Like Captain Ahab pursuing Moby-Dick, wrestling fans have been dreaming about the John Cena heel turn for well over a decade. Entire storylines have been built around the likes of Kane and Bray Wyatt trying to convince the leader of Cenation to turn to the dark side, but he never has. Well, here in 2017, it might be time for a change. In 2017, it might be time for WWE to turn John Cena heel, and here’s how.
Dreambooking a John Cena Heel Turn
The Pursuit of History
Chris Jericho once said that the best villains are the ones that are justified in their actions. In his feud with Shawn Michaels, Jericho’s character couldn’t believe that the fans still cheered Michaels even though he admitted to cheating. It gave the character depth and made it even easier for Y2J to play the part.
So what could turn John Cena? Is it even possible? What could possibly be so traumatic that it would make the Luke Skywalker of the WWE fall from grace? It’s quite simple. Failure.
John Cena is one world championship away from tying Ric Flair for his 16th championship, which is what WWE has decided is the most all-time. Cena hasn’t been World Champion since he won the vacated WWE World Heavyweight Champion at Money in the Bank back in 2014, and with his upcoming match against AJ Styles at the Royal Rumble, it seems like he’s due.
But what if he failed. What if John Cena threw everything he had at the Phenomenal One, but no matter what, Styles kept kicking out? Cena has faced Styles in two one-on-one matches, and both times, Styles has emerged victorious. Maybe Cena fails to beat Styles again, and it starts to get into his head.
Phenomenal
Cena starts thinking that maybe he can’t beat Styles. John Cena is 39 years old, and with his Hollywood career blossoming, he has less and less time for the WWE. It occurs to Cena that with time running out, he might not be able to beat Styles, and he may never tie Flair’s record, which he’s said before means a lot to him.
So Cena decides that he’s going to beat Styles for the title, by any means possible. He comes out and demands another championship opportunity from Styles. Styles, ever the cocky heel, refuses. He’s already beaten Cena three times one-on-one, so why should he bother? Why does Cena think he deserves another shot?
This is stealing from the Dolph Ziggler/Miz storyline, but Cena would put his career on the line. The idea of retiring his biggest rival in WWE would be very appealing to his character, so he would accept, and at WrestleMania, AJ Styles would defend his belt against John Cena.
A lot of people want to see John Cena wrestle the Undertaker, but at this point, there’s just more to gain this way. AJ Styles vs. John Cena is one of the best feuds in the WWE, and this way, Mr. Hustle, Loyalty, and Respect actually gains something, and the fans won’t be divided.
WrestleMania
At first, nothing is different. The trumpets blare, the women and children scream, the men boo, and John Cena sprints to the ring. AJ Styles and John Cena have a great match. These two have proven they’ve got natural chemistry in the ring, and they just put on a clinic.
At one point, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson try to get involved, even distracting the ref and throwing a chair into the ring, but AJ refuses. He doesn’t want to cheat to beat Cena. He’s already beaten Cena clean, and he wants to prove he’s the face that runs the place.
But towards the end of the match, Styles goes for the Phenomenal Forearm and Cena catches him. We’ve seen this before with a Codebreaker from Jericho and a Spear from Roman Reigns. Cena catches Styles, and he hits an AA.
But, at 2.9, Styles kicks out. Cena can’t believe it. He’s given AJ Styles everything he has, but he still can’t beat him. So he picks AJ’s limp body off the ring, and goes to AA him again. However, Styles struggles, and he knocks Cena into the referee. Cena hits the AA, but the ref is down for the count.
The Turn
Cena glances at his hands, then at the ref, and then at AJ. He stands up slowly, shaking. He quickly looks at the ref and AJ again, before glancing out at the crowd. Chants of “Let’s Go Cena” and “Cena Sucks” are echoing through the crowd, and he’s realizing that if he can’t finish AJ, this will be his last WrestleMania moment.
So he walks to the corner of the ring, where the chair from earlier is still lying. Cena picks it up and looks at it. He looks up at the crowd, and then starts wailing on Styles with the chair. He just assaults him over and over, and then he tosses the chair out of the ring. The ref begins to stir, and Cena picks up Styles for one more AA. He hits his finisher, and the ref counts one, two, three in the middle of the ring.
SmackDown Savior
Two days later on SmackDown Live, Cena comes out like normal, and he tries to act like nothing happened. This is important. Cena can’t come out like Hollywood Hulk Hogan did, acting like a completely different character. He believes he was justified in doing what he did because his storied career was on the line.
But hopefully, the crowd treats him differently. He cheated. He didn’t deserve to win, but he took advantage of the unconscious ref. That’s not very humble, loyal, or respectful. And he did it against the perfect guy. The adults and hardcore fans already love AJ Styles, and if done properly, Cena cheating to win could turn both guys.
Slowly but surely, the crowd rejecting Cena would get to him. In his eyes, he’s done nothing wrong, and yet all these people have betrayed him. Half the crowd always booed him, but the other half was always there for him, shouldn’t they understand that he did what he did for them? Eventually, he becomes a fully fledged heel, and that leads up to his SummerSlam match against… the Undertaker.
Dead Man Walking
The Undertaker said he wouldn’t be defined by WrestleMania anymore, and that he was the sheriff of SmackDown. What has he done since then? Booked an appearance on Monday Night Raw. You still get the Undertaker/John Cena feud, but now it means something. The Undertaker is trying to stop John Cena, and Cena is so remarkably out of touch and obsessed with his own ego that he’s lost.
As for that match and on, that’s up to WWE. Cena could retire the Undertaker and become the biggest heel that the WWE has had in years, or Undertaker could beat him and finally set Mr. HLR straight. Either way, it accomplishes several things.
AJ Styles becomes the main event babyface SmackDown desperately needs, John Cena becomes the biggest heel in pro wrestling while tying Flair’s record, and the match with the Undertaker means something more than just shoving two Hall of Fame players together just because.
