AEW star Matt Hardy recently commented on why WWE didn’t allow John Cena to turn heel after becoming a top star.
Cena, who had been the face of WWE for over a decade, was seen as bland, stale, and lacking in compelling storylines. Many fans believed that John Cena would become a more interesting on-screen character if he turned heel, and it would have helped him in the long run.
However, Hardy said that Cena was too big of a company asset for a heel turn due to his connection with the Make-A-Wish Foundation and other responsibilities he had as the face of WWE. John Cena had set a new record for Make-A-Wish wishes with 650 as of September 2022, according to NPR.
John Cena Could Have Been A Positive
Speaking on his podcast, The Extreme Life Of Matt Hardy, the AEW star said:
“There’s some times in WWE where those decisions are made because the real person is just such a tremendous asset to the company in so many ways. That’s probably why they would never pull the trigger on it. I mean, would it have helped him in the long run? I think so. I think it would have, but I just feel like all the Make-A-Wishes, all the appearances, all the charity stuff he did, they just they wanted to keep him in that role. So that’s why they kept him in that same position, kind of like on cruise control.”
John Cena recently returned to the ring on SmackDown to team up with Kevin Owens and defeat Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn in his first match since 2021. There are rumours abound that Cena will return to the ring again in the near future, potentially for a match against WWE United States Champion Austin Theory.
Thanks to Fightful for the transcription.