John Cena’s Heel Run: 3 Things We Like And 3 Things We Don’t

You can betray the fans who looked up to you. You can punt the hell out of Cody Rhodes’ coin purse. You can even cuckold Zach Ryder. But you will NOT turn your back on cameraman Stu and get away with it.

The devil is in the details for Cena’s heel entrance; its evolution (including ignoring Stu, whom he used to salute) has ever so slightly changed his former entrance, but made it all the more impactful.

Instead of a typical highlight reel, the Attitude Adjuster’s titantron is black with his name bolded in big white letters. The arena lights turn off, and the spotlight is completely on the GOAT as the crowd is hidden by the darkness. It signals that Cena matters and the fans don’t.

On the Raw after WrestleMania 41, the newly crowned, record-breaking champion forced ring announcer Mark Nash to read from a script to introduce him. It mentions Cena as the “never seen 17” champ—a slick nod to the titles he’s won and “You can’t see me” moniker.

Of course, the pop that the new heel receives while all of this happens is generational. The boos are so deafening that they drown out his theme song, and “John Cena sucks” chants become the de facto lyrics.

A good entrance props up the baddest of men, and in that category, heel Cena shines.

On March 5, 2024, the script for a John Cena heel turn was leaked…by John Cena.

In an interview with wrestling reporter Chris Van Vliet, the then 16-time champ revealed that he was “real close” to joining the dark side when he feuded with The Rock in 2012. (Skip to around 30:18 in the above video.)

Had he turned, he would have flipped “Hustle, Loyalty, and Respect” on its head: show up less, malign the fans who love him, and disrespect his opponents. Sound familiar?

He also apparently created a new theme song and designed low-cut wrestling singlets with accompanying boxing robes in preparation.

Almost one year later to the date, Cena pulled off the stunning turn, but his music and ring gear haven’t changed. Why?

A heel’s job isn’t to provide fan service. They’re supposed to get under our skin and not let us have fun things. In the words of another all-time great, it doesn’t matter what we want.

John Boy’s time (for himself) is now, and he’s going to profit off of his colorful, campy t-shirts and hats whether we like it or not. At least we’ve got YouTube to live out our heel Cena theme song fantasies.

​

Going into Cena’s retirement tour, if you were told it would feature multiple matches with R-Truth, you might ask, “What’s up?” Or more likely, “What the fuck?”

The WWE has blessed us with a series of dream bouts for the GOAT before he rides off into the sunset, which includes the WrestleMania main event with Rhodes (his modern-day equivalent) and rivalry renewals with his greatest in-ring foes, Randy Orton and CM Punk.

There’s also his unexpected, low-key banger of a feud with R-Truth—a classic tale of a superhero disappointing his biggest fan, only for the fan to seek revenge. It was a real Syndrome-Mr. Incredible moment.

The good news is Cena has half a year’s worth of opponents left. Is a rematch with Roman Reigns on the table? Could we see him set his sights on the new era guys, like Bron Breaker, Gunther, or LA Knight? It would likely require an eventual face turn for those first two to make sense, which we are certainly here for.

Three words have followed John Cena throughout his career: “You can’t wrestle.”

The WWE Universe hurled the chant at Big Match John, particularly from 2005 - 2012, when he ruled the WWE landscape. He wasn’t the smoothest or most athletic in the ring, and his moveset was limited to the infamous five moves of doom. Not to mention, he won matches in improbable, yet nauseatingly repetitive comeback fashion.

In 2015, Cena silenced the critics.

He instituted the United States Championship Open Challenge, welcoming anyone to fight him for his title, week in and week out. He ripped off a series of excellent, closely contested bouts in which he introduced impressive new maneuvers while elevating the likes of Kevin Owens, Cesaro, Sami Zayn, and more.

A decade later, Cena is limited once again in the ring. It’s hard to blame him since he’s 48 years old and a Hollywood actor that relies on his face and frame. Still, it’s painfully obvious that opponents are handling him as if he’s made of glass, and the matches themselves feel like they’re moving at 0.5 speed.

Like Ric Flair, Steve Austin, and The Rock before him, mic work elevated John Cena to super-duper star status.

As the Doctor of Thuganomics, Cena rapped his enemies into submission and won over the WWE Universe. He belittled and exposed The Final Boss for writing promos on his wrist. He called out Roman Reigns for forgetting his lines and not inspiring the WWE’s confidence to anoint him face of the company.

No matter who verbally swung at his head—including fans—John had an ingenious response, all while taking the high road and serving as a role model for kids.

Now, Cena is masterfully unleashing 20+ years of pent up heel energy. He seamlessly mixes fiction and reality, expressing frustrations (that maybe he always had?) with the WWE Universe for treating him like shit when he gave them his life.

He breaks the fourth wall by insisting that he’s not a face or a heel, but a human being. He weaponizes the criticisms fans launched at him, declaring that he’d bury Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania like he’s done to countless other opponents.

You could argue his promos are redundant and at times overacted, which might be true. However, his post-Elimination Chamber masterclass and Reverse Pipe Bomb were instantly classic—two of his best promos to date. You can’t ask for much more than that.

John Cena finally decided to sever his (as he described it) “abusive,” “dysfunctional,” and “toxic” relationship with the WWE Universe. Therapists everywhere smiled.

Still, it begs the question: After 20-plus years of loving fans unconditionally, why would the former Leader of the Cenation have such a sudden change of heart—without any build or breaking point moment? That needed to be addressed more effectively.

Picture this: Instead of kicking Cody Rhodes in the nads at the Elimination Chamber, the GOAT remained a babyface and lost cleanly to the American Nightmare at WrestleMania 41. Then he would narrowly lose to Cody again at Backlash. And then he would be inches away from grabbing the Money in the Bank briefcase but fall short.

Cena’s days would be numbered; his opportunity to capture a record-breaking 17th championship shrinking with each appearance.

At SummerSlam, Cody would grant Cena one last title shot. As the match unfolded, Cena just couldn’t put Rhodes away—Attitude Adjustment after Attitude Adjustment, from the top rope, and maybe a piledriver for good measure. Kick-out.

Conflicted, Cena ultimately would decide to smash Rhodes in the head with the belt when the ref isn’t looking to pick up the 1-2-3.

Over the next few weeks, John would explain his actions and attempt to celebrate with the fans, but they would reject him. That would cause Cena to snap and lead to him violently attacking Rhodes (putting him on the shelf), then admonishing the WWE Universe for spitting in the face of his crowning achievement and treating him like shit all these years.

This would set up three to four months of supervillain Cena—much like the guy we’re seeing now—whose reign was built on rock-solid motivation, courtesy of Kotaku.