Paglino: There you have it folks. The age old argument of whether or not John Cena turns heel in WWE is really an argument of creativity vs business. Which is an age old argument itself.
The viewers dont care about merchandise numbers, or live event gates, or how much money someone makes for a company, they care about good storytelling and the most creative TV show possible. So yes, from a creative standpoint a John Cena heel turn should have happened a long time ago.
If more people wanted to see a heel turn then didn't, that means live event gates would rise. The nWo had huge merchandise numbers, as heels. John Cena would not. People who have been lambasting Cena for literally 10 years aren't going to suddenly like him cause he's a bad guy now, and the WWE knows not to totally alienate their fans.
Of course, if WWE put more confidence in its up-and-coming stars, and built new main event level talent, maybe they wouldnt consistently have to rely on Cena being the top draw.
Oh yeah, because the WWE would love to only have one draw who is not far shy of 40 years old, and it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that with the exception of Bryan and Punk, both of whom were given enormous chances to shine, nobody has connected with the audience in the way that all previous big stars did.
Daniel Bryan and The Miz have headlined WrestleMania in the last 4 years, if the WWE was all about the old guard, that wouldn't have happened.