John Cena: Timetable For When The WWE’s Top Face Will Become The WWE’s Top Heel

John Cena has been WWE’s top guy for nearly 10 years now. Dating back to WrestleMania 20, he was starting to get the push of a lifetime, competing against the top guys the WWE has ever produced. After WrestleMania 21, Cena was so far ahead of any new star it would be considered impossible to talk of anyone close to him at the time. Once WrestleMania 22 came about, Cena was well known, but he was used so much in the main event scene that people started to get upset.

John Cena has always been a good performer, but he was also the classic WWE guy. Big body with a marketable face and mic skill. Everything about him screamed the walking version of what the WWE is and what it wants to be. This was a good thing at first, but soon the fans wanted something different. That is why when he took on Triple H for the WWE Title at WrestleMania 22, Cena was booed despite being the face.

This was also the last WrestleMania in the TV-14 era. Soon after the WWE began to do more family friendly programming and by WrestleMania 23, Cena was who the WWE pegged to be the top guy for years to come as WWE slowly began to enter PG programming. Now, we enter the build toward WrestleMania 31, 10 years after John Cena was officially picked to be the WWE’s next top guy. By WrestleMania 24, WWE was PG more so than the year prior, and Cena was leading the way in this movement. That meant that he would obviously be the guy WWE used to bring in the kids and families. If his hate with the male demographic was not already high, that movement did it for him more than any other time.

WWE began to make Cena corny and cheesy. He lost all the edge he had really, and that killed him in the eyes of the internet fan crowd… mainly built up by the 18-32 male demographic base. While women serve in it as well, the main voices come from the men, and that kills Cena at the end of the day. People have claimed that they will become a Cena fan if he would just do one thing: turn heel.

Unlike other top names before him, Cena has never once been heel in his top guy run. John Cena came in as a face and soon became a rapping heel that people loved. He was edgy and different, something the WWE fans wanted and really needed at the time.

If John Cena turned heel tomorrow, his rapper gimmick would not come back. So the heel he’d become would be interesting to see. Would WWE pull that trigger though? If so, when?

With the move to push Roman Reigns into being the next top guy by WrestleMania 31, along with the move to push Daniel Bryan in a similar fashion upon his return, the WWE will eventually be full of babyfaces who will be the future of the product. That would mean that eventually John Cena would have to leave or have another role.

Next December he will be one of the main antagonists in the film The Nest, a comedy movie starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. Due to the fact that he is a bad guy in that movie, along with having a big role in another film with Judd Apatow, Cena will be going “Hollywood” if you will. Similar to The Rock, people will like Cena when he goes to the movies. Not only will be used less on TV, he will also be a bigger star than ever. So turning him heel when he becomes a big star would not work as it didn’t work for The Rock or any other WWE has tried to do this with. Mainly because, despite how good they were in that role, fans cheered them.

The best moment to turn Cena would be in late 2015 or early 2016. The reason for it is simple.

Once Cena becomes a bad guy on the big screen, fans could believe it on TV. The fact that WWE will be using other guys in the title scene or in top face roles, Cena will have nothing major to do in that slot.

When Hulk Hogan went to WCW, everyone knew him as the former WWE guy who was the top face they had. Everyone knew Hogan. He was the biggest name in wrestling. However, WCW knew that they could make more money by turning Hogan heel and shocking the world than having him rival people they are trying to build to a bigger role. It would allow Hogan to be in a top role still while the company was able to market the next top face with him. If he were to leave for a film or be written off for some reason, he could always come back in a big way against anyone he wanted. Hogan also had an ability to help WCW as well as people they wanted to make like Sting and Goldberg.

Obviously, Hogan remained bigger than people like Sting and Goldberg. However, they also became big names. So WCW created two stars through Hogan’s top heel role. If WWE wanted to do the same with Cena, they would not only satisfy fans but they would also allow themselves to build new stars. On top of this, they’d have a main role for John Cena, which is quite helpful.

The reason late next year or early 2016 works is because it would allow the WWE time to build new stars. So by that time Cena could go heel in an effort to make them even bigger. On top of this, his fame enhances them the more he does movies. So the WWE benefits from Cena’s Hollywood role, and his heelish ways would allow him room to do a lot more than most before him.

The timing makes sense. Not only would this be the time WWE needs to build stars, but it would also be the time Cena has to consider the idea of moving out of wrestling.

The C-Nation Leader is 37 and will be 38 next April; he will be 39 in 2016. Going off of how WWE has used men in their late 30’s into their 40’s the last 10 years, clearly the Cena role would be pushed back. He is currently a 15 time World Champion. By this time he could have broken the record and managed to get to 17 World Titles. He would be able to say he accomplished everything there was to accomplish by 2016. One thing would be on the to-do list for fans. Turn heel.

Since his career would start to slow down, one last big run would be left after a 15-year career. He could do this for a bit then he could appear part-time afterward for the WWE. It would be the fitting end to the Cena career fans want to see. WWE would make stars out of it, fans would get what they crave to see, and then you send Cena off into the sunset in the right way.

Whether WWE does this is still up in the air. However, they have the perfect time to do it. They need to build stars and no one can help them do that like Cena. A win over Cena, clean, is almost unheard of. Those who get it are automatically seen in a major light. His past can be used in his heel role, and kicking out at 2 can be exposed in a major way. Most of the hate Cena once had could be lifted due to this move, and it would allow him to do so much more. So why not?

[IMG Credits: Google, DeviantArt-Timetravel6000v2]