10 years ago this month...

[4real]

John Cena turned face....

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYJZ095lUr0

And WWE was never the same again.

[Instant Classic]

It was better!

[EoE: Well There's Your Problem]

Shows how far he's come... These days, taking those five guys down would be a piece of cake.

[wisdomwizard]

Wow, I didn't remember at all that he turned face on Heyman. You'd think they would put them in a feud?

[Mighty Attack Tribble]

Remarkable how pronounced his Boston accent was back then.

[wisdomwizard]

Watched more of the video, and oh my God....ALBERT attacked John Cena! Do any of y'all know what this means??!?!!!





TENSAI RUINED THE JOHN CENA GIMMICK!!!!!!!

[Deleted]

I'm mildly annoyed you can't quite call it a Decade of Destruction.
He's only been bland and nonsensical for half that.

....I just thought about it. HALF of this guy's face run has been shaky at best.

[4real]

Nov 18, 2013 10:53:42 GMT -5 wisdomwizard said:

Wow, I didn't remember at all that he turned face on Heyman. You'd think they would put them in a feud?

They did feud for a while after this I think, mainly Cena and Benoit feuded with Heyman that's how Benoit got put as number 1 in the 04 Rumble.

[wisdomwizard]

Nov 18, 2013 11:01:38 GMT -5 4real said:

Nov 18, 2013 10:53:42 GMT -5 wisdomwizard said:

Wow, I didn't remember at all that he turned face on Heyman. You'd think they would put them in a feud?

They did feud for a while after this I think, mainly Cena and Benoit feuded with Heyman that's how Benoit got put as number 1 in the 04 Rumble.

No, I mean since Paul came back with Punk. He was gone for a long while before that.

[MichaelMartini]

Damn, never realized how brief his heel run was. It really pisses me off that they turned him so soon, especially considering he'd stay face all this time.

[Sparkybob]

Nov 18, 2013 13:19:06 GMT -5 MichaelMartini said:

Damn, never realized how brief his heel run was. It really pisses me off that they turned him so soon, especially considering he'd stay face all this time.

They turned him so soon because the fans were really getting behind him. It would have been dumb to keep him heel ignoring the face pops.

[Friday Night SmackOwn]

Nov 18, 2013 11:01:38 GMT -5 4real said:

Nov 18, 2013 10:53:42 GMT -5 wisdomwizard said:

Wow, I didn't remember at all that he turned face on Heyman. You'd think they would put them in a feud?

They did feud for a while after this I think, mainly Cena and Benoit feuded with Heyman that's how Benoit got put as number 1 in the 04 Rumble.

There was that segment where Cena teamed up with Benoit to embarrass Heyman, which included Cena stuffing a bar of soap in Paul E's mouth.

[BigWill]

So was the reason they attacked Cena because he rejected being on the Survivor Series team, or what the whole thing a preplanned ambush all along?

[Injustice45]

Ten years ago this month, Big Evil was buried alive.

[MichaelMartini]

Nov 18, 2013 13:39:04 GMT -5 Sparkybob said:

Nov 18, 2013 13:19:06 GMT -5 MichaelMartini said:

Damn, never realized how brief his heel run was. It really pisses me off that they turned him so soon, especially considering he'd stay face all this time.

They turned him so soon because the fans were really getting behind him. It would have been dumb to keep him heel ignoring the face pops.

It was dumb to turn him so soon.

1.Fans were popping for that character, not the stupid pandering, vanilla, rapping marine guy they almost immediately turned him into.
2. He was still too green to be the superhero babyface rookie that could beat Angle and Jericho.
3. It was panic move because of the void Austin, Rock and Foley left.
4. His face run became stale too soon. They could've got more mileage out of Cena if they let him be a heel for at least one more year.

I'm objectively right on this because people booed the crap out of him for years after the face turn. Seriously, you're the first person I've seen say it was a smart movie to turn him when they did. Just look at how well regared his heel run was here and how many people, to this day, hate face Cena.

[jason1980s]

Says a lot about him that he survived working with B2. I don't think there's anyone in the Attitude Era that was NEVER over except for B2.

Also good he got past the original kid from Boston deal as it would probably have gone the way of Rocky My-a-via and Chaz.

[Sparkybob]

Nov 18, 2013 15:46:31 GMT -5 MichaelMartini said:

Nov 18, 2013 13:39:04 GMT -5 Sparkybob said:

They turned him so soon because the fans were really getting behind him. It would have been dumb to keep him heel ignoring the face pops.

It was dumb to turn him so soon.

1.Fans were popping for that character, not the stupid pandering, vanilla, rapping marine guy they almost immediately turned him into.
2. He was still too green to be the superhero babyface rookie that could beat Angle and Jericho.
3. It was panic move because of the void Austin, Rock and Foley left.
4. His face run became stale too soon. They could've got more mileage out of Cena if they let him be a heel for at least one more year.

I'm objectively right on this because people booed the crap out of him for years after the face turn. Seriously, you're the first person I've seen say it was a smart movie to turn him when they did. Just look at how well regared his heel run was here and how many people, to this day, hate face Cena.

-I guess you miss the 2004 smack-downs where on any given night Cena was the most over guy on the show over guys like Eddie and Taker. Even when
he was still the white rapper chanting THEZE NUTZ he was still mega over and the fans were begging to see him get a shot against JBL.

-I'm not sure you got your timeline right but he did't face Angle and Jericho right away It was 2 years later that he was facing them as faces. During the next year he was in mid card programs with Dupree/Kenzo/Booker T. No where near main event status. He was probably the 4th most important face on smackdown behind Eddie/Taker/Show. He got plenty of time to iron out his ring work in 2004 before his main event push.


- How is it a panic move when Cena was getting good face pops and the fans wanted to cheer for him badly? A panic move might be turning Orton right after SS 2004 rather than dragging it out bit. Turning Cena from a mid card heel to a mid card face is barely an over reaction.

[Deleted]

In this day and age you can't keep a guy face for 10 years no matter who he is.


I mean Austin was a face what 3 years in a row ? The Rock was a face about 3 years in a row too (and he took half a year off to go to hollywood during that) I know it was different in the Attitude Era, but having the face of the company a face for a long time was an 80s idea that doesn't work now.


But then WWE capitalised on Cena quite well and turned him (they went along with the boos, Cena ramped up the aspects of the character his detractors don't like to 11 - which are also the aspects his fanbase like) tweener a few years ago though to be fair. But I still think turning Cena heel in the build up to Mania and fueding him with Bryan would be a license to print money.

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

Nov 18, 2013 13:39:04 GMT -5 Sparkybob said:

Nov 18, 2013 13:19:06 GMT -5 MichaelMartini said:

Damn, never realized how brief his heel run was. It really pisses me off that they turned him so soon, especially considering he'd stay face all this time.

They turned him so soon because the fans were really getting behind him. It would have been dumb to keep him heel ignoring the face pops.

Does that not apply now in reverse?

[Sparkybob]

Nov 18, 2013 17:55:36 GMT -5 "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay said:

Nov 18, 2013 13:39:04 GMT -5 Sparkybob said:

They turned him so soon because the fans were really getting behind him. It would have been dumb to keep him heel ignoring the face pops.

Does that not apply now in reverse?

If you're talking about current Cena, then you can make that argument.