It happened. The heel turn of all heel turns occurred at WWE’s Elimination Chamber event in Toronto. John Cena, the biggest superstar in modern WWE history, shocked the world when he did the one thing he said he’d never do. Cena led a blindside attack on WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, revealing that he, not Rhodes, had sold his soul to The Rock. 

Now, John Cena’s farewell tour is a road to perdition

Following Cena’s victory in the Elimination Chamber match, which punched his ticket to the main event of WrestleMania 41, Rhodes shook his hand as a symbolic commencement of their road to “The Grandest Stage of The All.”  

The Rock, accompanied by rapper Travis Scott, came out to get Rhodes’ answer. Would the WWE Champion sell his soul to “The Final Boss?” Rhodes passionately stated that he had already given his soul to the sport and the fans and concluded with an emphatic “Go F@#% Yourself” to the Hollywood megastar.

Cena hugged Rhodes under the guise of admiration until The Rock gave the order with a throat slash, and Cena went from smile to killer as he kicked Rhodes below the belt and pummeled him with his father’s Rolex. The beating ended with Cena and Scott holding Rhodes down as Rock whipped him with an “American Nightmare” style weight belt insultingly etched with the date of his father’s passing. 

Execution is everything in entertainment, and John Cena’s heel turn was well-executed from top to bottom. When WWE lowered the chamber for the men’s match, it quietly signaled that the Rock/Rhodes confrontation was the main event. There was no formal announcement; it was just business as usual. 

Fans everywhere knew something big was coming once they realized the confrontation would go on last. Few suspected Cena’s turn to the dark side, but many dismissed the idea as soon as they thought it. Everyone assumed Rock/Rhodes would happen in the middle of the show, and saying otherwise a week or two beforehand would have given everyone more time to deduce the outcome. WWE also didn’t give fans much time to think, which made Cena’s heel turn infinitely better. 

Cena hammed it up for the crowd when Rhodes dropped his F-bomb. That should have been a hint, but it snuck under the radar since Cena always hams it up. Then came the hug. Cena embraced Rhodes while giving The Rock a diabolical look before he lowered the boom.

The hug and the look were the key ingredients in Cena’s heel turn. Usually, when a heel turn happens, the victim and the audience find out together. It is almost a communal experience. Here, the audience found out first, letting just enough shock and awe set in before Cody was betrayed.

This time around, Rhodes was indeed the last one to know. 

John Cena’s turn began at the Royal Rumble’s post-show press conference. Cena was steadfast in his declaration for the elimination chamber match, citing that his involvement in the main event of WrestleMania is what’s best for business. 

The embodiment of hustle, loyalty, and respect would never use his clout to get ahead, right? So what if he simply called his shot instead of qualifying like everyone else? Sure, he spewed that infamous corporate rhetoric about business. 

It was an off-brand message chalked up to frustration, having almost won the Royal Rumble. Perhaps it was good old-fashioned nostalgia that gave Cena a pass since it’s his farewell tour. What if Rhodes had taken The Rock up on his offer? Where would that have left Cena?

It’s hard to imagine John Cena being anyone’s plan B. Would Rock have two souls instead of one? Or did the Hollywood Heels (patent pending) know Rhodes would never bend the knee? The latter is the most likely scenario due to one mitigating factor. 

Cody Rhodes already has everything The Rock offered him. Fame, fortune, cars, movie/television roles, and he’s the face of WWE. On the other hand, The Rock has something he can offer Cena. The record. A seventeenth world championship. Cena doesn’t care how he gets it, and why should he. After all, he tied the record fair and square. So what if he cheats to break it?  

Heel turns are a tale as old as time in professional wrestling. They hit differently, however, when it is the biggest star in the business trading in their white hat for a black hat. Cena’s turn conjured instant comparisons to when Hulk Hogan turned heel in 1996, formed the nWo, and thus changed the business forever. Both wrestlers were the heroes of their respective eras, and both turns were extremely shocking.

In 1996, the Internet was still in its infancy. A steady stream of information about the inner workings of wrestling was not readily available, so there was nothing to spoil or even hint at what occurred at Bash at the Beach. Hogan was off TV for three months, which augmented the shock of his turn.

Twenty-nine years later, the Internet is available to everyone, and many fans have a greater understanding of wrestling due to the backstage news cycle of various promotions. As a result, some deduced Cena’s turn once the order of events for the Elimination Chamber was revealed. 

A Cody Rhodes/John Cena match had been rumored for a few months as the main event at WrestleMania. Some didn’t believe it. Those who did believe it assumed Cena would pass the torch to Rhodes in a babyface vs. babyface affair similar to WrestleMania VI when Hulk Hogan lost to the Ultimate Warrior.

Good guy against good guy is a hard match to pull off. Not only do you risk splitting the audience, there is no heat. The aforementioned Warrior/Hogan match is a masterclass of two heroes clashing. The same can’t be said for Steve Austin vs. Undertaker at the 1998 SummerSlam. Austin was unquestionably the star of the company, but the Undertaker had too much respect from the audience to jeer him without cause. 

WrestleMania 41 now has a main event with white-hot heat. It’s no longer a given that Rhodes beats Cena. In fact, heel Cena is the biggest threat to Rhodes’ title. Babyface Cena beating Rhodes for the world title record is a feel-good story that some would damn with faint praise. Newly minted heel Cena beating Rhodes for the record is something the world would remember, and the same for Rhodes conquering a now soulless Cena. 

“How dare you talk to me about chances, John Cena. I have had to earn everything I’ve ever been given in life, and still, they’re taken from me. You, you’re the golden goose, John. Your chances they’re unlimited, you’re untouchable. But you’re not a hero, John. You’re a bully. You’re a horrible person. You take the weaknesses of others, and you turn them into jokes. You do anything for fame, John. Congratulations, you’re the man now, John. Poor, lonely John Cena. This is your last chance, man.” – Bray Wyatt