It's been 10 months since John Cena became heel at Elimination Chamber Toronto, but the topic remains up for debate among fans. A WWE veteran shared his opinion on why Cena's heel run was not successful.
Cena surprised the world after he attacked Cody Rhodes at Elimination Chamber, alongside The Rock and Travis Scott. However, the story and hype about the turn soon faded after The Final Boss stayed absent for the rest of Cena's retirement run, and Scott was the only one who showed up at WrestleMania 41. Dutch Mantell recently discussed the booking decision.
Speaking on a recent episode of Story Time, Dutch Mantell said that John Cena's villain arc was unsuccessful only because of fans.
"I think he actually wanted to be a bad guy. He wanted to be a heel, except one thing stood in the way: the fans. You cannot make them just because you want them to dislike him. He's had too many years, too many likable years, and he does too many likable things with kids and all that. How can you dislike on a whim, just go ahead and not like the guy? I don't think it was done that badly. I think that people just rejected the idea of him being a heel. And when they do that, you have no choice," Mantell said.
Dutch Mantell's co-host, James Romero, argues that The Rock's absence and Travis Scott's presence had a huge effect on John Cena's heel turn. However, Mantell was rigid about fans not wanting to boo Cena in what was his farewell tour, which was meant to celebrate his career.
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.