When John Cena first turned heel it was exciting and different. It set up heel Cena against the WWE’s biggest babyface Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 41 for the WWE Championship.
The slight issue. A large portion of the crowd at the mega show in Las Vegas wanted to see heel John Cena win a record-breaking 17th World championship. An understated entrance, horrendously poor performance in the ring and interference from Travis Scott still wasn’t enough to stop certain fans from rooting for Cena.
Cena won to mixed cheers.
Giving Randy Orton the first crack at Cena in “The Viper’s” hometown at Backlash was a good first opponent. The crowd were closer to being fully anti-Cena. But not quite all there.
As we approach WWE Money in the Bank, WWE has laid some good groundwork for Cena’s heel character to amp up a bit. It’s something that needs to happen to sustain the full John Cena Retirement Tour with Cena as a bad guy.
Here’s what WWE needs to do to take Cena’s bad guy persona to the next level.
Cena Ruins Wrestling With Outsiders
Travis Scott seemed a totally random pairing for Cena when he was involved in the Elimination Chamber heel turn.
But Cena’s actions at Saturday Night’s Main Event suggest it was the beginning of a trend that could really rub people up the wrong way.
Cena attempted to screw beloved World Heavyweight Champion Jey Uso out of his title against ‘Youtuber’ Logan Paul. Cena claimed if he left WWE with the top title, whilst the World Heavyweight Championship was around the waist of Paul it would ruin wrestling.
He’s got a point. It would also suggest why cooling down the collaboration with The Rock is a good move. If Cena builds an army of hated outsiders – Scott, Paul and perhaps even Bad Bunny – fans would generally hate it. It would present a group with no redeemable qualities and seriously irritate longstanding WWE fans.
Logan Paul is the most hated man in WWE. Cena & Paul vs. Rhodes and Uso – the most beloved men – is a perfect match to cool down any love for Cena.
The feud will continue on WWE SmackDown this week as Cena and Rhodes are booked to appear.
More Backstage Put Downs
Cena’s in-ring promos claiming abuse at the hands of the fans have been a great way to explain his heel actions.
But his character seemed to reach a new level when he spoke down to Jey Uso and bragged about how bad it would be if the title he held went from a beloved superstar with a family lineage to a Youtuber. More of this from Cena would again help boost the hate for him.
CM Punk: The Saviour Of Heel John Cena
To fully turn every fan against Cena he needs to battle someone that every fan loves. Yes, everyone loves Rhodes but they’ve already seen him win the title. WrestleMania proved that Rhodes’ unwavering fan support is … wavering.
A certain section of the audience would still support Cena in any future showdowns with Rhodes. That’s fine. But for us to experience full-heel Cena we need him to face someone every wants to see him lose to.
Enter CM Punk. Punk hasn’t held gold since his shocking return to WWE in 2023. He is the performer on the roster most people want to see win the Undisputed WWE Championship. Punk hasn’t had a programme for the championship yet in almost two years of being back in WWE.
Cena vs. CM Punk is the perfect match. There’s so much history between the two men. Hopefully, we won’t have to wait until the clock ticks down on Cena’s contract for the match to happen. As there’s no other way we can see Cena’s full heel potential unleashed.
But if Rhodes and Cena will take up the summer. Expect the Autumn, or Winter of Punk as we work towards Cena’s retirement in December 2025.
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