Jim Ross On Whether WWE Missed An Opportunity By Not Turning John Cena Heel, How Heel Turn Could’ve Worked

In a recent edition of Grilling JR, Jim Ross discussed whether he thinks WWE missed an opportunity not turning John Cena heel, how a Cena heel turn could’ve worked, and much more. You can read his comments below.

On whether he thinks WWE missed an opportunity by not turning John Cena heel: “Probably, but Vince had the same strong babyface feelings for John Cena that he did for Hulk Hogan. The superhero, the epitome of a babyface and what he was supposed to be and how he was supposed to represent. Cena did that well beyond just the lens of the camera. He’s granted more Make-a-Wish requests than anybody ever in history. A lot of stars and ballplayers do those, and so you try to make their life as comfortable as happy and provide these wishes. If they wanted to meet John Cena, more often than not, they got to meet John Cena if it worked out that way. [Vince] loved Cena’s gameplan and how he represented the company and all that. But certainly, if you have a personal issue, and let’s say it was Cena and Rock and it was personal between the two of them, then all of a sudden it’s a little different presentation than Cena turning full-blown heel and being an adversary of every babyface that he encounters. He can only have negative reactions and physicality and so forth with this person he has this issue with. It’s a different turn. It’s a different presentation than a normal babyface turning to a heel.”

On the issue with Cena as a babyface and how a heel turn could’ve worked: “He got overexposed. He was kind of force-fed. That’s not John’s fault. He was running the plays that were called. With a top babyface and a personal issue that’s plausible and believable that’s created for the two to interact, he would’ve had a nice heel run. No doubt about that. But I think part of the issue, he didn’t heel, run, cower, lie, cheat, steal – he was just overexposed I thought. That was the thing.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit Grilling JR with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.