Former WWE Star Says John Cena Should Have Turned Heel

There have been plenty of "what if?" scenarios in WWE's illustrious history, and one that arguably sits near the top of the list is: "What if John Cena had turned heel?"

Called "the greatest of all time" by the company, Cena held 16 world championships in WWE, headlined five WrestleManias, and was a fixture in the main event scene for a decade. Over the years, even Cena played the hypothetical game of himself as a heel, but WWE never made the switch given Cena's popularity with children and his charity work, which includes holding the record for most wishes granted through the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

AEW star Matt Hardy recently gave his opinion on whether Cena should've turned heel during an episode of "The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy." Hardy stated that, like what WWE did with Roman Reigns in 2020, Cena turning to the dark side would've "made people respect him a lot more." 

The former WWE tag team champion said he understands why WWE decided to keep Cena a babyface, mentioning that Vince McMahon had to keep Cena's status as the company's top merchandise-seller at the front of his mind. Hardy compared Cena to Hulk Hogan, who WWE also refused to turn heel during his run on top. The difference between the two, Hardy said, is that the audience had changed, as fans were "in on the gig" during Cena's era.

"I thought it was brilliant whenever they turned Roman heel, that's what you needed to do, and look what it did for him," Hardy said. "I felt like you could've seen something very similar to that if they would've actually committed and let John be a heel for a little while."