On Sunday, WWE threw wrestling fans everywhere a huge curve-ball at the Hell in a Cell pay per view event. Mostly everyone, myself included, thought Sunday night would see the end of the Nexus stable. T-shirt sales for the group were low and the angle seemed to lose a lot of steam right after it first started with the firing of current United States Champion Daniel Bryan from WWE due to the now infamous necktie incident.
[adinserter block=”2″]Apparently, WWE still sees life in the group & the angle. Even though Nexus has lost members over the weeks, the stable looks that much stronger with the addition of one John Cena. Though he is being made to look like Wade Barrett’s subservient lapdog & unwilling member, the effect the match has had on the fans has been incredible.
Don’t believe me? Look at the WWE Universe Facebook page. Fans are threatening to boycott or switch to TNA, parents are writing in talking about how their kids are crying because they lost their hero, etc. The shots of the crying fans on TV have been priceless as well & give the Nexus that much more heat. One can easily remember sights like this when Hulk Hogan joined with Kevin Nash & Scott Hall to create the nWo & when Bret Hart went on his anti-America crusade prior to leaving WWE for WCW.
There is one big difference. John Cena is not officially a heel…yet. Right now, John Cena is being portrayed as a man who is fighting for his job by being forced to support Nexus. Sounds awfully similar to HBK having to help JBL doesn’t it? The way to make this different is to have John Cena go full blown heel. Let’s face it; Cena has been a babyface forever & his character has gotten stale. I’m not saying go back to the “Word Life” or “Thuganomics” days, but take what he is now & freshen him up. Have him do something unexpected. Bragging Rights is coming up soon & we already know it will be WWE Champion Randy Orton vs. Wade Barrett w/John Cena in his corner.
[adinserter block=”1″]There’s around 2 weeks for WWE to work with this & to turn more fans against Cena if the intent is to turn him heel, & it’s a rather simple formula. Have Cena kept being pushed to the edge on Raw & backing down. At Bragging Rights during the title match, ref bump. Cena grabs a chair & makes like he’s going to drill Barrett, only to nail Orton instead & costing him the championship. Next night on Raw, have Cena BLAME the WWE Universe for his decision.
Something along the lines of Cena saying how he told people to never give up. When he needed the WWE Universe the most to help him accept the aftermath of Hell in a Cell, they turned against him; they gave up on him, so he’s giving up on them. End it with Cena raising Barrett’s hand high & proclaiming “If you’re not Nexus, you’re against us!”. There is money to be made in a John Cena heel turn & it freshens up his character.
For the first time in a long time, I’m actually excited to see what happens on Raw. I cannot wait to see how this angle will play out and what will be done with the John Cena character as the weeks go by. It’s making Raw interesting again and I, like many others, will be tuning in to see what happens.
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Not sure if a full blown heel turn is the way to go with Cena, he's too important. I know they said the same thing about Hogan but you have to remember that Hogan's star had long started fading by the time they turned him, and you could probably convincingly make the same argument for Hart (as much as I hate to admit it). There's no way in hell full blown heel Cena would play second banana to Barrett, who is still very green. The reluctant heel persona gives all of Nexus the rub, they are ruining his life and they don't give a shit about it.
Cena still moves merch, and has an extremely loyal fanbase. I like where they are taking his character now, and the organic as hell "never give up" chant that broke out last week was a testament to why he's the face of the company. Keep the tension as high as this, keep the fans as involved as they are, and you could have the definitive mark-out of the decade when he finally overcomes Nexus.