If Stone Cold Could Get Away With Being A Heel, Why Can't John Cena?

[J.J.]

Why must Cena turn heel? It urks me because not many look st it from a business standpoint. Yeah many want to see a change but his merch sales as a face is too good and he is a role model for kids(Make-A-Wish Foundation anyone?), honors the military everytime he hits the stage. Regardless if there's people that boo him, it doesn't change the figures being made. Why would the WWE alienate that? As pointed out the Austin heel turn was failure and i can only predict a Cena turn would have same result. Who is ready to take Cena's spot as the babyface of the company?

 

[IWChampion]

The reason Austin could turn heel and not Cena is because Austin was liked because he was cool. He was a guy who did what he wanted and was able to connect with the audience. He was interesting to listen to and had a lot of aggression. With Cena, he is someone who has to be forced down people's throats and is booed by half the arena because his character sucks. Yes I know a dozen Cena marks will jump on me but its true. Why else would there be so much Cena hate? Why else would he get booed by half an arena as a heel? Austin was likeable. He got over then became champ, Cena became champ and then got over. Also another reason Austin's heel turn worked was because he was already a bad ass who did what he wanted and said hwat he wanted and didn't kiss up to the fans or anyone. Cena on the other hand has almost always kissed up to the fans and been a "goody two shoes". Him suddenly become a "bad guy" ins't believable. Austin being bad was.

 

[J.J.]

How did Austin turning heel work? From a business standpoint look at how his merchandise sales declined as did ratings overall in the long run. I can provide you a link of Austin himself stating it was a bad decision. It just cannot be a trusted idea because i feel nobody is in line to be the face of the company. I just don't feel CM Punk is ready for that role just yet as his main event relevance has only reaccured in recent months. I like Cena, hes not my favorite but I respect his dedication to the fans/company and as their longstanding posterboy. Not many can handle such a role. The only dislike I have is how these writers pinned the title on him 10 times in the last 5-6 years.

 

[ctln4rko]

I have a few points as to why I think Cena should not be heel.

As many people say, Cena's WWE's biggest merchandise seller, the face of the WWE. Turning him heel would make the little kids not buy his merchandise any more. That along would put a dent in WWE's pocket.

Second, Cena just is a face. I really don't see him as a heel. There are a few gimmicks he could play as a heel, but I don't think he could pull it off. He's just too family friendly. You mentioned Steve Austin as heel; Austin himself, in his book, said he hated his heel run. I think he said something like- the fans didn't buy it completely and neither did I. So that is not the best example.

 

[Yandzibar]

Austin shouldn't be the comparison here it should be hogan. That's the bar that is set for Cena to be heel. If it can rival or top hogan's, then wrestling will be cool for everyone again. But if it's not handled perfectly it call also start to financially bankrupt wwe's main demographic.

 

[tcav701]

CM Punk is Austin, Cena is not.

I would have been the biggest advocate for a Cena heel turn 6 months ago but there has been an emergence of young heels that can carry that torch.

Del Rio has been a bust and was pushed too early, but guys like Rhodes, Miz and Ziggler will be the top heels in 2012.

 

[CDR]

This past monday on RAW, we saw the first strong hint of a John Cena heel turn in the near future during the Piper's pit segment. Everybody in the WWE universe is dying for John Cena to turn heel, or do something different with his charactor. But WWE chairman Vince McMahon is scared to death of doing anything different with his golden boy John Cena. Because with Vince McMahon & John Cena, it's moneywrestling.

But what about ten years ago at and after Wrestlemania 17 in Houston, Texas with Vince McMahon's face of the company at the time Stone Cold Steve Austin? When Stone Cold turned heel and joined the heelish chairman "Mr. McMahon" with the two man power-trip along with Triple H. Stone Cold Steve Austin really got heat from the WWF/E crowd at the time.

With Stone Cold as the leader of the WCW-ECW allience, and wife (at the time) Debra McMichael as his on-screen manager, and we witness the orgins of the "what" cry. Now if Vince McMahon is willing to put his money where his mouth is with putting SCSA as a heel at the time. Why won't he do it with John Cena?

Just think of the feuds John Cena can be in? Like a feud with a Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, or even the Undertaker upon his return. Just something different.

Ok, in wrestling, you have wrestlers who, throughout their entire career, will have mulitple heel and face turns. It's just one of those things that happens. The world goes around, wrestlers turn. So eventually, we will all see the John Cena heel turn that we've been waiting for. BUT, it MUST be at the right time. Now is most certainly not the right time.

The time is nearing though, and on RAW they've been telling us this for the past few weeks. In the past couple of weeks, they've kinda been testing the waters in regards to how the fans would react to a Cena heel turn. With the Piper segment and the Foley segment and especially the fued with The Rock, the heel turn is being foreshadowed. It will happen eventually, but you need to just wait for it to happen.

Heel turns are most effective when they are unforeseen. The best heel turn ever, Hulk Hogan in WCW, was pretty much shocking. The way the crowd reacted, by throwing anything close to them at the ring, just proved that the turn was perfect. If Cena turned heel next week, would the crowd reaction be the same? Absolutely no. Because when you turn the biggest face in the company into the biggest heel in the company, you first need to have the crowd 100% behind him. Are all the fans behind Cena right now? Nope, he gets a 70/30 reaction everywhere, for the most part. Turning him heel now simply wouldn't have the effect that should be expected.

Now, to get the fans behind Cena 100% you have to get the doubters and worst critics on his side. What are the biggest complaints about Cena? "He wins too much, or he's always the champion, he doesn't push anybody." What have we seen lately from Cena? He ain't champion anymore. He just got demolished by Kane's returned. He gave up a spot in the championship match so Zack Ryder could be in the U.S. title match, or whatever title that is. In essence, when turning somebody heel, you must first turn him 100% face. That's exactly what's happening right now. You just give it time and Cena will be a heel. However, you need patience. It will happen. Later though.

 

[The Champ]

To be honest, I think your posts are full of BS, And you're trying to make your points by claiming that "Alot of people think that...".

Well, that's because when you're making a decision like this, you have to look at what your entire audience thinks, not just a few marks on the internet.

"Cena isn't stale"
LMAO!! Really?! Right now, cena is beyond stale, and I think it's too late now for him to refresh his character while being face. He MUST turn heel, and it's gonna happen soon(After the piper's pit, there is no doubt in my mind). However, I do agree with you on the "inverse reaction"(finally something right come outta you). Adults will cheer him, and kids will boo him.

So if he's going to get the same mix of cheers and boos every week, along with making less money for the company, what the hell is the point? As for the stale point, I can see why one would think that but as evidenced by his continued popularity, a lot of people don't. And until he gets "stale" with a bigger percentage of the audience, and those people stop paying to see him regardless, he's still doing fine in his current role.

We're talking about cena, What does rock have to do with this? LOL
Anyway, rock say all thoses phrases because the audience WANTS to hear them, there is no "pushed down their throat" thing here.

And Cena does what he does because that's what his fans want to hear. If they didn't, he wouldn't be so popular, he wouldn't make so much money, and he wouldn't be pushed as hard.

Biggest bull crap I've ever read.

Actually, it's a lot of truth. Not every good guy needs to be a OMG BADASS~! who breaks the rules and does things that a good person usually doesn't. We have plenty of anti-heroes, even today. CM Punk and Randy Orton are two names that instantly spring to mind. I see no reason why we can't also have a face who serves as a role model for children as to how they should be living their lives. Hell, I look up to the guy myself. I would rather be the guy who works his ass off every week for the business he loves than the guy who threatens to leave because he's not getting his way.

 

[england15]

To be honest the real reason Cena hasn't turned heel, is because he can't work as a heel. In history the best heels were the work horses of the match. They dictate how the matches would go. Cena on the other had has the 5 moves of doom, great for a face comeback but that doesn’t work for a 20-25 minute match where you are the work horse on that match.

Look at his standout matches. They have only been with guys who can carry him and make him look good. Who’s he ever made look good in the ring

 

[Best in the World 79]

Simple. Wwe targets children mainly. Children do not give a shit how good a guy can wrestle, cut a promo, or present a character. kids dont like cm punk mostly because he's too complex for crayons. kids don't like taker because they just either don't understand or they're afraid when the lights go out to a gong. i'm sure some kid shit his pants when kane came back monday.

cena cannot turn heel because the wwe does not have another "insertnameMANIA" kinda guy. cena is pretty much it because apparently he must've given vince the most fabolous blow job he ever received.

stone cold did it because you had star power then, full schedule taker, hhh, angle, kane, rock, and good mid card talent. and not to mention all the ecw wcw stuff.

if cena turned heel, it'd be cool. the guy talks like a wigger. he puts on so much. i know a guy named roy lee raney who drove a limo for cena when he was basically blowing balls to even kiss wwe's foot. he said cena was the biggest douche bag he'd ever met. this coming from a huge douche bag. so he smiles a lot and rises above hate and loves kids! that's great i respect the guy outside of the wwe. but when it comes to what i see on tv, that guy does nothing for me. i'd rather not see his ass on any show, rather than a heel turn or staying face. fuck cena he sucks. always has. always will. wrestlemania fans speak the loudest. they say cena sucks.

 

[Davi323]

Stone Cold and Cena are too completely different characters. Steve Austin's character was always right at the line between face/heel, and he could cross it with just a minor shift in his character. All he had to do was give a different wrestler a Stunner. Austin was popular, but popular =/= face. Austin was never a true "good guy" like Cena is. He was more of an anti-hero than a hero. Or, I suppose you could call him an anti-face, to adapt that term to wrestling.

John Cena has been built up as a monster face. There is no ambiguity about his character. Like Hulk Hogan in the 80s, Cena stands for truth, justice, the American way, shaking kid's hands, being patriotic, and all the other things that a "hero" would do. Also like Hulk Hogan, it would take something truly special to believe that his character could turn his back on that. The entire John Cena persona is based on that reputation.

It's completely an apples to oranges comparison.

 

[xoxo French Kiss xoxo]

Austin was hot shit in the Attitude Era, his fan base was mostly men, grown fucking men who loved his drinking, his cussing, his rejection of authority, his I'm a bad ass persona.

Austin was able to be a heel and still draw because his fans love him being bad, they loved that he he didn't give a fuck, they loved that he was going to come out, stump a mud hole, raise hell and blah blah blah, that was his appeal.

Cena is hot shit now in the PG Era, his fan base is mostly children. Kids love his Hustle, Loyalty and Respect antics, his Rise Above attitude, his Superman like abilities in the ring.

Cena being a champion for this Rise Above Hate promotion, his make a wish contributions, his respect for the Armed Forces and his connection with the youth of the WWE Universe makes it impossible and illogical to turn him heel, its just not worth the risk of alienating millions of fans and hundreds possibly thousands cross promotional opportunities.

 

[tripleddd]

stone cold was never really a heel as much as he did the fans always wanted the old stone cold to turn face and not give a shit . cena could have been the new austin but his character was written differently - the super cena - john needed more defeats he needed the crowd to get behind him like austin and the rock he need to be screwed more times. johns moment was against batista same as rock vs austin but the writing/booking was lazy and it was never built properly - now cena is going to be the rock as rock is going to be Hogan - the time to pass on the baton - honestly we want the rock to win reality john will win because he has to but it wont be the same as hogan vs rock because we wanted the Rock to win - we dont really want john to win and thats his legacy yes he pleases the kids but he dont please the adults - its not him its not his wrestling its the stories and thats a shame and a waste