John Cena has shifted his role in the WWE for the past couple of years. He is no more available for the company for 365 days as he once was. As a result, we have not seen him in the main event picture for quite a while now until the No Mercy PPV. Before No Mercy, it was in 2014 when he was involved in a singles championship match against Brock Lesnar. Since then it has been two long years and it projects how he is shifting gears.
This shift might have pitched the idea of turning the franchise of the company to heel. The idea of turning Cena into a villain has been discussed amongst the WWE Creative for the last couple of years but it was Vince McMahon who rejected the idea, every time. But, now that Cena has been more on his movie projects and TV shows, WWE might introduce him with a gimmick like Hollywood Cena.
The gimmick is to resemble the Hollywood Hogan one which was Hulk Hogan’s heel turn in his last WCW days. This gimmick was so much popular with the NWO in his corner despite the heelish acts. The same was done with Rock, as well when he shifted more to Hollywood projects during his last stint in the WWE. Both of them acted as the franchise of the company & as per reports, WWE might do the same with current one, too.
This might help John Cena, who is on a mission to capture his 16th WWE World title to tie the record of the legendary Ric Flair. The fans have not liked the “Hustle, Loyalty, Respect” in the recent times. But, the problem is with Cena’s tremendous fan following throughout the world. He is the best merchandise seller in WWE, till today. Turning him heel will affect the sale and the question is will WWE can afford it?