Cena Talks Nearly Turning Heel; Belair Wants Match vs. Cargill; Haku WWE HOF Rumors

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

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Cena Says He Nearly Turned Heel vs. The Rock

A John Cena heel turn has long been viewed as one of the biggest "what if" scenarios in pro wrestling history, and Cena divulged just how close it came to happening during an interview on Tuesday.

Appearing on Insights with Chris Van Vliet (h/t Ishaan Rathi of Ringside News), Cena said the proposed heel turn would have happened around the time he faced The Rock in the main event of WrestleMania 28, and it got to the point that he had several alterations to his character and presentation prepared:

"It was Cena-Rock I. I got word that they were going to do it. I went out and recorded a new song. I went out and got all new gear. I wasn't prepared for Ruthless Aggression. That was the last time I wasn't prepared. I mean, I heard rumblings of, we're going to do it, and in 48 hours, I had a new track, a new studio mix theme song, and a final mix. I had seven new singlets, low-cut singlets with boxing-type robes. I already had the boots in storage, so I dusted them off. I was ready to go and already thinking about what I could do with the story."

Cena went on to explain that as a heel, he intended to do the exact opposite of everything he did as a babyface, but decision-makers in WWE ultimately felt it wasn't a good idea to make the change:

"Go the opposite route and now lean into the opposite of everything you stand for. So I would begin to not work as hard. I would show up less. I would be untrustworthy and unloyal. I would lack respect in what I did. I would give up a lot. All those things you can take and make interesting stories and this is the stuff that's running through my head, not what moves can I do. It's like, how can I take the intellectual property that people are familiar with and twist it so it's like, this guy's f--king insane? It's everything I've come to love and now I genuinely hate it and being a real bad guy, and I think that was the conversation that was eventually had where it's like, okay, it's a bad idea."

Cena lost to The Rock at WrestleMania 28, and he spent the next year building himself back up and positioning himself for a rematch.

The Rock won the WWE Championship from CM Punk and Cena won the Royal Rumble, which led to a clash in the main event of WrestleMania 29 with Cena winning and The Rock passing the torch to him.

At that point, Cena had been WWE's top babyface for about a decade, and while turning him heel could have shaken the foundation of pro wrestling at the time, it never came to pass.

With Cena having a massive fanbase and constantly being a major merchandise mover, WWE kept him in his traditional role and moved forward with him as the face of the company for the next few years.

Roman Reigns eventually took over that spot, which has allowed Cena to carve out a highly successful acting career for himself in Hollywood.

However, it wasn't until Reigns turned heel that he was truly embraced by fans as "the guy" in WWE, so it is fun to wonder how much of a positive impact turning heel could have had on Cena's career.

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Belair Talks Potential Match Against Cargill

Bianca Belair hasn't yet been booked in a match for WrestleMania 40, but The EST is behind the idea of potentially getting to work with Jade Cargill.

During an appearance on the Gorilla Position podcast (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), Belair gave her thoughts on Cargill, the moment they shared in the 2024 women's Royal Rumble match and the possibility of them doing battle on the Grandest Stage of The All:

"I mean, honestly, of course, you know, you saw the reaction with Jade, right? You know, it's Royal Rumble. We didn't say anything. We didn't do anything. We didn't wrestle. We didn't touch each other. And the crowd was going crazy. I think the Instagram post on WWE had like 9 million views within two days. Did it. So, I mean, that alone just shows the type of magic that we can create by just standing in the ring. So imagine the magic that we can create, whether, you know, it's a single or a tag, who knows what can happen. ... I don't know if that's this year's WrestleMania. I don't know if it's next year's WrestleMania."

Belair has been in a significant match at each of the past three WrestleManias, beating Sasha Banks at WrestleMania 37, Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 38 and Asuka at WrestleMania 39.

All of that and the fact that Belair has been mentioning her undefeated WrestleMania record on WWE programming lately suggests she will be a big part of WrestleMania 40 as well.

Cargill, who previously enjoyed enormous success in AEW as TBS champion, signed with WWE in September.

WWE has taken a slow and steady approach with Cargill, having her make sporadic televised appearances, and holding her out of in-ring competition until her appearance in the Royal Rumble.

Cargill was hugely impressive in the Rumble, as she showed off her strength and athleticism, and WWE highlighted her immense star power.

The crowd reacted in a big way when Belair and Cargill had a stare-down, which may have been WWE testing the waters for an eventual match between them.

Belair vs. Cargill is about the biggest non-title match WWE can do in the women's division, but if WWE wants to save it for further down the line, perhaps Belair and Cargill teaming up against WWE women's tag team champions Asuka and Kairi Sane could be the move at WrestleMania after Cargill had a run-in with Damage CTRL last week on SmackDown.

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Haku Rumored as Possible 2024 WWE HOF Inductee

There has reportedly been chatter regarding Haku being named part of the WWE Hall of Fame's Class of 2024.

According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Steve Carrier of Ringside News), there has been "speculation" that Haku could be inducted this year, and some recent moves made by the company have perhaps made it more likely to happen.

The Rock, who has publicly referred to Haku as his uncle despite them not technically being related by blood, was recently named to the TKO board of directors, and he is involved in a major WrestleMania storyline with Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins.

Also, Meltzer (h/t Carrier) reported that longtime New Japan Pro-Wrestling star and Haku's adopted son, Tama Tonga, recently signed with WWE.

Haku has long been considered one of the toughest people in pro wrestling history, and he enjoyed a lengthy and successful career with both WWE and WCW.

The 65-year-old was part of WWE from 1985 to 1992, debuting as King Tonga before eventually getting renamed Haku.

Haku was given the distinction of King Haku in the late 1980s, and he later formed The Colossal Connection with Andre the Giant, winning the WWE Tag Team Championships.

After leaving WWE in 1992, Haku resurfaced in WCW in 1994 and remained with the company until 2001. Under the name Meng, he formed a tag team with Barbarian called The Faces of Fear, and held the WCW Hardcore Championship once.

If Haku is inducted into the WWE HOF this year, he will join a class that already includes Paul Heyman and Bull Nakano.

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