Asskicker said:
And I don't really know how this can be true if John doesn't really care about his gimmick since he says he lives it.
Every old-school wrestler who's broken kayfabe and talked about gimmick development has said that the best gimmicks are just amplified variations on the personality of the performer, so it's easy for me to believe that Cena lives his gimmick. What it doesn't mean, however, is that the character John Cena encapsulates the entire personality of the man John Cena. I'm sure that Cena is a guy who works hard, gives his all, hustle, loyalty, respect, and is nice to kids. But, being a human being, I can also tell you that there are darker aspects to his personality (as there are to us all). What if he just wants to feature some of those darker aspects? What if he wants to show you a John Cena who has ambition, doesn't always want to be bothered to act friendly to everyone, and is willing to do anything to win? Now, we've got a guy who might still be the man John Cena, but is definitely more of a heel character.
Now, I don't know if any of this is true. The departure did seem to confuse Punk a little (which he covered very well), but I don't know if that was part of the show or real confusion. Punk does seem to have some acting ability and it did seem out of character for Cena to leave the ring at that point, without being acknowledged finally as Punk's NOC opponent. Punk and Lawler carried off the rest of the segment well, but they're professionals doing their jobs and that may have been the plan all along.
I don't think there's much doubt that it will be Cena vs. Punk at NOC for the WWE Championship. I highly doubt that's going to change, even if there is some backstage heat on Cena. But, if he is dissatisfied, HHH and Vince are going to have to listen to him. He makes them way too much money for them to ignore him.
Will they turn him heel? No. Might they tweak his character to play up those darker aspects to his personality? I think that's far more likely. The funny thing will be the IWC's reaction if they do that. Might we be embarking on an era where the lines between heel and face are blurry and it's hard to see which is which, making for a more realistic product? That would be nice.
wk