5 things John Cena has yet to achieve in the WWE

‘King’ Cena

The King of the Ring tournament, that recently saw Bad New Barrett welcomed into the fold of WWE royalty, has traditionally been a staple in the company’s history. Despite conspicuously being absent from WWE programming for the last 5 years, its comeback fishes out memories of the infamous “King” gimmick that several wrestlers have adopted over the years after tasting victory in the tournament.

One can argue that John Cena didn’t need to win the tournament because he was “over” without the rub that it entailed anyway, while others may note a more discerning underlying dynamic in contention; The “King” persona was almost always a heel!

Harley Race, one of the earliest winners of the tournament in 1986, crowned himself and fashioned himself in royal garb after his victory and proceeded to force his opponents to kneel and grovel before him with the help of his manager, Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan. Anyone who saw Heenan knew he was only too inclined to lend a helping hand.

Thus ensued the genesis of the “King” persona as a cruel and oppressive ruler who imposed his will on his ‘subjects’, aka the WWE Universe – a template that has endured till present day. We can agree, however, as was its wont, that “King” Cena would have been an utter absurdity with respect to Cena’s persona, which also leads me to my next point.

They have teased it before, but will it ever come to pass?

Heel Turn

A John Cena heel turn - surely the holy grail of pro-wrestling, for it has been scrutinized to no end over the years, even subtly teased at times by the WWE and yet never bore fruition. A heel turn may not be an accomplishment in the classical sense, but it is certainly noteworthy that most wrestlers avow how they reveled in the heel persona than compared to being a babyface.

It is a liberty that many wrestlers crave, to express themselves with greater creative freedom and without toeing a stereotypical code of conduct that a babyface has to tailor his behaviour around. And yet one can sense that the traditional rules don’t apply to John Cena in this regard.

Will it ever happen? In the wake of Cena taking a step back from the spotlight of main event status and the plethora of fresh faces rising commendably to the plate, now would be as ripe a time as any to find out.