WWE's Biggest Booking DISASTER Every Year (1986-2026)
2. John Cena’s Heel Turn Aftermath (2025)
What was that about The Rock working with John Cena?!
WWE was at the forefront of wrestling-meets-mainstream media coolness when Cena stood tall with Rock and Travis Scott after turning heel at Elimination Chamber 2025. Everyone wanted answers, and they figured they'd get them as part of a rollercoaster ride during John's final year as an active wrestler.
Nope. Cena barely referenced The Rock again, and it was Scott solo who interfered in JC's title win over Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 41. On Raw and SmackDown, newly heel John delivered some unconvincing 'I hate you now' promos aimed at the audience, and it was becoming clearer by the week that this heel run was tanking.
Creative gave up on it by summer so Cena could ride off into the sunset backed by cheers. By the time he passed out with a smile to Gunther's sleeper at Saturday Night's Main Event on 13 December, no-one was really talking about his heel turn or what followed it.
Speaks volumes. No-one wanted to acknowledge it because it was brutal.
This was an elusive booking call that few realistically saw coming during Cena's retirement year, but it was handled so badly that John likely wishes he hadn't agreed to it. There was no plan in place for his second chapter beyond the Chamber turn.
JC's heel flirtation was a swerve and nothing more. it did get people talking and provided some content for Unreal, but that's about all there was to it. Within weeks, WWE had burned through all of the material they could think of.
Oops.