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This is something I've pondered off and on recently. Most people assume that if/when the day comes that John Cena finally turns heel, it'll be one of the biggest moments ever and he'll become one of the most hated of all time, given that he's been top baby face of the company for nearly a decade and yet still been booed by half the audience pretty much his entire time at the top. Some people, who I think might be overly optimistic, feel his heel turn could even cause a huge new influx of viewers similar to Hogan's heel turn in 1996.
But has anyone ever considered the fact that Cena may still get 50/50 split reactions even after the turn? He gets the reactions now because a large portion of the audience belongs to the 18-34 age demographic and are very vocal at making their dislike of him known. But who is to say that in the event of a turn that the roles won't just become reversed? The half who cheer him now can follow along and start booing him but I get the feeling that with the change of character, the other half would just start cheering him again. Keep in mind this is the same group of people who were helping to give him huge positive reactions in late 2003 and throughout most of 2004, and then helped to give him mega reactions around the end of 2004 and the first of 2005. This was back when he was doing the rap thing and still had some edge. He wasn't stale or corny just yet or shoved down people's throats.
These same fans also still love to cheer heels who they think are awesome or 'bad ass.' The Shield get cheers quite often. So does Brock Lesnar. Dolph Ziggler got positive reactions as well, which is why he was turned face. If Cena adopted an edgier persona (imagine one where he said he cared only about himself, not the kids or the fans or anyone), do you not think these people would think he's awesome again and start cheering once more? The fact that he would be patronizing and condescending towards the audience wouldn't affect those specific people either, The Rock did that with his awesome "Hollywood Rock" persona back in 2003, but they still cheered him. CM Punk became more beloved last year AFTER he went heel, just listen to his mega reaction at Summerslam, the first PPV after his heel turn.
Thoughts?
But has anyone ever considered the fact that Cena may still get 50/50 split reactions even after the turn? He gets the reactions now because a large portion of the audience belongs to the 18-34 age demographic and are very vocal at making their dislike of him known. But who is to say that in the event of a turn that the roles won't just become reversed? The half who cheer him now can follow along and start booing him but I get the feeling that with the change of character, the other half would just start cheering him again. Keep in mind this is the same group of people who were helping to give him huge positive reactions in late 2003 and throughout most of 2004, and then helped to give him mega reactions around the end of 2004 and the first of 2005. This was back when he was doing the rap thing and still had some edge. He wasn't stale or corny just yet or shoved down people's throats.
These same fans also still love to cheer heels who they think are awesome or 'bad ass.' The Shield get cheers quite often. So does Brock Lesnar. Dolph Ziggler got positive reactions as well, which is why he was turned face. If Cena adopted an edgier persona (imagine one where he said he cared only about himself, not the kids or the fans or anyone), do you not think these people would think he's awesome again and start cheering once more? The fact that he would be patronizing and condescending towards the audience wouldn't affect those specific people either, The Rock did that with his awesome "Hollywood Rock" persona back in 2003, but they still cheered him. CM Punk became more beloved last year AFTER he went heel, just listen to his mega reaction at Summerslam, the first PPV after his heel turn.
Thoughts?
