John Cena: A Victim of the PG Era's Credibility?

John Cena has been the poster boy for WWE for a long time now. The kids love to see him win, so WWE hates to see him lose. Older fans are less enthusiastic about his superman resistance in the ring. Many of them want him turn heel and their wish could be coming true.

With his recent loss at WWE Hell in a Cell, Cena had to join the group Nexus and become anti-WWE. At first he rebelled against the group, but after a threat from the anonymous general manager Cena soon fell in line with the rest of group. 

Many people are hoping this will give Cena the chance to turn heel for the first time in years. His heel turn could sway weary fans of his credibility as a wrestler and character.

But most people seem to forget his days before he became the poster boy for WWE, when he wasn’t superman and was just another wrestler on the rooster. 

Cena debuted as fan favourite on Smackdown in 2002 to an open challenge by Kurt Angle. He lost the match but caught the attention of many people. He then started to feud with Chris Jericho for a while.

But after losing a tag team match with Billy Kidman, he became a heel after attacking Kidman. Shortly after Cena adopted a new character and became a rapper. His entrances incorporated him rapping and mocking opponents to gain more heat.

His character was obnoxious, annoying, and cocky. The fans loved to hate him. His character may not have been perfectly executed, but he knew how to strike a reaction from the crowd. 

Cena then challenged Brock Lesnar for the WWE championship in 2003 but was unsuccessful. It was around this time that Cena started using the finisher FU.

By the end of the year Cena turned face again when he joined Kurt Angle as a member of his team at Survivor series.   

In 2004 Cena participated in the Royal Rumble match but came up short when Big Show eliminated him. This ignited the feud between Cena and Big Show.  The feud ended at WrestleMania 20 when Cena FU’ed Big Show and won the United States Championship. 

To me, this match showed Cena's potential as a wrestler. I wanted him to do well within the company, and I could see him becoming the WWE champion one day.

Cena was involved in several feuds before his lengthy rivalry with Edge in 2006, but I grew weary of Cena after the Edge feud. I did not hate his character or doubt his wrestling ability, but I didn’t want him to win every match and always remain in the main event slot.

It turned out that many other fans felt the same, exceptt the kids. When WWE went PG, the kids seemed to get their way. This angered Cena haters even more and many saw him as a limited wrestler and tedious character. After all, he was produced for the younger audience, not for the older audiences. 

But with the possibility of Cena turning heel on the horizon, many older fans could be pleasantly silenced. With Randy Orton's recent push as the new poster boy, the chances of Cena turning heel seem more likely to happen. 

Could a heel turn for Cena prove his credibility as a performer and wrestler to the older fans, or will they always see him as limited and restricted?

I am undecided on whether or not Cena’s credibility will be seen as higher within the business if he does turn heel, but I do think it will make older fans happier, until the next poster boy is rammed down our throats.