John Cena Heel Turn Did Not Happen Because Of Kmart Deal, Says Former WWE Writer
At the age of 40-years-old with a budding Hollywood career, John Cena might not be around the WWE for much longer. Cena has given everything he has to the WWE and its fans for about 15 years, and he is following the footsteps of The Rock. Still, there are some what-ifs in the career of Cena including a heel turn that never happened.
In a recent appearance on The Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast, former WWE writer Kevin Eck revealed that Vince McMahon wanted to turn Cena heel around the time they want to push Sheamus as the top babyface. However, McMahon changed his mind because Cena had a deal with Kmart back then and the heel turn was scrapped.
“We came up with some scenarios, and believe it or not, Cena was on board with it, but right around that time there was a big clothing line for John Cena at K-Mart, and Vince McMahon was like, ‘Oh Jesus Christ, he has a deal with Kmart, and now we’re going to turn him heel?’ So, Kmart is to blame for Cena not turning heel.”
One of the reasons why the WWE Chairman has been adamant to turn Cena heel is his appeal to the younger fan base of the company. Cena has been the top merchandise seller of the WWE and he has done an amazing job with Make-A-Wish Foundation throughout his WWE career. But despite that, his run as a heel in 2003 as the “Doctor of Thuganomics” was entertaining.
Many older and hardcore WWE fans have been clamoring for John Cena to turn heel, but it has since died down because of Roman Reigns. The fans have turned their attention on Reigns so much that he overtook Cena as the most polarizing WWE superstar today. Even during their match at No Mercy last month, Cena was cheered loudly while Reigns was unsurprisingly booed out of the building.
However, it should be noted that this is not the first backstage story regarding a Cena heel turn almost happening. In his guest appearance on Chris Jericho’s podcast on the WWE Network (h/t FOX Sports), Cena revealed that there were plans for him to turn heel in 2011 during his feud with The Rock. He told Jericho that he already got a new entrance theme and ring gear before the plan was eventually scrapped.
The report also noted that Cena could have used a singlet with “Fear My Name” on it during his heel turn. Cena wore the singlet in an episode of Total Divas back in 2015 and the WWE trademarked the name in 2011. A Cena heel turn would have been massive for the WWE and his babyface spot could have been used to elevate a new megastar.
Nevertheless, John Cena is still not finished with the WWE and he is just on hiatus to film two Hollywood movies. Cena is scheduled to return later this year during the after Christmas live events. He is also being rumored to face Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship at next year’s WrestleMania 34 in New Orleans.
[Featured Image by WWE]
