Why WWE Is Pretending John Cena’s Heel Turn Never Happened

Is WWE trying to erase John Cena’s latest heel run?

A wrestling Hall of Famer believes so.

When Cena announced his retirement at the 2024 Money in the Bank PLE, fans wondered whether he would turn heel.

His first appearance after that was during the January 6 Netflix RAW debut, where he was a babyface, and he remained so for the next couple of months.

Cena’s shocking heel turn came during the 2025 Elimination Chamber, where he attacked Cody Rhodes after aligning with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

As the company’s top heel, he won a record 17th World Championship at WrestleMania 41.

During his heel turn, Cena often lashed out at fans and wrestled some of his closest friends in the industry, including Randy Orton.

However, just before SummerSlam, he dropped the gimmick and turned babyface once again. And there was no logical explanation provided for it.

Konnan Accuses WWE Of Erasing John Cena’s Heel Turn

Konnan was inducted into the AAA Hall of Fame at Triplemania by his friend and WWE Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio.

On the latest episode of the Keepin’ it 100 podcast, he and former WCW star Disco Inferno discussed whether or not John Cena’s heel turn was a success.

Konnan was blunt in his response and then accused WWE of pretending like the heel turn never happened.

I just did’t think it was a good heel turn. I think he was forced into it and, therefore, it didn’t come out like they expected it and now they’re pretending nothing ever happened, which people are going along with coz they like Cena and they know they’re never gonna see him again. And he’s doing babyface interviews like the one he did on SmackDown on Friday. But it’s so bad that they’re trying to pretend it never happened. That, to me, was not a good heel turn. [1:40 onwards]

Meanwhile, WWE legend Bret “The Hitman” Hart shared his thoughts about John Cena’s heel turn. Read about it here.