For about a decade, fountains across the world have been filling up with pennies that share the same wish: John Cena turns heel. From devout to casual, every fan is itching to see WWE’s best guy turn into a villain. And it almost happened.
Former WWE writer Kevin Eck spoke to the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast and disclosed that Vince McMahon and WWE had arrangements to execute the epic turn.
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“Vince had agreed to do it, but then he changed his mind and said that we can’t do it,” Eck said. “This was back around the time when McMahon was really looking at Sheamus to get his push. The question was if we turn John Cena heel then who is he going to work with, who will be the top babyface?”
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It’s hard to pinpoint the year in question, but 2012 is a good median. However, despite Sheamus being ready to launch, an unforeseen hiccup announces itself and effectively killed Heel John Cena.
“that was the feeling back then, then we came up with some scenarios, and believe it or not, Cena was on board with it,” revealed Eck. “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 K-Mart, and now we’re going to turn him heel?’”
As irony has it, Cena’s child-friendly image was attached to too many streams fo income and compelled WWE to pull the plug.
“So, KMart is to blame for Cena not turning heel,” Eck said. “During a meeting once Vince had a huge smile on his face, and he tells everyone that I know you’ve wanted John Cena as a heel for a long time, but we just can’t turn him heel and that was the end of that,” explained Eck.
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It’s at least comforting to know that WWE has come close to flipping John Cena. Now, we now that it’s a possibility, albeit a slim one. However, maybe a future heel turn is still on the table. Once WWE establishes Cena’s replacement, they’ll be able to tinker with the Cena character.
So ironically, Cena’s heel turn may be a product of fans accepting Roman Reigns in their hearts. So next time you boo Reigns, just remember that you may be costing us all opportunity to watch a nefarious version of John Cena.
[H/T Wrestling Inc for the transcription]
