John Cena started his retirement tour at the Netflix RAW premiere as he already announced that he would retire by the end of this year. His prime objective of this retirement tour would be winning his 17th World title. He entered the men’s Royal Rumble match to get the opportunity to face a World Champion at WrestleMania 41, but he failed to win.
He then entered the men’s Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber event on March 1. He won the match and earned the opportunity to face Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania 41 since the winner of the men’s Royal Rumble match Jey Uso has already decided to challenge Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship at the Grandest Stage of Them All.
Big Breaking: John Cena Was Not Originally Scheduled To Turn Heel! Check Out The Original Plans
After the match, Cody Rhodes came out to congratulate Cena. But Cena shocked the whole wrestling community by turning heel once he got a signal from The Rock. He attacked Cody Rhodes and beat him down badly. It is already being considered as one of the best and most shocking heel turns in professional wrestling history.
John Cena worked as a babyface for more than 21 years
But the recent reports from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter suggest that The Rock wanted Cody Rhodes to turn heel at first but Rhodes declined the move. The report also suggests that there were also plans for CM Punk to turn heel, but once John Cena agreed to do it, there was no looking back for WWE.
John Cena turned heel on Cody Rhodes at the closing segment of the Elimination Chamber event of 2025
“CM Punk was going to get the slot, but we’re told it never came down to him as Cena agreed to do it.” – The report from Wrestler Observer Newsletter noted the quoted above. CM Punk turning heel would have been an excellent idea too, but nothing beats Cena turning heel at this stage since there had been a request for this heel turn for a long time.
Check out what Bubba Ray Dudley said about John Cena's heel turn here
But Cody Rhodes turning heel would have been quite shocking if not as shocking as Cena’s heel turn. However, the fans can expect Cody to turn heel one day in the future since ‘The American Nightmare’ can be an excellent villain. The original plans if Cody accepted to turn heel were not revealed yet, but there are rumors that the original plan was to have a heel Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns at WrestleMania, which is still very much possible for next year.
H/T - eWrestlingNews
