While John Cena joiningThe Rockand turning heel on Cody Rhodes was shocking,WWEhad been dropping hints for quite some time. The subtle foreshadowing ahead of John Cena leaning into his dark side was nuanced, indicative of the currentTriple H era of storytelling, but it was there for quite some time to those who paid attention.
While many assumed that perpetual good guyJohn Cenawould never turn heel, fans who had been closely paying attention over the past few months noticed thatthere were signs of things to come. After making the announcement of his upcoming 2025 farewell tour in WWE, Cena began to display subtle shifts that served as foreshadowing of what was to come for Cody Rhodes.
5WWE Teased Heel Potential In John Cena’s Firefly Funhouse Match
Bray Wyatt Made A Compelling Case For Heel Cena
While the pandemic era of WWE brought fans some unforgettable moments, perhaps none were quite as uniquely memorable as acinematic match featuring John Cena taking on The Fiend. Given the cinematic nature of the bout, an alternate version of Cena was explored as Cena himself traveled through the ‘Firefly Funhouse.’
In the cinematic match fromWrestleMania 36, Cena travels through his own career’s history by way of entering the Firefly Funhouse in search of Bray Wyatt. While Cena undoubtedly enters the match believing he will be fighting Wyatt, as the 13-minute story unfolds, it becomes clear thatCena is really fighting with himself. In a moment that most directly teased his future heel turn, Cena took a swing at Wyatt with a chair and was instead transported to a new entrance - where he seemed to be cosplaying as Hollywood Hogan from WCW’s NWO era.
Ultimately, Cena was so disturbed by the images of him being a heel, his entire career seemingly flashing before his eyes - he lost track of Wyatt and ended up succumbing to the Fiend. At the time, the imagery from the Funhouse match assuredly planted creative seeds of what the potential could look like. With fans taking a bigger interest in the potential of Cena exploring his dark side after the match,the notion that Cena turning heel was ‘impossible’ was proven possible first by Bray Wyatt.
4The Rock Showed Us This Was Coming
In the closing moments ofWWE Bad Bloodback in October 2024, the crowd was electrified by the presence of The Final Boss, The Rock. The anticipation regarding his appearance was high all night, with some fans questioning why the CM Punk vs. Drew Mcintyre in a steel cage match wasn’t the main event of the show, given that their bitter rivalry had been a fan-favorite feud. However, after the Final Boos The Rock appeared to close the show, fans had even more questions than answers.
Rather than saying or doing anything in the ring, he instead presented himself at the entrance ramp and made a mysterious gesture - he counted to three before making a throat-slashing motion. At the time, the appearance and the gesturestunned the charactersin the ring, with neither Cody Rhodes nor Roman Reigns seemingly clued in on the meaning of the moment.
Nor were the other three members of the new Bloodline who were making a hasty exit after their losing bout through the crowd. Leaving fans and pundits alike arguing about what it could have possibly meant, there were theories but no conclusive answer. Some fans were left feeling like it didn’t actually mean anything at all - not so says the Final Boss.
At the post-Elimination ChamberPress Conference, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson spoke on the issue, noting that while thegesture was criticized at the timefor not meaning anything, it did mean something. In fact, The Rock hinted that clues would be dropped all the time, but they may take weeks or even months to be revealed. With fans online connecting the John Cena ‘OK’ hand gesture with the 1-2-3 that The Rock displayed atBad Blood, theforeshadowing has apparently been occurring for months.
3John Cena Made His WrestleMania Plans Known After Royal Rumble
To Honor WWE, He Would Do What Was ‘Best For Business’
While the other entrants in the Elimination Chamber match (Logan Paul, Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, CM Punk, and Damian Priest) were required to earn their way into the match by competing in qualifying matches, John Cena was not. Rather, he declared his entry into the match after having lost in the closing moments of the men’s Royal Rumble match to Jey Uso during the post-Royal Rumblepress conference.
At the post-Royal RumblePress Conference, John Cena said:
“In the 23 years I’ve been in this business, I know there are different perspectives about my path. The truth is, I’ve never used my opportunities for a spot that I haven’t earned,” he said. “Tonight was special, for many reasons. It has begun to sink it in that it was my last Royal Rumble. In Las Vegas, in looking at the sign, when it was to two, and I had a moment to let the energy sink in, I realized that Las Vegas is my last WrestleMania. The last time I main evented a WrestleMania was 2013. That’s a long time ago. The reason that hasn’t been at the forefront in my mind, I’ve been a gimmick, I’ve been the first match, I’ve been in the middle, I’ve shared beers with the fans. My truth, my perspective, is I’ve always done what’s best for business. Tonight, standing in that ring, I wanted this experience to be a tour of goodwill. I’ve openly admitted that I don’t know how much I have left in the tank and I just wanted to do something that would be nice for all of us to get together and have a good time. Unfortunately tonight, it dawned on me that’s not best for business. What is best for business is I main event WrestleMania. What is best for business is that I confidently say that I’m going to win a 17th championship. I’m announcing tonight that I will compete in the Elimination Chamber.”
The momentmarked a change for John Cenaand one that wasn’t ignored by the other characters in WWE. While during the same post-Royal Rumble press conference, Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque noted he was in support of Cena entering the Chamber without qualifying, noting that he had “earned the right to call his shot,” he also made another interesting comment. When asked about the overall plan for Cena’s farewell tour,Triple H pledged his support for Cenadoing whatever he wanted to do during this final run, having earned the right through decades of service to the company and business.
2John Cena Revealed A New Intention In His Entrance
He Didn’t Tell Stu The Cameraman The Usual Line
It has become a well-known trope of John Cena to directly call out the camera operator, named Stu, during his entrances. He can often be heard saying, “Let’s go to work, Stu,” after which he takes off into a sprint with Stu and the very heavy camera keeping a close chase. However, afterCena paused to soak in the crowd’s reactionatElimination Chamber, he said something different to Stu.
Telling Stu and thereby the audience directly into the camera, “There’s a vibe in here tonight Stu, there’s a vibe in here tonight… Let’s pave the way to the dance, let’s do it baby!” before adding, “Time to go to work,” and sprinting off. Already laying the groundwork for itbeing a different iteration of John Cena,who was entering the Elimination Chamber match, the reveal of his heel turn was arguably done even before he attacked Cody - as he gleefully took advantage of CM Punk.
1John Cena Won The Elimination Chamber In A Heelish Manner
Capitalized Off Seth Rollins Stomping CM Punk
The closing moments of the Elimination Chamber match saw John Cena capture victory over CM Punk to secure his spot atWrestleMania 41. With an opportunity to face Cody Rhodes in the main event,emotions were running highin the match as a longstanding feud between Seth Rollins andCM Punkplayed out. However, when Punk was able to eliminate Rollins - he did not leave the chamber quietly.
Instead, before his exit,Seth Rollins delivered a vicious stompto Punk’s head near the entrance door to the Chamber, allowing for a moment of weakness for Cena to capitalize on. Cena sprang into action to pull Punk back through the ropes to lock in his STFU submission hold. While he could be heard shouting, “Sorry!” once,he did not release the hold. While Seth Rollins could be overheard screaming, “Die!” at Punk, Cena continued to apply the chokehold, and Punk eventually ‘passed out’ and the match was called in favor of Cena.
While it washardly an entirely clean victory,it was good enough for this iteration of Cena who was hellbent on going toWrestleMania 41. Now that his alliance with The Rock was revealed, perhaps his motivations had been dastardly all along. Cena is set to makeappearances at the upcoming WWE tourstops in Europe on the ‘Road to WrestleMania.’ He is currently advertised for appearances on three episodes ofRawin March, including 17th in Brussels, Belgium, March 24 in Glasgow, Scotland, and the 31st in London, England. We’ll have to stay tuned to find out what happens next with bad guy John!
Transcription viaFightful
