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| The Rage of John Cena |
(Originally published on my Squidoo page on 04/25/13)
As you probably saw if you read my earlier column, I am not a fan of John Cena- or rather, how his character is currently being booked. I won't repeat myself regarding all the problems in his persona. There are many. But here's the good news- John Cena doesn't have to be this way. He doesn't have to continuously get booed by a large portion of the audience despite the glaring fact that he's supposed to be the company's top babyface. He gets booed more than most of WWE's heels!
Something needs to be done with his character. That much is obvious. Otherwise, he will continue to get serenaded with boos (diminishing his credibility as the company's top babyface) and we will continue to suffer through the same bland programming that is mediocre at best.
What can they do with Cena? Turn him heel!
Oh wait, you were expecting that to be the end of it, like with many older fans from the Monday Night Wars and "smart marks," weren't you?
Turning John Cena heel isn't a panacea in and of itself. Think of it as a means to an end. Recall that several of the company's most legendary babyfaces (Stone Cold, The Rock, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, etc.) all had excellent runs as heels before they became faces. The Rock in particular was eerily like Cena at the early point in his career- he debuted as a cookie cutter babyface called Rocky Maivia- an act that got old on fans fast. There were many chants of "die Rocky die!" as time went on.
The Rock then turned heel and heated up fast in 1998. When he finally turned face again in the second half of 1999, it was more from the fans' choice than his own or the bookers'- they just loved how badass he was with his "The Rock" gimmick.
The same thing applies to many of the most successful babyfaces- they were heels until it was the fans' choice to turn them face.
So why can't Cena go through this same process? Why the religious, the cult-like devotion of the higher-ups in WWE to keeping him as the same bland character? Are John Cena's merchandise sales that vital to the WWE's survival? And if the answer is yes, that really shows that they're in trouble and probably needed a new gameplan anyway.
So, here is what I propose to finally allow John Cena to break the mold that he's been in for far too long. And in doing so, he could drag the WWE into a new and exciting direction that would allow for the art of storytelling to return in a big way.
For this storyline (which I'll call True Redemption- a pun on the awful WrestleMania headline and "redemption" storyline of this year), you have John Cena, of course, turn heel, but model his character on a tried and true one that has lasted for 3,000 years- Achilles of the Trojan War (more accurately, his portrayal during the events of the Iliad).
At the beginning of the Iliad, Achilles raged at his commander, Agamemnon, refusing to fight for the Greeks any longer, because he felt that his honor had been insulted and he was not getting the respect that he deserved- a respect and honor that he was willing to forgo a long life for. And so Achilles raged, inactive, with devastating consequences for his companions and even his own best friend Patroclus. When Achilles finally returned to the battlefield, he was still raging- only at Hector and not Agamemnon.
Think of how similar this situation is to John Cena. Despite his resumes, despite his feats of greatness, he is still dishonored and disrespected by a large portion of the "WWE Universe." Despite his humanitarian goodwill in things like the Make-A-Wish-Foundation, he is still maligned worse than the characters the company tries to promote as heels.
So, have him rage away like Achilles. Have him come out and cut a promo, telling the "WWE Universe" that he is withdrawing from the things that matter to them until he gets the honor that he deserves after all he's accomplished. He'll no longer fight for the fans, he'll no longer fight for the kids, he'll no longer fight even to save his friends. He withdraws into total self-absorbed rage that has devastating consequences for everyone around him.
He'll attack people, claiming they disrespected him. Whenever The Rock is back, he'll go to town on him as well, only this time it won't be the same old buffoon story as before. He'll have a take-no-prisoners approach and go wherever his rage takes him in the quest to satisfy the honor he feels he has lost and attain the glory he thinks he deserves.
Cena's retreat into his self-absorbed rage need not last too long. A year would work wonders. Finally, as things get really bleak for the WWE and its fans at some point, and perhaps after some legend or another talks to him (mirroring Achilles' meeting with Priam at the end of the Iliad), Cena dissolves his rage, rejoins the community, and goes to fight for the right cause again, with newfound dimensions to his character. The fans that hate him now would go absolutely nuts when it happened. I guarantee it.
Cena's journey would end, and he would emerge as a new kind of babyface- with a "badass" factor to him that he is sorely lacking now. In addition, the storyline would build up new characters, as Cena's retreat would allow for new babyfaces to shine at the top, and new heels to cause havoc in part due to his inconsiderate self-absorption. The angle would be a massive win for the WWE and would pick it up to a quality it hasn't had in years.
And yet, it'll never happen. I'm under no illusions that WWE "creative" will ever make the effort or take the risk with Cena's character to actually create something new and of quality. Sadly, these are just the thoughts of a longtime, though on-and-off (and presently off) fan.
Oh, but what fun thoughts they are.
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