Bruce Prichard on rumors of John Cena wanting to lose to a former WWE Champion and turn heel
Bruce Prichard recently commented on John Cena's apparent desire to turn heel in 2006 during his feud against Edge.
The Cenation Leader faced the Rated-R Superstar at Unforgiven 2006 and won the main event match to become a 3-time WWE Champion. The match's stipulations stated that if Cena lost, he would be forced to leave RAW for SmackDown.
Rumors were also prevalent at the time regarding Cena's intentions to change his character, and a move to the blue brand would have been an ideal reset for the superstar.
Bruce Prichard said that while he wasn't aware of the particular incident from Unforgiven, the WWE executive confirmed that Cena has always considered embarking on a run as a heel since he turned face after his initial rise.
Prichard also called Cena one of the most unselfish performers in wrestling, as you can view below during an insightful Q&A session on his podcast:
"Look, John is probably one of the most unselfish guys that I've ever met, and I can definitely see him, you know, his whole thing was how to get other people over," said Bruce Prichard. "I don't know about that instance particularly, but I know that John was always looking to turn heel, yes." [16:45 - 17:03]
Bruce Prichard says John Cena understood why being a babyface was better for WWE's business
WWE has always refrained from pulling the trigger on a John Cena heel turn and, since 2009, hasn't even made any significant alterations to his on-screen gimmick.
While Cena has been open to jumping over to the dark side, Bruce Prichard explained that the superstar realized why sticking to his 'never give up' routine was in the company's best interests.
"I think there was a part of John that always wanted to kind of turn heel, but also, he understood the business of him not turning heel," Prichard continued." "Once he really grasped that, he embraced it and went all just full in on it." [16:20 - 16:40]
The 16-time world champion has often been referred to as the Babe Ruth of professional wrestling as he has maintained his image as a clean-cut babyface.
Bruce Prichard felt that John Cena was one of the nicest amongst everyone he'd worked with and deserved all the success coming his way.
Prichard added:
"Well, I think that the simple fact that John Cena was able to become that Babe Ruth, I think that's cool. And to a nicer guy, it couldn't have happened." [17:04 - 17:36]
Do you still foresee John Cena turning heel before he retires? Sound off in the comments section below.
While using the quote from this article, please credit 'Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard' and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.