John Cena admits his WWE heel turn failed: ‘I went out there and bombed’

John Cena’s heel turn at the Elimination Chamber was one of WWE’s most shocking moments. By Cena’s admission, the run that followed fell far short of expectations.

The creative direction behind Cena’s heel run, and his farewell tour more broadly, has been criticized as rushed and disjointed. Cena, 48, abandoned his heel character, the first time he played a villain in 22 years, in a losing effort to Cody Rhodes at SummerSlam. He reverted to the colorful, kid-friendly hero that a generation grew up with. 

The record-setting 17-time world champion admitted this week that his heel run missed the mark and shouldered full responsibility for its failure.

“I just know I failed,” Cena said during a fan Q&A at Fan Expo Chicago. “Ain’t nothing wrong with that. You can learn from failure, right? I went out there and bombed. Shit happens, guys.”

A major gripe with Cena’s heel turn was The Rock’s involvement. At Elimination Chamber, Cena sided with The Rock, brutally attacking Cody Rhodes in a segment revolving around The Rock’s unsuccessful coercion of Rhodes. Yet The Rock never appeared again, not even to help Cena beat Rhodes at WrestleMania 41.

“Hindsight is a waste of time,” Cena said. 

Cena didn’t want to dissect what went wrong with his heel turn. He said there’d be time to revisit it after his retirement. For now, Cena wants to focus on his remaining farewell tour dates, which include a clash with AJ Styles at Crown Jewel this weekend, and his retirement match at Saturday Night’s Main Event on Dec. 13.

“We got 11 dates left. I think I’ll be able to talk about all this bupkus in January after the whole thing is over,” Cena said. “But we’ve taken the audience on a hell of a ride this year. We still got a ways left to go, so I’m excited about that.”