6. The Commercial Prospects
Money is king in WWE. Vince McMahon is firstly a businessman in everything he does. He knows that eventually, he must turn John Cena heel in order to exploit the revenue streams that a villainous John Cena would create. McMahon will be keenly aware of how much money WCW made after turning perennial good guy Hulk Hogan heel in 1996 - far from killing Hogan's fan base it created a rich new fan base for Hogan and extended his relevancy in the industry. The same effect would be seen with John Cena. WWE turning the character heel would open up new ways to sell pay per views based off of wanting to see Cena get his ass kicked. It would extend Cena's run on top of WWE, and increase pay per view buys as fans finally get to see Cena get treated in the way they have dreamed of. There is also exciting merchandise avenues to pursue with a Cena heel turn. He would possibly lose some of the children market, but would surely make up for it in adult sales. The fact is that fans love a heel, fans dig meanness, the cool heel has always been able to sell merchandise. Just look at the NWO t shirts or Rock's merch at the height of his heel run. Cena could be re-branded in a way that adults would buy into his bad character. The T shirts could still roll off the production line. As for the media and charity events - Hogan and Austin never stopped doing these appearances after their respective heel turns in 1996 and 2001. Cena could still appear as the brand name of the WWE, and if anything, his fame would be even greater following a famous heel turn angle. There is money to be made off the John Cena heel turn. And for that reason the WWE must turn him heel. The aim of the company is to make money - nobody can deny that a Cena heel act would draw.