Does John Cena Regret His Ill-Fated Heel Turn This Year?

John Cena has one final match left in his WWE in-ring career. That match will take place against Gunther at WWE Saturday Night's Main Event on December 13 in Washington, DC.

2025 in WWE has been about John Cena. Cena became a world champion for the 17th time, breaking Ric Flair's all-time record. He competed against former top rivals like Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar, and CM Punk. He also turned heel, which was a risky call given the genuine interest among fans in Cena's final run.

The heel turn went down at WWE Elimination Chamber. Cena had just won the Men's Elimination Chamber Match to earn a shot at the world championship at WrestleMania 41. After the match, Rhodes walked down to the ring because he had business to handle with The Rock.

The Rock was trying to recruit Rhodes, but Rhodes turned him down. Instead, Cena stabbed Rhodes in the back and hit him with a low blow. Cena, The Rock, and Travis Scott all beat down Rhodes and left him lying in the ring.

From that point forward, Cena worked as a bad guy. He blamed the fans for turning on him years ago and shed the Cena personality that fans know and love.

John Cena does not regret heel turn

The turn didn't really work. Cena attempted to get heat, but for the most part, fans simply wanted to cheer him. WWE pivoted his character and turned him back babyface in time for his SummerSlam main event championship showdown with Rhodes.

Does Cena regret the heel turn, or the timing of the heel turn, given it was his final year of in-ring competition? Not at all. In an interview with The Ringer, Cena commented on the heel run and confirmed it wasn't perfect, but said he doesn't regret a minute of it.

“Not at all. What is perfect? Perfect is never achievable. That’s a suckers chase. When I look back on it, could I have given any more than I did? Not a bit. I over prepared. ‘Let’s try John like this. I know we have limited time, but let’s do something really big.’ Okay, it didn’t work. It doesn’t mean I didn’t give it my all.”
John Cena

Cena announced his retirement at SummerSlam in 2024. At that time, he revealed that 2025 would be his final year of competition and has maintained that he will not come back for another match after his final bow on December 13.

No other matches for Saturday Night's Main Event have been announced at this time, but Cena has confirmed there will be NXT vs. main roster star matches booked to shine a light on the future of WWE.

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