How Triple H Pitched John Cena’s Stunning WWE Heel Turn
John Cena jumped at the chance to turn to the dark side.
When John Cena officially began his retirement tour in January, few could have predicted that the early months would take the path they have.
After coming up short at the Royal Rumble, Cena won the men’s Elimination Chamber Match to earn a shot at Cody Rhodes and the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania 41. Crucially for Cena, this represents a chance to win what would be a record-breaking 17th World Championship.
But then things got interesting.
Just minutes after winning the match, Cena flattened Rhodes with a low blow to align with The Rock, turning heel in the process. Since then, the veteran has blamed the fans for his actions while promising to ruin wrestling.
John Cena Jumped At Chance To Shock The World
In recent days Triple H has been on hand for WWE’s latest UK try-outs running the rule over a whole host of young hopefuls. While at the UK Performance Center, The Game sat down with Alex McCarthy of the Daily Mail to talk all things WWE, including Cena’s heel turn.
Triple H began by reiterating his praise for John Cena and his willingness to “blow people’s minds” by doing something different during his last run.
When asked whether it was difficult to convince Cena to turn heel, the WWE boss said that couldn’t have been further from the truth.
‘No,” Triple H instantly answers. ‘It was a conversation – without getting into the details – it was a conversation that when it was brought up, everybody… I think in John’s mind he was like “wow, I didn’t think you were going to say that. I love it.”
‘It’s a challenge to him. John’s not a complacent person, right? I think he would have done it and he would have done it happily and he would have done it for fans, but I think there would have been a piece of him that would have been like “alright, I’m just going to go through my day here.”
‘This now, I guess it’s no different than if a Hollywood role for any actor where they say “we’d like you to play the character you’ve played in 20 other movies pretty much and just do the same thing.”
‘It’s like “OK.” At a certain point in time they come and they give you something way off something you’ve ever done and you’re like “Wow, alright, that’s a challenge I’ve never done before.”
‘That energises you and gets your creatives juices going and excites you, it lights you up as a performer. This is going to be special because John is lit up about it. We’re lit up about it. It’s going to be incredible.’
John Cena and Cody Rhodes are set to go face-to-face on Raw in London, England on March 31 before the sports entertainment returns to the United States.