Stephanie McMahon Wanted John Cena Heel Turn
Now she's glad it never happened.
In what is possibly the most beaten-into-the-ground topic of discussion in all of pro wrestling, Stephanie McMahon spoke up and inserted herself into the exhaustive debate regarding the mythical prospect of a John Cena heel turn.
WWE - primarily Vince McMahon himself - have always held the opinion that turning Cena would be disastrous for the promotion's bottom line, citing the insane amount of merchandise he moves as well as his role as the most requested and generous celebrity to donate his time to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
The fact of the matter is that the segment of the audience pining for a Cena heel run already views and treats him as one, so WWE essentially has the best of both worlds. He elicits some of the most passionate responses of any performer on the roster. As long as that continues along with his shirts, hats, wristbands and tiny towels flying off arena merch stand shelves, don't expect the status quo to change anytime soon.
In an interview with Peter Rosenberg on the Cheap Heat podcast, the Chief Brand Officer of the WWE said she identified with fans who long for a heel turn, citing it as something she was once in favor of, though she feels she has since seen the light on the topic:
"At one point in his career I really wanted to see him (Cena) turn heel. I wanted it, as a fan, and I also thought it was the right thing to do. But it turns out I was wrong."
On the subject of whether or not she used her influence to push for a turn to happen, she responded in the affirmative:
"Oh yeah, totally I did, yeah. But I'm glad we didn't go that way. I think now it would be odd for John to turn heel. I guess never say never because anything can happen in WWE, but I don't think I would really miss it. I think that we would miss him, I don't know that we would miss the heel turn."
She doesn't elaborate beyond that, nor does she provide a real reason why she changed her mind, but it's most likely due to the logic listed above. The Cena heel turn feels like that one "break glass in case of emergency" booking decision WWE can keep in their back pocket in case business starts to drastically tank, but until that actually happens it's time we come to grips with the fact that what we see is probably what we're always going to get with "Big Match" John.