Rollins Trolls The Rock; John Cena Talks Heel Turn; Randy Orton on CM Punk's Return

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

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Rollins Pokes Fun at The Rock on Social Media

World heavyweight champion Seth Rollins responded Thursday to The Rock taking shots at him and Cody Rhodes in a recent promo.

On Wednesday, WWE posted a video on X in which The Rock commented on Rollins and Rhodes being featured on The Grayson Waller Effect at Saturday's Elimination Chamber premium live event in Perth, Australia:

In the backstage interview (h/t Steve Carrier of Ringside News), The Rock threatened to get physical with Rollins and Rhodes if they step out of line, saying:

"Here's the bulls--t that's happening now down in Australia. Cody Rhodes and his little girlfriend Seth Rollins are gonna go on the Waller Effect. Here's the thing—I need you, and you, and this goof holding the camera, and this one holding the microphone over here, I need all of you guys to make sure that Perth knows there's some bulls--t happening.

"And if those guys—those guys meaning Cody and his little girlfriend Seth—if they start talking trash, let The Rock know. Tell The Rock. Because here's what's gonna happen—The Rock is gonna slap the piss out of both of them just like that."

Rollins later quote-tweeted a post that referenced The Rock's comments with a hugely popular internet GIF:

The Steve Buscemi "How do you do, fellow kids" GIF is usually used when an older person is trying to fit in with the younger generation.

After The Rock had a confrontation with Rhodes at the WrestleMania 40 press conference that saw The Rock slap Cody across the face, The Great One went back to his roots last week on SmackDown.

The Rock portrayed a heel character and aligned himself with Roman Reigns and The Bloodline. In his SmackDown promo, The Rock proverbially played many of his greatest hits by using some of the lines that got him over as a heel in the late 1990s.

Rollins seems to be suggesting that The Rock is somewhat stuck in the past, and his criticism will undoubtedly add another layer to the rivalry that is pitting The Rock and Reigns against Rhodes and Rollins.

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Cena Suggests He Was Not Allowed to Turn Heel in WWE

There are few bigger "what ifs" in pro wrestling than the question of what would have happened had John Cena turned heel at some point after his initial babyface turn in 2003.

Speaking during an interview this week on the Howard Stern Show (h/t Carrier), Cena seemed to indicate that he was not allowed by WWE's chief decision-makers to turn heel: "I realized it's something that I can't do forever, combined with the fact that I didn't have a lot of wild creative freedom in WWE. I had complete creative freedom over how I could curate my character, but I couldn't turn bad. That limits what you're capable of."

Cena was a heel early in his WWE tenure, but shortly after turning face, he became the top star in the company and established himself as the face of WWE for well over a decade.

No star in WWE enjoyed a more sustained run at the top than Cena, whose 16 career world title reigns are tied with Ric Flair for the most in pro wrestling history.

While Cena was always hugely popular with a fairly large portion of the WWE fanbase, there were times when he had his fair share of vocal detractors as well, which resulted in mixed reactions and dueling chants of "Let's go Cena" and "Cena sucks."

Cena likely would have excelled as a heel and it could have been a move that may have changed the trajectory of the pro wrestling business, much like Hulk Hogan turning heel in WCW did in 1996.

However, it is easy to understand why WWE was reluctant to pull the trigger on such a move, as Cena was always over with the younger portion of the fanbase and was consistently at or near the top of merchandise sales.

In recent years, Cena has made only fleeting appearances for WWE and has been primarily focused on his Hollywood acting career.

Since he is no longer a pivotal part of WWE, it isn't outside the realm of possibility that he could have one heel run before his career is over, but since he has made it this far as a babyface, it feels unlikely that the company will go in that direction.

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Orton Reveals How He Learned of Punk's WWE Return

After missing about a year and a half of action due to back surgery, Randy Orton made his triumphant return at Survivor Series in November, competing in and winning a WarGames match.

On that same night, CM Punk shockingly returned to WWE for the first time in nearly a decade, and received a hero's welcome from his hometown fans in Chicago.

Speaking this week to Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, Orton revealed that head of creative Triple H told him about Punk's return on the day of Survivor Series:

"The day of Survivor Series, I'm about to get my boots on. I'm feeling the nerves, it had been a year and a half. Triple H is like, 'Hey Randy, I've got to talk to you for a second.' I'm like, 'Yeah, what's up, man?' So he told me a couple things. And then he went, 'One more thing–Punk's returning tonight.'

"I thought he was f--king with me. I said, 'You're joking,' and he was like, 'No, I'm not. This is something that just happened in the last few days, yada yada yada.'"

It can be argued that Punk's return overshadowed Orton's, and The Viper admitted that while something like that would have bothered him in the past, he embraced it this time around:

"I could have been really pissed, and old Randy would have been pissed. It was a defining moment for me. I went out there, we had a great WarGames match, everybody was excited that I returned, everybody was excited that Punk returned, and neither return stepped on each other. It was a testament to how much I'd grown. It would have been an issue only if I made it one, so I was proud of the way I handled it."

Punk's return was a massive moment in wrestling history, as many thought it would never happen based on how poorly the Punk-WWE breakup went in 2014.

WWE saw the value in bringing back one of the biggest stars in wrestling, though, and he was instantly embraced by the WWE fanbase.

Punk unfortunately suffered a torn triceps in the men's Royal Rumble match, which means he won't be able to compete at WrestleMania 40, but he seems happy to be back in WWE, so there will be many more opportunities in the future for him to possibly headline the Showcase of the Immortals.

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