The Rock Wanted Cody Rhodes To Turn Heel, Cody Said No, John Cena Was "Second Choice" (WWE News)

John Cena was reportedly Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson's "second choice" to turn heel in WWE and align with 'The People's Champion' heading into WrestleMania 41, reports Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Meltzer states that after it became clear that Johnson wasn't going to compete at WrestleMania, he wanted to align with a heel Rhodes, with Cody going heel. People in WWE felt this to be the only thing that could hurt the promotion at the time. They believe that WWE's current crowd is Cody's crowd, arguing that "you don't mess with a successful formula."

When Rhodes turned this idea down, John Cena became Rock's "second choice" to turn heel. Thus, Cena turned heel and aligned with Johnson at Elimination Chamber 2025.

Meltzer had tweeted (and deleted) to this effect earlier in the week:

"The motivation is that Dwayne wanted Cody (legit) and I know this as a fact because a mutual friend last week mentioned the politics as Levesque absolutely thought it was a terrible idea. But in a fight with Dwayne, with Nick as arbiter, he loses every time. However, several convinced Cody to simply refuse, so art was a lot like life this time. Dwayne wouldn't go after Cody politically so he let it go. Cena was the second choice and Cena was fine with it. Punk was never asked."

Cena's heel turn ended up driving one of the most memorable WWE angles in years. After punching his WrestleMania 41 ticket by winning the men's Elimination Chamber, Cena swerved the audience, aligning with The Rock by booting the Undisputed WWE Champion between the legs. Cena then led a three-on-one beatdown of Rhodes, also involving Rock and rapper Travis Scott.

Cena vs. Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship will headline one of WrestleMania 41's two nights.