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Backstage Details On John Cena's Historic Heel Turn At WWE Elimination Chamber

John Cena was not content with dying a hero and he's now lived long enough to see himself become the villain. Here's what's being said about his shocking heel turn at WWE Elimination Chamber.
Rick Ucchino|
WWE Twitter

It finally happened.

Much to the shock of the 38,000 plus inside the Rogers Centre in Toronto, and the millions watching across the globe on Peacock and Netflix, John Cena finally turned heel Saturday night at Elimination Chamber.

The 16-time World Champion sold his soul to The Rock in what was one of the more stunning turn of events in recent WWE history. Cena, The Final Boss and Travis Scott (for some reason) orchestrated a 3-on-1 bloody assault on the WWE Champion as much of the crowd looked on in disbelief.

Just minutes before, John Cena had punched his ticket to WrestleMania 41 by winning the Men's Elimination Chamber Match. He'll face the American Nightmare this April in Las Vegas with a chance to become a record-breaking 17-time World Champion, and presumably, he'll do so with The Rock in his corner.

For obvious reasons, the events of Elimination Chamber were highly protected internally. Cody Rhodes' segment with The Rock was listed third on the rundown sheet and that was intentionally done to throw off the scent of Cena's eventual turn toward the dark side. That according to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select.

"It running at the end of the show wasn't a last minute change, and it was simply placed third internally to protect the Cena heel turn," Ross Sapp reported early Sunday morning. "As a reminder, we report what is on the rundown, and note that they are subject to change. We have no stock in what goes on in what order."

Ross Sapp says that WWE went to great lengths to keep everything surrounding John Cena and Cody Rhodes well protected. It has been the plan for them to wrestle at the 'Showcase of the Immortals' for some time now. What's currently unknown is when exactly The Rock and this historic heel turn were worked into the equation.

"Much of Rock's creative has been on a "need to know basis," and Cena's involvement with WWE this year hasn't required much creative briefing across the board," Ross Sapp said in his report Sunday. "When we asked about The Rock's appearance at Bad Blood, nobody had been told specifically that was to set up this, but believed it could have been a pitch that far back, as Cena/Cody was in creative plans shortly after that."

How much the Final Boss plans to be integrated in the run up to WrestleMania 41 remains a mystery as well. Most people within WWE believe that the Rock will be in Las Vegas for WrestleMania 41, but that has not been confirmed at this time.

During the Elimination Chamber Post Show Press Conference, The Rock noted that Cena was flying out to Africa to finish filiming a movie. His next advertised date is the March 17 episode of Raw in Brussels, Belgium.

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Rick Ucchino
RICK UCCHINO

Rick Ucchino is the Assistant Editor & Content Coordinator for The Takedown on SI. He also works full-time for 700WLW Radio in Cincinnati, Ohio as a local news and sports anchor, in addition to his time covering the Cincinnati Bengals for Sirius XM. Rick has been on the professional wrestling beat since 2019, having provided coverage for a number of outlets, including Fightful, SB Nation’s Cageside Seats and the Bleav Podcast Network. With an educational background in theater, creative writing and journalism, Rick focuses primarily on the storytelling aspect of pro wrestling, but he’s no stranger to the squared circle himself. He had the privilege of training with former WWE & WCW cruiserweight Jimmy Wang Yang for nearly two years and retired early due to back issues with a perfect 1-0 record in singles competition. Rick is a married father of two incredibly adorable children, who are budding pro wrestling fans themselves. Much to the chagrin of their mother. You can reach Rick at rwucchino@gmail.com

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