At the Elimination Chamber PLE, WWE shocked the world by turning John Cena heel for the first time in over two decades as he brutally attacked WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. Cena is set to take on the American Nightmare at WrestleMania 41, but in the aftermath of joining The Rock, he spent the last few weeks not appearing on WWE TV to explain himself. However, that all came to an end on the March 17 Raw in Brussels, Belgium. In front of a raucous crowd, John Cena gave his reasons why he did it, and it’s all our fault. He spent twenty minutes telling fans why their treatment of him brought him to this point.
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John Cena Struggled To Get Over Early In His WWE Career
Cena Said “I Changed Myself, Hoping You Would Like Me A Little Bit”
- There is truth to John Cena’s explanation for turning heel.
- John Cena had no gimmick until becoming the Doctor of Thuganomics.
- Cena’s new character got him over with fans, but then it was changed.
John Cena’s first words were, “When somebody’s properly grounded in life, they shouldn’t have to look outside themselves for approval.” He didn’t speak about desperation at becoming WWE Champion one last time, but about being the victim in an abusive relationship. As with most great heels like Drew McIntyre and Kevin Owens, Cena’s turn to the dark side works because there is truth to it. Unlike any other wrestler ever, John Cena has a relationship with the fans that has hurt him as much as it helped him.
Cena made his memorable WWE debut in June 2002 on an episode of SmackDown, where he came out to challenge Kurt Angle and spoke about “Ruthless Aggression”, a phrase which came to define an era. He didn’t beat Angle that night, but he took him to the limit. Still, a star wasn’t exactly born, because Cena became a boring wrestler with no real gimmick. Fans couldn’t have cared less about him, but then came the Doctor of Thuganomics. His heel rap gimmick got him over as he verbally destroyed his opponents. The problem, though, was that he was so good at it that fans began to cheer him. John Cena turned babyface, but not too long after he did, WWE stripped him of everything that made fans cheer for him.
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Many Fans Rejected John Cena As The Face Of WWE
Cena Told The Crowd “I Won a Lot and You Hated It”
- John Cena was boring and never changed as a babyface.
- Cena did great work with kids for Make-a-Wish.
- Even as the good guy, fans chanted “Cena sucks.”
John Cena told the crowd that he worked hard like he always did, then he started to win over and over. Fans hated him for it, and what he gave still wasn’t enough, so he spent the next decade giving away every bit of himself, and that wasn’t enough either. Often times heels will blame the fans for their turn, but in Cena’s case, what he said was the truth.
Vince McMahon made John Cena the new face of WWE, which was desperately needed with Steve Austin and The Rock gone. What WWE did wrong was turn John Cena into the most vanilla, inoffensive babyface ever. He smiled and wore his bright shirts and jorts while talking about never giving up, which is fine, but he did it year after year, winning title after title. He dominated WWE to the point that he started every single Raw with a promo, but it was Groundhog Day because nothing ever changed. Women and kids still loved him, but everyone else turned on him. John Cena wasn’t cool. He was what was wrong with wrestling, many thought. Maybe he was a good person, and he did amazing work with Make-a-Wish, but as WWE’s top star he was dull. For a decade, despite being the hero, half of the audience told him he sucked every week.
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Fans Only Started Cheering For John Cena At The End Of His Career
Cena Said “I Tried One Last Time To Get Along With You Guys”
- Fans booed John Cena until he became a part-time wrestler.
- Cena is now considered the GOAT of WWE.
- Fans have been fantasy booking Cena’s last run instead of wondering how he’s doing.
John Cena told the Brussels fans that he tried one last time to make the fans happy, but again, it was never enough and they ruined it. “I put my values on the line to make a very important choice in my life and all you could think is, ‘What do we get?'” Cena yelled that no one ever asked how he felt, but only thought about themselves. He told the fans that they got nothing. He wasn’t changing his look or his music, but was staying himself.
Fans never stopped booing John Cena until the past few years. As Cena got older and rarely appeared in WWE, audiences became more appreciative when they saw him because they knew time was running out. It took him announcing his retirement for the WWE Universe to accept him completely, with everyone cheering him, calling him the GOAT, when for years the same people harassed him relentlessly. When Cena announced his retirement, the talk was all about what he would do, who he’d wrestle, who his final opponent would be. The talk was never, “I wonder how he’s doing. Is he okay?”
Cena had hate for his fans too for turning him into a joke, and for doing things like turning “You can’t see” me into a joke about being invisible that was never funny to him. He’s not wrong here either. Even though Cena is very famous, not just as a wrestler but an actor, he’s become a walking meme there to make others feel good. There’s only one issue, John. You say we get nothing, but for two decades we’ve been begging to see you turn heel again. In 2025, you’ve given us exactly what we wanted.
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