WWE: Why John Cena Is Destined to Remain a Babyface

In preparation of WrestleMania, I went on a podcast to brief viewers on what to expect for the event. One of the first questions given to me concerned John Cena and a potential heel turn for him down the line. My answer then was exactly what it has been for the last few years: It is not a smart business decision to have John Cena as anything short of a babyface.

Cena has had a lot of terrible things happen to him in the past few years. He was ambushed by Nexus and eventually forced to join the faction. He then had his back against the wall as he chose to be fired instead of helping Wade Barrett become WWE Champion. Cena would end up vanquishing the group off entirely.

For the last year, he has had to deal with many boos and opposing views from The Rock, who faced him at WrestleMania nine days ago. In the process, Cena was Rock-Bottomed on a few occasions, including one that cost Cena a match at WrestleMania XXVII against The Miz. The two teamed together at Survivor Series last November in a winning effort, but they were far from the same page. The two would give constant tongue lashings toward one another.

All the while, Cena would remain a favorite with his fans. He would toe the line of becoming a "bad guy," but he would never truly step over it, remaining a solid face while developing a bit of an edge. That edge had not been seen by Cena in quite some time and those who hoped for a Cena heel turn were at least happier with the fool's gold of a meaner Cena.

Even after the hype and anticipation of the match with The Rock, Cena had to face the crowds on the night after WrestleMania to figure out where to go from there. As Cena tried to move to the next phase of his career, the music for Brock Lesnar began. Lesnar's first act back in WWE was going after Cena, performing an F-5 on him to end last week's RAW.

On last night's RAW, the fallout from that night began very early on. Both Lesnar and Cena ended up in the ring. Cena slapped Lesnar and was taken down by the former MMA world champion. Lesnar landed one punch squarely on Cena's mouth, making him bleed. Even after a main event victory over David Otunga, Cena was greeted with an attack by Lesnar and yet another F-5.

We haven't even mentioned the short feud Cena had in late December and leading up to the weeks before WrestleMania with the returning Kane. Kane's mission with his new look and new adoption of a mask was to have John Cena "embrace the hate" that Cena has mentioned over the years. In fact, his latest shirts have included the phrase "Rise Above Hate" on them. Kane seemed unsuccessful but not without seeming like there was a change going on inside of Cena at one point.

There's no denying that Cena is more hated than any other babyface in WWE. WWE even tried to capitalize on that by selling shirts that read "Cena Sucks." These shirts did ultimately sell, but it was still a strange idea to purposely try to make money off of hatred from your top money drawer.

Cena is the marketing guy at this moment, and whether you have positive or negative feelings about him, he is the guy to run this company from the top as a face of the WWE brand today. It may be adults that ultimately buy most of the pay-per-views and ringside seats at live events. However, it is the parents of the younger fans who buy merchandise constantly. Much of that moving merchandise has Cena's face on it or represents his portrayal in a WWE ring.

Every time that Cena changes the color of his shirt, the merchandise changes colors along with it. That new merchandise gets gobbled up by the young and old Cena fans so that they can march alongside their fearless leader with gear that is a lot like the gear he wears. A happy Cena fan is a Cena fan with the latest t-shirt and hat. That is, until the next one comes out.

The thing that is never understandable is the idea that older wrestling fans have, especially when they feel like their opinions are what should happen. If those wishes aren't met, it is almost believed that WWE has failed. There have been so many "If Cena Wins, We Riot" signs and chants over the years. However, Cena has won a total of 12 world championships in his career, including a record of 10 reigns with the WWE Championship belt. Those 12 title reigns are 12 more than the number of actual riots we have seen to protest a Cena victory.

Fans will also buy into the idea that if a certain favorable booking is given to Cena, they will cease their viewership of the product. While there have been drop offs in ratings over the years, there isn't enough to believe that most of those people who have said it will end up not actually going anywhere. Cena is in the main event? I'm sure you've considered not paying close to $50 for a pay-per-view of the event. But then you do.

Not everyone is supposed to enjoy John Cena, just like not everyone loved Hulk Hogan when it was his time to shine. Still, Cena keeps the business moving and if that isn't something desirable for a stubborn anti-Cena fan, they can stop watching the company altogether and look elsewhere. Yet, year after year passes and they are still out there, exchanging memories of the Attitude Era and  comparing old-school t-shirts.

Cena is just a hard worker. Fans said he couldn't wrestle, so he had a great free match on RAW against Shawn Michaels. The murmurs died down after that, but resurfaced. This prompted CM Punk's title shot in Chicago at last year's Money in the Bank to be such a fantastic match. Maybe adopting moves from the turnbuckle, a submission position and even a standing dropkick to the rest of the moves.

Don't forget all of the press that Cena does on behalf of WWE. There are the popular TV shows and local radio stations wherever they are. There are also Make-A-Wish Foundation children who hope to meet John Cena. Cena is one of the most frequent celebrities to grant wishes in the foundation's history. What will it do for WWE's reputation with the foundation, as well as their Be A Star anti-bullying campaign, to have their top "nice guy" suddenly become a mean guy?

WCW did it with Hogan, jumping many people's conclusions to when Cena will have a similar turn. WCW did that turn in order to hike up ratings and improve pay-per-view buy rates. WWE does not have that problem, especially coming off of what might be their greatest WrestleMania buy rate in history. Why bother messing with what they have now?

With old stars returning, new Cena merchandise selling out and pay-per-views being sold more than ever before, there's absolutely no reason to change Cena or his place in the company. He can stay face while everyone else wishes to take shots at him. Cena is a great punching bag. Lesnar took that figure of speech a little too seriously last night, but it all made for good television.

If you don't agree, then don't watch WWE. If John Cena really angers you enough that he isn't a heel, stop watching until he does. The flaw in that logic is that you will watch WWE anyway, no matter what Cena does or says. When the ratings plummet and nobody cares about the product, drastic changes will be made. Until then, anti-Cena fans can suffer in silence with their chants of "Cena Sucks," "Fruity Pebbles" and whatever else they can dream up to chant loudly over seven-year-olds.

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