Examining Why John Cena Should Never Turn Heel

John Cena is perhaps the most polarising figure in the history of WWE. His Wrestlemania-headlining feud with The Rock epitomised the segregation that exists within the fans; a segregation that is abundantly clear whenever the 15-time Champion steps into a ring. There are the "let’s go Cena" guys, and there are the "Cena sucks" guys.

Cena’s decade of dominance hit a humiliating hurdle when he came up against The Beast Incarnate Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam last month. After 16 German suplexes and two F5s Lesnar won the World Heavyweight Championship in what JBL called “the most dominating performance [he] has ever seen in a Championship match.” This has led to stronger shouts than ever before for Cena to finally turn heel, and many believe it will happen in the not-so-distant future.

In the build-up to their first Wrestlemania clash, The Rock cut a promo which summed up the demographic that is generally behind a lot of the Cena bashing.

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You know why men boo you around the world, John? You know why men don’t respect you, don’t like you? The Rock will tell you why, because The Rock is a man, and The Rock represents the majority of men around the world. We don’t like you. We don’t respect you. Why? Because we, us, men see through bull**it, and we smell a phony punk a mile away.

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A condemning analysis in a typically enthralling promo. Although there is only so much truth to any promo—they are, after all, scripted—the subject matter was honest. It is a wave of young adult males that are the most prominent detractors every time Cena steps into the ring.

Legendary commentator Jim Ross weighed in on the subject in his FOX Sports column and seemed in agreement that Cena “is vilified primarily by those in the defiant male, 18-34 demographic,” yet felt this was more out of a yearning for the past than an agenda against the man himself.

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Ironically, Cena is not booed as fervently at non-televised live events as he is on TV, which might indicate that those in the male demo who jeer John on television are doing so because they feel that it's what is expected of them. In other words, some fans seemingly feel that it's become "cool" to boo Cena on TV.

Another point to consider is that many fans still long for the TV-14 Attitude Era of WWE programming instead of today's PG product that WWE produces and that John Cena represents more than any talent on the roster.

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Until recently, a Cena heel turn was little more than fantasy. It is well documented that John Cena is responsible for the biggest sales in merchandising and has been for some time, as reported by Grahame Herbert at whatculture.com. No business would want to risk such a successful cash cow, synonymous with his Make-A-Wish Foundation work, and this helps explain the sensation that is Super Cena remaining a consistent babyface in spite of the WWE Universe.

John Carucci/Associated Press

However, a spat of injuries have led to speculation that Cena may have to step away from his role as the leading man at WWE. Alex Johnson at givemesport.com is just one of many reporters detailing the fact that Cena’s injuries appear to be catching up with him and that within a few years he may not be the ever-present he is now.

With this in mind, and given the fact that Cena took a humiliating beating to a part-time wrestler that is clearly loved by the fans, wouldn’t now be a perfect time for a heel turn? This may seem like the solution to Cena’s current predicament but any positive outcome would likely be short-lived.

Chris Jericho spoke on the subject of a heel turn in a Q&A with IGN as reported by Brooks Oglesby at wrestlingnewsworld.com, and was clearly against the idea.

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No, I think that’s the prevailing attitude amongst a lot of Internet fans, but they’re not thinking of the big picture – the amount of merchandise Cena sells, which I think is probably 5-to-1 to the closest competitor, and the people that like to chant “Cena sucks,” half of them are wearing Cena shirts. And just all the work he’s done. He’s the most requested Make-A-Wish guy ever, more than anybody else, so those are the type of things you think about more than just having him turn heel. And the funny thing is, if he did turn heel, all of the people that said he sucked would be cheering him anyways, so sometimes Internet fans make me laugh at their immaturity, which is worse than mine – at their lack of knowledge

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And he’s right. WWE as a business needs John Cena to be exactly what he is—a polarising frontman that produces the best of both worlds. Younger fans snap up his cheesy merchandise and more cynical fans love to boo him. Why would WWE risk it all with a dangerous change of philosophy after so long? Even if they did, would it be believable given the way that Cena has embraced the fans’ right to cheer or boo him on so many occasions?

Rob McNichol of UK newspaper The Mirror summed up his viewpoint in an article that explored Cena’s feud with Bray Wyatt.

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Just because someone a generation or two younger than you buys his baseball cap and wristbands and worships the ground he bodyslams on, doesn’t mean he has to be universally loved.

And the vice versa is true – just because you are tired of his act doesn’t mean you shouldn’t respect that he is an idol to millions.

A ‘turn’, or more accurately an extreme character alteration, is totally unnecessary.

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There are a great deal of us that would love to see a John Cena heel turn. Those who remember 1996’s Bash at the Beach when Hulk Hogan was revealed as the third member of NWO will know just how exciting a major babyface turning heel can be.

But it can also go wrong.

Stone Cold Steve Austin spoke about his decision to turn heel in his podcast as reported by Raj Giri of wrestlinginc.com and he clearly saw it as a major error in his career.

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Worst call I've ever made other than refusing to job to Brock Lesnar at Atlanta. Vince always likes to do something big at Wrestlemania. He didn't have anything big planned. So, me being the rocket scientist that I am, I figured okay. You're a hot babyface, and if you turn heel, you're a hot ass heel to draw money like that. Or vice versa.

I love working babyface too. Obviously it's where I made my money, but I like working heel. I like being a piece of trash. I like talking trash. I like cheating. That was my style of wrestling. Man, I did a lot of that as a Stone Cold babyface. So it was a bad idea, but Vince bought into it with me.

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That was a bad decision for Stone Cold and it would be a bad decision doing the same for John Cena. Regardless of the temptation to see Cena unleash the beast within, the fact of the matter is that Cena remaining a babyface is simply best for business.