Did John Cena’s Heel Turn Deliver?
When Hulk Hogan turned heel at WCW Bash at the Beach 1996, it not only changed the landscape of professional wrestling forever but also rejuvenated Hogan’s career, giving him a fresh start in the world of professional wrestling. No other heel turn came even close to replicating the impact that Hogan had made, until 2025, when John Cena, the man who represented ‘Hustle, Loyalty, and Respect’ for over 20 years, suddenly turned his back on Cody Rhodes and joined forces with “The Final Boss” The Rock to complete his transition to the dark side. It was a moment no one saw coming, and a turn many thought would help Cena deliver some of his best work in years in the final year of his WWE career. However, what followed was a road full of ups and downs that seemingly ended without a conclusion.
Cena’s heel turn came at Elimination Chamber 2025, after Rhodes declined The Rock’s offer to sell his soul. When Cena hugged Rhodes, nobody could have expected what came next. Cena looked at The Rock dead in his eyes, and with an evil stare, he kicked Rhodes below the belt and sold his soul to The Rock. With Travis Scott accompanying them in the ring, all three men stood tall over Rhodes’ bloody and battered body.
Many fans began speculating how this heel turn would work out for Cena, and if Cena’s presentation would change now that he was officially a bad guy. However, Cena continued to appear with the same theme song, albeit a change in his titantron was made to show his name only in white font and without any bright lights to follow him around. His demeanor changed from hyping up the crowd to calling them out for always booing him, even though he thought he was always doing the right thing. This would culminate at WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas, where Cena would dethrone Rhodes to win his record-breaking 17th WWE Championship. However, the way Cena won his title was controversial, as The Rock, who teased being there, never showed up, and instead the fans were treated to Travis Scott showing up and helping create a distraction, allowing Cena to low-blow Rhodes and hit him with the championship title to pin Rhodes for the three.
Following WrestleMania, Cena continued to win his matches in controversial fashion. He defeated Randy Orton at Backlash 2025 due to an inconvenient distraction from R-Truth. Having the final win over CM Punk following run-ins from Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed, and Seth Rollins, who teased a cash-in before getting interrupted by Penta and Sami Zayn. Even though the matches were entertaining, they fell short of fans’ expectations. Especially without any appearances from Travis Scott or The Rock during the entire heel turn run.
As Cena was prepared to defend his WWE Championship at SummerSlam 2025 in a WrestleMania rematch against Cody Rhodes, Cena suddenly aligned with the fans and promised he would fight for them and never give up. This sudden change of character made many believe that he was lying through his teeth in an effort to blindside Rhodes in the match, but when SummerSlam arrived, Cena appeared with a full entrance, bright colors, jumping around, and getting along with the crowd. Although Cena would eventually lose the bout to Rhodes, it was obvious that Cena was no longer a heel. Cena was going to get the opportunity to end his career as a babyface.
Cena’s heel turn suddenly felt like a last-minute decision, where he seemed to regret playing the heel, and without any explanation from The Rock to explain why he made the switch, it seemed as if a decision was made to make Cena turn face once again and pretend as if the heel turn never happened. The Rock never appeared again, leaving many to wonder if there was ever a story to be told of Cena’s heel turn, and with WWE’s falling out with Travis Scott, it made more sense to determine that Cena’s heel turn was more of a publicity stunt. Overall, Cena’s heel turn left many wanting more. What started out as a promising new direction for a legend who was always a crowd pleaser ended up getting brushed under the rug as if it never happened. Had other factors, such as The Rock getting more involved with the story and Travis Scott’s appearances having an actual purpose behind it, Cena’s heel turn would have been remembered as one of the greatest turns of all time in professional wrestling. Unfortunately, the heel turn slowly died down until WWE decided to forget about it.
