WWE Rumors: John Cena Heel Turn Details After Joining The Rock, Attacking Cody Rhodes

WWE went to great lengths to preserve the surprise from John Cena's heel turn to wrap up the Elimination Chamber: Toronto premium live event Saturday night.

According to Fightful Select (via Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), the company intentionally gave the impression that The Rock and Cody Rhodes' in-ring meeting would be in the middle of the show, a point when something as shocking as Cena's betrayal of Rhodes wouldn't be expected.

In addition, the plan was described as a "very protected secret" backstage to lessen the chance of anything getting spoiled.

Cena won the men's Elimination Chamber match to earn a shot at Rhodes at WrestleMania 41. The 16-time world champion showed he's willing to go to any lengths to get a record-setting 17th title reign by attacking Rhodes after The American Nightmare declined The Rock's overtures.

Wrestling fans have been begging to see a heel turn from Cena for years. He told Chris Van Vliet in March 2024 it had been thrown around in 2012 and advanced to the point where he was envisioning new creative directions for his character.

Cena ultimately decided it wasn't the right path.

Now, the 47-year-old is on the way out. He has said he's retiring following his 2025 run, so there's no reason to leave anything on the table.

The impact of his heel turn outside of WWE is likely to be less now that he's not a full-time wrestler, too. One persistent argument against the idea was that you simply couldn't make a guy who goes around granting hundreds of Make-a-Wish wishes the biggest villain in the promotion.

The irony is that the same fans who long wanted Cena to embrace the dark side were earnestly cheering for him because they know what his farewell tour represents.

While some were probably expecting to see the events that transpired in Toronto, there were likely many more who thought the ship had long sailed on Cena ever becoming a bad guy in WWE.