John Cena’s Heel Turn Makes No Sense (and you know it)

John Cena’s recent heel turn makes absolutely no sense.

Now I’ve technically been watching wrestling since 1985. WWF, NWA, AWA, I grew up with it all. I’ve seen a lot of terrible heel turns, but I’ve seen some pretty great ones as well. This includes early 2000s John Cena, so when I heard the news that his first heel promo dropped, I had to check it out. Even if I am not really a WWE fan myself, I still have over 30 years of WWE under my viewing belt. This is history in the making right? So I tuned in.  And all I could think when watching this promo, over-and-over was this:

“This doesn’t make any logical sense.”

But before we jump into this mess, let me put this statement in bold:

Any WWE fan can still enjoy this turn for what it is, forget the logic, and just enjoy heel Cena, something most fans thought they would never see. This is 100% perfectly okay. Live your best life. Boo this man, if you must. 

However, we must acknowledge that this heel turn from Cena is nothing more than extremely late fan service done solely for shock value in a lackluster Wrestlemania build. This is supposed to be the long-term storytelling company, right? So why are they ignoring the fundamentals of writing a story?

Writing 101. When characters in any literature shift to good or evil, there is always a catalyst. There exists a triggering event, or series of events that alter the character’s personality. These events create motives that drive their actions.  This is common in literally any well-written story you’ve ever read or watched.

However, Cena’s “explanation” promo on Raw was nothing more than a poorly thought out “you people” promo. His reason for shifting to the darkside?

…Because ten or so years ago, a large chunk of internet fans were mean to him.

This in itself is contradictory when compared to Cena’s interactions, as well as crowd reactions, for nearly a decade now.

I have been watching John Cena since 2002 when he debuted against Kurt Angle. I was probably one of those “meanies”.  So I’m to believe that a 47-year-old multi-millionaire celebrity and Hollywood actor openly turns his back on the fans because some of us were a little mean over ten years ago?

This is just the start. There are far more gaps in this promo than just that. Let’s dig in.

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Why Characters Change

In 1992, when Marty Jannetty tried to dive through a Barber Shop window to escape an attack from Shawn Michaels (R.I.P. Bobby Heenan) in their resulting breakup, there were plenty of seeds planted to lead up to that moment. The Rockers were losing matches. Shawn and Marty were having clear miscommunication during matches which led to arguments. It was clear that something was off about Michaels, and in efforts to clear the air on a segment of Beefcake’s Barber Shop, he made his true intentions known.

But the reasoning was clear, and the story progression was natural. Even if we had a feeling a turn might come, it was still shocking and effective when it occurred.

Let’s take a more recent example:

When Ricochet debuted in AEW, it felt like he was (finally) in the right place. He won a few matches, but after coming up short in a few high stakes contests, he was called out by Swerve Strickland. Swerve referred to him by his real name — Trevor — and even called him a “turd”. He essentially told Ricochet that he wasn’t good enough for AEW, and that to him he’ll always be “Trevor”.

AEW fans, who love and will always likely side with Swerve, took to this moniker. They started calling him bald. They leaned into making fun of “Trevor”. On the Christmas episode of Collision, New York fans threw rolls of toilet paper at Ricochet.

He was humiliated. Defeated. And his response?

To show up on Dynamite not long after, dressed in a suit with large glasses, looking like a serial killer, only to attack Swerve with a pair of scissors. Ricochet was no longer the happy-go-lucky babyface. Week-after-week he slowly evolved into what he is now: A talented, cocky, yet nerdy douchebag.

And it’s working. Ricochet is doing the best character work in his career, but there was a catalyst. A triggering series of events that led to his character shift. Like any character in any TV show or movie, an agitator exists to move a personality in a completely different direction.

As I’ll point out, the same cannot be said for John Cena.

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John Cena in 2021 & 2024

Take a look at two snippets below. The first being his return promo at Money in the Bank 2021, and his retirement announcement in 2024.

Did you notice anything peculiar?

If you watch, you’ll notice that fans blew the roof off the place both times. Especially in his retirement announcement, fans were literally chanting “thank you Cena”. In fact, in every match he had throughout 2023 and 2024, he was largely cheered. He even won a few matches in that run. The fans surely had his back then, and have for the last couple of years. Absolutely nothing in those years alluded to an idea that John Cena was remotely sour.

Am I to believe these are the same fans he claims thought he was “never enough” in his Raw promo? Does that make any sense for a logical agitator for a character change? Throughout his entire WWE run through the 2000s and 2010s, few things he ever did alluded to that he was unhappy, or was being forced into anything. In fact, the time to turn him heel was around 2012-13  when anti-Cena sentiment was at its highest. 

Even in 2018, Cena was noticeably all about the fans. Linked HERE for context.

But Corporate Cena was always Corporate Cena, even during his 2024 MITB promo.

Okay, well maybe the Royal Rumble did it. He did lose the Rumble, so perhaps that changed his mentality. Yet, he didn’t cheat to win the Elimination Chamber. He showed no signs of any character changes. Unlike a heel, he simply won the match clean. He got exactly what he wanted — a world title shot at Wrestlemania — and then he turns heel? Make that make sense to me…

So wait, let’s break this down…

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Try to Follow the Logic…

A 47-year-old Hollywood celebrity with a decorated career and beloved wrestling personality has returned multiple times to WWE since 2019, and most recently in the 2025 Royal Rumble match. Each time, he was greeted with adoration from the fans, and each time, he was himself. The same “Hustle/Loyalty/Respect” John Cena we’ve all known for over a decade now.

After losing the Rumble, his character remains unchanged, if not determined, and he enters the Elimination Chamber, which he wins, cleanly.

Then for reasons to be explained later, he kicks Cody in the nuts, glares at the camera like a woo girl who just saw their ex-boyfriend walk into a bar with another woman, and then reveals weeks later that he took Cody to Dick Kick City because some fans (not all) were mean to him over a decade ago.

How does this make any sense?

Furthermore, how does it make any sense that Cody, who was busted open at the hands of Cena, seemed kind of lackadaisical when confronting Cena? This is the man who has clearly sided with The Rock, who busted open Cody a year ago on Raw and all but tried to derail his first WWE Championship win.

And Cody’s response is basically “lol, you whiny bitch”.

This is not good storytelling. As Jim Cornette would put it: Laaaaazy booking. Or in this case: Laaaaazy writing.

And sure, we can speculate. We can speculate that there’s more to Cena’s promo than meets the eye. We could make up reasons why he’s angry and why he turned heel that weren’t mentioned.

…but they weren’t mentioned, were they? From a purely story perspective, this is a man who is having the time of his life and cheered by the large majority of fans for nearly a decade now. And suddenly, he’s become Rikishi, and “did it for The Rock”.

At least Rikishi’s heel turn sort of made sense. Are we supposed to forget that the last 6-7 years even happened?

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The “Story” Company

Remember in AEW when Kris Statlander suddenly stopped being a heel for basically no reason, dumped Stokley, and just sort of moved on as a babyface? Yeah — that was stupid. It’s bad storytelling. I ask you: how is this any different?

This is supposed to be the “story-driven” promotion yet no real feasible motive was given for Cena’s heel turn other than to create buzz for casual fans for Wrestlemania season. As if that serves as kayfabe, somehow.

Cena’s Raw promo amounts to “I’m a heel now. I don’t like you anymore.” I have seen better writing in Tommy Wiseau’s The Room. (Which is a legitimate classic for the record, but that’s another conversation)

Cena’s heel turn would have made sense over a decade ago when crowd reactions were truly split. But now, Cena is just seen as the lovable legend that even those who used to hate him, have grown to love and respect him. Furthermore, his actions have never indicated over the years that he wasn’t happy.

This is no different from if Cody Rhodes randomly kicked Jey Uso in the dick next week, and then told the audience he felt like he was “never enough” during his first WWE run. It would be out of the complete blue, and it would make zero sense given recent events and fan reactions.

But this is the company that invests in long-term storytelling?

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The Hypocrisy of it All

“Yeah, you get in there and make this about AEW.”

I’m sorry to be that meme, but I kind of have to.

Look, nothing will likely save this story. It’s salvageable, sure. They could easily course correct and create better and more logical reasons for Cena’s heel turn. But rewriting history is never easy, and WWE creative would have to literally do just that. Many fans will simply tune the logic out and just take it at face value that “Cena, Bad” and move on. And as mentioned, that’s perfectly okay.

But I have to point out the illogical flaws here.

I especially have to do so in the fan bases.

AEW is hyper-analyzed and criticized over and over, even for the smallest of hiccups. So are we not holding the biggest story from the biggest company headed into Wrestlemania to the same ridiculous standard? Because after seeing a lot of fan reaction to this recent segment, that seems to be the case.

Even MJF had logical reasons from triggering events that we saw play out over weeks for his recent heel run and feud against Adam Page. Stories with Ricochet, Swerve, Toni Storm and Mariah May, etc. all have logical character progressions behind them. Even if the Death Riders story has been a huge stinker, at least in story, Moxley made his intentions known as to why he was doing what he was doing and it makes sense for his character (now please take the title off of him ASAP).

But when the #1 wrestling company, who have convinced their fanbase to value story over wrestling, has a clear plot-hole and flaw in their biggest program leading to their biggest show of the year — ya’ll are just going to ignore it?

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Could They Have Done Better?

Let’s face it. They rushed this. It was rushed into nonsensical territory.

Could they have had the Wyatt 6 come out weeks beforehand to try to get into John’s head as a throwback to his feud with Bray Wyatt? After all, Bray did call him a “bully”. Between Kane’s “Embrace the Hate” feud with Cena, or the “If Cena Wins We Riot” energy in his ECW match with RVD, could they have pulled his demons from the past to justify a heel turn? Could they have slow-burned this over weeks and weeks leading to his actions at Elimination Chamber?

They could have. But they didn’t.

At the end of the day, Levesque dropped the ball on Cena’s heel turn. This has turned one of your biggest stars, on his retirement tour, into a whiny heel for no other reason than for shock value. It was a paint-by-numbers promo that was overshadowed by the hot Brussel crowd.

They simply dropped the ball here. It’s time WWE fans admit as much. It doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy it — but let’s call a spade a spade.

I’ll finish this with a quote from future AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland on how you can enjoy both WWE and AEW:

“It’s almost like you get the big box office movies and all that stuff over there, but over here, you don’t get green screen, you don’t get wires,” Swerve Strickland said. “Can you freaking act? That’s what AEW is. You have to act in order to perform in our films. We’re A24. The performances and the acting have to be pristine. But you can enjoy both. You can enjoy both, and both are successful. That’s the beauty of it.”

Sometimes are are major holes in big box office movies. It’s okay to call it out. But as fans, we shouldn’t be so naive to believe that the #1 company is without flaws, so much so, that a very convenient hole in their biggest story is overlooked for the sake of the moment.

Unless a major course correction takes place, this heel turn simply does not make any sense. And you know it.

-TKW
mocwrestling@yahoo.com