Posted July 24, 201411 yr comment_5614486 Pros to turning... - Freshens up the character and the show - Will create mainstream buzz - Allows someone else to elevate to top babyface - According to Dylan, it's hard to create another boom with Cena as your top face. Cons to turning... - Biggest merch seller by far - Too big of a risk - If you turn him, then he'll just get cheered - Nobody to replace him
July 24, 201411 yr comment_5614488 I kind of said my part in the feedback thread to the podcast, but I just wanted to point out that I think moving Cena down the card and turning him heel are two separate issues. I agree that another boom can't happen as long as he's the top babyface, but I still think he should be a babyface until someone becomes bigger than he is.
July 24, 201411 yr comment_5614489 I'm pro a heel turn if they have that babyface ready to go on top and they feud. I don 't think Reigns is ready. So I say wait till you have a guy who can carry the promotion.
July 24, 201411 yr Author comment_5614490 If Hulk Hogan can turn heel in 1996 after a decade of being a babyface and long after the fans have become tired of him, then Cena can do it AND do it better. He can put on better matches and it completely changes the game. I don't think you move Cena down the card. You make him the most hated person in company history (if he isn't already).
July 24, 201411 yr comment_5614491 If Cena turning is done to usher in a new era where some edginess and unpredictability is brought back to WWE, I'm all for it. But if WWE is just going to remain a safe, stale, corporate version of the product I fell in love with, then he's gotta stay face. Like Hogan's turn or Austin's emergence, Cena turning needs to be part of a bigger overall direction for the company if it's going to be effective or have meaning.
July 24, 201411 yr comment_5614493 Hogan is not the example to use here, Bob Backlund is. It's one thing to just carry the company like those two did, but Cena arguably has put more work and dedication into it. He's already made headlines for his work with the Make-A-Wish foundation. And nobody is a better spokesman for the company like he is. Making him a heel now while he's still fairly young and strong would be a mistake for those reasons. Do it when he's almost out to pasture and forgotten about when so many others will eventually pass him by like Reigns is being designed to do now.
July 24, 201411 yr Author comment_5614494 If Cena turning is done to usher in a new era where some edginess and unpredictability is brought back to WWE, I'm all for it. But if WWE is just going to remain a safe, stale, corporate version of the product I fell in love with, then he's gotta stay face. Like Hogan's turn or Austin's emergence, Cena turning needs to be part of a bigger overall direction for the company if it's going to be effective or have meaning. Of course the idea is to change the overall direction and you use the biggest star you have as that catalyst.
July 24, 201411 yr comment_5614495 Isn't he already the biggest heel in WWE? The second he 'turns', everyone who 'hates' him will love him, and everyone who loves will hate him. He'll be in essentially the same boat he is now, just with the poles reversed.
July 24, 201411 yr Author comment_5614496 No way... many of the boos are directed from the fans who don't think he can wrestle or resent his push to begin with.
July 24, 201411 yr comment_5614497 Yeah, you keep the fans off of him by turning him and going even more "Super Cena" than ever before. Just fucking steamroll guys, until the savior finally slays him.
July 24, 201411 yr Author comment_5614499 Exactly... and you rub it in their faces near the point of fans throwing shit, trying to key his car and having old grannies hitting him with a cane.
July 24, 201411 yr comment_5614501 The company's finances and future depend largely on the success of the WWE Network. They need to find a way to keep those fans who have subscribed and attract others. Many of those fans, due to the WWE Network being an internet-based service, are quite likely those hardcores who (still) aren't fans of Cena, for reasons stated by others already. Now's the time to turn him.
July 24, 201411 yr comment_5614502 If you do it right now, you've even got the built in savior down the road. Cena goes corporate, becomes Hunter's boy. Over the next several months, you run him through all of the smark favorites... Ziggler, Ambrose, Cesaro, whoever... then come Mania, (hopefully) Bryan returns the conquering hero.
July 24, 201411 yr comment_5614504 Hogan was losing relevance when he turned. Cena isn't losing relevance. He's just getting booed on TV. I feel like some of the advocates for turning him are not responding to the issue that he gets cheered heavily on house shows, even at Madison Square Garden. I also haven't heard any solutions for keeping kids interested.
July 24, 201411 yr Author comment_5614506 One of the huge problems that WWE has right now is that they are trying to be everything to everyone. I don't think kids have ever stopped watching wrestling even during the Attitude Era. If Cena turned heel, the younger fans will get over it and cheer the guy who is there to conquer Cena. You can't attract older fans by trying to hold on to the younger fans. In 2009, Loss, you were with me at the NOC PPV. those kids has as much Jeff hardy and Rey Mysterio merch on as they did Cena merch. WWE can find people that young guys can gravitate to. It doesn't have to be a 35 year old former rapping marine. As for house show reaction, those people will find somebody new to cheer for.
July 24, 201411 yr comment_5614508 Yeah, I'm not necessarily advocating for turning Cena, just spitballing how I would do it. But I think clearing Cena out of the way is the obstacle they've had in creating another big star. As long as the kids/casual fans have Cena as their boy, they're not going to get hot enough about another guy to make anyone.
July 24, 201411 yr comment_5614509 Who specifically is there to conquer Cena? Who will take his place as the top babyface? If that person isn't John Cena's equal (not in terms of crowd reaction, in terms of appealing to children/women and selling merchandise), it's just not going to work. The idea that Cena is the most hated guy in WWE history is ridiculous. I don't even think very many people genuinely hate him. They just boo him because they want to be part of the show. It almost never happens when the cameras aren't on.
July 24, 201411 yr comment_5614510 I don't really think that the guy that beats Cena has to be the guy that is the next gigantic star. Did anyone see Cena coming along and becoming what he did? I don't think business plummets without him on top as long as they are actually getting behind trying to push someone on top. It's always been start and stop kneejerk reactions to a bad couple weeks of tv ratings, or a bad PPV buyrate, and they never give the story long enough to build to someone getting over to that level before they cut their legs out and go another direction. For once, they need to just decide on a direction and have faith in their ability to tell that story, instead of bailing at the first sign of trouble.
July 24, 201411 yr comment_5614511 In fairness, they tried to do just that with Batista and everyone hated it.
July 24, 201411 yr comment_5614512 I'm not sold it's the right time to turn John Cena, but... I think Roman Reigns would have a much better shot of becoming a successful heir to his throne if he was the cool kick ass assassin to slay heel Superman Cena. I have my doubts about the Brock program.
July 24, 201411 yr comment_5614513 The trick is that if it's not working, don't just fail backwards to Cena. Look to who IS getting a reaction, and nudge things that direction. The problem is that every time they've panicked about something not working, the next move has been to go back to Cena, and at this point the crowd is conditioned to that. Run with Reigns as the guy. If Reigns isn't working out, you start trying to work other guys into it. Most of the other times they've attempted to elevate a guy, it's been with the secondary title, so the crowd is always going to see them as secondary.
July 24, 201411 yr comment_5614514 One of the huge problems that WWE has right now is that they are trying to be everything to everyone. I don't think kids have ever stopped watching wrestling even during the Attitude Era. If Cena turned heel, the younger fans will get over it and cheer the guy who is there to conquer Cena. You can't attract older fans by trying to hold on to the younger fans. In 2009, Loss, you were with me at the NOC PPV. those kids has as much Jeff hardy and Rey Mysterio merch on as they did Cena merch. WWE can find people that young guys can gravitate to. It doesn't have to be a 35 year old former rapping marine. As for house show reaction, those people will find somebody new to cheer for. More response: - Why is it better to attract older fans than younger fans? And while they can't be, why wouldn't WWE want to at least try to be everything to everyone? The whole idea behind making WWE as big as possible is to appeal to as many people as possible. I do think at some point they have to make a choice, but I'm not even sure that choosing older fans over younger fans is the best choice of the two, and I don't think that's something that can be based on personal opinion and gut feeling either. It would have to be based on actual data that we don't have. - 2009 would have been a great time to turn him because Jeff Hardy and Rey were there to also appeal to kids. There is no one else doing that right now. - The point of bringing up house show reaction is to say that if he was truly hated by most WWE fans, he would be getting booed on house shows too. He's not. I think people boo Cena on TV because they want to be part of the show. If that wasn't the case, it would happen when the cameras are off, and it doesn't. Also, if people really hated John Cena, they wouldn't just boo. They'd tune out altogether like they did when WCW wouldn't let up on the NWO.
July 24, 201411 yr comment_5614516 It would be a game changer, but you're going to have to have someone to be Cena's foil. Their isn't anyone unless Bryan gets a miracle cure. I think the dynamic would have worked. W/o a baby face ready it won't matter. Hogan and Cena are both totally different dynamics. For it to be a game changer you have to have all aspects of the angle ready to go.
July 24, 201411 yr comment_5614518 Plus the WWE won't do a heel turn till Wrestlemania so they do have time to get everything together. Though finding the heir to the throne is easier said than done.
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