John Cena, Vince McMahon Once Agreed On A Heel Turn, Here’s Why It Didn’t Happen


It has been rumored for years, but Vince McMahon actually signed off on a heel turn for John Cena before it was canceled for a specific reason. The WWE Universe has wanted to see Cena turn heel for a long time, and WWE officials have had many opportunities to do so. Many people are just interested to see how the turn would actually work. However, one thing or another has always been in the way of WWE pulling the trigger.

A few days ago, Stephanie McMahon revealed that she believed John Cena turning heel was the right move for a time. However, she has admitted she was wrong to assume that and it was a good thing the turn never happened. Over time, the WWE Universe has lightened up to Cena. He still gets a mixed reaction from the fans, but it’s as strong as it’s ever been. In the present day, the ship may have sailed on a heel turn for Cena.

There was no bigger roadblock in the way of a heel turn for John Cena than Vince McMahon. For years, The Boss was adamant about keeping Cena as a babyface. Mostly, Vince McMahon didn’t feel that anyone could replace Cena as the top guy in WWE. However, even McMahon changed his mind for a brief period.

[Image by WWE]

The greatest opportunity that WWE officials had to turn John Cena heel was during the feud with The Rock heading into Wrestlemania 28. The dynamic between Cena, Rock, and the WWE Universe seemed like the perfect storm for the turn to come to fruition. Recently, former WWE writer Kevin Eck revealed that Vince McMahon once approved the idea for a time before changing his mind in 2012. Eck had the following to say:

“We talked about turning John Cena heel while I was there and you may have heard stories before. We were very close [and] we even had Vince [McMahon] sign off on it at one point and Cena was on board to do it.

“We started making plans for it and then Vince got cold feet and we had just signed a John Cena exclusive merchandise deal with WalMart and Vince came into a booking meeting one day and said ‘God, I know you guys really wanna do this but I just can’t do it'”

According to Kevin Eck, both Cena and McMahon were into the idea enough to tell the WWE creative team about it, which means the WWE Universe was really close to seeing it happen. In 2012, CM Punk ended up turning heel instead of Cena, which sent WWE programming on a much different path. Unfortunately, the WWE Universe can only wonder about what could have been and if a heel turn could happen in the future.

[Image by WWE]

Heading into Wrestlemania 33, John Cena will be teaming with Nikki Bella to face The Miz and Maryse. It’s also been heavily rumored that he will be proposing to Nikki after the match. It would be a long shot for the powers that be to use that angle for a heel turn. It’s unlikely that a heel turn would happen on the grandest stage of them all this year. However, Wrestlemania 34 could present another opportunity for the heel turn.

It’s been reported that WWE has penciled in John Cena vs. The Undertaker for the event in New Orleans. As of this writing, we’re not even through Wrestlemania 33 yet, but that match happening next year could be the last chance for WWE to pull the trigger for Cena to turn heel. For now, the fans just have to wait and see.

[Featured Image by WWE]

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