If you've been watching Smackdown recently, good for you it's the better show right now. But you also know, that John Cena is sounding a lot differently recently in his mic time. For those of us on the internet that could possibly mean the one thing we've been wanting for a few years now is about to come to us in glorious HD.
A bit of a background for you: John Cena has been the face of the World Wrestling Entertainment since 2005. He had been with the company since 2002 and as cliche as it sounds, was always destined to be the star of the show. He was great on the mic, popular with children, and had a great "non steroid induced at the time" physique, all things WWE CEO Vince McMahon loved. What most casual and non fans don't realize was that in his early days, Cena was a bad guy. He was a gangster rapper who spanked Stephanie McMahon and used chains wrapped around his fist to knock people out. However, since around 2004 to 2005 Cena has been a white meat babyface character who always overcomes struggle and succeeds in the long run (except in Chicago).
(Cena in his early days)
His appearances recently, however, have had a sharper tone in his voice and much more aggressive speaking to people, most notably to AJ Styles recently on Smackdown Live. I was watching Smackdown Live and keeping on eye on 4chan's "Alternative Sports" board (known colloquially by its nickname ASP) and even the jaded, "No Fun Allowed" echo chamber that is ASP said that they all thought that he was about to turn Heel (bad). Why does this matter?
Most of you know who Hulk Hogan is right? Well he was a good guy for almost 25 to 30 years in the business. People knew what to expect from him as the avenging every American Character that always trumped the evil foreigners whether they Iranian, Russian or French (RIP Andre). Fast forward to July 1996 at Bash at the Beach and he turned Bad Guy for the first time in his career to the absolute legit shock of some of the people working with him at the time as well as the fans in attendance. What happened when he turned bad guy? WCW, the company he was with at the time, soared and I mean SOARED to new heights in ratings and merch sales.
(Hogan as a bad guy: http://seriousdesigns.deviantart.com/art/Hollywood...)
So why should Cena do it? Well as likeable as Cena is in real life, Cena is hated by many fans of WWE. He is constantly portrayed as a good guy over any of the other talent. He always wins (again, except in Chicago) and this comes off as obnoxious to some fans especially when he is portrayed as an underdog, which, as the companies top paid player, he's not. So turning him heel is something that the fans, including myself (and I've liked him recently) would like because it would be a fresh change of pace for the face that runs the place.
