John Cena is the Perfect Modern Day Heel For WWE
In hindsight, maybe it shouldn’t be so shocking that John Cena has found a way to play the perfect heel.
He has, after all, possibly brainstormed the idea for more than a decade and has the Hollywood background to bring it out better than ever now. Today’s blurred-lines reality of even casual fans understanding the finer points of the sport certainly helps, too.
But it’s still impressive Cena has managed to write the modern-heel blueprint with a snap of the fingers.
It was fun to fantasy book what Cena could have done while heel. There could have been new theme music. A gear change. As some wished constantly online, he could have even gone back to the Thuganomics persona. It was even fun to think about a Cena who just never explained himself and let all of his violent actions do the talking.
As it turns out, most of those ideas could have backfired in dramatic fashion. New gear would’ve been bought up anyway. A music change, knowing modern WWE music, probably would’ve stunk up the joint anyway, too. And rapping…Cena’s 47. The jorts and near-grandpa shoes are rough enough without the rapping.
What Cena did was clearly the best possible route. He got on the mic and explained himself, no doubt. A “fans are the reason I did all this” promo isn’t anything new in pro wrestling.
But two major things set this one apart. One, he’s right. The best villains in any medium get humanized when their motivations are explained. Cena was over-hated during his prime by fans while carrying the company and is only now beloved by those very same fans because he’s about to retire.
Two, he didn’t give fans what they wanted. He denied them a new entrance, music and gear. Those are fun, exciting things when a character turns one way or the other. Cena said nah. Fans don’t get rewarded with those, nor do they have a reason to cheer. If anything, it makes them hate him even more.
The gear is an especially fine point. Overseas in front of fans who don’t get to see WWE often at all, children bought up all the colorful Cena gear, hit the stands and then were trashed by the man himself for doing so.
Some might call this getting a little too meta. But really, it just feels more personal.
This isn’t really a feud between Cena and Cody Rhodes. It’s a feud between Cena and the fans and his actions so far make that point clear enough. He’s going to rob them of the cheery retirement tour they anticipated the same way they robbed him of the joy of being the top guy, robbed him of the appreciation for carrying the sport on his back.
Cena has, to semi-quote a generally beloved movie line, embraced being around long enough to become the villain.
Not that there aren’t subtle things to appreciate. This is still very much Cena doing right by everyone. He’s still giving fans something they wanted for more than a decade. He’ll still ultimately go out on his back like the best-evers do and has managed to give Rhodes an even bigger boost while passing the proverbial torch for good.
But perhaps more than anything else, Cena has almost abruptly provided a refreshing new blueprint for a modern heel. The problem (and it’s a good problem to have, most times) guys like CM Punk have is no matter how evil they get, fans will still cheer. Some guys just transcend.
This Cena blueprint, though? It’s a winner. Feud with fans as much as feud with other Superstars, especially in a line-blurring way.
Maybe he’s not SuperCena anymore, but the man has managed to find yet another way to leave a lasting impact on the sport, this time as he winds down his career.
