Report: WWE May Be Teasing a “Heel John Cena,” But They Will Not Turn Him

WWE may be teasing a “heel John Cena,” but they will not turn him heel. A new report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter claims that even with the recent “testing of the waters” with Cena’s character “almost” crossing the “babyface line” during his feud with the Wyatt Family, merchandise sales and public image will keep the leader of Cenation a “good guy” for the foreseeable future.

Anytime a new attitude seems to be expressed by Cena, people ask if the company is finally going to turn him heel or not and give his character a boost of creativity. However, although the timing does seem perfect for Cena to cross over onto the “dark side,” it likely won’t happen anytime soon.

The most recent example of WWE  teasing a possible heel turn for Cena came during the April 21 edition of “Monday Night Raw.” The company had a “fan vote” to decide if Cena would face one man, two men, or all three members of the Wyatt Family, and the fans voted for the Three-On-One Handicap Match with a whopping 53% of the vote.

Prior to the announcement of the voting results, Cena had conducted a promo saying that he knew he almost “snapped” at WrestleMania XXX and became something darker than he really is. He also said that he trusted the fans to not “kill him” by voting for a Three-On-One Handicap Match. When the results were announced, and Cena arrived for the match, he acted as if he was disappointed in the fans and didn’t play up to them as much as he normally would have.

That being said, the company will likely not turn Cena heel at this time because of how crucial he is to WWE’s public image and merchandise sales. Cena is the top pusher of merchandise for the company, selling five-times what the second runner up (Daniel Bryan) sells. With CM Punk being off television, and other merchandise mainstays such as Rey Mysterio Jr. losing sales, the company is relying on Cena hardcore.

Cena also does a lot of charity work, and WWE could alienate most of their younger audience if they turn Cena heel. He would have to portray a heel on camera, but be the superhero babyface wish-maker whenever he’s outside of live events.

Vince McMahon was reportedly not fully against turning Cena heel a couple of years ago when the “turn” was teased during a program with Kane, but currently the risk is just too high.

Editor’s Note:
Rumors of a potential Cena heel turn have existed for YEARS. Too many people believe he needs it to make himself relevant again. However, I will say that the timing would be perfect now storyline-wise, just not business-wise. Creatively it would write itself SO well, but logistically WWE would be playing gambling hard on whether or not the shock factor and change of character would increase viewership or alienate an entire demographic.