WWE boss pulls back curtain on John Cena heel turn ahead of WrestleMania 41

WWE champion Cody Rhodes talks to Fox News Digital about the upcoming title match against John Cena at WrestleMania 41.

WWE Chief Content Officer Paul Levesque pulled back the curtain on the idea that John Cena would become the bad guy for at least the beginning of his farewell tour from the company.

Cena sided with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson at Elimination Chamber and participated in a beatdown of Cody Rhodes after winning his match to punch his ticket to WrestleMania 41. It was a shocking moment that left pro wrestling fans, and sports fans in general, stunned.

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John Cena, right, in action against Cody Rhodes during WWE Elimination Chamber at Rogers Centre on March 1, 2025 in Toronto. (Rich Freeda/WWE via Getty Images)

Levesque, who was better known as Triple H during his in-ring career at WWE, appeared on "High Performance" and talked about the decision to turn Cena heel. Levesque recalled wrestling Cena in the late 2000s and the fans growing bored with his "hustle, loyalty, respect" good-guy gimmick.

As Cena announced his final run, Levesque noted that he could have done the easy thing but decided to toy with the idea of fully turning Cena’s character. 

"In my mind … the safe thing to do is a yearlong tour where you goes town to town, and he does his greatest hits, and it’s safe, and it’s easy, and it’s fun. But, as a performer, you’re sort of going through the motions," he said. "You’re playing the same concert you’ve played a million times. People love it, but I’ve seen it. It’s nice, it’s all those things, safe, easy, fun all that stuff.

"But I went to John and said what if, what if we pulled the lever that no one ever wanted to pull and what if we turn you heel