John Cena is an anomaly in the business. The record-tying world champion first turned babyface in 2003 and here we are, in 2022 and Cena has kept his role as a role-model babyface intact through all these years and the prospect of him turning heel itself became a gag, something even Cena employed to tease his critics from time to time.
The righteous character grew stale real quick and while Cena possessed a semblance of edge from 2005 to 2007, the advent of the PG era rendered Cena the most basic character imaginable.
By 2009, John Cena was basically Barney the Dinosaur and with his past history of bad character work and overexposure, the face of the company was the most loathed man on television. Roman Reigns suffered the same reception during his ill-fated babyface run but One Night Stand 2006 still stands out as one of the most merciless environments in wrestling history and such a feat will never be replicated.
Cena Is One Of The Most Polarizing Superstars Ever
However, recent history has been kind to John Cena. The former franchise player stepped down as the leading man back in 2014 and many pundits cite SummerSlam 2014 as the end of the Super Cena era. After getting demolished by Brock Lesnar, Cena stepped aside and allowed the up-and-coming baby face to take it from there.
John Cena continued to show up on television, feuding with top-level superstars and even winning world titles but in the past few years, the 16-time world champion is more often seen on movie sets and he is only brought back to the company when he is needed. Most surprisingly, Cena is now cheered and hailed as one of the greatest to ever do it. Imagine thinking this back in 2009. John Cena might even be the most over babyface in wrestling today.
During the peak years of the Super Cena reign, fans hated not only the character but the man himself. He was seen as just another Hulk Hogan, a backstage politician who did everything he could to curtail the momentum of his co-workers and according to his detractors, Cena was going to be winning championships and flexing his creative clause well into his 50s.
Sure, Cena has been involved in a number of debacles and he is not exactly a paragon of virtue but in recent years, the guy has redeemed himself in the eyes of many and he is the farthest thing from another Hulk Hogan. John Cena was squashed like a jobber at SummerSlam 2014 and Lesnar basically toyed with him throughout the match as if he was a mere enhancement talent.
One would argue that it was against Brock freaking Lesnar but Cena was squashed against by the Undertaker at WrestleMania 34. Shane Freaking McMahon lasted over 30 minutes with the Phenom two years prior but Cena did not make it past 3 minutes. Finally, the Fiend tormented and mentally broke John Cena at WrestleMania 36 and sent him packing with just one finishing move.
Contrary to popular belief, being the face of the company is hard work. Burials come with the territory and this was the same for Austin back in the Attitude Era as the top babyface is expected to win and prevail over the heel and this has been the case for decades now, a cornerstone of wrestling storytelling. Austin buried a red-hot heel in Rikishi in 2000, completely stifling his momentum but again, that was expected as there was no other way to go ahead in the storyline.
John Cena is Now An Icon
Now that John Cena is removed from the post of the franchise player, he is no longer expected to win every contest and during the twilight years of his full-time career, Cena put over a number of superstars on his way out, from Roman Reigns to Nakamura to Seth Rollins to the Fiend and Cena has yet to display any sort of bitterness or regret about his string of losses.
In fact, Cena is quite happy that the future of the company is secure, demonstrating that he truly loved the business and was not in it just for the sake of making himself look good on television. The guy wanted to turn heel way back in 2006 and wanted to put Edge over at Unforgiven 2006, but Vince McMahon vetoed the idea and Cena had to carry on with his usual shtick. He had the same idea about turning to the dark side when he feuded with the Rock but again, creative saw things differently despite Cena echoing the wishes of the fans.
His very recent return elicited a monstrous pop from the crowd and the deafening reactions continued until the very end of his comeback. The crowd now loves John Cena because, in many ways, the former public enemy No.1 of the IWC has redeemed himself and has taken his rightful place as one of the greatest to ever do it.
Simply put, Cena has shown that he is not a complete mark for himself. Add in a bit of nostalgia and a metric ton of charisma and John Cena is one of the beloved icons of professional wrestling today.