John Cena turned heel at Elimination Chamber 2025. (Image via WWE.com)
17-time WWE World Champion John Cena shocked the entire pro wrestling world following his Elimination Chamber win at the titular event. Cena defeated CM Punk to win the match and book his spot in the WWE Championship match at WrestleMania 41 against the then-champion Cody Rhodes.
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Following his win, Cena did the unthinkable and attacked Rhodes after he refused to join hands with The Rock. This led to the 48-year-old aligning himself with The Great One and turning heel for the first time in over 20 years.
Speaking about it on The Wrestling Outlaws on Sportskeeda WrestleBinge, wrestling veteran Vince Russo offered his insight on the turn. He added if WWE could've given John Cena a promo, laying out his ambitions at Elimination Chamber, it would've made the heel turn a 'perfect story'.
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"If he would have went over in the Elimination Chamber, all he had to do was cut that one promo saying, 'I know this might be my last opportunity ever of becoming the champion.' Then, you get to the match, it looks like he's gonna lose and he does the unthinkable. He cheats because he knew. That's a perfect story. Everybody can understand that story. There wasn't going to be another opportunity. He had to do whatever he had to do. It's such an clear, easy story," Russo said. [From 2:38 onwards]
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John Cena's heel turn ultimately ended up being one of WWE's most viral moments of the year. The turn garnered the company widespread publicity, which in turn helped the sports entertainment giant make WrestleMania 41 the most-viewed WrestleMania of all time.
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About the author
Faiz Ahmed
Faiz is a WWE writer at Sportskeeda Wrestling. He is a BBA graduate who is passionate about sports and wants to make a career in that field. This passion led to a postgraduate degree in Journalism, which helped him pivot into becoming a sports writer. When writing, he puts the utmost importance on accuracy and thorough research.
Faiz has six years of work experience across four companies. He started his career with Zomato and then moved to Amazon. He shifted to becoming a football writer at TV9 Digital and is now with Sportskeeda. He covered the Wrestling Xtreme Mania event in Gurgaon in 2025, where he had the opportunity to interview Raj The Maharaja, fka Jinder Mahal. At the same event, he also got quick interviews with former WWE Superstar Dijak and Japanese Joshi legend Emi Sakura.
When it comes to his favourite wrestlers, Faiz has two names in mind. He loved to watch Triple H before the current WWE CCO retired, and he is a huge fan of Roman Reigns. Being a loyal fan since the Tribal Chief's SHIELD days, Faiz credits Roman's mic skills and unmatched in-ring storytelling for his mega success. When he was young, one in-ring story left a lasting impression on his mind and eventually got him hooked on WWE. That match was Shawn Michaels vs. Ric Flair at WrestleMania 24. Apart from that, he is also a fan of RAW.
When Faiz is not writing for Sportskeeda, he loves to keep up with other sports. He is an avid cricket and football fan, a huge gamer, and loves playing some RPGs on the PlayStation.
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