At Elimination Chamber, Cody Rhodes was offered the opportunity by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to sell his soul and join forces with the Final Boss. He refused, and in a moment that shocked the world, John Cena finally turned heel.
The Rock vanished after that, and while rapper Travis Scott briefly returned at WrestleMania after being present for Cena's turn, he was another non-factor when all was said and done. As for the heel run itself, it divided opinions and is widely considered a let-down.
That was more down to WWE's booking than what Cena was doing, and it came as a blessed relief when he finally returned to his usual babyface persona ahead of SummerSlam.
Talking to Chris Van Vliet, Cena confirmed that a heel turn was not originally planned for his retirement tour. "No, that stuff you see on Unreal is real. 'We need to make Chamber big, so let's do something that'll shock everybody.' 'Hey, man, we got this idea.' 'No problem, I'll do the best I can.'"
Addressing the criticisms from fans, Cena put it down to them being so limited on time to tekl this story:
"This is just my perspective. What I like is people are talking about it. And the cool thing is, people who are critical of it, apparently had some idea in their head about what they wanted, which is great, because that means you're attached, that means you care. I enjoy that, and I hear that criticism. When we did it, we did it as a big moment, but with a purpose. Hey, this is going to ignite something with you and Cody."
"It's going to start in February and end in August, because you only have 36 broadcasts and Intuit and Rumble are gone. So now we're down to 34. Then we need some on the back end, with you actually being a good guy. So let's take it down to 24. We kind of have to tell a story that should be two years long, 52 weeks a year, plus 14 to 18 PLES. We got to do it in like 20 episodes of television."
"Okay, so it took my focus on Cody, on the championship and on frustrations that I've had, it all comes from a genuine place, things I could say. I'm so happy to say that I wouldn't retread the course, because I gave everything I had my poor wife. I'd wake up in the middle of the night writing promo lines and thinking about spots and stuff. The opponents I had were great, but I remember everyone talking in February and be like, this is how things change. Yes, this is a good plan. Okay, guys, if I'm gonna ruin this thing, like I'm gonna I'm gonna wrestle methodically, I have an idea of what ruining wrestling is."
The interviewer pushed Cena on what the original plan was for The Rock and Scott, but he wouldn't be drawn on it. "Who cares? It doesn't matter," he replied. "We can talk about what could have been until the cows come home. And I think that's what's great about the people who are left standing."
"Certainly me and Cody. What's the change? this? All right, let's go. I don't dwell for one second on what could have been, because what could have been is Brock doesn't leave for the NFL and there's no John Cena," Cena continued before it was put to him that there could have been a match with Johnson. "Could there be anything? That’s the thing that sucks about what could have been, it’s not what it is."
While it may sound like Cena is disappointed, he reiterated that he doesn't care and, in an admittedly subtle way, made sure to remind fans that he's left his fate in WWE's hands this past year. Ultimately, it seems Johnson ditched WWE so he could focus on being taken as a "serious" actor in Hollywood, so it was out of everyone's control.
Does it matter in the grand scheme of things heading into Cena's retirement match at this weekend's Saturday Night's Main Event? That's up for debate, but it's admittedly hard not to wonder what might have been. You can hear more from Cena in the player below.