Could a heel Cena vs face Reigns work?

[the_vipers_enigma]

So I read an article on the main paige about a heel Cena vs face Reigns and if it could help Reigns finally get over. So this got me thinking and to be hounest I'm thinking that this will backfire in the face of the WWE. First Heel Cena on the mic could and will destroy Reigns thus making him look weak, second in my oppinion a heel Cena will get cheared like crazy and Roman will be booed even more. So could a heel Cena vs face Reigns work or will it backfire?

 

[MoRtAnDaD]

as i said on that very post. Turning Cena heel against Roman will only get Cena insanelly over. I mean WAY too over.

It will have the exact oposite result, will bury Roman deep down in the middle card. I wont say Cena heel its like nWo all over again (the original nWo), but it will be a pretty big deal, and will put a lot of people behind Cena and supporting him.

If any, turn Roman heel to go against Cena or Ambrose.

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

Heel Cena no. But face Cena vs face Reigns would help Reigns get cheered. Even smarky fans would boo Cena and cheer Reigns in that case. Though it probably wont happen soon. Maybe not before Wrestlemania 33.

 

[Mustang Sally]

I think they both need to be heel.......and kept away from each other.

The anti-Cena movement has become far too widespread, and the complaint of most of that crowd is that his character has remained the same too long. Turning him evil would be the biggest thing in years.

Meanwhile, the company is going to finally have to make a decision about Roman Reigns.....are they going to continue pushing him as a face, or not? If he's to remain a good guy, pitting him against a heel Cena would be the quickest way to finish Roman.

Let Reigns be evil.....and go his own way.

 

[ShinChan]

First of all, there is no chance of John Cena turning heel in future because its Cena. Lets assume it happens and still as the OP mentioned, people will cheer Heel Cena over Face Roman Reigns. And i do think that Face Roman Reigns would be cheered over Face John Cena. So make it Face/Heel Roman Reigns VS Face John Cena to put Reigns over. And I am sure these two will feud for the WWE Title in 2016 or 2017.

​

 

[TStorm]

Whether or not he would be cheered would all depend on how he was booked as a heel. How well it works, would depend how much WWE really puts into it, and if they were ever to pull the trigger on it, they absolutely have to put everything into making it work.

Cena's capabilities to manage the role shouldn't come into question, he knows how to work the crowd, and he's certainly shown glimpses of heel-ish behavior in specific matches. The key example that comes immediately to mind would be the One Night Stand match with RVD, with him both treated as a heel and acting like a heel, and intentionally trolling the crowd, which also happened to be the night that fully sold me on Cena's ability to work a crowd, yes he'd done it many times before both as a heel/face, but that night he showed he was more than capable in the situation.

It's tough to really say how a heel Cena would do in today's enviroment. He worked as a rapper, because he had more free reign to work with. A lot of what helped get Cena over was the edginess of the character. He could be a total bastard, he could insult people in the most amusing of ways and people liked it and got behind it, he was "cool".

Could that gimmick work today? Well, possibly, I think in today's environment he would be restricted though.

That being said, I'm not holding my breath on it happening, Cena is still the de facto WWE babyface, Reign's at the moment doesn't have the backing to be in that kind of position.

In all honesty, keep them far away from one another.

Even pitting them face vs. face, wouldn't work. The crowd currently aren't behind Reign's, and most of the crowds wouldn't be behind Cena, especially if Cena was going for another run with the WWE title. Reign's needs to be booked more smoothly into either a face role of heel role, though I believe that at the moment, WWE might have booked Reign's into a corner.

Turning Reign's heel at the moment would be the best approach to take, build him up again, then turn him face once more. Let him get over as a heel, and if you allow him to do what he has the build to do, the crowd will get behind him, then you turn him later down the line, even if it doesn't work and he doesn't catch on as a face, you'll still have a monster heel to work with.

 

[ShinChan]

Turning Reign's heel at the moment would be the best approach to take, build him up again, then turn him face once more. Let him get over as a heel, and if you allow him to do what he has the build to do, the crowd will get behind him, then you turn him later down the line, even if it doesn't work and he doesn't catch on as a face, you'll still have a monster heel to work with.

Exactly. WWE has a great inspiration in form of Ethan Carter III of TNA. TNA gave him an awesome heel run and built him to a point that you could not resist booing him. And then they turned him face at the totally correct moment. TNA turned a comedy jobber of WWE into a Superstar by help of good booking. I think that they need to show the offensive side of Reigns by turning him heel and just build him as a great heel first and then he can surely be the face of WWE.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Would it work in terms of being a potentially strong program with strong matches? Sure. Would it work as far as getting fans to cheer for Reigns as a babyface over a heel John Cena? I highly doubt it because way too many people have wanted to see an edgier, heel John Cena for quite a few years.

Here's the thing: Roman Reigns is over, he frequently gets more cheers than boos and most of the "hate" he garners comes when he launches into his signature moves, like we see with Cena and his so called "Five Moves of Doom." The reasons why Reigns isn't as over as I'd imagine the top brass wants him to be include that many fans are tired of seeing the "Superman" as THE face of WWE, some fans aren't interested in him as a character or inside the ring, some fans have an almost prejudiced attitude towards 250+ pound muscular guys, some fans think he's just boring, some fans feel that there are plenty of more "deserving" wrestlers on the roster who should be pushed because they feel those wrestlers are just better than Reigns is, etc.

A heel John Cena involved in some sort of pass the torch program with Reigns, in my estimation, won't be received well by a good number of fans because they'll simply view it as Vince trying to sort of force Reigns on them with Cena sort of symbolically giving him his spot. A lot of the younger fans would feel betrayed by Cena while the older audience would rejoice in seeing Cena ditch the ultimate good guy routine. At the same time, however, in Cena's case, I notice that much of the hate towards him tends to disappear during his matches and that much of the hate isn't really hate so much as it's just become a tradition for the live fans to boo Cena. If Cena was genuinely unpopular, I doubt he'd have been bringing in the sort of money for WWE that he has been since the mid 2000s.

 

[kadroan]

So I read an article on the main paige about a heel Cena vs face Reigns and if it could help Reigns finally get over. So this got me thinking and to be hounest I'm thinking that this will backfire in the face of the WWE. First Heel Cena on the mic could and will destroy Reigns thus making him look weak, second in my oppinion a heel Cena will get cheared like crazy and Roman will be booed even more. So could a heel Cena vs face Reigns work or will it backfire?

I doubt it. Fans would cheer for Cena. It'd be hard for him to be heel, similar to how it was for Stone Cold.

 

[TDFG]

A Cena heel run would be great but it's not going to happen.

A face vs face could see Goldberg/Lesnar heat with the fans crapping all over that match.

A Reigns heel run is what's needed, unlikely as it may be.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

John Cena isn't turning heel until WWE finds a new face of the company. That won't happen because fans want multiple guys on top instead of just one.

Roman Reigns should turn heel. That's not going to happen either because WWE is intent on getting him over and making him face of the company.

Could you imagine the heat face John Cena vs. face Roman Reigns would get?

In conclusion, Reins and Cena should both turn heel and not feud with each other. However both men staying face and feuding with each other is much more likely.

 

[dsotm5150]

Anything Cena did would overshadow Roman Reigns, especially coming off an injury. Besides in today's PG WWE, I'm not sure if WWE could believably put Cena over as a heel. I'm not even sure he's capable of it. Not to mention its Cena, those that hate him and find him overrated as a face will hate him as a heel, and those that love him as a face will love him as a heel. Kind of like back when WCW tried to turn Sting heel, you could try to turn him, but chances are the majority of the fans are going to cheer. Besides is there really any such thing as a heel today? If so the line is so blurred you can hardly tell.

 

[Vanilla Midget]

If either turn heel, you just inverse the current crowd split for both guys. The kids will boo, the adults will likely cheer. Crowds should know their role; cheer the faces, boo the heels. They shouldn't be forced to watch bad storytelling or get behind weak babyfaces.

I'd rather see Reigns turn heel, if only because we have far more years ahead with Reigns, so seeing his character develop now bodes well for the future. Cena likely has more good years behind him, so turning heel would essentially be moot at this point.

Face Reigns won't be cheered over heel Cena. Heel Cena is instantly the most over guy on the roster, except for the kids. To them it'll be like Slaughter defecting to Iraq. It'll be a sea of high pitched voices drowning in thunderous louder ones.

Reigns and Cena feud eventually, that much is a lock. I'd like to see them kept apart a lot longer though.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

They really should save this match for next year's Wrestlemania and don't touch each other until then. Make it like the old days when big matches were extra special because top stars never faced each other before.

 

[YatesA]

I'm not sure and the major reason is something youve pointed out, Cena has the ability to destroy Reigns on the mic as a heel, its just this cookie cutter character he plays which is beyond stale and corny. I'd rather see this than Heel Reigns bow down to super Cena though.

 

[Sean Valjean]

This would backfire hard, because turning Cena heel doesn't address the Reigns problems, which are:

1. He didn't earn it with his initial push, and the sour taste from that disasterous first attempt has remained in many fan's mouths, permanently sabotaging his face run.

2. He seems like a natural heel, or at least an awkward Cena-esque babyface. Roman should be badass destroyer of villains who rarely speaks and doesn't take shit. Instead, we've gotten an intimidating guy who smiles a lot, makes corny jokes, and is booked as this big underdog when he's clearly the opposite.

None of these problems have anything to do with Cena. First of all, the only reaction heel Cena will produce is an inverse of the mixed reaction he already gets. Now, older fans/smarks will cheer him while casual fans/kids will boo. What's the point?

It's not like heel Cena will suddenly make Roman the more favorable option. Triple H is the biggest villain in the company and one of the most detestable heels ever, but even he was cheered over Roman at the Rumble. I highly doubt Cena could out heat Triple H.

It's also worth mentioning that in a promo battle, face Cena would destroy Roman. Can you imagine how outclassed Roman would be by a pissed off, evil Cena?

So unless WWE is interested in finding a new way to inadvertently screw up Reigns' push even more, this is a bad idea all around in my book.

 

[OYDK]

Eh, maybe? I guess it all depends on how good John Cena is at playing the heel. A lot of people think that if Cena were to turn, the portion of the crowd that jeers him would than start cheering him and vice versa, basically making the move pointless. I think, if you give the fans a true heel version of Cena, they will revel in booing the hell out of the guy. Maybe some idiots would cheer just to be idiots, but eventually I can see entire arenas reigning down hate on the guy.

It's really not hard to make Cena unlikable. Give him the same type of gimmick, just darker. Make him the anti-Superman, but still have him go over internet darlings like Zayn, Owens, Balor, etc. Give audiences the perception that Cena is "burying" talent and actually taking enjoyment in it this time around, and they will lap it up, at least that's what I think. It certainly worked with HHH.

It all depends on Cena's ability to get over as a heel though, as I mentioned. If he could get the crowd to hate him and make them really want to see somebody take him down, Reigns would benefit greatly as that guy. If not, than the program would hurt Reigns, maybe beyond repair. I don't think it's worth it. If they were going to do this feud, face vs face or a heel Reigns vs face Cena would work best in my opinion.

 

[dsotm5150]

Doesn't really matter what role Cena is playing as long as Reigns cant legitimately get over with the crowd. He's effectively been buried as far as fan support goes. If WWE really wants Reigns to be a big player in the future then once Cena, Rollins, Orton and whoever else is on the injury list is back they need to take Reigns off TV for a good 3 or 4 months, longer the better really, and bring him back as this unstoppable monster and just have him run roughshot over the roster, don't slingshot him straight back to the main event or anything, start the build after a Wrestlemania and work it to the next one.

 

[stingray11214]

Unless VKM suddenly hates money, Cena does not go heel. Cena brings in too much money for VKM to even consider making him heel. As for Reigns: Stamford has thrown so much money at making Reigns the face of the company that turning him heel would be disastrous in the short term. A clean face Reigns win over a face Cena MAY work. But, as heels? Not a chance.

 

[Navi]

Like others have said turning Cena heel would only cause fans to cheer him more over Reigns. They've been asking forever for Cena to turn and it would be a dream for most if he did. I can't see him doing it though, he brings in the kids, who bring their parents, who in turn spend the money. Cena is a certified gravy train for the WWE, and with Bryan gone now, he's their big fish when it comes to merchandise sales. That being said though, I don't know how much stock they put into those sales, but just looking at wweshop.com it seems like a lot.

Reigns was burned badly with his initial push and it's left a lot of fans meh towards him. Not only that we've had the last year of pushing him constantly, McMahon won't give up. This year's Rumble should have been a wake up call. If their last resort is to turn Cena heel, which Cena said would never happen, and Cena gets cheered then Reigns might just be at a dead end.

Flat out the only way to get Reigns over with the fans is to reunite the Shield and let them have another good run. If and when they split them up again, let's see how Reigns is received. He might get the fan support then, but like I said before fans have long memories and before they went with the other two members instead. Reigns is over, but not to the extent that the WWE wants him to be, and I'm just afraid that might never happen. It's their fault, they can't lay the blame on anyone else.

 

[Blade]

Cena turning heel would only make the smarks cheer for him. Because once Cena turns heel, smarks won't feel so embarrassed to admit they actually respect the guy. Reigns still comes out as the guy who's booed.

What you need is heel Reigns taking on face Cena. Have Reigns just be a cocky douche who superman sucker-punches everyone, and fans will eat it up.

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

No. Cena should stay face until he stops being a massive babyface draw. Reigns should be a heel though as he is not over in the slightest way that the McMahons hoped for.

 

[Noshowers]

Anything Cena did would overshadow Roman Reigns, especially coming off an injury. Besides in today's PG WWE, I'm not sure if WWE could believably put Cena over as a heel. I'm not even sure he's capable of it. Not to mention its Cena, those that hate him and find him overrated as a face will hate him as a heel, and those that love him as a face will love him as a heel. Kind of like back when WCW tried to turn Sting heel, you could try to turn him, but chances are the majority of the fans are going to cheer. Besides is there really any such thing as a heel today? If so the line is so blurred you can hardly tell.

Speaking from experience here as a person who is tired of Cena as the ultimate goodie goodie and frequently boo him, I would LOVE to see him turn heel and probably would cheer him at that point if he entertained with the promos. As limited as his moveset is when compared to guys like Rollins, Bryan, etc it is still good enough to be entertaining if used correctly (which to Cena's credit he had done more leading up to his injury). The man was a bodybuilder and strong enough to do all kinds of crazy moves, he should be catching people flying off the top rope at him, throwing guys around like rag dolls, take advantage of that muscle.

Sometimes change is needed, and in this case it is desperately needed. This is the exact same Cena we have seen for a decade+ now, a new gimmick just opens up a whole new array of feuds. Cena vs Orton has happened a million times for instance, but a heel Cena vs face Orton is fresh. Same goes for Brock, Rollins, and the list goes on.

I guarantee a Heel Cena gimmick would take all of the sting out of him tying Flair with another championship reign as well (which is inevitably going to happen at this point unless Cena retires as well) and the fans would definitely be on board until WWE eventually was able to write a way for him to turn face again in a few years.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

Given current situations, I think face Cena vs heel Roman works better, as the fans would definately cheer Roman and boo Cena and WWE can finally get their new top face.

 

[hollowpoint]

I think it would have the reverse affect of Reigns. Face Reigns not believable to the fans and Cena as a heel would be so incredibly over that the next time we saw Reigns it will be for a shot at the newly revived Hardcore championship.