For the past several years WWE fans have grown annoyed by John Cena’s old over-the-top babyface gimmick, with many wrestling fans claiming they’d like him a lot more if he turned heel. Cena has been very vocal on not wanting to turn heel over the years, especially with the immense following of children “The Leader Of The Cenation” has behind him. While a heel turn for Cena seems to be a big no no with WWE officials right now, it turns out Vince McMahon actually came very close to pulling the trigger on the move.
Former WWE writer Kevin Eck was recently a guest on The Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast and revealed that a heel turn for Cena was actually nearly pulled off as he would enter a program with Sheamus. After realizing Cena had just landed a new clothing deal with K-Mart, however, the plan was quickly trashed:
“Vince had agreed to do it, but then he changed his mind and said that we can’t do it,” Eck said. “This was back around the time when McMahon was really looking at Sheamus to get his push. The question was if we turn John Cena heel then who is he going to work with, who will be the top babyface?
“That was the feeling back then, then we came up with some scenarios, and believe it or not, Cena was on board with it, but right around that time there was a big clothing line for John Cena at K-Mart, and Vince McMahon was like, ‘Oh Jesus Christ, he has a deal with KMart, and now we’re going to turn him heel?’ So, KMart is to blame for Cena not turning heel,” Eck said. “During a meeting once Vince had a huge smile on his face, and he tells everyone that I know you’ve wanted John Cena as a heel for a long time, but we just can’t turn him heel and that was the end of that.”
You can listen to Eck’s interview on The Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast by clicking here.
H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions
