Stone Cold Steve Austin has expressed his thoughts on John Cena's heel arc in WWE. The Cenation leader surprised the wrestling world when he attacked Cody Rhodes at the Elimination Chamber last year to turn heel for the first time in over 20 years.
While the turn attracted excitement at first, it fizzled out following the initial shock. Cena went back to being a baby face at SummerSlam, marking his run as a heel for just six months.
WWE's booing of Cena as a heel failed to impress the majority of fans, and Hall of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin has now shared his opinion on it. During an appearance on INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet, the Texas Rattlesnake was questioned how he felt about the GOAT's heel turn.
He said many fans wanted to see him go to the other side, but he preferred him as a babyface. Austin also mentioned that WWE might have been too late in pulling the trigger.
“A lot of people wanted to see at least one John Cena heel turn in his run. It was okay. It was okay, you know? I like him better as a babyface. I wanted to see him as a heel at some point during his career. The way that it was done, and I’m not knocking booking, just like, man, this far in? Forget about it. Just let him do his thing; f**king kids love that guy,” he said.
Cena's run as a heel found it tough to engage the audience, especially after The Rock, with whom he aligned at Elimination Chamber, failed to be present for the rest of his retirement tour.
As a result, WWE had to pivot and have the 17-time World Champion go back to being the babyface.
Controversy in John Cena's retirement match
John Cena's retirement also created a big controversy. Cena tapped out to Gunther in his farewell match last December 13 at Saturday Night's Main Event.
A lot of fans were sad that Cena abandoned his mantra about "never giving up," while others booed Triple H, who they blamed for the end of the match.
Gunther took advantage of the heat created by his victory, though WWE will need to do more than just have him beat R-Truth three weeks after retiring Cena.