Is WWE grooming Orton to be face of the company a sign that Cena is turning heel?

[theBusiness]

...it seems like this to me. Orton is getting a twitter, he's getting movie roles, and to top it off, he is actually getting bigger pops than anyone else in the business. Cena has been rumored to be revealed as the leader of Nexus and I personally think its a FACT that someone on the 7man team is joining Nexus at Summerslam. With Orton getting all this attention and the Nexus storyline in full motion, is Cena's inevitable heel turn closer than ever?

 

[Remy LaCroix]

To be frank, who knows. But with lotsa speculation and the storyline laid out, it could happen. Sure, we're thinking he'll finally turn heel. Sure, he won't cuz he sells merchandise. Whatever. People might be thinking he is teasing a heel turn (like he did last Monday -- to me he did) but not follow through with it cuz, well, IT'S FREAKIN' YAWN CENA. And then come Summerslam, WHAM! He DOES turn heel. Who knows, really, except for McMahon, John, the roster, and the creative team.

Do I think he'll turn heel? Maybe...

As for Orton being the face, then obviously yeah. They promote him on the commercials on USA. Fans love him, you can see the signs if you want proof. Do you hear the chants? We all do. As for THE face of the company, I'll know for sure when he tries to convince me to buy a fancy shaving razor thingamabob.

 

[hArdyPUNKmArk]

Interesting... I suppose it's a possible turn of events for Orton, Cena and the WWE.

Personally, I would love Cena to turn. Even if doesn't make the most sense. If they did it right people wouldn't care that he had been beaten up by Nexus the whole time. I don't really know if the WWE would go with it or not. Cena is big bucks as a face, would Orton draw as much money as Cena? Maybe.

The only thing to do is wait and see. I certainly wouldn't be against it though, in fact I'd love to see Orton as the bad guy type of face and Cena as a bad arse heel. We'll wait and see I guess.

 

[Gansher]

Well I think WWE is noticing that the crowd explodes whenever Orton hits an RKO. The ovation is tremendous and from what I've seen recently, Cena's not really getting that much cheers from the fans and when it comes to Orton you rarely hear a boo. In this case it would be a good idea and for once the face of the company would actually be able to wrestle.

 

[bluejt16]

NO WAY! cena will never turn heel. He is like Hulk Hogan without the nWo.. the only reason randy is a face IMO is because the WWE writers physically couldn't write any more to make him a heel. remember this is the guy who was punting hall of famers and some of the big faces of the WWE. I don't think that WWE can do any more heel roles with randy until the PG era is over.

 

[President Evil]

It seems the majority of the IWC and millions in the WWE Universe are begging Mcmahon and the E for a Cena heel turn. Its time. Those who are in denial or kids under 12 obviously dont know what the word 'change' means. Cena has been the face of the E for over 5 years now. And its been long said that Cena is todays Hogan. Both have lots of similarities: low wrestling ability, but are able to carry a crowd. By 1995 people were really tired of Hogans worn out old gimmick, and to refresh his persona a heel turn was created.

I would welcome a Cena heel turn, those fans who stopped watching would watch again, and Id sure love to see a Cena heel vs Orton face program. Orton has everything it takes to become the next face of the E. All Mcmahon has to do is make the decision.

 

[Next Jericho]

In my option no no no! I will tell you why I think this under three points.

The first one is the WWE are a corporation that need a face and well Randy Orton in my option could not be a face to save his live. Even though they are doing there best to get him over with the crowd by getting surprise pops (Hitting the RKO on Even Bourne from a shooting star press) and he is already over with the Internet.

Do you not see what is happening John Cena is over with the regular fans but not the internet fans. Heels sometimes are over better with the internet fans so in order to get Cena over with the internet fans he needs to be turned heel or be able to actual wrestle.

Now do you want to see the same feuds happen each and every year with the main eventers Edge vs Cena, Triple H vs Cena, Randy Orton vs Cena, Chirs Jericho vs Cena (for a bit of fun Cena vs Cena who would win that) well those feuds can happen each and every year if Cena were to turn heel.

These are my options on if Cena to turn heel and well I don't think it should happen.

 

[Ferbian]

I don't get why people seem so damn high on the fact "Oh let's turn Cena heel and Orton the top face now just because he's popular".

There's no need to assume that Randy is gonna be the top face. Not yet at least. John is still the definite top face. He's still over with the fans, he still does a lot for the company. He is the definition of a company poster boy.

Randy however is slowly adapting to it. He still needs things here and there. So to assume by now that he's gonna be taking over. Much less that he's ever gonna be taking over is speeding up a process that might not even be happening.

There's others who has had the luxuries that Randy is getting. There's a lot of WWE talent on twitter. There's a lot of them that has gotten some kind of movie role one way or another. Remember that Chris Jericho appeared in a movie? Remember Triple H has been on movies (He's not on twitter though). So it's way too quickly to judge.

 

[saint13]

NO WAY! cena will never turn heel. He is like Hulk Hogan without the nWo...

even Hogan turned heel once and he was just as over as a heel as he was as a face. There is nothing i want more in the WWE than to see Orton as a face WWE Champ and a Heel Cena chasing the title from the Face Orton

 

[IrishCanadian25]

Everybody needs to throw some ice on their "Cena's gonna go heel" hard-ons. It's not happening.

As a babyface - and as the face of the company - Cena is pure gold. Not only does he connect with the fans better than we've seen anyone do since Austin and The Rock, but he has a squeaky clean track record, he works his ass off in the media, and he's a company guy. He gets Make-a-Wish foundation requests similar to Hogan in the 80's. He's a huge part of the WWE's efforts to support US troops. He sells merch like nobody since The Rattlesnake.

Wrestling fans got spoiled by the Hogan heel turn. It was such a shock moment, because until then, nobody thought it possible. But remember - the REASON that happened was because Hogan had jumped ship from the #1 promotion to the #2 promotion, and the momentum created by his arrival had started to wane. As Eric Bischoff said in his book AND in the WCW DVD, he needed to make a loud noise to get people's attention. Hogan was that noise.

WWE tried to replicate the Hogan heel turn by aligning Steve Austin with Mr. McMahon at Wrestlemania 17 and into the 2-man powertrip. Austin was tremendous (he worked the 9/11 angle with Kurt Angle as the heel and was brilliant, IMO) but the fans would NOT let go of the nostalgia. Plus, since those fans had already need through the Hogan heel turn, we were wise to it. "Oh, I get it, you want us to hate him now. Well, I don't wanna. So there."

If Cena ever DOES go heel, you're looking at a MINIMUM of 2 years down the line, if not longer.

Furthermore, if there is any "grooming" going on, they are grooming Orton to be the top face on one of the two shows, with Cena on the other. Personally, I'd love to see Cena be the top face on Smackdown because he connects better with the younger audience, whereas Orton can be edgier and connects with the older Monday night crowd.

 

[Anubiz632]

I personally would HATE this turn of events.

Guys please try to remember that we are in the PG Era. If Cena turns 'Heel' he'll be just as bland as the 'face' Cena persona we have now. Cena wont be going back to his thuganomics gimmick where he's ripping on everyone etc. The PG era is kiling the creativity process for the company.

 

[JJ15776]

Well I think WWE is noticing that the crowd explodes whenever Orton hits an RKO. The ovation is tremendous and from what I've seen recently, Cena's not really getting that much cheers from the fans and when it comes to Orton you rarely hear a boo. In this case it would be a good idea and for once the face of the company would actually be able to wrestle.

Since when is Orton is Cena's league wrestling wise???

That little nugget of idiocy aside, I don't see them grooming Orton to be the face of the company at all. They're grooming him to be a face. And he is a face. But he's not talented enough in the ring (unlike Cena) or on the mic (unlike Cena), or fan friendly enough (unlike Cena), to be the face of the company. Cena is still the guy that sells merchandise, sells PPVs, does commercials and movies and talk shows...that's Cena. It's not Orton. He doesn't have the on screen character or the real life personality. He never will. Let's face it, he's boring. I know I'm not the only one that DVRs Raw so I can fast forward when he's talking.

Will Cena turn heel? Sure, eventually. But I doubt it'll be anytime soon - and it won't be because they think Orton is the new face of the company.

 

[Unsold Bacon]

Do you not see what is happening John Cena is over with the regular fans but not the internet fans. Heels sometimes are over better with the internet fans so in order to get Cena over with the internet fans he needs to be turned heel or be able to actual wrestle.

I will not support him if he turns heel I just want to see some entertaining wrestling matches.

I do not think they will turn Cena heel, just for the main reason he sells merch, I could be wrong though.

 

[Boondocks]

Furthermore, if there is any "grooming" going on, they are grooming Orton to be the top face on one of the two shows, with Cena on the other. Personally, I'd love to see Cena be the top face on Smackdown because he connects better with the younger audience, whereas Orton can be edgier and connects with the older Monday night crowd.

This is exactly right. I know RAW is WWE's flagship show is RAW, so why not put their #1 guy there? But RAW's fans seem to be the older, "we want violence" type of fans, while SmackDown! has the 9 year old fans. 90% of Cena's fanbase is the small children, and the women who like wrestlers based off their looks. I vote, once Orton is "groomed" to be the top "face", make him the top face of RAW, seeing as he has more of said edgy personality. He appeals to the older fans who love the un-expected-ness of an RKO. His look appeals to the older fans, lined in tattoos, wears ACTUAL wrestling gear. Then, make Cena the top face...too. Ship him over to Smackdown, where all the little kiddies can have all the superman Cena they want. I personally am so sick of this Cena, it's rediculous, but he's for the kids, and so is SmackDown!. Then, you have no crappy attempt at a PG Era heel Cena, and you get your bad-ass, RKO everyone in sight, face Orton. So, no, there will be no heel turn in his PG Era future (hopefully).

 

[Dave]

Over the last couple of weeks, we have heard so much about John Cena turning heel and I must admit that I am coming around to the idea of seeing a darker side to John Cena. What is even more important that that, is that I can actually see the building blocks falling into place for the heel turn to start. With the Nexus saying that they have a bigger cause than getting contacts, I think that the door is very much open for Cena to step into that role. Of course, then we had the report that the WWE wanted the leader to be Triple H or John Cena and with Triple H reportedly out for a long time still, I guess it comes down to John Cena. However, it just seems as though it is something that the WWE would do and at this point of time, I don’t think that they would lose a lot of sales. If they are ever going to make him a heel, the time is now.

With Orton, The Miz and Rey Mysterio pulling in a share of the merchandise sales, then the loss that Cena turning heel would obviously cause wouldn’t be as much of a hit as it would have been 2 or 3 years ago. Sure, he still sells a lot of merchandise but nothing is to say that kids and the people who buy that merchandise wouldn’t support him in a new role. The WWE just need to take the chance and let us see what John Cena can do in another role. Who knows, he may even open himself up to a whole new world of fans and the IWC might start to come around to him. The “You can’t wrestle” chants might stop and we might see a more lucrative John Cena.

As for Orton taking his place, I really can see it happening but I really hope it doesn’t. He really is struggling to portray a face character right now and unless they turn someone like Edge or Jericho face to replace Cena, I don’t think the face turn is going to work. Every time I see Orton cut a promo, I just think that he leans more towards being a heel and I don’t think he would be able to fill Cena’s shoes at this point but it remains to be seen.

 

[Optimist Prime]

Everybody needs to throw some ice on their "Cena's gonna go heel" hard-ons. It's not happening.

As a babyface - and as the face of the company - Cena is pure gold. Not only does he connect with the fans better than we've seen anyone do since Austin and The Rock, but he has a squeaky clean track record, he works his ass off in the media, and he's a company guy. He gets Make-a-Wish foundation requests similar to Hogan in the 80's. He's a huge part of the WWE's efforts to support US troops. He sells merch like nobody since The Rattlesnake.

Wrestling fans got spoiled by the Hogan heel turn. It was such a shock moment, because until then, nobody thought it possible. But remember - the REASON that happened was because Hogan had jumped ship from the #1 promotion to the #2 promotion, and the momentum created by his arrival had started to wane. As Eric Bischoff said in his book AND in the WCW DVD, he needed to make a loud noise to get people's attention. Hogan was that noise.

WWE tried to replicate the Hogan heel turn by aligning Steve Austin with Mr. McMahon at Wrestlemania 17 and into the 2-man powertrip. Austin was tremendous (he worked the 9/11 angle with Kurt Angle as the heel and was brilliant, IMO) but the fans would NOT let go of the nostalgia. Plus, since those fans had already need through the Hogan heel turn, we were wise to it. "Oh, I get it, you want us to hate him now. Well, I don't wanna. So there."

If Cena ever DOES go heel, you're looking at a MINIMUM of 2 years down the line, if not longer.

Furthermore, if there is any "grooming" going on, they are grooming Orton to be the top face on one of the two shows, with Cena on the other. Personally, I'd love to see Cena be the top face on Smackdown because he connects better with the younger audience, whereas Orton can be edgier and connects with the older Monday night crowd.

You're right. Kind of like when Hogan, Hall and Nash came back to WWE in 2002 and reformed a horrible Vince McMahon version of the NWO.

The Rock was supposedly their biggest star at the time and mega-face and was literally booed beyond belief at Wrestlemania 18. "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan, on the other hand, was re-cast into his biggest villain of all time role...but was cheered with every move he made.

Around this time is when almost everything had been done in wrestling and fans were pretty used to what was going and just started changing the rules a little. I absolutely loved it because I'm an old school fan...and I'd root for Hogan any day over The Rock or anybody else for that matter (although I was kind of stuck during Wrestlemania 6 against the Warrior).

Anyway, I'll never understand wrestling fans these days. They'll just cheer for anything I guess. Randy Orton has the look and the moves and certainly some charisma...but his mic skills are pretty terrible. He was the perfect bad guy...because he wouldn't say much but it was easier to has his bad personality as a bad guy because it fit in with the hatred. As a good guy he's basically the same guy but he helps other good guys in trouble. That's basically it...and he gets cheered beyond belief for it.

 

[Syborgg]

WWE is a business, and a business that is making alot of money with Cena as the top draw. So my question to all the marks here....Why fix what isn't broken? Just because a very few Internet fans want Orton to be the new face of the company, doesn't mean it should happen. Believe it or not we in the IWC are STILL in the minority, and it's not good business sense to cater to the minority no matter how vocal they become. I don't see where they are grooming anyone else to be the face of the company right now. It does seem like they are investing in Orton a bit, but unless Cena gets hurt or up and quits, then he will continue to be "the man". If anyone is being groomed it's The Miz, but they're building him slowly which is the best way. So maybe in a few years, someone will take Cena's spot, but I strongly believe that it's going to be a while.

 

[HBKevin]

But RAW's fans seem to be the older, "we want violence" type of fans, while SmackDown! has the 9 year old fans.

I don't know about this. I don't know if there are many brand-specific fans anymore, since they stopped being strict with separating the brands, and ended the brand-specific PPVs. And I'd say if one show is more childish, it's Raw. It's the one with the guest hosts and Santino, Hornswoggle, etc. SmackDown has Rey Rey but that's about it.

 

[ChaffRKO]

I think the WWE is crying out for a big change but like people have said, it's very limited while we're in the PG era where we can't even see blood anymore. There's only so much the writers can do to make it interesting.

Cena turning heel would have a massive impact on the company and while all the wise enough fans would welcome it with arms open, it's how the screaming 12 year old "lets go Cena" fans will take to it that is intriguing.

As for Orton being a face, I don't like it one bit. In the Legacy days, Orton proved how good a heel he can be and his persona just doesn't fit being the face that the kids idolise.

 

[steveh0481]

I honestly hope that the WWE does not turn Cena heel to be the leader of Nexus. For one, it makes no sense. Here's a guy that has been getting his ass beat on a weekly basis from Nexus. Why would he all the sudden join them? Thats Vince Russo storyline booking. For two, the Nexus does NOT need a big name leader. I think you rob these guys of the momentum they are building with putting a big name in as their leader. Then its no longer about the Nexus but about the big name leader. If the WWE wants to add a name to Nexus, wait for a returning Bryan Danielson to join back up with the Nexus.

Right now the WWE doesn't need Cena to be a heel. Raw has plenty of top name heels along with the Nexus (7 heels). I wouldnt mind seeing Cena as heel down the road, but right now it just wouldnt make much sense.

 

[AttitudeAJM]

The idea of having Randy Orton and Cena on top for a potential babyface superfight is an awesome idea.

I don't think Cena should turn yet, unless they are going to reshuffle the Nexus lineup.

 

[President Evil]

I honestly hope that the WWE does not turn Cena heel to be the leader of Nexus. For one, it makes no sense. Here's a guy that has been getting his ass beat on a weekly basis from Nexus. Why would he all the sudden join them? Thats Vince Russo storyline booking. For two, the Nexus does NOT need a big name leader. I think you rob these guys of the momentum they are building with putting a big name in as their leader. Then its no longer about the Nexus but about the big name leader. If the WWE wants to add a name to Nexus, wait for a returning Bryan Danielson to join back up with the Nexus.

Right now the WWE doesn't need Cena to be a heel. Raw has plenty of top name heels along with the Nexus (7 heels). I wouldnt mind seeing Cena as heel down the road, but right now it just wouldnt make much sense.

I dont mean to go against your opinion here, but I just have to quote this because this is a prime example of what Ive been reading here alot lately.

1) "Cena has been getting his ass kicked on a weekly basis by Nexus and it doesnt make sense for him to join Nexus" Remember when the nWo formed, Macho Man got his ass handed to him for 8 months, until he joined the nWo in March 1997.

2) Yes Nexus has 7 heels...remember the first few weeks that Hall and Nash were on Nitro? Yes they were creating havoc and whatever, but they're group quite wasnt there yet, they needed something big and shocking, enter Hogan.

By Cena joing the Nexus, two things are taken care of. 1) Cena will have a new style/much needed makeover, plus Nexus will cement their status as a legitimate threat to be reckoned with.

 

[WweBreezybre]

I like Orton but people need to relies he is not a face.HE IS A TWEENER.It might been ok in the attitude era to have a tweener lead your company ( Stone cole, The Rock ) but in Pg the kids need a goodey goodey Superman type character ( CENA )

 

[Freakzilla11]

Unfortunately, a heel turn for a Cena isn't as cracked up as it may seem.

Sure, I would love to see the man turn heel. He has the entire WWE Universe basically cheering for him (exception of IWC and 18+), and he has this unparalleled potential to destroy the hearts and dreams of 12-year olds everywhere.

But, how did they do it?

A heel Cena would just have to be a cold bastard of a man. Can you honestly see Cena screaming "I WANT MY TITLE BACK!" and not gaining a few cheers? Or a mad Cena destroying everything in his path? Or even defying authority? Cena has done all of these things over the past few years, and still remains a top face in the industry.

He would have to insult the fans, the crowd, the WWE itself, the wrestlers, just everyone and everything. Claim to be better, claim to be stronger, etc. A simple heel turn won't work for him. It needs, and has, to be huge.

Which brings up the other end of the double-edged sword here. If Cena does go down the path I just explained, truly making a ridiculous heel turn, does he commit career suicide? Cena didn't start making real money until he was a face and became the poster boy. So if he throws all of that away, could it ever be reclaimed?

It's arguable that Hogan ever reached the height he was at AFTER the nWo events. It was never the same Hogan either. Sure, nWo sold lots of merchandise, the company made money, fans were interested, whatever. But what happened to Hogan? Eventually he involved him self in bad storyline after bad storyline, resulting in the closing of WCW and an eventual return to WWE, where he relied on old gimmicks that just weren't as posh with the new age.

With Cena, you've got to look at the bigger picture. Heel turn today, but possibly gone tomorrow?

A heel turn for Cena can really shift his entire career, which might not make it worth it in the end.

 

[President Evil]

Guys, a Cena heel turn is not the end of the world. Before Bash at the Beach 1996, it was hard to imagine Hogan as a heel, but he did it, and it worked like a charm. And it added a few more years to Hogans career because by him joining the nWo it gave him a new reason for him to be on tv and for fans to watch. Cena or the WWE will not go broke if Cena turns heel tomorrow.

By Cena turning heel I see more good than bad for everyone. It'll open an opportunity of having a new face of the company. We wont have to see that ugly orange t-shirt that Cena's been wearing for a year now. Plus his role will be that of a Nexus leader. Obviously Barret is not experienced enough for that role, whether its on tv or backstage.