John Cena Admits His WWE Heel Turn Totally BOMBED (WWE News)
WWE's John Cena has talked candidly about his heel turn.
Having now returned back to being a total babyface uber-hero, WWE's John Cena has addressed his heel turn from earlier in the year, admitting that the follow-up to that shocking moment "bombed".
Of course, that Cena turn happened at Elimination Chamber in February, where, after winning the men's Chamber match and earning himself a shot at Cody Rhodes' WWE Championship at WrestleMania 41, Big Match John aligned with the Rock and Travis Scott. What started with Cena booting Rhodes below the belt, concluded with all three of Cena, Rock, and Scott putting a beating on the American Nightmare, solidifying one of the most shocking heel turns in the history of the business.
Coming out of Elimination Chamber, all that wrestling fans were talking about was John Cena finally embracing the dark side, and it was even more of a shocker that WWE and John would opt to pull such a swerve during Cena's retirement year. However, while that turn itself is an all-timer, the follow-up soon fell flat.
Not only did fans not want to boo Cena, particularly with it being marketed that each subsequent appearance would be the final time these arenas and stadiums would ever get to see the legend, but the whole act was hugely hindered by any lack of follow-up from the Rock. Added to that, Travis Scott playing a role in the finish of the 'Mania 41 Night 2 main event of Cena vs. Rhodes left so many fans deflated, even more so when there was a massive void left by the total absence of the Final Boss.
Speaking at Chicago Fan Expo this past weekend, Cena was open about how he "bombed" with his first heel promo in the aftermatch of that turn.
In footage captured by Instagram user @itswheezyblonde, the record-setting 17-time World Champion said:
"Oh no, I wasn't upset. I just knew I failed. Ain't nothing wrong with that. You can learn from failure, right? I went out there and bombed. S**t happens, guys."
When asked how Cena may have explained his heel turn differently if he knew that "he" - presumably the Rock - wasn't going to be around after Elimination Chamber, John added:
"Man, what I'm hearing is, in a hypothetical universe, what different choices could be made? I will answer that with: hindsight is a waste of time. Let's live right here and now, and the excitement and adventure. We've got 11 dates left. After, we'll be able to talk about this in January, after the whole thing is over, but we're taking the audience on a hell of a ride this year, and we've still got a ways left to go, so I'm excited about that."
As alluded to, John Cena reverted to full babyface mode on the SmackDown before SummerSlam earlier this month, with many skeptical fans presuming this was all merely a ruse and that Cena would use underhanded measures as he looked to retain the WWE Championship against Cody Rhodes at the Biggest Party of the Summer.
Instead, this babyface turn was entirely legitimate. Extremely rushed, for sure, but absolutely 100% legitimate, with it made clear at the close of SummerSlam that John was turned back babyface as part of a future match with the returning, villainous Brock Lesnar.
While the John Cena heel turn itself was phenomenal, there'll forever remain a major sense of 'what if?' around how things played out for the heel Cena, largely due to the Rock's role in that initial turn, and due to the Great One's lack of a role in anything post-turn.
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