The Last Days Of Heel John Cena

The roadmap to John Cena's turn begins in earnest on October 30th 2003, but so much of it was inevitable from the second he he flicked the switch the prior halloween.

The rapping was an instant hit, and the guilty pops emerging from pockets of the crowd were noticeable long before Cena even glanced sideways at a babyface. The company held off on the turn as long as possible, but by October 2003 a No Mercy pay-per-view bout with a babyface Kurt Angle looked to be dividing the loyalties of the masses.

The two had engaged in comedic battle raps in the weeks leading up to the show, but it felt increasingly weaker as material due to how much fans wanted to laugh with Cena rather than at him. Seemingly in an effort to swim against the tide just a tiny bit longer, the company paired him with heels Brock Lesnar and A-Train in TV tag matches on October 2nd and 23rd respectively, but the problem (as nice a problem as it was to have) persisted.

If anything, it became a game of chicken between the company and itself. For the first time in forever, a commodity was white hot and they knew it. The tag matches were expertly agented in presenting Cena as wily and smart rather than just a cheating mouthy pr*ck, foreshadowing for the audience that sooner or later it'd be his fellow villains getting the sharp end of his shtick.

That, exquisitely, came on October 30th. 364 days after saving his career dressed as a cultural relic at a costume party, he was about to take it to the next level against a wrestler that looked like one all year round.

CONT'D...