WWE Rumors: John Cena Discusses Possible Heel Turn on Live Chris Jericho Podcast

John Cena appeared on a live podcast with Chris Jericho on the WWE Network after Monday Night Raw this week, and the topic of the long-awaited heel turn for Mr. Hustle, Loyalty, and Respect came up in the course of the conversation.

Cena dropped this lengthy response when Y2J asked him if the possibility has ever been discussed backstage.

"It was discussed, briefly. It was discussed briefly with the program with The Rock. And immediately, I ran off like a cartoon - you could see my dust shadow - recorded new theme music, got new gear made...was ready to set, and this was just a causal 'hey we may be thinking about this'. So it's not like I'm not ready for it. But at the same point, I know what...I know...ya know, I'm just trying to my job the best I can. And I get what we're doing...

If it happened, I thought it would have been great. It would be great for me to be able to show that different side. It would be great for me to go out and do that. But at the same time, it is so rewarding for me to go out there and be aspirational, to be inspirational.

If you [Jericho] as a grown adult are like 'man, when is he just gonna be a bad guy?' but the eight year old kid in the front row is literally lit up. That [points to picture of him meeting with a couple young fans] makes everything worth it. Everything. And for everybody to say 'Come on, dude. Just turn heel', my comeback for that is 'you guys boo me anyway'. I'm the biggest heel in the company. You want me to turn heel so, what, you can cheer me? And that kid right there [points to a picture of him with Connor Michalek] can go 'what's going on?'

If there was somebody who could do what I'm doing as good or better than I do it...let 'em run. Let me have a little bit of versatility. In the same token, I think when you get into this - first of all you want to do it. 'Man, I never thought I could do this'. Second of all, it becomes a career, and you want it to achieve a certain amount of success. And then after a while, validity becomes the most important thing. 'Why am I doing this? Why do I enjoy this so much?' Because when I get to meet that kid [points at another picture with a young fan], who gave me a t-shirt, that I wore out for a dark match so I can see on his father's shoulder, in a 'Team Giovanni' shirt and him giving me the salute...I don't care if he's the only one cheering for me. I am performing for him. And that is just an unbelievable feeling. What we do is entertainment, and Daniel Bryan said it best when he inducted Connor - it is fiction. When you get that smile, when you get that feeling - it justifies what you do. And to me, that is not worth being bad, that is not worth turning my back on anybody. As long as that kid shows up, I'm gonna show up and I'm gonna bear the brunt of it.

I'd be open to doing whatever. But I've always, like I said, whether I'm in the first match, the middle or the last match, I play my hand the best I can. I don't care. So, if they tell me 'hey, the time has come, you gotta do it', I just truly hope they have someone waiting in the wings that's gonna give that, I don't think John Cena turning heel is letting the kids down. I think no one to give the kids that moment is letting the kids down."

What do you make of Cena's remarks? Let us know in the comments section.