Triple H Reveals How He Pitched John Cena’s Shocking Heel Turn

John Cena shocked everyone when he turned heel and attacked Cody Rhodes at the Elimination Chamber event. Fans were surprised because Cena had been a babyface for two decades and now he’s such a despicable heel. With that in mind, Triple H has now explained how he pitched the idea to Cena.

While speaking to High Performance, Triple H revealed how he talked to John Cena about the idea of turning him into a heel. He told John Cena they should finally do the one thing no one ever wanted to: make him a heel.

Triple H noted that Cena had been the top babyface for over 20 years, but Triple H felt that if they never tried something different, it would always feel like a missed chance. This was their chance to show a new side of Cena and see what that would look like.

“I went to John and said, ‘What if we pulled the lever that no one wanted to pull? What if we turn heel?’ To me, it felt like if you never do it, it’s just always dangling there. So now we get to write for this guy who’s been the ultimate good guy for over 20 years, and we get to turn him bad. What does that look like?”

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When they first talked on the phone, John didn’t say much right away. He just listened, which is what he usually does during creative talks. Triple H explained the whole idea: at Elimination Chamber, Cody gets asked to join The Rock’s side and says no. Cena is there, and it appears like he’s on Cody’s side and stands up to The Rock. But then the twist comes, Cena suddenly turns on The Rock, hits him, and beats him up. That’s when Cena “sells out.”

Triple H said for the story to work, Cena had to believe he was doing the right thing in his mind. Even heels need a reason that makes sense to them. For Cena, it would come from feeling unappreciated.

Even though he always did things the right way for over 20 years, fans still criticized him, called him boring, and said he only had five moves. So now, with his time in the ring running out, he feels desperate. Triple H noted that Cena is not as strong or fast as before, and if he wants one last big moment, he has to do things he never would’ve done before. That includes turning his back on everything he stood for.

“So I said, ‘What if at Elimination Chamber, Cody is asked to sell out to me, and he says no. And you’re there, and it looks like—good for you—for telling The Rock to go f*** himself. And then the unthinkable happens. The Rock looks at you, and you hit him in the nuts and beat the dogs*** out of him. You sell out.’ Because in your mind, I feel like the bad guy has to feel justified. It has to make some kind of sense. It can be twisted, but it has to be like, ‘Well, I don’t agree, but I can see how he thinks that.’

So in John’s mind, for over 20 years, he’s done everything the right way. Yet people still tell him he sucks, he’s ‘Super Cena,’ he only has five moves—all the things he’s had to overcome through the years. Now, you flip it on them. He’s bitter. Because in his desire to have one last big and successful run—he knows his time is running out—he’s thinking, ‘If I’m going to do this, I might not be as fast or as strong or as good as I used to be. So I have to sell myself out and do things I wouldn’t have done earlier in my career. But now I will, because I’m desperate in my final hours.'”

After hearing the full idea, Cena was surprised. He didn’t expect the pitch to go that far. But he loved it. He said he could’ve just come back, done his usual moves, and left. But this was different, it was a challenge. It gave him a new role to play, something deep and exciting. Cena had to figure out how to make fans truly hate him, and that challenge excited him.

“When we went through all that and I explained it to him, John said, ‘Wow. I didn’t think that’s where you were gonna go with this. That’s bold—but I f***ing love it. I love it because I could just come in, phone it in, make it easy. I could do my greatest hits and move on. Or—I could be challenged. This is challenging. This is a juicy role. Like, how do I make these people hate me?'”

The former Leader of Cenation is set to make an appearance during the April 18th edition of Friday Night SmackDown, which will be the go-home edition of the show. Afterwards, he will challenge Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania 41. Therefore, we’ll have to see whether Cena will end up becoming the new champion and truly cement himself as one of the greatest heels in recent memory.

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