Will John Cena ever turn Heel ?

John Cena is perhaps the most polarizing wrestler in WWE history. Most women and children love him, while most men hate him. Usually, WWE fans can agree on who should be the heroes and villains. But every episode of WWE Raw sounds like a verbal battle between Cena’s fans and haters to take control of the arena.

Unlike most fans, I don’t have a strong opinion either way about John Cena. I’m not particularly crazy about his character, but I respect his work for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and his loyalty to the WWE and its fans. But like many fans, I have been dreaming of a John Cena heel turn for years just to shake things up.

Unfortunately, the WWE will never turn John Cena heel.

This may come as a shock to the kids, but John Cena was a heel, albeit a “cool” heel, early in his WWE career. He used edgy lyrics and a freestyle rap gimmick that fit in perfectly after the end of the Attitude Era. Not surprisingly, the fans of that era loved how Cena mocked his opponents, so he eventually became a “babyface” or good guy.

Over the years, John Cena became less controversial and as he became kinder and gentler, his young fans grew in number. From merchandise sales to ticket sales, whatever Vince McMahon is paying him to wrestle in the WWE, it’s a bargain.

John Cena’s popularity with the kids has even spilled over into pop culture. At your local grocery store, you may have noticed that Cena has knocked Fred Flintstone off of Fruity Pebbles cereal boxes. And Cena is also set to appear to in an upcoming Scooby Doo movie. Clearly, McMahon would be playing with fire if he were to turn Cena heel.

Another reason why the WWE will never turn John Cena heel is that he is such a big hit with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. As I alluded to earlier, this is where I differ with fans who criticize Cena. In fact, he has granted over 300 wishes to terminally ill children, which puts him atop this list.

Now just imagine this scenario. John Cena turns heel, but he has already agreed to meet a dozen Make-A-Wish kids. How is he supposed to explain his actions to these kids? The kids will be devastated that they wasted their wish on the guy that hit Ryback with a steel chair and was secretly leading The Shield.

From the Make-A-Wish Foundation to the Be A STAR campaign, the WWE is going to extraordinary lengths to convince fans, sponsors, and investors that the promotion has reinvented itself over the last 10 years. With John Cena as a heel, the WWE’s Make-A-Wish requests would take a serious hit.

But perhaps the most obvious reason that John Cena will never turn heel is that there is no one else ready to step up as the top “face” of the WWE. Many fans claim the WWE just needs to push another wrestler into that spot and everything would be fine. But it isn’t that simple.

There’s a reason why fans remember the likes of Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, and The Rock so fondly. Very few wrestlers have the physical, verbal, and charismatic skill set to be the top face of the WWE. Sure, the WWE could push someone else. But chances are, he wouldn’t get over like Cena has.

Someday, John Cena may turn heel, but it would happen in another promotion. I can’t see him working for another promotion, but then again, I never thought Hulk Hogan would wrestle for WCW. Eric Bischoff used the shock factor of a Hogan heel turn to spark interest in WCW. A similar fate could be in Cena’s future 10 years from now.

But as long as he works for Vince McMahon, a John Cena heel turn is about as likely as a rebirth of the Attitude Era.