Why John Cena Is Responsible For Controversial Heel Turn

A WWE Hall of Famer believes that John Cena played a role in his controversial heel turn.

At the 2025 Elimination Chamber, Cena sold his soul to The Rock by attacking Cody Rhodes after the main event match, leaving the latter a bloodied mess in the ring.

On the subsequent RAW episode, he went off on the fans by infamously labeling his rapport with them “a toxic relationship.”

At WrestleMania 41, he defeated Rhodes to win a record 17th World Championship, earning the moniker of ‘Never Seen 17.’

He continued his heel run until the SmackDown episode before SummerSlam, where he dropped his gimmick and reverted to being a babyface.

He subsequently lost the title to Rhodes. It was recently announced by Triple H that John Cena would wrestle in his final match on December 13 at Saturday Night’s Main Event.

John Cena’s Role In Controversial Heel Turn Revealed

Former WWE star Rikishi addressed John Cena’s heel turn during a recent episode of his Off The Top podcast, claiming that Cena would have rejected the storyline if he felt it was not right for him.

Everybody has an opinion. And we all need something to talk about. So, at the end of the day, it’s like this, you know, there’s a thing that’s called negotiation. John has been in the business long enough. If he felt that it wasn’t right for him, trust me, he wouldn’t have went that route.

Rikishi admitted that, despite the storyline receiving negative criticism, John Cena knew onboarding The Rock was ideal due to the star power involved.

But let’s not make the mistake that he’s also a businessman. He gets it. What is good for business. Sometimes we might not see it, we might not understand because our emotions get too attached to sports entertainment, right? But this is our job, this is what we’re supposed to do. We gotta keep it at that cliffhanger for you. Just to continue to hook you, so you’ll be able to what? Tune in next week.

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