Hollywood star John Cena has finally explained where his surprising WWE heel turn came from. The 17-time world champion shocked fans in 2025 by abandoning his famous good-guy character.
John Cena talks his WWE heel turn
At Elimination Chamber in March 2025, John Cena shocked fans by attacking Cody Rhodes after winning the men’s Elimination Chamber match. He then aligned himself with The Rock and rapper Travis Scott in a shocking moment.
Speaking on Happy Sad Confused with Josh Horowitz, Cena revealed that WWE contacted him about the heel turn just seven to ten days before it happened. He said, “So, this came out of nowhere… This was a phone call I get 7 to 10 days before the thing about, like, ‘Hey, we had this idea. What we want to do in February is turn heel.’ I said, ‘Okay, no problem. Wait, what? Are you sure? Yeah, that’s what we’re doing.’”
Cena revealed he had previously discussed a heel turn with Vince McMahon around 2011 or 2012 during his feud with The Rock, but the idea was dropped. This time, things were different. Cena revealed that he had also suggested turning heel himself, making him more willing to take the creative risk.
“Yes, I pitched you guys this last year. You know that I’m going to be bad for the last, like, a portion of the last year. You’re fine with that. That’s how you want your investment spent? Yes, we think it’ll be awesome. Then I’m all in. Yeah, but what about, like, how people feel about it? It’s a character. It’s not me. And yes, the character is very closely correlated to John Cena.”
“I would never in real life challenge anyone to a fight. I’m a f**king diplomat. I believe in conversation… anybody that comes out here is getting their ass kicked. That is not my approach for excitement in real life.”
Cena understood that his heel turn could upset longtime fans who had known him as a hero for years. He explained, “There’s a glaring difference between the character and the human.” He added that even if fans hated the change, “well, at least we tried something bold. We tried. We went down swinging.” It wasn’t just an apathetic, like, “You know, this would be so much worse,” right? Let’s, let’s swing boldly. The last choice I ever made was giving up a bold swing.”
Cena knew fans might hate his heel turn, but he wanted to try something different. He asked WWE to capture his facial expressions while betraying Cody Rhodes, making the moment feel real because they were friends.
Later, WWE changed the storyline, with Randy Orton, CM Punk, and others trying to bring Cena back to the good side. He eventually turned face again before facing Cody Rhodes at SummerSlam, showing that his heel run was part of a bigger story.
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