Top face heel turn, Will history repeat itself?

[Otacon]

I'm not sure if this topic has been beat to death or not.

But, Hulk Hogan was a household name and the top star in the eighties, then turned heel in the nineties and joined the nwo.

It's safe to say John Cena for the most part is a household name and has been on the top of the WWE for a long time. I know they have a lot invested in him, he is over with the younger audience and does a lot of charity work.

I wasn't around to see "Hulkamania" run wild, but I was a kid and a fan and thought the nwo was the coolest thing ever.

That leads me to my question:
Do you ever think we will see a situation where John Cena will turn heel?

 

[BestWrestlingOpinions]

We will probably see a Cena heel turn, but nowhere near soon. It is always a risk on the merch sales etc to turn him heel at ANY time, but it there is a chance to a heel turn, we will witness it when the next face of the WWE will be right there to take that spot.

Cena is a big name that presents the WWE pretty much everywhere. He visits sick children, goes to interviews etc etc. A heel turn will probably jeopardize a lot, in the sense that those "sick children" will lose their hero. Unless someone else, some other hero, comes up, Cena won't turn.

Which pretty much begs the question of who and more importantly when will that next hero emerge. There are a lot of guys who seem pretty talented for that spot. Looks aside, Bryan is already liked by most fans of all ages, he is really good in the ring, decent on the mic and connects with the audience. He is that guy that children like because he resembles some sort of friendly figure and adult fans like him because of his top tier ring work. Other names are possibly any Shield member, in my opinion Seth Rollins.
As I said, more importantly is when and here lies the real problem. Will Cena be around for so long in order for that next hero to emerge? They had a great commodity in Punk, but WWE blew it. They have something great in Bryan, but hard work caught up to him. They are trying to establish new guys now, but they gotta be careful. Pushing too soon isn't ideal, stalling someone's push to avoid that isn't ideal either. I can't see anyone ascending to the Cena status any time soon, which means that at least for that long, Cena will remain to what he has been the past 8 years.If he is still around by then, and said new hero has emerged, then we will most probably see a Cena heel turn and again most possibly see Cena feud with said hero over jealousy about being on top.

I don't wanna point fingers or something, but I think they tried to see in some ways how people react to Cena being some sort of heel with Bray Wyatt. Obviously Bray was the heel, but he tried to rely on taking people with him to support him in his quest, accusing Cena of certain things, thus trying to make Cena the bad guy. To some extent, it worked I believe. People followed the buzzards. We might see something like this blurring the liens between face and heel the next months, since Cena is possibly gonna be involved with the Authority and Bryan. Nothing clear though. It will take at least 2 years from now to see a fully fledged Cena heel turn, if ever.

 

[TheICChampion]

The ship sailed several years ago on a Cena heel turn. Especially one that will really have any meaning. I think, apart from what he does for make-a-wish, his merchandise sales, and so on, they won't turn him heel because they like stringing along the fans. People have been talking about him turning "heel" (even though the concept of "heels" and "faces" has been supposedly done away with, according to the boss himself) since like 2006-7. If he hasn't turned by now, it's highly unlikely he ever will. I've said it countless times before, and I'll say it again: The only thing that would really change (apart from maybe a slight hit in merch sales) is that the men would chant "let's go Cena" and the women/children will chant "Cena sucks". IF he ever turns "heel". I honestly don't care if he ever does, and I haven't cared for at least a couple of years now, but he SORELY needs a character tweak.

 

[rge2010]

JOHN CENA GETS BOOED EVERY SINGLE WEEK SO WHY TURN HIM HEEL!!!!!!!!!!

The logic of turning Cena, the WWE's cash cow, into a heel is very bad for business. The kids adore him, they spend money on his merchandise and they turn up to tapings, live shows etc mainly to see him. It is only the smarks that really boo Cena anyway. Are they going to cheer him if he turns heel? Is that the cool thing to do as a smark?

When Cena loses the kids, women and the 'Cenation' they will probably turn him to put some interest back into his character but that will not happen anytime soon.

 

[John Cena's Sweatbands]

There have been a few opportunities to do it. But I think that will be Cenas legacy, to stay in that same character his entire career. Like others have said, the merchandise and the fact that he is such an ambassador for the WWE, visiting sick kids etc are the main reasons why it won't happen.

If it was ever gonna happen, it should have been when The Rock returned. Cena could have cut a promo about how he was loyal to WWE for 8 years when Rock left.

"And now Rock is back they run and cheer for him? You people sicken me. I'm done granting wishes for your children and being their hero. Let's see how long Dwayne will stick around to do that, cos I sure as hell ain't doing it anymore"

Something along those lines.

I don't think it will happen, and if it does I don't think they will have a chance to make it mean as much as it could have.

 

[Dxvitt]

Cenation is slowly dying and Cena really needs a heel change, its whats best for business. Even if he went back to the thug image and still was a fan favorite

 

[J.J.]

People will cheer and boo who they want regardless. As pointed above Cena gets boos pretty much every week. Bray Wyatt is a heel and extremely over, look how over DB was during his last heel run, CM Punk, ect. Hogans heel turn came as shocking to many because he was beloved by all, there weren't half the arena cheering for him and other half booing. Plus this is a different day and time - the casual fan would naturally boo and cheer the bad and good guy...back then. Now they cheer regardless, I don't see a heel or face anymore.

 

[Mustang Sally]

I think the time is ripe for a Cena heel turn. He could use all the damn booing to his advantage, telling the fans: "You boo me after all I've done? Fine, I'll give you something to boo about." Then, he goes out and does it.

The program would be huge. The people who hate him already would have a quandary on their hands, wouldn't they? Then, the ones who like him can take heart in the certainty he'll turn good again someday. Meanwhile, we can enjoy him turning against everything he stood for. The impact would be immense.

Think it can't be done? Well, the OP brings up Hulk Hogan; if ever there was a performer who "couldn't" turn bad, it was him, what with all the "vitamins, vegetables & prayers" crapola. Yet, he did his thing as a bad guy and turned back to face successfully, didn't he?

Cena could do it, too.....and I don't think the company would have to worry about John Cena merchandise sales.....I believe they'd go through the ceiling. While we see tons of "Cena sucks" homemade signs in the audience, I don't recall a T-shirt that says it. Turn Cena bad guy, and you'd see plenty of 'em.

Don't worry; he could still continue his Make-a-Wish work. Kids didn't run in the other direction when they saw Randy Orton in their midst during his bad guy period, did they?

Do it. It would exciting as hell.

 

[J.J.]

It wouldn't be a bad idea if they had a star to take his place. When Hogan turned, Sting became the face of WCW. Cena turns heel now and who is really ready to take his role?

 

[RicSpade]

I'm too the point where I could care less if Cena ever turned heel, I think if anything he needs to stick to the edgier side, and stop wearing all that neon stuff. I like John as a wrestler, but the reason Hogan got boring is because he did the same moves, Hollywood was able to do more cheat tatics and his being limited from time to time wasn't an issue. Cena if he had more aggression like he did at Payback, and cut more edgier promos like he had been, the adult fan would respect him more. But his witty banter is what alludes him from being more over.

 

[Kris Benwa]

I'm a fan of John Cena and always look forward to watching him work. I think they had a chance to turn him in this story but it looks like that won't happen. I think we'll see Cena turn within the next 3 years. Bryan is going to be near the top, and i expect Cena himself to pass the torch to Reigns whenever he's ready to take it. Once Cena is fully out of the main charachter role as a face I think he'll turn to move back into the main character role but as a heel. I think he'll stay heel for 1-3 years then turn back face for the end of his career a la Hulk Hogan though Hogan stayed heel longer. Cena's 37 now i believe. If he works up until 38 or 39 as a face, they can turn him around there and have him work until 42-43 as a top heel. Then turn him back face for his last run near the top of the card. I think at that point he'll either be done or transition to a HBK role where he's always in an important feud but usually comes out on the losing end of it and can also be a world title challenger if they need the spot filled. To answer the original question, yes i think Cena will turn heel and I think he will do so within the next 3 years.

 

[Creepy Old Man]

Hogan's turn was once in a lifetime. He was still by far the biggest star in wrestling, but WCW managed to make him the leader of a cool "invading" heel group which sold as much if not more merch than Hogan did by himself, and made megastars of their foils, Sting and Goldberg. The stars aligned perfectly and it's not something that can ever be duplicated. Austin was the biggest star in wrestling in 2001, and his heel turn bombed.

 

[joshrivette1994]

As I said, more importantly is when and here lies the real problem. Will Cena be around for so long in order for that next hero to emerge? They had a great commodity in Punk, but WWE blew it. They have something great in Bryan, but hard work caught up to him. They are trying to establish new guys now, but they gotta be careful. Pushing too soon isn't ideal, stalling someone's push to avoid that isn't ideal either. I can't see anyone ascending to the Cena status any time soon, which means that at least for that long, Cena will remain to what he has been the past 8 years.If he is still around by then, and said new hero has emerged, then we will most probably see a Cena heel turn and again most possibly see Cena feud with said hero over jealousy about being on top.

That being said though, Monday night it seemed as if Cena was playing second fiddle beside The Shield. Almost as if WWE had no other names BIG enough in the Face department to put in the match besides Cena.

This, imo, speaks volumes about The Shield and their future.

I saw Monday night as a slight changing of the guard, with it being focused only on The Shield. I think this could lead to a Cena turn (by joining The Authority) due to jealousy of how everybody loves Roman and Dean.

 

[bioshock]

Soon as Cena is no longer a big draw or a big deal, he will turn heel. Hogan turned heel at a time when not many liked him anymore. But Hogan had to turn heel, he was getting mostly all boos. Cena still has kids cheering for him, and hes still the top guy, and money maker.

I could see Cena turn heel in maybe 5 years. It will happen there is no doubt. But not any time soon, unless WWE ratings take a massive tank job and its their last resort. Or maybe when they plan on changing the era to something more attitude era like.

 

[BestWrestlingOpinions]

That being said though, Monday night it seemed as if Cena was playing second fiddle beside The Shield. Almost as if WWE had no other names BIG enough in the Face department to put in the match besides Cena.

This, imo, speaks volumes about The Shield and their future.

I saw Monday night as a slight changing of the guard, with it being focused only on The Shield. I think this could lead to a Cena turn (by joining The Authority) due to jealousy of how everybody loves Roman and Dean.

As I said, Cena can't turn yet, because there is no other big name to be the face of the WWE, like it or not. It would be good for the fans to see that, but it won't happen.

It seems that lately, they are trying to move away from the Cena era and usher in the Shield era. Cena, ever since the unification match, he has lost to Orton twice, lost the EC, beat Bray 2-1 (3-0 in my eyes) and hasn't been involved in the main even scene for more than half a year. Even though it is obvious that he is still the face of the company, they are trying to downplay the role he plays on the more important parts of the show, especially the Shield.

 

[hisfirewithin]

I think it should happen. I'd really like to see him bring his Total Divas persona into it, being condescending toward the fans and just uncool. I think Cena is so smart and savvy that he could absolutely draw red hot heel heat like we haven't seen in 20 years. He is one of the few who could do it, too.

 

[lil steroid meat]

In my opinion they lost their chance for it to have the same impact as Hogan when they had Brock take the streak instead of Cena. Him beating Taker dirty and then slapping a kid with his t-shirt would have been the perfect way to turn him and the shock and hatred towards Cena would have made the love for Bryan even greater later that night, set him up as the new kids guy.

I'm sure it will still be somewhat of a big deal when it happens, but meh . . . what would it change? Cena is kind of already not viewed as a big deal in the main event scene. It's widely accepted that he's there because of his Make-A-Wish contributions and T-Shirt sales.

IMO for it to be a big deal, he would have to have Jericho/Michaels/Rock type break where he's gone for 2-5 years and then out of nowhere comes back as a heel with a beard and all of his hair dyed black. Give people a chance to miss his presence on the show. He'd be received almost as a whole new character. That's kind of what happened to Hogan. He was in movies for a few years before coming to WCW.

If he turns now after being there for 10 straight years, people would be tired of it quickly and rightfully so, not much would be different from his current shtick, he gets booed already and would just have "meaner" promos. People would tire quick and then he'd REALLY get X-Pac heat because a heel turn is really the only thing he has left to offer as far as what he can do to freshen up his character.

IMO he shouldn't turn heel until he's been gone long enough for people to kind of miss him.

 

[milkman12]

Fun Question if this wasn't asked literally every single freaking week for the last God knows how many years. At this point who really cares, as the exciting factor of it is extremely diminished even if Cena where to turn heel any time soon. I doubt he will turn heel until the company establishes and secures another FACE at his level to hold down the fort. I would not be surprised if they are waiting to establish Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns as two main event top of the line baby faces before turning Cena as there is no one to consistently replace him.