In an era where the WWE has gone the PG route and shed the “attitude” that made them a phenomenon, one constant has remained — and that is the love/hate relationship between the WWE universe and John Cena. From the freestyling, throwback-wearing street soldier, to a modern-day Hulk Hogan, John Cena has had a very interesting journey. Since he burst on the scene as the blue chipper that pushed Kurt Angle to the limit, Cena has always had a unique following. Most feel his Hip-Hop persona was his best run, while others feel that his work as “Prototype” and web-maniac “Brubaker” are what he should be doing.
Vince McMahon knows that the best way to separate money from fans is through the kids, and looking at the current crop of WWE superstars, the most mainstream guy really is John Cena. Many feel that Rey is the one that kids flock to — but kids can relate to the GI Joe-esque, positive message throwing Cena a whole lot more. Not to mention the ladies like him as well, and that is a demographic the WWE is trying to gain favor with. If the moms and the kids like Cena then they will gladly drop dough on his merchandise. The brash WWE presentation, while awesome during the 90’s and better part of 2000, has run it’s course and America has become more pussy-whipped and soft, so WWE was forced to adapt.
John Cena is a passionate athlete that loves to entertain and has embraced his mixed fan base. Wrestlemania 26 showed that he enjoys being hated. But to the real “hardcore” fans, his gimmick has grown terribly stale — from his goody two shoes promos to his constant pandering to the fans. Wrestling fans want more from Cena and the only way to experience that is one of two ways. As a rule, breaking “tweener” a’la Stone Cold or a full on heel turn. It seems that Vince fears losing the kids and moms in turning Cena, but he forgets that if a character is awesome and entertaining the cheers will always be there. A perfect example of that is Randy Orton. Randy has been a scummy heel for a majority of the year and has really grown into his bi-polar persona, but you can see that fans still cheer him and as a result he is slowly being turned.
If I were booking the WWE, my first order of business would be to turn Cena and I would do it like this. This past Monday Cena & Orton tagged against Batista & Legacy and there was a teasing of conflict between Cena & Orton at the end of Raw. Fast forward to this weeks’ Raw and here’s how I’d turn the beloved Cena into the most awesome heel ever.
Raw opens with no intro, but with Cena in the ring mic in hand. He starts his promo like this ” So after all I’ve done for you fans you continue to hate me. I bleed for you — hell I required surgery and nearly crippled myself for you. Yet you still boo me. All of a sudden you cheer Randy Orton, a guy who ends careers and turns on his friends?! A viper in the fullest sense of term. I play by the rules and I get s*it on by you fans. The days of kissing babies and pandering to you guys is over! John Cena is not turning but is opening his eyes and getting tired of being the nice guy that always finishes last. Hope the rest of the roster is ready for the new John Cena.” End promo.
In that short promo you kinda turn him but not completely. You save the full turn for the end of the night. At which point you hold a Battle Royal with the winner getting a shot at Cena. Leave the Final 4 as Batista, Orton, Evan Bourne and HHH. Have Cena say that he’s tired of the fans always loving these guys and have him leave the booth with a baseball bat and beat all four guys senseless. But the beating needs to be bloody and you need stretchers for all four guys. This not only sets up feuds, but moves Cena away from the cookie cutter good guy into legit badass.
The Champ is here, but in the end, do the fans even give a damn? Share your thoughts below:
