Backstage Update On John Cena's HUGE Heel Turn (WWE News)

Details on John Cena's shocking Elimination Chamber heel turn.

WWE Elimination Chamber 2025 The Rock John Cena Travis Scott Cody Rhodes
WWE

With John Cena having shocked the wrestling world by turning heel and joining forces with The Rock at WWE Elimination Chamber last night, there's not a little bit of an update on Big Match John embracing the dark side.

For those who may have missed it, Cena won the men's Elimination Chamber by last eliminating CM Punk, setting up the 16-time World Champion for a shot at Cody Rhodes and the WWE Title at WrestleMania 41. While Cody and Cena did the usual 'staring at the 'Mania sign' stuff and showed plenty of respect for each other, that was soon followed by the American Nightmare telling The Rock "Go f**k yourself!" as he turned down the Final Boss' advances for Rhodes' soul.

One more embrace would follow between the WrestleMania opponents, with Cena seemingly ecstatic at Cody's answer. And then, well then that embrace saw John's face change to a more serious one as The Rock made a throat slice gesture and Cena kicked Rhodes in the balls, leading to Cena, Rock, and Travis Scott - who'd accompanied the Great One to the ring - putting a three-on-one beatdown on Cody.

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As per Fightful Select, the Cody and Rock segment was internally listed as being the third segment of that night, with that done in order to protect the Cena heel turn from leaking out. Of course, WWE went to great lengths to keep this turn a secret, with it being a huge shock to many within the company.

WWE Elimination Chamber 2025 The Rock John Cena Travis Scott
WWE

Rhodes vs. Cena At WrestleMania 41

Rhodes vs. Cena at 'Mania has long been the plan, but it's unknown right now as to how long the heel turn element was planned. Fightful also adds how they've yet to hear of any plans involving The Rock wrestling at this year's Showcase of the Immortals, but that so much of the creative involving the People's Champion is restricted on a need-to-know basis, with Rocky usually working directly with Triple H and Brian Gewirtz.

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Where Travis Scott is concerned, his Elimination Chamber appearance had been planned for "well over a month", although it's not known whether that was specifically with him being a part of the PLE's closing angle. As for Scott's future involvement with WWE and with the heel Rock and Cena duo, the post-show media scrum saw The Rock say how Scott wants to get his hands dirty, how he's in a "union" and "alliance" with Rock, and how the Grammy Award-winning rapper "deeply wants to get involved" - which would indicate Travis possibly being a part of this developing story going forward.

Also at that media scrum, The Rock noted how John Cena last night flew out to Africa for his latest film project, and it's worth noting that Cena is not currently advertised for the next two Raw episodes.

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Senior Writer
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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.