Backstage details about WWE fast-tracking John Cena’s heel turn after Cody Rhodes’ denial of The Rock’s bizarre pitch: Reports

Tons of backstage jockeying went in motion before WWE ultimately landing on John Cena selling out to The Rock against Cody Rhodes.

Backstage details about WWE fast-tracking John Cena’s heel turn after Cody Rhodes’ denial of The Rock’s bizarre pitch: Reports

John Cena turns heel on Cody Rhodes [via- WWE]

A moment that’s being deemed to alter WWE forever was the one that saw John Cena turn heel at the Elimination Chamber. He kicked Cody Rhodes low after initially befriending him. The Cenation Leader sold out to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who allegedly had a different vision for the entire angle.

As per Dave Meltzer of WON, the TKO Board Director pitched Rhodes to turn heel in the first place. Had it seen the light of day, The Rock would’ve aligned himself with the Undisputed WWE Champion en route to WrestleMania 41. However, Cody didn’t accede to the idea. Sources within WWE were supportive of it and believed Rhodes ditching his babyface gimmick in the heyday he’s in could’ve likely hurt the company’s business.

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That said, after Cody declined, John Cena was retconned for that role. In an interesting tidbit, the Peacemaker actor’s WWE-altering turn on Rhodes was originally set to happen at WrestleMania 41. However, on the day of the Elimination Chamber, the higher-ups decided to shock the world this past weekend itself.

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The Guinness Book of World Records now officially recognizes John Cena as the WWE Superstar with the longest time spent as a face—beginning from 2003. It’s making the waves in the mainstream media as well. WWE CCO Triple H told the Sloan Analytics Conference that his mother-in-law and incumbent US Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon, was asked about Cena’s heel turn when she was exiting the State of the Union address on Tuesday.

Randy Orton briefly touched on John Cena’s heel turn in SmackDown opener

Randy Orton kicked off this week’s SmackDown with a sustained ovation from a sold-out Philly crowd. Breaking silence, the 14-time World Champion mentioned the unforeseen turn of events featuring Cody Rhodes, The Rock, and John Cena.

Randy Orton
Randy Orton [via- WWE]

Calling John one of his few friends in the industry and someone who stayed at the top of the business for years, Orton quipped that Cena has stooped to being a bottom to Rock. The Apex Predator claimed that the Rock Bottom has a whole new meaning to it now.

Soon digressing from the topic, Randy turned his attention to Kevin Owens. He implied he’s getting his pound of flesh on the Canuck soon enough. Orton made his epic return to WWE at the Elimination Chamber PLE. He precluded The Prizefighter from piledriving Sami Zayn on concrete after exposing a portion of ringside.

The Viper proceeded on to hit an RKO on Owens before lining him up for a punt kick. The security intercepted Orton midway, which absolutely miffed the Toronto crowd. It should be noted that Kevin planted The Apex Predator with a package piledriver to write him off TV. They’re likely to settle their differences at WrestleMania 41.

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