Predicting When John Cena Turns Babyface on WWE Retirement Tour

John Cena's heel turn was one of the most shocking moments in WWE history, but odds are he will turn babyface once again before the end of his retirement tour.

On Monday's episode of Raw, The Last Real Champion revealed he only has 18 appearances remaining, one of which will be used for a battle at Night of Champions against a former critic of WWE shows in Saudi Arabia, CM Punk.

While the WWE Universe may be interested in a fun trip down Nostalgia Lane, it's clear the Hollywood actor will not end his wrestling career as a dastardly heel.

Inevitably, he will see the error of his ways and return to babyface status.

For the WWE Universe, the most likely scenario would be Cena's war of words with Punk starting a slow face turn that would ultimately culminate at SummerSlam with a loss to Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship.

Rumors have swirled that the King of the Ring winner will get a shot at a champion at SummerSlam on August 2-3, which sets the stage perfectly for Rhodes to win the tournament and force a rematch against the man who stole his title.

In the coming weeks, Punk will undoubtedly run down Cena on the mic for becoming the man he once stood so adamantly against, a path that could force the longtime good guy to look inward.

After the world champion dispatches his challenger in Saudi Arabia, Cena will come face-to-face with the man who he turned on in the first place. It will be poetic justice not only for the 17-time champion but also Rhodes and his redemption storyline.

When the two men square off at SummerSlam, Cena will be portraying the heel but should almost immediately begin to show signs of uncertainty in his tactics. Eventually, he will consider using a foreign object to finish Rhodes, but will decide against it, a move that opens the door for the challenger to steal a pinfall victory and the belt.

With Cena beaten and emotionally broken, Rhodes should lend him his hand and forgive him for turning on him and aligning with The Rock. With an embrace, the WWE Universe would be fully back on Cena's side for his final run as a good guy.

The problem for Cena should be that once he turns face again and is embraced by the fans, The Rock should return to WWE and claim he owns the 17-time champion's soul since he helped him get the upper hand on Rhodes.

When Cena refuses to do his bidding, The Great One should lean on his newest friend, Drew McIntyre, to clean up Cena's mess and send him packing.

Not only would the Scot help carry Cena to a stellar series of matches to end his in-ring career, but it would also give the two-time WWE champion a major feather in his cap by beating the bona fide legend in his farewell match.

Going out on his back would be the best way for Cena to give back to WWE one last time, and doing it as a beloved babyface would be the proper bookend to a Hall-of-Fame career.

For more wrestling talk, listen to Ring Rust Radio for all the hot topics or catch the latest episode in the player above (some language NSFW).