Updated April 18, 2025 at 12:01 PM ET
For most of John Cena's WWE career, you couldn't see him being a bad guy on TV.
Cena has won a record 16 WWE world championships since debuting in 2002. He's taken on the biggest names in wrestling, including The Rock, The Undertaker, Randy Orton and CM Punk. His heroic performances earned him the often-meant-in-jest nickname "SuperCena."
Against all seeming odds, during critical matches, Cena would spring back up, hit his finishing move and pin his opponents.
And he's done most of that as a "babyface," or the good guy in the ring. Cena's gimmick endeared him to wrestling's youngest fans throughout the years so much so that he became the Make-A-Wish Foundation's most requested celebrity wish granter. In 2022, he set the Guinness World Record for most wishes granted.
But this weekend, Cena heads into what is slated to be his final WrestleMania – the biggest showcase in wrestling – as a heel. He's taking on defending WWE champion Cody Rhodes and, if he wins, Cena would break the record for most WWE world championships.
Cena announced last year that he would retire from in-ring competition at the end of 2025. He shocked fans in March by attacking Rhodes, after securing a title match, and made his heel turn official.
Since then, Cena has lambasted WWE crowds for their love-hate relationship with him and promised to "ruin wrestling" for everyone.
"I will win that championship and retire with it. I am taking it home with me!" Cena proclaimed to a crowd at the March 24 episode of WWE Raw. "I will be the last real champion in WWE."
So is his time really up? And why is Cena's heel turn such a big deal to wrestling fans?
Morning Edition explored these questions and Cena's evolution with David Shoemaker, a writer for culture website The Ringer and host of its wrestling podcast, The Masked Man.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
A Martínez: The wrestling world has a word for this, the heel turn. So how big of a deal was it when John Cena did it?
David Shoemaker: It was a really big deal, one, because John Cena, like you said, hadn't been a heel for the 20 years of his fame. He's just been known as the most consistent babyface, as they say in the business. It was also a big deal from a fan's perspective because we've been begging for him to turn heel for most of those 20 years. We're used to seeing our wrestlers go back and forth on the spectrum. And John Cena has been a stalwart, refusing to embrace the dark side for this whole time.
Martínez: Now, on WWE Raw last month, Cena sounded like he kind of enjoys playing the bad guy. Why would you want to go out like this? I mean, is this something that fans actually like? I mean, you said you've been clamoring for, but does everyone else feel that way?
Shoemaker: I talk to wrestlers all the time. Most of them prefer playing heel. It's more fun. You get to just ham it up out there for the fans also. They all know that boos are just as good as cheers in their line of work. Will he go out as a heel? This is his final year. My guess is that his last month will probably be as a fan favorite because you can always go home again. But for right now, he's getting to do the thing that he's always wanted to do, too. I mean, it's not just the fans. He's talked openly about wanting this opportunity, wanting to play the bad guy. And I think you can tell from his monologues in the ring he's really enjoying it.
Martínez: Now, last month, there was another star of the big screen in the ring, coaxing Cena to go over to the dark side. And that was The Rock. So, I mean, what does it mean that these two mega movie stars are playing wrestling villains? Is he following The Rock's footsteps here?
Shoemaker: He is in a lot of ways. The Rock came back last year and teased a WrestleMania main event match, and he was a hero and he thought everybody would get behind him. But after he took the spot from Cody Rhodes, the fans turned and said, "No, we don't want that. We want Cody. He's the guy that we've been following all this time." And the Rock played it on the fly and turned heel. And it turned out to be the best move he could make. I think there was a lot of conventional wisdom that a Hollywood star, the level of The Rock, couldn't play heel because it would jeopardize his mainstream appeal. It would make those rope line interviews awkward or whatever. But it turned out to be the best business decision he could have made. He's more famous now and then he possibly could have been. Everybody just took it in stride. And I think you're seeing the same thing with John Cena.
Martínez: Do you think he's really going to retire?
Shoemaker: Well, pro wrestlers are really bad at retiring famously, just like boxers, you know. I mean, you usually retire at the end of a match when everybody's watching you because you want that moment in the sun, right? And then two months later, you're sitting at home and you don't have anything to do and you change your mind. But of all the wrestlers that have ever said they're going to retire, John Cena is one that I believe. He's a man, it seems to be, of real conviction outside of the ring and would not be doing this without having really thought it through.
Treye Green edited this digital story. The radio version was edited by Adam Bearne and produced by Kaity Kline and Taylor Haney.
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