John Cena recently celebrated his 20th anniversary with WWE, and he spent a great deal of time being portrayed as the face of the company over the last two decades. Cena was often pushed as the ultimate good guy which led to many fans calling for him to turn heel.
Former WWE writer Brian Gewirtz recently noted on the Cheap Heat podcast that the writers pushed for Cena to turn heel, and Vince McMahon was tempted to pull the trigger on the turn. According to Gewirtz, when the idea was pitched to John Cena he made it clear that he wanted to go full heel.
“‘Alright, listen, you want to turn me heel? If that’s what Vince says you guys want me to do, I’ll do it. But just so know, I will go full boar heel.’ He was like, ‘There won’t be none of that like, oh, he’s a fun heel, he’s a cool heel, he’s winking at the audience, heel.’ He is going to go full heel, that’s what he wants to do, which would have been awesome.”
Gewirtz also explained why Vince McMahon ultimately decided against the idea of turning John Cena heel despite the idea being pitched for the former WWE Champion.
“I think Vince was like, ‘John is basically captain of the ship here.’. The issues of who would [Cena] work with? Who would replace him as the top babyface? In [McMahon’s] mind, I think he’s like, ‘I made the right decision because John has been the standard bearer.’”
Do you think WWE should have turned John Cena heel? Sound off in the comments below.
H/T Wrestling Inc.
