How I Would Book It- John Cena's heel turn

Welcome to another addition of How I Would Book It. This time I am focusing on a very controversial topic.....John Cena. John Cena is considered the top superstar of the WWE. He blows the roof off of nearly every building he performs in but he is not loved by all. His character could use a little bit of a change and the best way to change a good guy's character is to turn him into a heel. Here is how I would book John Cena's heel turn.

Let me start by saying I do not like John Cena. I don't hate him and I don't want him to leave the WWE. Cena is alright but in my opinion, I don't think he is the greatest superstar in the WWE right now. I'm not saying this just because a lot of people don't like Cena. I didn't like Cena way before I discovered the Internet Wrestling Community and found out that Cena was not as popular as the WWE made it seem. The biggest problem I have with John Cena is that the WWE is pretty much telling you that Cena is the face of the franchise whether you agree with it or not. The WWE never really says it directly but they put out hints. They have John Cena star in most of their movies. He is in most of their commercials. Cena is the last superstar you see in their WWE TV opener as well as the opening video for RAW. It goes on and on....the WWE has made it very clear that Cena is the reason you are a WWE fan. Unfortunately, I don't see it that way. First of all, what ever happened to the fans being allowed to decide who is the top superstar? The fans were not supposed to like Stone Cold. Stone Cold was someone who swore a lot, drank beer, flipped the bird too often, and would attack his own boss. But the fans loved Stone Cold and he was the star of the WWE for a long time. That is the way a superstar should get to the top. Let the fans decide who is the best superstar. But the WWE does not do that with Cena. Like I said, they force you to like Cena more than anyone else. When I hear kids saying that Cena is their favorite superstar or see all of them wearing Cena gear, I'm not sure if they really like Cena or if they were brainwashed by the WWE into liking Cena. I was a kid once too. I know how easy it is for the WWE to brainwash the younger fans. All of the superstars I liked and hated were shockingly the exact same superstars the WWE I wanted me to like and hate. I will admit it...I did think the New Age Outlaws were the greatest tag team in the world and I hated Kurt Angle for thinking he was better than everyone just because he won a gold medal at the Olympics. But I'm older now and I am not as easy to brainwash. So the WWE can claim that John Cena is their top superstar all they want, but that is not what I see when John Cena appears on my TV.

So what is it that I do not like about John Cena? A lot of things actually. First of all, I can not stand that he does not have a gimmick. He uses his real name as his wrestling name. He does not really have a nickname. He used to be The Doctor of Thuganomics but he does not call himself that anymore. And the way he acts, it seems like he could be your town's local dentist although he would be a very big and muscular dentist. Another thing about John Cena is that he plays by the rules too much. He does not do anything that would remotely be considered illegal. Cena basically says and does what parents want to see and hear from their child's role model. I'm surprised he hasn't placed hidden messages into his promos like "Stay in school" and "Don't do drugs." He likes making jokes when interacting with his rivals. Sure The Rock made jokes too but The Rock's jokes were actually funny insults. The Rock calling someone a roody poo candy ass makes a bigger impact than Cena calling Sheamus a human jar of mayonnaise.  I also don't like Cena's "you can't see me" catchphrase and hand gesture. It seems so lame. The "you can't see me" catchphrase and gesture is something a kid would say and do. The Rock said it best when he returned to RAW in February:

"What are you playing, peek-a-boo? 'You can't see me. I can see you. You can't--Can you see me?' Oh believe me...we ALLLL can see you......a blind-folded, sleeping, stuck in the basement Stevie Wonder can see your monkey ass."

And his promos are hard to listen to. I can't stand Cena's lame jokes that he thinks are funny and it seems that Cena thinks yelling makes his promos seem more epic but they don't. In fact, I like Cena's promos better when he is speaking in a quiet but serious tone. Then there's the fact John Cena is invincible. Take a look at Judgment Day 2009. Two of the matches were CM Punk vs. Umaga and John Cena vs. Big Show. CM Punk gets beat up by Umaga the whole match, makes you believe he is really taking a pounding, and he loses. John Cena gets beat up by Big Show the whole match and I do kinda feel Cena's pain just like I felt Punk's pain but Cena wins his match. Why does Cena have to look so invincible? The storyline going into that match was that Cena was less than 100% because Big Show threw him through a searchlight. Not only does Cena wrestle at the next PPV, he defeats a 500 pound monster! When Undertaker got put in a coma by Kane, he lost his next PPV match. When Stone Cold got ran over by a car at Survivor Series 1999, he missed an entire year. None of those injuries affected their popularity so why can't Cena sell his injuries more? I can go on and on discussing things I do not like about John Cena. You can see why I don't agree with the decision to have Cena as the name and face of the WWE.

The easiest way to make Cena more likable to ALL AGES and not just brainwashed kids is by turning him heel. A change in character is a great way to re-invent someone. John Cena is not the first face to get a lot of negative heat from the fans. The Rock was booed too when he first started in the WWE. The Rock turned heel and now he's considered one of the greatest of all-time, which is a statement I may have not been able to make if The Rock stayed a boring face his whole career. The hard part for Cena is deciding HOW to turn him heel. In my opinion, he should have turned heel when he was with Nexus. When he was with Nexus, he never wore the Nexus t-shirt because he was forced to join Nexus. Cena then had to be the referee for the Wade Barrett vs. Randy Orton match. If Barrett did not win the WWE Championship from Orton, he would fire Cena. But Cena did not want someone to win a title he did not deserve. What should have happened was have Cena screw Orton making Barrett the WWE Champion. Then Cena puts on his Nexus t-shirt as a sign that he really does want to be apart of Nexus which effectively would turn him heel. But unfortunately none of that happened. Instead, Cena let Orton win and Cena got fired (which lasted about three weeks).

I think the next great opportunity to turn Cena heel is at Wrestlemania 28. John Cena will be facing The Rock. If I was running the show, I would have John Cena enter the match as the WWE Champion. I think it might even be a good idea for Cena's current title reign to last uninterrupted going into Wrestlemania. That's a long time to be holding the title but the WWE needs another epic title run and having Cena hold onto the belt for that long should add value to the match against The Rock. If Cena does hold the title for that long, he will have been champ for exactly ten months when he faces The Rock. In the weeks leading up to Wrestlemania, The Rock tells Cena, "I don't give a crap that you have held the WWE Championship for almost ten months. The Rock will still whip your monkey ass and leave Miami as the WWE Champion." When the match finally happens, The Rock brings it like he has never brought it before. The action is back-and-forth and no matter what Cena does, he can not keep The Rock down. Cena hits The Rock with his third Attitude Adjustment of the night and The Rocks kicks out again just like he did after the first two. Cena gets frustrated. During the match, The Rock accidentally bumps into the referee and referee goes down. The Rock checks on the referee for a second and as soon as he turns his attention back on Cena, Cena hits him with the fourth Attitude Adjustment of the night. Cena notices the referee is out and heads towards ringside to grab a chair and bring it into the ring. He nails The Rock in the back with the chair several times and then places the chair on the floor of the ring. Cena picks up The Rock's near unconscious body and delivers his fifth Attitude Adjustment but this time directly onto the chair. Cena tosses the chair out of the ring, wakes up the referee, and pins The Rock for the three count. Since Cena is in The Rock's hometown, there is no doubt he will get massive boos from the Miami crowd which will effectively turn Cena into a heel. Cena will come on RAW the next night saying that if he played by the rules, he would have lost his WWE Champion. Cena will also say that he is tired of being a good guy and that it felt damn good to finally go against the rules.

What happens after that point is almost irrelevant. Cena will have a completely different character and it should draw more interest from Cena's biggest critics. Cena's association with the Make-A-Wish Foundation won't be a problem. Nor should the WWE worry about John Cena's merchandise sales. They can always turn Cena back into a face and I would do it before the year is over. Cena does not need a long heel run. It can be brief and when Cena returns to being a face, he will get his younger audience back because it should not be hard for the WWE to get them liking Cena again but he should also have several new fans thanks to his character change. And that's how I would book John Cena's heel turn.