• John Cena aligned with The Rock to beat down WWE Champion Cody Rhodes
  • Cena will challenge for the WWE Title at WrestleMania 41
  • WWE fans left stunned at Cena turning heel for first time in 22 years
Credit: WWE

It finally happened. John Cena turned heel. We haven’t seen it for 22 years. Everyone called for it years ago when they booed the 16-time WWE Champion out of every arena across America. But as time went by and audiences began to cheer wildly for the former Doctor of Thuganomics whenever he took breaks from his Hollywood schedule to step back into the squared circle, it felt as though the time had passed for one last villainous run.

Until tonight.

After emerging victorious from the men’s Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber event in Toronto, Cena was met in the ring by WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, who he had just become the number one contender to face at WrestleMania 41. As the pair shook hands they were interrupted by The Rock, flanked by rapper Travis Scott.

The Final Boss had last week told Rhodes that he had been a great WWE Champion for the past year, but now he wanted Cody to become ‘his champion’ i.e. sell out to become a corporate champion, promising the champion untold fame and fortune similar to what The Rock himself enjoys.

The Rock tonight came to receive Cody’s answer, only to be given a pretty blunt “Go f**k yourself, Rock”, which generated an animated response from an apparently delighted Cena, who helped Cody overcome Roman Reigns and The Rock last year at WrestleMania 40 to become WWE Champion for the first time.



However, as Cena embraced Rhodes, the expression on his face changed, with The Rock motioning across his throat as the crowd inside the Rogers Centre promptly lost their minds when they realised what was about to happen. A low blow sent Rhodes careering to the mat, confused and alone, surrounded by two of the biggest stars in wrestling history. Former rivals, now aligned to take the title from the American Nightmare.

Cena punched Rhodes using the gold Rolex the champion had gifted The Rock last year during their WrestleMania run, before laying the champ out with two shots from his own title belt, leaving Rhodes a bloody mess.

The turn has already been dubbed one of the most shocking moments in professional wrestling history. Cena is currently in the midst of his retirement tour, which will see the former WWE Champion bring an end to his almost unparalleled in-ring career at the end of 2025. Many fans believed he would ride into the sunset with one final heroic run. Very few fans were predicting what happened in Toronto tonight.

And social media went into meltdown as a result…

Cena has been announced for three Monday Night Raw appearances this month across WWE’s tour of Europe and will now face Rhodes for the WWE Title in the main event of WrestleMania 41, in Las Vegas on the weekend of April 19 and 20.

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Joe Baiamonte
Joe spent four years heading up SPORTbible’s editorial team before taking over at UNILAD Sport. Joe has regularly provided WWE coverage for almost a decade, interviewing many of the biggest names in the business and covering several major events in the United States and Europe, including four WrestleManias.
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