10 best face turns in WWE history 

#7: John Cena- SmackDown 2003

John Cena's face turn in 2003 cemented his place as the face of a generation

John Cena's face turn in 2003 wasn't a particularly memorable moment, in fact, most fans can barely remember John Cena being anything other than a face, but this one makes the list purely for how much that one turn would go on to give us the superstar that defined an era.

In November of 2003, before he would go on to adopt hustle, loyalty, and respect as his three major attributes, John Cena was a bad-ass rapper who liked nothing more than to rip his opponents apart verbally. It was this gimmick that helped get him super-over with the fans, and he would still use it for the first couple years of his face-run.

At the 2003 Survivor Series event, Brock Lesnar was going to lead a team of behemoths into battle with a team of superstars selected by Kurt Angle. In a segment on SmackDown, Lesnar, Heyman, and his team came down to the ring to try and recruit Cena to Team Lesnar.

Cena was clearly going to reject the opportunity when he was attacked by The A-Train. The future Lord Tensai would end up becoming the fifth member of Lesnar's team, and Cena would turn face and join forces with Kurt Angle, ultimately going on to win the match for the team at the Survivor Series event.