During a recent episode of the PWTorch Livecast, former WWE writer Kevin Eck said there were plans for a heel turn by John Cena some time in 2012, and Vince McMahon even agreed to the idea at one time.
Eck said Cena came close to turning heel and Vince and Cena both signed off on it, so they started making plans for the turn on WWE TV. Vince then ended up changing his mind, and got cold feet over the whole idea and ended up saying he just couldn’t do it anymore. It was noted that WWE had recently signed John Cena to an exclusive merchandise deal with KMart at the time, speculating that led to Vince’s decision.
Eck also said Sheamus was the WWE Superstar pegged to be the company’s top babyface star after Cena would have turned heel. It was noted CM Punk and Randy Orton weren’t considered for the role.
