It's been a long and successful career for John Cena, who over the past decade has solidified himself as the face of the WWE.
Cena broke into the WWE after one of the most memorable main roster debuts of all time, answering an open challenge from WWE Hall Of Famer Kurt Angle on an episode of SmackDown. Cena put up a heck of a fight against the "Olympic Hero," but in the end it wasn't enough to pull off the win. Despite the loss Cena earned an enormous amount of respect from his fellow WWE Superstars and the rest, as they say, was history.
"The Leader Of The Cenation" has since tied the all-time record for World Title wins at 16 (alongside Ric Flair) and is arguably the greatest WWE Superstar of all time. After years of being on the main event scene, however, Cena has now taken a back step in his career to let young stars such as Roman Reigns take the helm.
One key reason Cena has connected with audiences all over the world is due to his extreme babyface gimmick, not having turned heel since his early days with the company. The WWE has decided to keep Cena as a mega-babyface due to the immense following he has from young WWE fans.
Older WWE fans claim that they would like Cena a lot more if he turned heel, as many have grown tired of his over-the-top babyface gimmick throughout his career. It turns out WWE fans almost got just that as Vince McMahon was prepared to pull the trigger on a Cena heel turn - but it was cancelled for a ridiculous reason.
Former WWE writer Kevin Eck was recently a guest on The Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast to talk about the near heel turn for Cena, and revealed it was al cancelled due to an apparel deal Cena had with K-Mart (quotes via SEScoops):
“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.”
What are your thoughts on McMahon canceling Cena's heel turn due to their clothing deal with K-Mart? Do you think McMahon's decision to cancel the turn was justified? Or did they miss out on possibly one of the biggest storylines in WWE history? Have YOUR say in the comments section below, and the fourth episode of GiveMeSport’s WWE podcast is here!
Check it out via this link: https://soundcloud.com/user-818579649/gms-wwe-podcast-money-in-the-bank-fallout
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