John Cena Reveals The One Key Detail On His Mind During His WWE Heel Turn

John Cena dropped his classic "hustle, loyalty, respect" gimmick and turned heel for the first time in over two decades at this year's WWE Elimination Chamber event. That turn kicked off his retirement run with a lot of fanfare, but it didn't stick.

By the time SummerSlam rolled around in August, Cena had the hustle, loyalty, and respect back and was his usual, good guy self in front of the WWE Universe.

So, why, with only limited dates and an audience that is finally universally on Cena's side, do you do a heel turn in the first place? Pretty simple. The WWE wanted to create a moment.

"They wanted to make Elimination Chamber a moment," Cena told Cody Rhodes on an episode of the What Do You Wanna Talk About podcast. "I get it. The business is about making moments. There is nothing wrong with that. You don’t always need a nine-month trajectory. You can understand, ‘We have a ton of eyes on tonight. Let’s do something impactful, and then you, as artists, can run through the maze and figure it out."

A good idea in theory. Just not in practice. As heel Cena worked matches against Randy Orton, R-Truth, and CM Punk. Cena did his best, but the WWE audience never bought him as a legitimate bad guy.

It was all about the detail in John Cena WWE heel turn

In the interview with Rhodes, Cena said he thought the turn was a wonderful opportunity to be challenged creatively. He also revealed a key detail of the turn that he was worried about. The look. Cena said the infamous look that he gave The Rock before low-kicking Rhodes was important, and he wanted the team to stay on the shot.

"When we all talked about it, the one detail, ‘I’ll do whatever the f**k y’all want, just stay on the face for longer than you think.’ That’s the one thing I said. ‘This is going to feel weird. Just stay.”
John Cena

At Elimination Chamber, Cena seemingly sided with The Rock against Cody Rhodes. Cena, The Rock, and Travis Scott beat Rhodes to a pulp in the middle of the ring.

Rhodes and Cena went on to wrestle in the main event of WrestleMania, but The Rock never showed up again. What would have happened if he did? We'll never know.

Cena is now a retired WWE Superstar, wrestling his last match against Gunther at Saturday Night's Main Event last weekend. Gunther did the unthinkable and made Cena give up to lose the match, tapping out to Gunther's sleeper hold.

Cena announced his retirement tour at the 2024 Money in the Bank event and spent this year putting a bow on his career. In 2025, he won the world championship for a record-setting 17th time.

The Latest On WWE, AEW & More

Details Revealed On Upcoming John Cena Retirement Documentary

Seth Rollins & Becky Lynch Talk Retirement Following John Cena's Final Match

Cody Rhodes Reveals The Best Advice He Received From John Cena

John Cena Discusses Sudden Absence Of The Rock & Travis Scott Post WrestleMania 41