WWE Raw: How to Make a John Cena Heel Turn Work out Well for Everyone

John Cena needs to change his character, and he needs to change it fast. 

Cena has to tweak his gimmick for a laundry list of reasons but primarily because it’s become outrageously stale, boring, redundant and monotonous. He basically does the same thing week in and week out, no matter who he’s feuding with or whether he’s winning or losing. 

I don’t put all the blame for Cena’s character on Cena—in fact, I put most of it on the creative team—and I will actually applaud the WWE for at least giving Cena some sort of substance with this recent “Are the boos getting to him?” storyline. 

However, for many fans, a simple change in character won’t do. They want to a see a full-blown Cena heel turn. 

I’ve said on many occasions that I don’t think Cena will turn heel until there is someone on the WWE roster who can rival his popularity. That is, someone who can make up for the almost inevitable decrease in Cena merchandise sales. 

Um, hello, WWE? You ever heard of CM Punk? 

With Punk recently having taken over as the WWE’s top merchandise seller, the WWE is in a better position now than it has been in the last several years to turn Cena heel.

Not only does the WWE have Punk’s ever-increasing popularity, but Randy Orton and Sheamus are at the peaks of their career in terms of popularity as well. 

If the WWE is worried about losing out on Cena’s merchandise sales following a potential heel turn, they must trust that Punk, Orton and Sheamus will be there to soften the blow. Aside from Cena, those three are the most popular stars in the WWE at the moment, and they’re all baby faces. 

Fans will buy their merchandise and show support for them. Plus, you never know, current Cena fans may be more inclined to buy Punk, Sheamus or Orton gear if the West Newbury native goes bad. 

Of course, you have to come up with a way to turn Cena heel that is going to benefit the company in as many ways as possible. My solution is something very simple: Have Cena turn on another top baby face.

If I was booking the WWE, I wouldn’t turn Cena heel against The Rock. If The Rock isn’t coming back full-time, it’s going to be hard for the fans to hate Cena for turning against someone who isn’t even there. 

If I was the WWE, I would have Cena beat The Rock at Wrestlemania 28. I would then have him slowly begin to show cockiness and resentment towards the fans who doubted him and cheered for The People's Champion instead. On account of Cena’s win at Wrestlemania, I would then make him the No. 1 contender for the WWE Championship. 

The WWE Champion at the time would be CM Punk. 

It would almost be like a role reversal of sorts. Last time, Punk went into his WWE title feud with Cena as the heel/tweener and emerged as a full-fledged baby face. This time around, Cena will enter as a baby face and emerge as the heel. 

Given Punk’s incredible popularity, he’s one of the few members of the WWE roster who is over enough to make a Cena heel turn work. I think he’s the best option, but I wouldn’t question it if it was Sheamus or Orton who helped Cena turn heel instead. 

However, if it’s not one of those three guys, my other option is Zack Ryder. 

Before you freak out and say that's never going to happen, read on. 

There’s no denying that Ryder is getting more and more over with the fans with each week, and some of the credit for Ryder’s push could realistically be given to Cena for plugging his Twitter and things like that.

Therefore, if Ryder’s popularity kept growing and growing while Cena’s kept shrinking and shrinking, wouldn’t it make sense for Cena to be jealous about it? 

After all, it could be in Cena’s mind that he is the reason that Ryder is popular. He’s the reason why Ryder is the United States Champion, while Ryder is the reason why Cena isn’t the WWE Champion.

Remember, Cena gave up his spot in the WWE title match at TLC for Ryder on Raw. 

Eventually, Cena will reach a breaking point. While he would seem all buddy buddy with Ryder on the surface, he’ll snap on an episode of Raw and beat the holy hell out of the Long Island native.

This would accomplish two things in that it would turn Cena heel (obviously) and up Ryder’s popularity exponentially. 

In this scenario, Cena’s merchandise would obviously take a hit as he loses a big chunk of fans from the younger audience. However, Ryder’s popularity as a baby face would skyrocket. Ryder is already selling a good amount of merchandise despite never being elevated into the main event scene—imagine what would happen if he were to be Cena’s first feud as a heel. 

I realize that the WWE realistically may never turn Cena, but there are ways—like the ones I mentioned—to make it work for everybody. That is, for Cena, the WWE (in terms of merchandise and storylines) and for the company’s other top baby faces and mid-card faces alike. 

The basic gist of every scenario that works, however, is that Cena turns heel and does so against a baby face who’s already popular but will become an even bigger superstar when the Cena turn does happen. That way, you help fill the gap left on the WWE’s baby face side by Cena’s absence, you create another star and you give Cena a much needed character change. 

It could be a win-win for all involved—including Cena. 

Just because he turns heel, it doesn’t mean he’s going to lose all his fans. 

Heck, he may not see 10-year-olds wearing his merchandise anymore, but he’ll probably see a lot more 25-year-old males decked out in the latest Cena attire.