Unfortunately It’s Time To Admit That John Cena’s Heel Run Has Been An Absolute Dud So Far

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When John Cena turned heel in February, I think a lot of wrestling fans felt as excited about the future as we have been in a very long time. It was as shocking, intriguing, and dramatic as wrestling gets. Our minds all started racing with fantasy booking scenarios and dream matchups for the next year, we were desperately trying to figure out why Cena did it in kayfabe, what the connection between him and The Rock meant, why Travis Scott was there, etc. Non-fans were paying attention, WWE was making headlines everywhere, and the world was watching, hoping for some answers at John Cena's final WrestleMania this year….because we sure as hell didn't get much in the build.

Don't get me wrong, Cody Rhodes and John Cena had some great back-and-forths on the mic, but on Cena's end - they were all more or less the same. He'd cut an extremely generic heel promo on the crowd, so over-the-top that it wasn't believable for a second; Cody would come out and bring the fire, they'd get into a good battle, and then Cena would be laid out to end the segment. Every week without fail. When Cody would come at his promos from different angles, Cena would stick to his talking points (ruining wrestling, being in an abusive relationship with the fans, leaving with the title) and it just never felt like he was trying to be all that creative. And I know Cena is a guy who has given as much to the business as anybody and doesn't owe us anything at this point - but I kinda thought he'd want to make this last run really special, and haven't gotten that vibe from him at all. It's like he's just going through the motions so far.

We thought they'd pull out all the stops for Mania and make it one final Cena main event to remember - maybe The Rock comes out to screw Cody with Travis Scott, maybe they loop in the new Heyman/Rollins connection and form the ultimate unstoppable stable, maybe they just put on a five star classic that proves why they call him "Big Match" John. We all know how that went, though; Cena/Cody put on a decent/pretty good match that never kicked into the final gear, Travis Scott was the centerpiece of the entire angle, and Cena won in the most deflating fashion possible. 

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Did we ever get an explanation on why Travis Scott was involved? Nope - and we still haven't! It's almost like they can't even mention him or The Rock anymore, because they don't know when they'll be able to get them back on television. 

After Mania, we got one of the feuds everyone wanted to see one last time: John Cena vs Randy Orton. Backlash was in Orton's hometown of St Louis, which made things even better - and what'd they do? Well - exactly the same thing Cena did the month prior. Cena would stick to his talking points every week (ruining wrestling, being in an abusive relationship with the fans, leaving with the title), Randy Orton would RKO him outta nowhere, and Cena would be laid out to end the segment. When it came time for their final match, which could've been a classic, it once again felt like it never heated up to the level we envisioned and came with a deflating ending.

Then, we got the build to another match many of us fantasy booked: John Cena vs his biggest fan, R-Truth. It's a goofy match on the surface, giving a comedy character a title shot during Cena's final run - but it was a real opportunity for nuclear heat. Fans absolutely love R-Truth and his bit about Cena being his "childhood hero" - and Cena could've beat him down to an uncomfortable level that made him look like the devil here. It could've added a more believable sinister dynamic to his character that wasn't just a generic low-blow/foreign object finish. Instead, they went with the generic low-blow/foreign object finish and the match was over in four minutes.

They set up John Cena/Logan Paul vs Cody Rhodes/Jey Uso for Money in the Bank at the end of 'Saturday Night's Main Event' last night, which could be good I'm sure - but it's not exactly one of the dream matches we were looking for as Cena's clock is ticking; and it's rumored to become a six-man tag with Travis Scott joining Cena/Paul and Jimmy Uso joining Cody/Jey. It's all just….underwhelming. Life is imitating art a bit too much when it comes to "ruining wrestling" right now.

There's little things, too - like Cena coming out in the colors of whatever city they're in, and it being announced that this is everyone's final chance to see Cena perform in this arena ever - that naturally make the crowd want to cheer him. Much like The Rock's entire presence recently, it's half-measure after half-measure. They want Cena to be a heel but don't want his merch numbers to dip. It's frustrating.

I'm not saying they can't turn it around, with the obvious final CM Punk feud waiting in the wings, but what we've seen so far has been disheartening as a lifelong John Cena fan - and almost makes me wish he never turned heel in the first place. I think a babyface nostalgia run would've been better than this.