Former WWE writer reveals how Vince McMahon felt about turning John Cena heel. The 16 time World Champion used to get polarising reactions from the crowd.
John Cena has always been presented as a whitemeat baby face. However, the crowd did not always react to him the way the WWE wanted. He would often get the loudest reaction but there were as many boos as there were cheers.
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Former WWE writer Brian Gewirtz said on The Masked Man Show that creative asked Vince McMahon several times if they should turn Cena heel. The WWE Chairman would often consider their ideas but would always turn them down.
Former WWE writer reveals how Vince McMahon felt about turning John Cena heel
Vince McMahon was adamant about not turning Cena heel. Although he would listen to the ideas presented to him, he never pulled the trigger. In the end he was proud of himself for standing his ground.
“When it came to Roman [Reigns], the model was John [Cena], right?” Gewirtz said. “Because there were plenty of times when the writers would come in and be like, ‘Can we just turn John heel?’ With the, ‘Let’s go Cena, Cena sucks.
“Can we do it? Can we pull the trigger?’ And it was something Vince [McMahon] never wanted to do. He considered it, he always considers all ideas but ultimately he didn’t wanna do it and I think in the end he was like, to put it bluntly he was like, ‘Thank God I didn’t listen to you,’ as far as turning John heel because John was the standard-bearer and made a ton of money for the company and Make-A-Wish and merchandise and everything, you know?”
John Cena never turned heel after becoming the face of the company. Roman Reigns, the clear successor to Cena, seemed to be going in the same direction.
Like his predecessor, Reigns was a polarizing figure in the WWE. Just when all hope seemed lost though, the WWE finally pulled the trigger on his heel turn and the Tribal Chief is now enjoying arguably the best run of his career so far.
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