John Cena must change one thing for heel WWE character to connect, legend thinks
John Cena stunned WWE fans by turning heel for the first time in two decades at Elimination Chamber on March 1. Eric Bischoff, a WCW executive when Hulk Hogan became a bad guy in 1996, recently gave his thoughts on the 16-time world champion's new persona.
On the March 17 episode of RAW, Cena accused WWE fans of bullying him and said their "toxic" behaviour prompted him to change his attitude. Many expected the 47-year-old to alter his clothing following his heel turn. However, he has continued to wear jorts and farewell tour merchandise in recent weeks.
Bischoff said on his 83 Weeks podcast that Cena should wear something new to differentiate his heel character from the babyface persona he previously portrayed:
"I'm a little disappointed that they didn't have Cena come out in some kind of new characterization. He's got a different attitude, yes. He's got a different perspective, of course, but he looks the same, and to me it's just a little bit harder to really connect to the heel character when he looks exactly like he did 15 years ago when he was the ultimate babyface." [20:18 – 20:51]
During the same March 17 promo, Cena told fans they did not deserve to see him with a new look or updated entrance music.
Eric Bischoff on the logic behind John Cena's ring gear
On the April 4 episode of SmackDown, Rey Fenix defeated Nathan Frazer on his WWE debut. Ahead of the show, the company advertised the masked superstar's merchandise online before he had even competed in a match.
Although he does not know for sure, Eric Bischoff thinks finances likely played a part in WWE's presentation of Fenix and John Cena:
"Conversely, yeah, I think having some fresh heel merchandise to go along with his [John Cena's] new character I'm sure would have done really, really well. But, again, I'm gonna go back to the collectable thing. This is John Cena's last run. Fenix's first run, Cena's last run. Maybe there's some business logic in not doing what is probably the most obvious, which is to come up with whole new merchandise and have Cena heel merchandise. I like it creatively, but I think financially they probably made the right decision." [20:53 – 21:25]
On April 19-20, Cena will challenge Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania 41. If he wins, the Hollywood star will become a record-breaking 17-time world champion.
Please credit 83 Weeks and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
