WWE CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER PAUL LEVESque pulled the curtain back on the idea that John Cena would be the bad guy at least at the beginning of his farewell tour of the company.
Cena sided with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson at Elimination Chamber and participated in a beatdown of Cody Rhodes after winning his match to beat his ticket to Wrestlemania 41. It was a shocking moment that left pro wrestling fans and sports fans in general, stunned.
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John Cena, right, in action against Cody Rhodes under the WWE elimination chamber in the Rogers Center on March 1, 2025 in Toronto. (Rich Freeda/WWE via Getty Images)
Levesque, who was better known as Triple H during his In-Ringing career on WWE, appeared on “High Performance” and talked about the decision to turn Cena Heel. Levesque remembered Wrestling Cena in the late 2000s, and the fans got bored with his “hustle, loyalty, respect” good-guy gimmick.
When Cena announced his last race, Levesque noted that he could have made it easy, but decided to play with the idea of fully turning Cena’s character.
“In my mind … The safe thing to do is a long -standing tour where you go to town and he makes his biggest hits, and it’s safe and it’s easy and it’s fun. But as an artist you go kind of through the movements,” he said. “You play the same concert that you’ve played a million times. People love it, but I’ve seen it. It’s nice, that’s all the things, safe, easy, funny all that.
“But I went to John and said what if, what if we pulled the handle that no one would ever pull and what if we turn you heel, for me it felt it if you never do it, boy you just let it hang there
John Cena, right, hugs Cody Rhodes under the WWE Elimination Chamber at Rogers Center on March 1, 2025 in Toronto. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE via Getty Images)
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Levesque said he went over what exactly happened in Elimination Chamber, which took place in March. Rhodes is asked to sell his soul to the rock, pages with fans, apparently is congratulated by Cena, and then Cena kicks him in the groin.
“Bad guys must be eligible in ‘why.’ It has to make sense and it can be crooked to suffer, ‘well, it makes sense.
“So, in John’s Mind, for 20-Plus Years, ‘I’m Done Everything The Right Way, Yet You’ll Customs Me I Suck, You’ll Booed Me And You’s Said I’m Super Cena, I Can’t Wrestle, I Only Have Five Moves, I This, I That,’ Like All The Things He’s Overcome for 25 YEARS, You can Now Flip That on them and be Bitter.
Levesque said Cena told him he didn’t think this was where he would have gone to the last hurray, but he said, “I f — ing love it.”
He added that Cena was ready for the challenge of getting the crowd hate him.
Cena received a huge amount of boos when he appeared on “Monday Night Raw” a few times while the company was in Europe. He accused the fans of creating the person he is now promised to “destroy wrestling” and win his record -breaking 17th championship.
Jey Uso, right, pushes John Cena from the ring on Saturday, February 1, 2025 under WWE Royal Rumble at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. (Grace Smith / Indystar / USA Today Network via Imag images)
It culminates in a match for the undisputed WWE championship Sunday at Wrestlemania 41 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Cena is also ready to perform on “Friday Night Smackdown” at the T-Mobile Arena ahead of the event.
