Column: Goodbye to the John Cena Fans Thought They Knew

The unthinkable happened March 1. A moment I never thought I’d witness.

After nearly 20 years building up to this moment, wrestling’s ultimate babyface John Cena turned heel — a wrestling term used to describe a bad guy’s persona in storylines — during his farewell run.

By siding with Dwyane “The Rock” Johnson’s latest bad guy persona, “The Final Boss,” and attacking undisputed World Wrestling Entertainment Champion Cody Rhodes after winning the Elimination Chamber match, Cena earned a title-shot opportunity against Rhodes at wrestling’s grandest stage, Wrestlemania.

For years, many wrestling fans clamored for Cena to join the dark side, often breaking into “Cena Sucks” chants and hating his “rise above the hate” mantra. No matter what, Cena never succumbed to the pressure, despite fans rooting for his heel-archetype opponents.

A John Cena heel turn seemed impossible as his brand has been based on being a model citizen. Cena serves as a hero for many children, setting the Guinness World record for the most “Make-A-Wish” wishes granted — 650 and counting, according to NPR.

But while kids love him, adults have despised him.

To them, it’s been easy to root against Cena — he’s “big match John” and always wins.

During the 2010s, Cena took over WWE and became the face of the company, winning 16 world championships and tying the legendary Ric Flair’s record — making him all the more unlikeable in his unquestioned success. 

After becoming a Hollywood star and consequently a WWE part-timer, those same fans missed him. Now that he’s announced his retirement tour, and reality has set in for fans the “last time is now,” they’re finally giving Cena props for his contributions to the wrestling business and preparing for his absence. 

Since announcing his farewell tour, fans have been in a frenzy, hoping to see Cena make history by defeating Rhodes — who many consider a Cena knockoff — at Wrestlemania.

While I’m all for Cena winning his 17th title during his farewell run — because, quite frankly, he deserves it — I just wish it would be under better circumstances.

As fans erupted in cheers and screams of disbelief when Cena began attacking Rhodes, I sat there in stunned silence. This couldn’t be the same guy who was plastered on Fruity Pebble cereal boxes and lived by the words “hustle, loyalty and respect.”

It left me wondering, “Why now?” Why would Cena blindside his fans in his final WWE run?

For Cena, this wasn’t a blindside but the result of being in an “abusive relationship” with the WWE universe. 

“Look, I am not a babyface. I am not a heel,” Cena said in a promotional video, which received boos from fans at Forest National Arena in Brussels, Belgium during an edition of Monday Night Raw March 17. “I’m a human being. And each and every one of you has been awful to me.” 

He isn’t wrong, considering fans drown out his theme song with chants of “Cena Sucks” every time he runs out to the ring.

What about the kids and the fans who rooted for Cena, the ones who bought his merchandise and cheered, “Let’s Go Cena” when half of the other arena was booing him out of the building — the proud members of the Cenation? To Cena, they’re just as bad as his haters.

“You claim to support me, what have you ever done to support me,” Cena said while singling out fans decked out in the latest Cena apparel.  “All you ever do is steal from me. You steal. You steal my personal moments, you steal my time. You have made me a friggin’ toy, I am an object to you.”

As the Belgium crowd burst into explicit chants telling Cena to “shut up,” he said they were just further proving his point of being “awful” people.

“So I announce my retirement in a move that has never been done before,” Cena said. “I’m actually walking away at the end of this year. I tried one last time to get along with you guys. I tried one last time to do something nice for you, and you ruined it. Just like you ruin everything.”

While the promo justified Cena’s reasoning for turning his back on fans, it didn’t answer why he teamed with “The Rock” and brutally attacked Rhodes.

Before getting to answer that question, fans erupted as Rhodes strutted down the ring. 

Not allowing Cena to speak, Rhodes said Cena was in the wrong for labeling his fans as awful. 

“Sure, they might have given you their worst,” Rhodes said. “They have also given you their best for 25 years.”

Rhodes warned Cena to be on his A-game for their April 20 match at Wrestlemania and called Cena a shadow of himself before fleeing the ring.While this storyline has been entertaining for some fans, it’s been upsetting for others. While this character switch wasn’t what I was expecting during Cena’s final run, I hope it wasn’t all for nothing and results in Cena making history.