The wrestling world added perhaps one of the biggest, most shocking moments to its illustrious history this past week at the WWE Elimination Chamber Premium Live Event. It was a moment that fans never witnessed, especially at this stage, but the genius of Paul “Triple H” Levesque and his regime made fantasy a reality.
The Superman of WWE for twenty years, John Cena, decided to no longer care about the people and put the spotlight entirely on himself in the final run of his WWE career. He shocked the world by turning on the millions of fans of his Cenation and embraced the heel side of professional wrestling.
John Cena’s shocking actions were an addition to the game-changing moments in the history of professional wrestling, even though former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon was never in agreement with this idea. Moreover, in our opinion, it even transcends the moment when another megastar, Hulk Hogan, left his Real American colors behind to turn to the dark side of black and white.
Why is John Cena’s heel turn a bigger moment than Hulk Hogan joining the nWo?
Hulk Hogan was the first megastar of the professional wrestling industry back in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was portrayed as the larger-than-life American hero who was the ultimate good guy and a role model for millions of fans worldwide. But Hogan did something that fans never expected he would do, much like John Cena.
When The Hulkster joined WCW, he shocked the world at the 1996 Bash at the Beach event by joining the Outsiders, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, and turning heel. This led to the birth of Hollywood’s Hulk Hogan, who ruled the roost in Ted Turner’s company, which also kept WCW ahead of WWE for many weeks.
However, that was a different era and time. There was no social media or prime media services where fans could express their opinions. Moreover, the professional wrestling industry was entering into the mainstream but was not quite there yet. This led to Hogan’s heel turn not reaching the magnitude that it eventually did over the years.
John Cena turning heel is legitimately the biggest heel turn since Hulk Hogan joined the NWO🤯 pic.twitter.com/L4aAEklBch
— Public Enemies Podcast (@TheEnemiesPE3) March 2, 2025
Moreover, Hulk Hogan’s controversial life and personality might have hindered his iconic wrestling moments, including his nWo moment. However, in the case of John Cena’s heel turn, he had been the ultimate babyface longer than Hogan. Furthermore, the heel turn came when anyone least expected it, amidst Cena’s farewell tour that began on RAW’s debut edition of Netflix featuring multiple stars and celebrities.
John Cena‘s heel turn was something fans had left all hopes of seeing ever, thus making the magnitude of that moment even bigger than Hogan joining the nWo. Lastly, it happened at the peak of the professional wrestling industry, and WWE was thriving, having a much bigger impact worldwide. So, in our opinion, Cena’s heel turn was much better than seeing the birth of Hollywood Hulk Hogan.
John Cena’s soul now belongs to The Rock
The events leading up to John Cena’s heel turn happened toward the end of the 2025 Elimination Chamber PLE. Cena emerged victorious in the Men’s Chamber and earned the opportunity to face Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE title at WrestleMania 41.
The Prodigal Son came out to embrace Cena and looked forward to their match. But this was followed by the arrival of Travis Scott and The Rock, who wanted to hear Cody’s answer. When he turned it down, Cena struck Rhodes with a low blow and followed it with a huge beatdown, cementing his heel turn, although it was not the first time he went bad in his prime.
With John Cena having embraced the dark side and years of hate, it will be interesting to see ‘heel Cena’ march forward to his 17th World Championship pursuit on the road to WrestleMania.
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