Why John Cena Turning Heel is a Cultural Shift

John Cena turned “heel” wrestling speak for “bad guy” or “villain” this past Saturday night on the elimination Chamber Pay-per-view. Cena aligned himself with “The Final Boss” The Rock and surprisingly enough Grammy award winning hip-hop artist Travis Scott. This came off the back of WWE Champion Cody Rhodes turning down The Rock in selling him his soul. John Cena however took The Rock’s offer and sold his soul in his retirement year. Cena turned, so that he could win his 17^th world championship beating the record of 16-times currently held by Ric Flair. John Cena turning heel shocked not only the wrestling world, but also the world as a whole. Cena was the hero of our childhood and was one wrestler who we all thought would be the good guy forever. We are now living in a world where John Cena is the villain.     

We have all at one time or another heard of the name John Cena. Whether if it is because of his acting career or his undeniable impact as the face of WWE for the past two decades. John Cena did not start as the superman-style hero that we all know him as to start out his career. He first gained popularity in the WWE as the Doctor of Thuganomics. Cena would tear down his opponents with freestyle raps. In 2004 John Cena turned “face”, which is wrestling speak for “good guy” or “hero”.

Cena’s Past

Coming off the popularity of his character as the Doctor of Thuganomics and the fact that the WWE product was switching from a TV-14 to a PG product. John Cena transformed his character by trading in the basketball jerseys and chains for a ball cap and jean shorts. He transformed his character to a fighter who lives by three mantras: “hustle, loyalty, and respect.” This is the character that the audience would fall in love with for years. The audience wanted to see him succeed.

The popularity started to fade however as audiences started to get tired of the same shtick and wanted something different. WWE would continue pushing John Cena as the main event for well over a decade. The audience was split between adult males who hated John Cena. The kids and adult women loved him. It even became a popular chant at WWE shows where the kids and adult females would chant “Let’s go Cena” and the adult males would chant “Cena sucks!”.

Throughout John Cena’s main event run from 2005-2016 the audience wanted John Cena to turn “heel”. They wanted to give the character a fresh new look. Vince McMahon never pulled the trigger on John Cena turning heel. Vince was making too much money on merchandise. John also has the record for most Make-A-Wishes granted. The closest we ever got to a John Cena heel run was the first dream match between John Cena and The Rock at WrestleMania 28. Vince McMahon changed his mind at the last second and the Heel run never happened. As long as Vince McMahon is the COO of WWE there will never be a heel John Cena, but Vince McMahon was fired from the WWE bringing in the Triple H creative era.

Courtesy: WWE

What Happens Now?

Now that Triple H is the head of creative and The Rock is on the board of TKO who owns the WWE. They have both collaborated to give the audience the most interesting story for a WrestleMania main event. A heel John Cena going up against main babyface Cody Rhodes. We’re still waiting to see what a Heel John Cena run is going to look like. How exactly is this new heel tandem of John Cena and The Rock is going to operate? The one thing we do know however is the amount of attention this heel turn has garnered for the WWE on the road to WrestleMania. Not only is the entire wrestling community paying attention to this story but the entire world has their eyes on the hero they all come to love now playing he villain.      

By: Stephen Lambert

March 4, 2025