{"id":148213,"date":"2025-12-10T07:00:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T12:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=148213"},"modified":"2025-12-09T23:15:30","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T04:15:30","slug":"the-john-cena-wwe-retirement-tour-what-if-cenas-heel-turn-was-handled-differently","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/12\/10\/the-john-cena-wwe-retirement-tour-what-if-cenas-heel-turn-was-handled-differently\/","title":{"rendered":"The John Cena WWE Retirement Tour: What if Cena’s Heel Turn Was Handled Differently?"},"content":{"rendered":"

John Cena\u2019s \u201cThe Last Time is Now (retirement) Tour\u201d during a hot creative period had all the promise to convince a lapsed fan like me to check out WWE again. Like many millennials, I grew up on John Cena. Also, like those same fans, my relationship with Cena is mixed.<\/p>\n

I cheered for Cena\u2019s victory at WrestleMania 21. I had a Cena \u201cRuck Fules\u201d shirt that I wore to the SmackDown WrestleMania Revenge Tour house show in Cardiff. Yet by SummerSlam 2025, I was over Cena.<\/p>\n

I was growing up, whereas Cena regressed. Cena lost his attitude. Super Cena had no bite. Excluding when he occasionally tore open opponents\u2019 jugulars to expose their weaknesses. Cena, like Wu-Tang, was for the children. Only a capitalistic, sanitized version. M<\/p>\n

ore caricature than man. Child-friendly insults, toilet-humor, and a colorful array of shirts like a one-man Power Rangers squad, Cena became a symbol and scapegoat. An embodiment of WWE\u2019s duality. A man who remade WWE\u2019s top guy mold in WWE forevermore.<\/p>\n

Yet everything is cyclical. Through sheer force of will and undeniable effort, Cena earned the respect of fans like me. Cena earned this tour and the hype with it. A heel turn could have been cyclical, too. If WWE creatively did not fumble the bag.<\/p>\n

Old Hat<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Although intrigued, the heel turn never made me tune in beyond a few clips. I was intrigued but cautious. After Elimination Chamber, I thought WWE had the perfect opportunity to make Cena’s heel turn work<\/a>. Not because it was bold, but because it was cyclical. A rare instance where kayfabe and reality could again, for the first time since The Bloodline<\/a>, do something nuanced with an old formula.<\/p>\n

The story chosen was weak, with no payoff for Cena or his partnership with The Rock and Travis Scott. Cena\u2019s own reasoning for the failure highlights a lack of thought and prep. One, Cena did feel he had enough time to establish the characterisation. Two, Cena believes he overprepared for the role. Three, the fans did not want it.<\/p>\n

The unstable bedrock, built on sand, was the character\u2019s reasoning or a character arc. Yes, Cena\u2019s reasoning had truth that echoed WWE\u2019s past rather than the man himself\u2014calling himself human felt robotic and done in the same style as every other Cena opening promo. For his part, Cena played the conductor well.<\/p>\n

The clich\u00e9, on the nose, \u201cI\u2019m the victim\u201d sentiment from the WWE playbook. It felt impersonal because it sounded so familiar. Again, being called toxic reminded me of why I switched off in the first place. This wasn\u2019t the nostalgia I wanted. Ironically, an old hat resold in a new colour scheme.<\/p>\n

WWE Chose the Wrong Story <\/strong><\/h2>\n

WWE missed what seemed like an obvious personal story I thought WWE was brewing post-Royal Rumble\u2014one about how Cena is the living embodiment of WWE as a business<\/a>. At the press conference, after losing to Jey Uso, Cena spoke with determination and yet desperation. Self-entitlement with insecurity. Claiming his eventual record-breaking world championship victory was \u201cwhat is best for business\u201d.<\/p>\n

Did it forebode a potential turn, or reinforce that Cena was and remained, in kayfabe and in some people\u2019s actual perceptions, as a political operator? Or something akin to the tragic protagonists in prestige TV shows?<\/p>\n

There seemed to be an internal conflict. Something that deeply connects to us as people on a universal level. The decline and end are inevitable. Time gets everyone. Yet many of us think we are the exception. We can outrun it or dictate to time our own ending the way we want it.<\/p>\n

In wrestling and sports, we\u2019ve seen veteran wrestlers like The Undertaker,<\/a> clinging on for something perfect and failing. We\u2019ve seen it endlessly repeating. If we\u2019re honest, in kayfabe and reality, Cena is past his peak. Before the Royal Rumble, Cena had not won a singles match in years. Cena failed to elevate Solo Sikoa and Austin Theory. The clock ticked. Cena\u2019s retirement was not getting the fairy tale he hoped for.<\/p>\n

Life rarely goes as we want. The ego makes us think we are exceptional. We twist logic and sometimes morality to fit the narrative. Justify our choices and actions. When Cena said winning another world championship was \u201cbest for business\u201d, it evoked Triple H\u2019s The Authority, without irony. It hinted at exceptionalism.<\/p>\n

The story could have been about Cena, the human being, deciding what kind of man he wanted to be at the end of his career.<\/p>\n

A Visible Struggle <\/strong><\/h2>\n

How far would you go for the perfect ending?<\/p>\n

WWE and Cena could have explored the human struggle behind the Superman persona. Like my what-if suggestion for Chris Jericho truly reinventing himself in one final AEW run<\/a>, WWE and Cena could have embraced and played with real-life perceptions. An exploration of how far one of WWE\u2019s ultimate heroes would go to control their narrative, their history.<\/p>\n

Cena wouldn\u2019t be a heel or babyface, but a human being. Instead, Cena would be someone who can\u2019t compete at the same level as the present generation. Instead, Cena relies on other means.<\/p>\n

Imagine, Elimination Chamber, Cena still wins after campaigning to get himself into the number one contenders’ match. Cena acts uncharacteristically. More opportunist and selective. In the end, winning with what appears to be a handful of tights. There\u2019s no Travis Scott or The Rock. The story heading to WrestleMania is Cody Rhodes questioning Cena\u2019s integrity.<\/p>\n

Cena does not engage when his cheating is brought up. Instead, Cena does what he\u2019s always done: acknowledge that the crowd isn\u2019t all with him. Slowly, hypocrisy is built up.<\/p>\n

His relationship and words to the fandom gradually hint at and become an abusive relationship that he uses to justify his actions. Becomes the reason why Cena needs to win the title again. Ultimately, that\u2019s what Cena\u2019s character is doing this for. Cena says for the fans, but it\u2019s his own insecurity and selfishness.<\/p>\n

Cena – Morally Grey<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Fans might cheer in support or boo in opposition to a morally ambiguous John Cena. A divided crowd is nothing new. Duelling chants of \u201cLet\u2019s go Cena- Cena sucks\u201d have been a beloved chorus for decades. That chorus continuing until the end would be fitting. Seeing Cena willingly breaking his code of \u201chustle, loyalty, and respect\u201d to achieve history would demand emotional investment. It would feel like a real person rather than a traditional wrestling archetype.<\/p>\n

Three questions could have driven the story to and beyond WrestleMania.<\/p>\n