John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt: Projecting Cena's Character Change After Extreme Rules

 

Don't expect him to grow a black beard and start playing air guitar, but John Cena will step out from the steel cage at WWE's Extreme Rules a new man.

The psychological and physical battle with Bray Wyatt will shift Cena's character. He'll grow to be angrier, and more serious, plowing through his foes with a sneer.  

Imagine him borrowing from both Bruce Banner turning into The Hulk and a post-spinach Popeye, at least for awhile.

Cena is just too valuable in the world of public relations, granting sick children's wishes and selling merchandise, to become a villain. The strain of his struggles with Wyatt can't leave him untainted, though. Wyatt's needling and double talk will bring an edge to Cena.

The Boy Scout in him won't go away, but it will be pushed down for a time. 

WWE fans saw a glimpse of that on the April 28 Raw. Before Wyatt led a youth choir down to the ring, Cena addressed the crowd. He was far from his usual jovial self.

He questioned why fans would choose to put him in a Handicap match against the entire Wyatt Family the week before. In response to fans' increasing support for Wyatt, Cena wondered aloud why they would go to "The Eater of Worlds" and leave the Cenation leader behind.

"Bray Wyatt's passion is not the @WWE ... Bray Wyatt's passion is BRAY WYATT!" - @JohnCena #RAW
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) April 29, 2014

"I have never abandoned any of you, and have always put the @WWE first!" - @JohnCena #RAW
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) April 29, 2014

He didn't quite bare his fangs, but he offered peeks at them.

As Mick Foley pointed out, it felt like the children's choir was symbolic.

Could @WWEBrayWyatt's creepy kids choir be symbolic of @JohnCena slowly losing support among his younger fans? Time will tell. #RAW
— Mick Foley (@realmickfoley) April 29, 2014

This is just a precursor to what WWE has planned for Cena. Mike Mooneyham believes, as he wrote for The Post and Courier, "Wyatt could transform Cena into something darker."

He's not alone. 

That's the process fans are witnessing. The entire storyline with Wyatt has been about the darkness Wyatt believes Cena has hiding inside him.

It's largely a reprise of his feud with Kane in 2012. Kane attacked Cena's friend, Zack Ryder, and stalked him, mocking him with psycho-babble much the way Wyatt is today.

These events managed to make Cena embrace his anger, but it never did turn him into something new.