Are we looking at the end of the John Cena heel run? Given what a surprise the big turn was in the first place (I still don’t think a single person saw it coming), it’s interesting how many people are now confidently predicting exactly how and when it will end. And to be honest, they probably have good reason to be confident.
One thing is for sure: After yesterday’s WWE Night of Champions event, we are heading for a John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes rematch at this year’s SummerSlam. That was effectively confirmed the second that Rhodes defeated Randy Orton to become King of the Ring, before taking to the mic to make his intentions clear: “At SummerSlam,” Rhodes declared, “I will get my ball back.” Expect an official match graphic to appear on the weekly shows any minute now.
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Will “The Quarterback” triumph in New Jersey? Given the current status of play, he has to be a serious favorite this time around. If nothing else, the fact that the clock is ticking down on John Cena’s retirement tour — according to the man himself, he has 15 dates left — makes a Rhodes victory more likely. Assuming, that is, the whole thing about Cena retiring as champion is a ploy to get heat rather than the genuine creative plan all along…
There are other things in Cody’s favor. As he’s the one who is sticking around to carry the company, a defeat would likely inflict serious damage on his brand — particularly after he went through the effort of winning King of the Ring to earn the title shot. Then there’s the fact that Cena has been presented as very much beatable. We saw Saturday night how CM Punk had the champion pinned to rights — albeit after a ref bump — suggesting, once again, that it’s the dirty tricks that keep Cena on top.
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Combine all of those factors and you can see why the widespread expectation is this year’s SummerSlam will culminate in a reversal of what happened at WrestleMania 41. — i.e. “The American Nightmare” getting his revenge over the dastardly trio of Cena, Travis Scott and The Rock, who conspired to screw him over in Las Vegas. (Who knows, perhaps the final member of that alliance will actually show up this time…)
So where does that leave the Cena heel turn? In normal times, you’d assume it would be the moment to call time on the project. After all, if a babyface is at their most powerful during the chase, the heel is never weaker than when they finally get their just desserts. Whatever you might think of his work ethic, there’s a reason that Roman Reigns took a break after losing his title at WrestleMania XL, for example.
If this dark Cena had succeeded in getting some genuine heat from the fans in the first place, there might be some merit in having him sticking around to carry on the act. That way, the crowds could get some cathartic relief by jeering the downfall of his whole “ruin wrestling” shtick. But we’ve seen time and again how the heel act has struggled to land in the first place: The crowds just don’t buy it.
Then there’s the fact that WWE has seemingly been teasing that Cena might be regretting his heel turn (in kayfabe at least) for a while now. We saw that again last night when “The Champ” thought twice about clobbering CM Punk with the WWE Universal Championship last night — suggesting, not for the first time, that he feels conflicted about some of these underhand tactics.
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If it was a one-off, you could write it off as a coincidence. But given we had similar teases at WWE Backlash and Money in the Bank, too, you have to assume it’s deliberate. As for how you actually execute the big change, your guess is as good as mine. Although given that the audiences have never really believed Cena as the soulless heel, WWE will presumably face much less resistance in turning him face than they did with more established bad guys like Roman Reigns or Brock Lesnar. Don’t be surprised if Cena flips as quickly as he did back at Elimination Chamber.
No matter how they get there, though, you sense they have to do it. With just 13 scheduled Cena appearances after SummerSlam — including three PLEs and a rumored Saturday Night’s Main Event in Boston — WWE is running out of time to create those magic moments when you have a whole arena cheering their man to the rafters. In other words, the thing we all expected to see from the moment that Cena announced his retirement tour in the first place.
After a tricky few months, you have to assume that remains the end-game. Forget about “ruining wrestling” and retiring with the belt as “the last true champion”: The far bigger prize is to walk out with those crowds behind you. Surely even “The Final Boss” can see the wisdom in that?
