WWE: John Cena and Why He Doesn't Need to nor Should He Turn Heel

It's one of the most talked-about and popular stories amongst the Internet wrestling community, the heel turn of John Cena.

Every day here on Bleacher, someone puts up a new story or slideshow or five reasons why Cena should turn heel. If you Google Cena heel turn, you'll get over 300,000 responses, 136,000 images and over 60,000 videos all tagged and linked to the topic somehow. So many people cry and clamor for this major event that will "save" the WWE. To me, it is by far the most short-sighted, foolish and annoying topic that has been played out and run into the ground so much you can't see the bottom of that trench. 

Let's start by breaking this down in a fair and factual way that may get to the bottom of this massive demand from a very outspoken group of fans. We'll do that by answering the question first—what is a heel?

The heel character in wrestling can be best described as the bad guy. They are the antagonist to the hero, someone who behaves in an immoral or inappropriate manner. Popular characteristics of a heel character have been: cheating to win, attacking another wrestler backstage, insulting the fans, insulting the town in which they are performing, interfering with other wrestlers' matches and acting in a cocky or superior manner.

They are disliked by the young kid fanbase but still may be enjoyed by the older generations. This is mainly because while an adult can appreciate the humor or skills of the heel—example being I enjoy Mark Henry (I think he did great with his title run and made an excellent character—a younger fan only sees a wrestler like Henry as the villain and therefore instantly hates them. Because we teach children to hate the bad guys. 

How would Cena benefit from any of these things?

He had, at one point, come out with a rapping gimmick where he trash-talked his opponent or the city he was preforming in that night. That seemed to get old and cliche.

If he cheated to win by using the ropes or a foreign object, would this stop the chants of "You can't wrestle"? He has been in numerous backstage attacks, just usually not where he sneaks up on someone and takes the cheap shot to start the confrontation. He seems unstoppable and willing to take on anyone who gets in his way—isn't that cockiness?

So his downfall of becoming a heel is that he is liked by kids immensely and doesn't cheat to win.

Now, let's look at why Cena doesn't NEED to turn heel.

Popular heel characters today include Mark Henry, Dolph Ziggler, Cody Rhodes and Christian. These men embody the traits of scary dominance, cocky attitude, hatred for the fans or a whiny nature. They are booed and put in a negative light because they are there to cause issues for whoever is the current face or good guy of the match.

Cena finds himself booed all over the country. It has become comical in the difference in the pitch of the voices that cheer or jeer for him. The high-pitched "Lets go Cena" chants of children who like him and women who find him attractive versus the low-pitched, followup shouts of "Cena sucks!"

If he were to turn heel, would it stop the "Cena sucks" chants, or would there just be less of those high-pitched "Lets go Cena" shouts?

This past Monday night on Raw, Cena had a match with Jack Swagger, and he came at Swagger with a great amount of intensity and brutal force; he nearly dropped the steel stairs on Swagger, crushing him in the process. This was just more fuel to the fire of the heel turn screams, saying that it is a sign of things to come, that he's at his point where he can't take it anymore, he'll snap and turn heel.

But how is it that coming at the opponent strong indicates heel action?

Does Big Show go easy on someone? When Triple H used a sledge hammer on Nash, did it turn him heel?  Strong attacks do not make someone a heel nor do they show a tendency to go towards the dark side.

There is no need to turn Cena heel because it would barely be recognizable to the person watching at home outside of the occasional insult of some city's local sports team. Will Cena insulting the fans, cheating or acting superior even more so improve his character or skills? The answer is no. Those who hate him now would simply continue to hate him. If a non-wrestling fan were to turn on Raw today and hear the chants of "Cena sucks," they'd assume he was the heel because he's already getting a heel reaction. 

Now, why shouldn't Cena turn heel? This can be more of a personal opinion matter. I've read a lot of different articles with individuals, I won't bother calling them writers, going off on Cena on how bad he is and his Five moves of Doom. The chants of "Cena sucks" or "You can't wrestle" don't seem to be based upon anything other than just a disliking of this man. So rather than getting into a debate on his skills and if turning heel will help him as a character, let's look at why he shouldn't for other reasons.

Business - It was reported that Cena is worth $106 million in retail to the company. Part of this money, I'm sure, stemmed from the massive amounts of merchandise with his logo and catchphrase of "Rise Above Hate." But some of it probably also came from the $24.99 sale of his "Cena Sucks" t-shirt. Why risk your company any money, let alone over $100 million? Clearly, the people saying that something needs to be fixed aren't accountants or business people.

The kids - If Cena turns heel, who does the age bracket of five to 15 get as a hero? CM Punk? His character is a direct response to those who hate Cena; he's a Face character with attitude. Children love this guy, so why take that away from them? The expression taking candy from a baby may imply that something is easy, but if you think about it, it's not very nice. Why anger an almost equal if not larger fanbase to pacify a smaller one?

If your comment below will be that it's all over the Web that people hate Cena, I'll retort right now with saying my eight-year-old daughter, my 12-year-old son and my 15-year-old daughter don't blog, so their voices aren't heard on the Web, only in the arenas and in the stores where they're getting mom and dad to buy his stuff.

Make-A-Wish - John Cena has granted over 200 wishes for sick or terminally ill children. How many do you think Mark Henry has granted? While this may seem like the same argument as above, it's on an entirely different level. Cena has been made a Wish Ambassador by the organization, he continues to raise money for them and has set a goal to grant another 200. Are the outcries of the IWC more important than the wishes of these kids. Clearly not. 

I read one article where someone said, "We aren't 10 years old anymore," and that he didn't need Cena to be a good guy for him. He wanted his character to change direction because he as a fan got older. This is ridiculous. While that fan isn't 10, other fans clearly are, and the good guy character of Cena is loved by those fans.

I grew up in the Hulk Hogan era. I ate my vitamins and said my prayers and then, yes, I watched Hogan turn Heel in the NWO much later. Hogan won the title from the Iron Shiek in 1984 and began the whole Hulkamania campaign. He formed the NWO in 1996 12 years later, when the man was 43 years old and not really putting on the most stellar of matches. His character had to change because the times changed; it wasn't the happy '80s anymore, it was the grungy angst-ridden 90s.

Cena, 33, debuted 10 years ago, but over the course of those 10 years he has had different styles and characters. He started as a heel and became the man he is today over time. He may be a modern-day Hogan, but the world isn't demanding that a young guy in his 30s pass the torch just yet. He's still capable, the character still works and he's clearly making money.

Why Cena is demanded to change by the IWC confounds me. There are several wrestlers that behave in a manner that can't be defined as either heel or face and then there are other lifetime faces as well.

Randy Orton, heel or face? I'm really not certain. He meets the criteria of attacking people backstage, he has been known to cheat to win, he's cocky and arrogant and, oh wait, HE PUNTS PEOPLE IN THE HEAD! Orton is, apparently, a face. The crowd cheers for him and he fights guys like Wade Barret, who, apparently, are more of a bad guy than he is, therefore Orton's a face. 

Rey Mysterio:  lifetime face. I can't ever recall Rey being heel, not even in his WCW days. Even when he was cocky and doing Bronco Busters, he was still a face. The kids love him, they buy his masks, but the IWC leaves him alone. Is it because he's great in the ring? Maybe. It's sure not because he's great on the microphone. Whenever Rey speaks, he sounds like a nine-year-old kid who's been smoking a pack of cigarettes every day of his life. 

This storyline with Kane will not drive Cena over the edge, it won't bring about a heel turn. What it will do is show to all the kids out there that it doesn't matter how much people bully you, call you names or pick on you, if you stay true to who you are and do the right thing, then you are the better person. He will rise above hate. Heel, face, it doesn't matter. Cena is popular. Whether you love him or hate him, he gets the crowd's attention, and that is what his job is meant to be. 

This is my 100th article written on Bleacher Report, so I wanted it to be something that I strongly believed in. I hope you enjoyed it. Can't wait to see what type of comments I get.

Check out my other article this week breaking down how the road to WrestleMania really began this past Monday with a shock wave that started it all.  WWE's CM Punk and the Shock Waves Heading to the Royal Rumble.

And check out more of my WWE stuff, as well as other pop culture and fun stuff over at The BOOM Page.

Bring on the comments. I'm ready for the crazy critics of the WWE.