud. After Survivor Series, WWE could have Cena show up the next night on RAW, pissed off because he got "screwed." Have Cena blame the fans, the WWE Universe, Triple H for resigning CM punk...everything. He already gets booed, why not make it officiail? This would be a perfect set up. What do you y'all think?

 

[Woo Woo Kid]

I think everyone wants to see Cena turn heel. I do. I'm tired of him showboating all the time. But if he ever turns heel again, then the wwe will be different for sure.

 

[KoC417]

This topic has been played out so much over and over and over and over and over again. It's so worn out now that when/if it does happen nobody will even give a sh*t.

Its not going to happen until Cena's merchandise sales drop, and he stops doing public appearances.

 

[jholcomb22]

Yes!!!!! Finally a thread about Cena turning heel. I never thought anyone would think what I'm thinking. Of course Cena turning heel would be the best thing ever. So would Jericho coming back. And Ryder getting a monster push. And WWE going back to the Attitude Era. And every other thread that has been done over a thousand times in the last week.

Give me a break and check the posts before reposting the same fucking questions. I swear, it seems like some people don't even look at the forums. They just see there is not a cena/heel post on the main page and think the sky is falling if they don't post one.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

Can we close this? Or PLEAASSSE have a thread where all the generic Cena love/hate/turn heel shit goes.

How many times do people have to explain why turning him heel is a bad idea? Who cares if you think he should turn heel, it'd be bad for business and bad for Rock vs Cena because it wouldn't be the 2 iconic figures, it'd be a different Cena.

 

[Foshinzo]

I can't believe people are still talking about this...

Time to rehash what I've said before: he'll probably never turn heel; he's less relevant as a heel than a face; whether the IWC likes it or not, he draws too much to be a heel.

I like Punk more than I like Cena. I think Punk is a breath of fresh air, though some are too quick to crown him as an all-timer, and Cena is just stale. However, just because your stale doesn't mean it's time to overhaul your character by completely changing who he is, i.e. the face/heel turn. Cena isn't very exciting to a lot of people, probably because he's booked to be the most predictable champion ever, and it would make for some compelling TV to finally see him turn heel, at least for a little bit, but it would be a more responsible decision for the WWE to lay bear traps around the ring than it would for Cena to just flip over because now he has a little bit of competition. Again, I like Punk more, right now, but I heard probably more cheers for Cena than Punk last Monday...just because it's never been done before doesn't mean it's a great idea, so let's stop with this conversation. It's been played out, everyone has said their piece, except for you, I guess, and it's time to stop discussing how Cena should turn heel.

 

[TM Punk]

Real quick, before this gets closed. Cena is NOT hulk hogan. Not a little bit, not even slightly. Hulk hogan was the biggest face in arguably the biggest era of wrestling EVER. When he was finally tempted. By the darkside, it flipped wrestling upside down. Why? Because people cared about hogan. People don't care about cena like they do hogan when hogan turned he was well over a decade into his career. Two generations of fans grew up eating their vitamins and saying their prayers. Cena can barely get half of one generation to care. His heel turn would be three months of talk on the boards, and then people would want him back as a face. GET OVER IT!!!!!!!!!! Is what I'm getting at.

 

[Blue Chipper]

No. It would be totally illogical.

Cena is WWE's top star. He is the biggest draw, he's marketable, he has a large fan base, etc. The fans wouldn't like Cena if he didn't entertain them. He does, so they but tickets. They want to see Cena, so why change that? It would be a bad move to turn him heel and eliminate all of his merit to the company.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

Real quick, before this gets closed. Cena is NOT hulk hogan. Not a little bit, not even slightly. Hulk hogan was the biggest face in arguably the biggest era of wrestling EVER. When he was finally tempted. By the darkside, it flipped wrestling upside down. Why? Because people cared about hogan. People don't care about cena like they do hogan when hogan turned he was well over a decade into his career. Two generations of fans grew up eating their vitamins and saying their prayers. Cena can barely get half of one generation to care. His heel turn would be three months of talk on the boards, and then people would want him back as a face. GET OVER IT!!!!!!!!!! Is what I'm getting at.

Not only that but people miss the biggest difference between Cena and Hogan. Hogan went to a DIFFERENT COMPANY that had a DIFFERENT AUDIENCE. The southern fans that WCW generally drew were more NWA, Flair, and "rasslin'" fans. So turning Hulk heel made more sense in that company. That's why when Hogan came back to the WWF/E, the more northern, sports entertainment audience, he was turned back into a babyface.

Plus Hogan stopped drawing in WCW. By early 1996 he was still a good draw, but it wasn't making up for the money he was given, so they had to do something different. Cena is still the highest draw so you shouldn't change it.

 

[rge2010]

Ok guys. I want to get everyone's opinion. Due to the crowd reactions toward John Cena lately (as in like 6 months), I feel WWE should turn him heel. This all goes back to the Edge\Cena feud. When CM Punk returned last week, the pop he got was huge.I for one think it would be a breath of fresh air. Now, some of you may say that Cena is WWE's poster boy and can't turn heel. So was Hulk Hogan. Granted, he turned heel in WCW with the nWo, but, Hogan was the "go to" guy. A Cena heel turn would bring new life to everything, especailly in the Main Event picture.

This would not be a hard setup either. All they would have to do is continue the CM Punk\Cena feud through Survivor Series. Have CM Punk remain champion. Somehow factor The Rock in, having him interfere and Cena lose. This will also set up more anticipation for the WM28 feud. After Survivor Series, WWE could have Cena show up the next night on RAW, pissed off because he got "screwed." Have Cena blame the fans, the WWE Universe, Triple H for resigning CM punk...everything. He already gets booed, why not make it officiail? This would be a perfect set up. What do you y'all think?

Why would The Rock cost John Cena the Title when they are facing off at Wrestlemania? Surely The Rock would want a shot at it...

Cena wont turn heel before WM, thats for sure. Face vs Face is much more of a spectacle than Face vs Heel.

 

[CuddleBuns84]

I think they would re-open ECW before Cena would go heel, and yes, quit comparing the Hogan heel turn in WCW. No one saw that coming. No one expected it to happen. Plus, he had the help of Scott Hall, and Kevin Nash to get him over as a heel.

Now, the Cena heel turn. When will it happen. Probably when he isn't a wrestler. Probably when he is in his next movie. He would make a good asshole bouncer, that doesn't let the nerds in. Then the nerds finally get into the club. I can see WWE films doing that.

Overall, I've been hearing about this new Era being discussed. This reality era if you will. And in reality, I think you can have a face that is disliked by everybody. You can have a heel liked by everyone. You can have a good guy, that everyone wants to lose. I mean, when I was a kid, I watched the power rangers. I wanted some of those monsters to beat the rangers some of the time. They pissed me off at some points!

Plus, with Cena still staying face.. It makes it more of a sporting event. I mean, it's not the generic, heel vs. face. I mean, MITB was great. Cena was the face, but Chicago loved CM Punk. I like seeing the crowd deciding who gets the pop. It makes wrestling fan. It kind of makes it like a UFC match. Where half the crowd wants this guy to win, and the other half wants that guy to win.

So, Cena becoming a heel, is in fact... A bad idea.

 

[avi01]

The main reason he is not heel is probably the business aspect of things.
Turning Cena heel gives a lot of possibilities and would make the character fresh again. More than anything else the match vs. The Rock would be a perfect platform for this. Cena keeps pointing out he comes to every shows, work his ass etc... while the Rock appears only on satellite etc, yet the fans still love the rock and boo the hell out of Cena. That`s also about the only way they could book Rock to win actually. Something like Rock wins, Cena wants to shake hands, low blow Rocky and the next night says screw you people, screw your kids. Could work even if he wins vs. the Rock cause Miami will certainly voice their disapproval, why not use it. Have Cena cheat to win and cause a whole why cena why buzz. The kids would be devastated, the rest already hate him.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

Anyone else who makes a "turn Cena heel thread" should name it "turn Cena face". That's what it would be with the IWC. If you make Cena a ruthless guy who doesn't care about being nice, the IWC will love him. It's funny. The guy is the most over babyface with the mainstream audience and the most over heel with the IWC. However, I don't think it'd be the same if he tried switching it up. I think he'd be one of the most over heels with the mainstream and one of the most over babyfaces with the IWC.

In today's non-uniform audience, guys aren't really straight babyfaces or heels. I don't mean that in a "tweener" type of way, I mean the same action, cheating vs not cheating, saying nice things vs saying bad things, makes you a heel with one segment of the audience and a heel with the other. It's neat.

Right now it's perfect. CM Punk and Cena are perfect foils for each other, when Rock comes back, Rock and Cena will ALSO be perfect foils. These only work with Cena as he is now.

 

[scomvp316]

e should turn heel if done right. Creatively they are at the end for Cena as a face so turning him heel would be the next step. Some have said he couldn't make all the appearances for certain charitable stuff. Thats a lie cause Austin and HHH made those appesarances for Make-A-Wish at their height of being a heel. The other argument is about merchandise sales and they won't turn him heel because of the bottom line factor. Wasn't Flair the big draw other than Hogan when JCP was trying to compete with VKM!

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

e should turn heel if done right. Creatively they are at the end for Cena as a face so turning him heel would be the next step. Some have said he couldn't make all the appearances for certain charitable stuff. Thats a lie cause Austin and HHH made those appesarances for Make-A-Wish at their height of being a heel. The other argument is about merchandise sales and they won't turn him heel because of the bottom line factor. Wasn't Flair the big draw other than Hogan when JCP was trying to compete with VKM!

Well HHH was never that good of a babyface and no, Austin did not make the height of his make-a-wish as a heel. Flair was a big draw but he wasn't doing Hogan numbers. Not only that but NWA/JCP targeted a much different audience than what the WWF/E did/does target. So don't even use that. That's like saying to advertise beer on the disney channel. Totally different demographic. In the NWA, Flair was a draw because all the drunk men in the audience literally wanted to fight flair. The WWE audience lives more vicariously than old school southern audiences.

Explain "if done right". It's my biggest pet peeve when people say "if done right". I want your DETAILED example of what "if done right" is because I guarantee you don't know and I'll be able to pick apart your idea.

Cena isn't at the end as a "face". I say "face" because he's a face to 80% of the audience and a heel to the other. I say he isnt' at the end because finally we're getting some foils. Guys like Punk and Rock appeal to the other demographics and get the inverse reaction from the audience. Still lots they can do with Cena.

 

[theawesomerohit]

I guess if they turn Cena Heel by wrestlemania, he wont have anyone to support him, he wont have the kids and as far as I know IWC is not much fan of his work so who will cheer for him in his wrestlemania's "EPIC Match" which I know will suck for sure... Rock has been out of the business from a very long time unless he move some muscle in the ring before... all I can say he is kind of rusted.. Cena always need some kind of wrestler to pull a match of.. he had C.M punk now in the past he has put up a nice show but he had H.B.K then, all I can say is I need a nice match and cheerful crowd .. Chicago crowd turned the whole thing upside down at MITB and that wont be possible If Cena is a heel, anyway if they gonna do it, they must end the match with Cena doing some heel action but they shouldn't make him enter Wrestlemania as a Heel..

 

[Negrodamus]

The main reason he is not heel is probably the business aspect of things.
Turning Cena heel gives a lot of possibilities and would make the character fresh again. More than anything else the match vs. The Rock would be a perfect platform for this. Cena keeps pointing out he comes to every shows, work his ass etc... while the Rock appears only on satellite etc, yet the fans still love the rock and boo the hell out of Cena. That`s also about the only way they could book Rock to win actually. Something like Rock wins, Cena wants to shake hands, low blow Rocky and the next night says screw you people, screw your kids. Could work even if he wins vs. the Rock cause Miami will certainly voice their disapproval, why not use it. Have Cena cheat to win and cause a whole why cena why buzz. The kids would be devastated, the rest already hate him.

LOL I kind of like this idea the only thing you can add to make it better is if it was for the title and after a low blow or cheap shot from Cena he gives an AA and then out comes ADR to cash in his MITB. ( Since we all know Rock is not coming back full time and it will elevate ADR) This is all wishful thinking but would be pretty interesting/funny

 

[JaylisJayP]

No. It would be totally illogical.

Cena is WWE's top star. He is the biggest draw, he's marketable, he has a large fan base, etc. The fans wouldn't like Cena if he didn't entertain them. He does, so they but tickets. They want to see Cena, so why change that? It would be a bad move to turn him heel and eliminate all of his merit to the company.

I think it's closed-minded to say this, to say that turning him heel would eliminate all his merit to the company. That's ridiculous. At their height they turned Rock, HHH, Austin, Edge, Shawn Michaels, Angle, Orton...these guys all went heel and back so many times, and more than half of them were just as big as Cena.

I understand Cena's the only "Cena calibur" talent on RAW right now, but this whole "face of the WWE so we can't evolve his character" argument is an excuse at this point. Plus the people who say this really have no idea how to run a business anyway.

Regardless, I think ultimately this topic is becoming more moot by the week. The clear-cut heel-face distinction is pretty blurry these days. What's Punk? What's ADR - I cheer the guy. I don't cheer or boo Cena, I like hearing him talk because he has good mic skills, and as long as his program is interesting I really don't care if he holds the belt or not.

The main reason why they shouldn't turn him heel is because Punk isn't completely over as a "traditional face", and thus there's nobody to bring the correct type of heat to Cena except Cena himself. The only guy I can think of to help push Cena as a heel is Vince...possibly Jericho if he were to come back a face, but it looks like they've got him involved with Punk now.

Yes, "face" Cena sells shirts, but I guarantee you "heel" Cena would sell plenty of NEW shirts and NEW hats, as well. Kids love the bad guy, too. And women who scream for Cena will do so when he takes his shirt off regardless of whether WWE books him as a good guy or a bad guy. He will sell no matter what at this point.

 

[3/4 Facelock]

If John Cena was heel would you have been given him vs the Nexus? Vs the Miz? Vs Punk? Would you have been given any of the matches in the past few years?

No. You would not have. Each one of those matches he's been in has been great and has elevated his opponent. That's what John Cena does. He makes the heels better.

His character is not there to just be the top face of the company. His character also brings out better wrestling, better promos, and better characters out of his opponents.

That's what carrying the company is and that is why he carries the company.

Turn him heel so he could face Morrison and Borne and not Del Rio. Cause that's what we all want to see right?

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

I think it's closed-minded to say this, to say that turning him heel would eliminate all his merit to the company. That's ridiculous. At their height they turned Rock, HHH, Austin, Edge, Shawn Michaels, Angle, Orton...these guys all went heel and back so many times, and more than half of them were just as big as Cena.

I understand Cena's the only "Cena calibur" talent on RAW right now, but this whole "face of the WWE so we can't evolve his character" argument is an excuse at this point. Plus the people who say this really have no idea how to run a business anyway.

Regardless, I think ultimately this topic is becoming more moot by the week. The clear-cut heel-face distinction is pretty blurry these days. What's Punk? What's ADR - I cheer the guy. I don't cheer or boo Cena, I like hearing him talk because he has good mic skills, and as long as his program is interesting I really don't care if he holds the belt or not.

The main reason why they shouldn't turn him heel is because Punk isn't completely over as a "traditional face", and thus there's nobody to bring the correct type of heat to Cena except Cena himself. The only guy I can think of to help push Cena as a heel is Vince...possibly Jericho if he were to come back a face, but it looks like they've got him involved with Punk now.

Yes, "face" Cena sells shirts, but I guarantee you "heel" Cena would sell plenty of NEW shirts and NEW hats, as well. Kids love the bad guy, too. And women who scream for Cena will do so when he takes his shirt off regardless of whether WWE books him as a good guy or a bad guy. He will sell no matter what at this point.

Kids don't love a bad guy, the IWC does. The IWC doesn't buy shirts unless it's to promote their indy company or net darling.

I agree that you can't really say "heel" and "face". Not for the same reason as in the tude era, but because of the segmented audience. Cena's character can evolve without doing heelish things. He can be more articulate and intelligent in his promos and can adapt his in ring style to fit his opponent. No, I don't mean flipz and movez, but like how his strategy changes based on who he's against. It's kind of what they've been doing.

I'm honestly kind of waiting for a Cena promo where he tells the people who boo him that they love to boo him, then points at a sign that says something like "I miss ruthless Cena" and says "you have that because you want it to be cool to like me". Cena's character can evolve. You guys just aren't thinking outside the box beyond "he does good guy things" "he does bad guy things".

John Cena and CM Punk's characters should be worked like politicians. Some things some people agree with, other things they don't, the segmented audience choses. Do you agree with Cena, doing everything the company asks? Or do you agree with CM Punk trying to change things to the way he and people like him want it to be?

Cena's character is already beyond "I'm the superhero good guy". It's now "I'm the company man, this is who I really am, love me, hate me, I don't care, this is who I am". Which I like. I think it's a natural evolution as a guy is in the WWE longer and he's all over the place and you see them all the time. You feel like you get to know them. So he's opening up more.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

If John Cena was heel would you have been given him vs the Nexus? Vs the Miz? Vs Punk? Would you have been given any of the matches in the past few years?

No. You would not have. Each one of those matches he's been in has been great and has elevated his opponent. That's what John Cena does. He makes the heels better.

His character is not there to just be the top face of the company. His character also brings out better wrestling, better promos, and better characters out of his opponents.

That's what carrying the company is and that is why he carries the company.

Turn him heel so he could face Morrison and Borne and not Del Rio. Cause that's what we all want to see right?

Look at the "who to turn heel/face" thread. A majority of the suggestions are heel turns. The IWC loves the bad guys because that's what's cool. It's also why you see "turn Cena heel" threads every other day.

I think we should try to be more advanced here and instead talk about you'd evolve a character sometimes. Kofi Kingston has evolved and seems to be gaining steam again. Cena has evolved over the past year and is as over as ever. Punk's character went from a narcisistic cult type figure to a guy who thinks he's the best in the world and should be compensated for it and that his views should be how the WWE is ran. They're all logical evolutions that we've seen.

A Cena heel turn isn't a logical evolution, it's a "make the IWC happy so they can finally cheer Cena since it's cool to cheer heels".

I think Cena turning heel would revamp the show, at this point the WWE has to do something to boost the ratings because it's the same thing week after week

So, a majority of your audience loves to cheer cena, the other segment loves to boo him. So you turn him heel to boost ratings? My guess is it isn't Cena but the rest of the roster we should be talking about when wanting to "boost ratings".

 

[ron1379]

I think Cena turning heel would revamp the show, at this point the WWE has to do something to boost the ratings because it's the same thing week after week

 

[Pedigree1]

wow another cena heel thread hmmm not quite sure if this has been discussed.. At this point i dont care if he does or doesnt!! If you want a heel cena check him out before he got big. When he was doctor of thuganomnics!! Wearing his chain with the padlock at the end rocking old school jerseys and cutting his opponents to pieces with his mic skillz!! This Cena is so over the top with the kiddies top dog in merch sales that him turning heel wont happen

 

[SydTinDad]

This is where VKM fucked up............and fucked up BIG TIME! Why he announced Rock-Cena at WM so early is beyond me.

At this moment, the stage would have been set for a 6 month Rock return....AS A HEEL WITH CENA!

Imagine a culmination at WM with the Hollywood Pompus Assholes vs CM PUNK and the other new top face on Raw:THE MIZ!

Rock/Cena lose. Rock goes back into hiatus, Cena continues as top heel b/c he can blame the Rock for the loss, Punk & Miz are the tweener top faces of the company who get a GREAT rub!

Now, THAT I think has juice.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

This is where VKM fucked up............and fucked up BIG TIME! Why he announced Rock-Cena at WM so early is beyond me.

At this moment, the stage would have been set for a 6 month Rock return....AS A HEEL WITH CENA!

Imagine a culmination at WM with the Hollywood Pompus Assholes vs CM PUNK and the other new top face on Raw:THE MIZ!

Rock/Cena lose. Rock goes back into hiatus, Cena continues as top heel b/c he can blame the Rock for the loss, Punk & Miz are the tweener top faces of the company who get a GREAT rub!

Now, THAT I think has juice.

So instead of having the Icon vs Icon match, two guys known around the world, you turn Cena heel (so many people have said why this is beyond stupid already) and try to have the Rock as a HEEL (he's getting insane nostalgia pops, that's not going to happen, he could literally piss on a fan and they'd still cheer him) against CM Punk, who, realistically has only been hot for a month, and the Miz, who, realistically isn't top 3 in overness. Not only that but you book Punk and Miz as babyfaces?

See, this is what annoys me. You are booking what YOU want. You aren't booking what would actually work. That match would get less buyrates because it's not a 1 on 1 "Icon vs Icon" match. Second, there is no fucking way Rock and Cena are the "hollywood assholes". You have a guy who is the biggest babyface in the company, you turn him heel (which makes him an IWC babyface) and then you pair him with a legend who no one thought would ever be back and you want him to be a heel too?

Not only all that but all 4 guys should be hot commodities. So instead of booking Cena vs Rock, which will draw all on it's own, you throw in Punk and Miz too. That severely limits your card. CM Punk vs HHH, Miz vs Morrison, Cena vs Rock. Now you have THREE matches that should draw different interest from different fans instead of just one.

I'm not sure how Vince fucked up at all. I'm not sure how he fucked up "big time". Punk may not be this over in 6 months and it'd have nothing to do with booking, it's just that he's REALLY catering to the minority, he's over as a heel with the mainstream fans though so that's good.

He booked it in advance because he probably had to sign Rock a year in advance because of his movie career. He doesn't want you to find out on a website, he wants the world to know. As a publicly traded company what was he supposed to do? Not tell anyone? Not promote the shit out of it being in Miami, the Rock's hometown, Icon vs Icon?

I'm not going to repeat the reasons turning Cena heel is a bad idea, just go back and read them all.