Video: John Cena Shocks the Wrestling World by Turning Heel at Elimination Chamber

Leading up to Elimination Chamber, the last-minute addition of The Rock showing up to confront Cody Rhodes and getting his answer about his “soul” just about overshadowed the Chamber matches themselves. Would Cody accept? If he didn’t, what recourse would The Rock take? One component that almost no one saw coming was the involvement of John Cena.

Now that the Elimination Chamber is over, the Road to WrestleMania has taken a very different turn. After John Cena won the Chamber match, it seemed like a battle of eras would occur at WrestleMania 41 between Cena and Cody Rhodes. Instead, we saw the most shocking turn in probably the last 25 years after Cody turned down The Rock’s offer and John Cena then turned on Cody and stood alongside The Rock.

Years ago, around the time that The Rock and Cena were heading WrestleManias against each other, there was an outspoken majority of fans WISHING for Cena to turn heel, but it never came to be. Now, all these years later, after Cena announced his retirement at the end of 2025 there seemed to be zero chance of a heel Cena ever happening. The retirement tour, the seeing the fans around the world one last time, all of it cemented the fact that Cena was on a final nostalgia tour and that was it – except now it has all taken a turn that no one could have seen coming.

The Hulk Hogan 1996 turn comparisons have been nonstop ever since Cena turned, and this version of Cena could very much be similar to the way Hogan reinvited himself and lit the business on fire all over again in WCW with the nWo. How will it all unfold? How will it all end up at the end of 2025? We’ve mostly seen the same version of John Cena for nearly 22 years, so whatever comes next is going to be must-see TV.