WWE: How Kane Will Help John Cena's Character

The feud between John Cena and Kane is clearly the WWE’s No. 1 priority at the moment. 

Although CM Punk is the WWE Champion, he has been relegated largely to the timeslot at the top of the second hour of Monday Night RAW because Kane and Cena have been hogging both the opening and closing segments of the show. 

This is obviously a reaction to Punk’s less-than-stellar ratings performances in the main-event time slot, but the WWE is creating a sticky situation here. 

If you’re going to remove Punk from the closing segment of the show and replace him with Cena and Kane, then the ongoing rivalry between "The Champ" and "The Big Red Monster" has to pay off in some major way. 

Mainly, it has to result in some much-needed changes to Cena’s character. 

The clear theme of this rivalry is that Kane (the heel) is attempting to get Cena (the super babyface) to “embrace the hate,” or in layman’s terms, turn heel. The only thing is that the likelihood of a Cena heel turn is incredibly slim, especially now. 

From SEScoops.com: 

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ESPN’s financial expert Michele Steele tweeted on Tuesday that John Cena was worth $106 million in retail value to WWE in 2011. 

No further details were given to explain Cena’s direct impact on WWE’s business, but the figure likely includes John Cena merchandise and an estimate of Cena’s impact on PPV buyrates, live event ticket sales and ad revenue from WWE programming featuring Cena. 

"

Though heels can still move merchandise, Cena’s incredible value as a babyface likely means that he’s going to remain a fan favorite for the foreseeable future. 

It makes sense for the WWE business-wise, but it also presents them with a major problem: How do you change Cena’s character without turning him heel? 

The pessimistic side of me actually thinks that Cena could get through this rivalry with Kane without any substantial character change whatsoever. But the optimistic side of me believes that we could see at least one very noticeable change in the way Cena comes across on TV. 

That is, we will see the end of what we fans like to call “Super Cena.” 

If I’ve noticed anything about the ongoing rivalry between Cena and Kane, it’s that Cena is already beginning to show at least some minor changes in the way he carries himself on TV. We are not seeing the wholesale changes I’d prefer to see, but we are seeing some subtle tweaks, nonetheless. 

At times, Cena has looked nervous, he’s looked scared or he’s looked like he’s genuinely giving thought to what Kane is telling him. 

In other words, he’s actually looked human. 

So much of what we have seen from Cena over the last several years has looked far from human and even border-lined on god-like: the way he overcomes all odds, his “Super Cena” comeback, his constant smiling, his happy-go-lucky demeanor, etc. 

Yet, for the first time in a while, Cena is finally beginning to show the same emotions that you and I do. Instead of being this over-the-top superhero, he has become more like a regular person. 

He has thoughts, fears and, most importantly, inner conflicts, and this is all stemming from his feud with Kane. 

The Big Red Monster is the one who is attempting to get Cena to see that not everything in life consists of smiles and sunshine. The average person deals with struggles, emotions and pains, and despite the way he’s portrayed at times, Cena is indeed an average person. 

Other than the fact that he’s jacked up and makes millions of dollars, Cena is finally beginning to look more like you and me. 

That’s been one of the biggest complaints I’ve had about Cena since around 2006 or 2007 (the fact that his character is just not believable), and now, he’s finally making me believe in what we see from him on TV. 

Do I know it’s scripted? Obviously. 

But the better Cena becomes at conveying genuine human emotions, the better it will be for his character, and the better it will be for all of us watching at home.

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