Bret Hart Names Wrestling Legends Who Couldn't Pull Off Heel Turn In Wake Of Cena's

WWE Hall of Famer Bret "The Hitman" Hart recently talked about John Cena's surprising change from babyface to heel on "The Ariel Helwani Show." Hart shared why he thinks some wrestlers have a hard time becoming convincing bad guys, even when they're great wrestlers.

"I didn't see it, I heard about it, and was surprised by it 'cause .... there's certain guys that just can't turn heel, just with their styles and their characters. To me, British Bulldog never really was a great heel. He was a great wrestler, but when he turned heel, he was still doing press slams and power slams and strongman stuff, and he really didn't change his style too much, he just had a different attitude."

Hart, who was WWE Champion five times, talked about what makes a good bad guy in wrestling. He thinks Cena might have the same problems that wrestlers like British Bulldog had.

"Heels need to be cheaters and sneaky and really get the ire of the crowd," Hart said. "It takes a certain kind of skill for that ... The way he [Cena] looks, the way he works, you know, he's still gonna be doing power slams and strongman kind of stuff. I don't see him cheating, or pulling trunks to win, or choking guys and gouging eyes."

"The Hitman" also mentioned Lex Luger as another wrestler who was better as a good guy than a villain. Even though Luger was physically imposing and had impressive power moves, Hart thought these things made it hard for fans to truly hate him when he played a heel.

As Cena starts this new chapter on the road to his match with Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 41, Hart's thoughts make us wonder if the 16-time world champion can become a convincing bad guy that today's fans will believe.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit the "Ariel Helwani Show" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for transcription.