Let's say Daniel Bryan wins the Royal Rumble and beats Dolph Ziggler for the World Title at WrestleMania. The Rock beats CM Punk for the WWE title, but loses to John Cena at WrestleMania. Cena uses the help of Wade Barrett and whoever else to get the title from Rock, because – like Austin with Vince – he doesn't think he can do it on his own. Could Daniel Bryan, Sheamus, and Ryback carry the company as the top faces if Cena turned heel? There was a time where turning Hogan heel sounded crazy, but it ended up making WCW a gazillion dollars.
Yeah, but Cena is making WWE a gazillion dollars as a babyface and there's no guarantee that would continue as a heel. With Hogan it was turn heel or get the character off TV for good and wait for a nostalgia run later, because that babyface act was KILLING the company. Look, I hate pandering babyface Cena as much as anyone, but I absolutely understand why they don't do the turn and I don't blame them one bit. He's still one of the biggest draws in history, maybe THE biggest in a lot of ways that Hogan didn't have access to, and you just don't fuck that up without a solid backup plan in place. Obviously they don't think it's Bryan, and Sheamus isn't going anywhere with his current character, and Ryback is hit or miss at best.