Whether you are a diehard WWE fan, or someone who’s fizzled out watching it, John Cena is a name you’ve heard synonymous with wrestling. Although he may have had his detractors ever present with their “Cena sucks” chants, the fans were always a louder bunch with Cena being the highest-paid and highest-grossing wrestler in WWE’s illustrious history.
As John Cena approaches the twilight of his career, he has introduced a new dimension to the John Cena character. After the premium live event Elimination Chamber, John Cena earned a spot to face the WWE Champion Cody Rhodes at Wrestlemania. However, the shocking move came when John Cena, along with The Rock and Travis Scott, attacked Cody out of nowhere. John Cena turned “Heel”, an industry term for villainous characters in wrestling.
A few weeks have gone past since the Elimination Chamber incident, and fans speculated why and for what reason. After almost 20 years playing a superhero-like character, John Cena turned heel. The online articles flooded, and rumour has it, it was The Rock and his creative input that led to Cena being pitched as a Heel. For many, this side of Cena is a complete unknown because after his breakthrough in 2005, he has remained the face of the WWE by being their record 16-time WWE champion.
In 2024,an ageing Cena approaching 50 announced that 2025 will be his last year, and at the very end, Cena, it seems, has turned his back to the WWE. In the later parts of the 2010s, people were sick of the clean and cut superhero Cena, arenas full of people would love to chant “Cena sucks” but no one saw this coming in 2025. Cena was being cheered louder than ever, mostly because people knew this was one of the last times they would would see the ‘you can’t see me’ guy in action.
Triple H, the head of content at WWE, expressed his approval for this very reason. Since no one expected Cena to make this move, it was seen as a brilliant stroke of storytelling. Last night’s Raw was the first time in almost 20 years, the villainous Cena with his usual colourful hat and T-shirt, walked down the aisle on Monday Night Raw. His face looking grim and annoyed, and over 15 thousand screaming “Cena Sucks”, the stage was set for an iconic John Cena promo, but this time, the victim of his attacks was the fans, the WWE universe.
John Cena did not hesitate to go for the fans by quickly calling everyone selfish, accusing them of always taking everything, not being grateful and holding John Cena back as their puppet. “Not one of you sons of bi**ches asked me how I feel,” said the stone-faced fallen hero. The promo took a more shocking tone when John Cena clearly identified kids wearing his attire in the front row as “dysfunctional and toxic”. The fans were clearly replying with vulgar chants, mainly chanting “shut the f**k up”.
Outside of WWE, Cena has enjoyed being a beloved persona. John Cena has been the most widely requested celebrity for the Make a Wish Foundation, where children suffering from ailments request their favourite celebrities to meet them. With over 600 wishes granted, John Cena’s impact on fans, especially kids, cannot be understated, yet with all this equity built up, Cena and the WWE has chosen to take the risk. By making Cena heel, creatively they have taken on the gamble which even ardent insiders couldn’t imagine. The days of Super Cena have shockingly come to an end, and for sure this time, as it is made abundantly clear that this will be his final year wrestling in the WWE.