With the WWE fresh off a month long celebration of John Cena’s career, there have been some fans talking about the possibility of John Cena being a heel, and Jim Cornette talked about it on a recent episode of the Jim Cornette Experience podcast.
It’s an interesting notion since Cena has been on the level of a super hero throughout his WWE career, and he’s set records with his Make A Wish appearances.
He’s a giving person that wants to help as many as he can, and as was briefly discussed, his contributions to Make A Wish may be why he didn’t turn heel.
He’s the type that still follows kayfabe more than not, and a heel doing all of that charity work would be confusing and frustrating for many.
But Cornette also raised a valid point in that there’s a chance Cena could’ve been the new Ric Flair.
Taking over for a legend
Flair had a level of charisma and professionalism that set him apart from many in the business, and Cena had many of those qualities.
Cornette worked with him in OVW (Ohio Valley Wrestling) when Cena came there to train for the WWE, and he said as much on his podcast.
“[John Cena] was a heel as The Prototype. He came into Ohio Valley Wrestling as a heel. He was a heel when he first got in the business. He’d had a handful of matches in California, I guess for he came out here, but because he was a heel because he had the great body and he was well spoken and cocky. And I thought honestly, this guy could be the next Ric Flair.
“He’s got the physique, the voice, and the promo ability. He’s a quick learner, he’s, I mean, the only way he wouldn’t have been like Flair is in the personal bad habit category, because John was also I mean, I’m not saying he’s never drunk a beer, but you didn’t have to worry John was going to have any bad out of the ring habits that were either going to affect his work or cause newspaper headlines.
“20 years later, he’s still wearing the shorts. But in an alternate universe, John Cena would have been a cocky robe-wearing long type wearing, bumping, incredible promo heel, that you pushed to the top and fed him baby faces because he would be there like a Ray Stevens in California, in my opinion. That’s how good he was at that stage of the game.”
The closest the WWE had to a Ric Flair was Ted Dibiase, and there’s an argument that Dibiase was a better heel, he just had the luck of working with the ultimate face Hulk Hogan at the time.
Cena have a career as a heel could be a missed opportunity, but until Roman Reigns’ run as the Tribal Chief, heels generally weren’t huge, center of the universe type of characters.
Vince McMahon has always preferred the good triumphs over evil types of storylines, and given the company going public and Cena’s image, it makes sense he stayed a face.
What do you think? Would Cena have been another Ric Flair? Let us know in the comments below.
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