John Cena’s heel turn began with The Rock and Travis Scott standing by his side, setting up what appeared to be one of WWE’s biggest storylines in years. However, The Rock vanished from the angle before WrestleMania, leaving Cena’s run to continue without the man who started the entire turn.
WWE Unreal covered the decisions behind Cena’s heel run, but Vince Russo called the series out for avoiding the biggest unanswered question surrounding the storyline. During the Coach and Bro Show, Russo criticized the first episode for building its story around “the why” while never explaining why The Rock suddenly disappeared.
“I don’t have a problem with that, and I love Cena talking about the why because, especially as a writer, the why is very important. It always comes down to the why. But here’s the problem, Coach: they label the show ‘The Why,’ and then never give us the why.”
Cena’s alliance with The Rock and Travis Scott was positioned as the driving force behind the storyline. Once Rock disappeared, WWE was forced to move forward without explaining why the partnership had ended. Russo said Cena did his best to explain how the heel run played out, but there was no way to tell the full story without addressing Rock’s disappearance.
“They’ve got the perfect guy trying to explain what happened with his heel run, but brother, you can’t explain it without leaving out a very important part. That part is The Rock. Obviously, something went haywire with The Rock. Something went down, and he dropped off the face of WWE. Here’s Cena trying to explain the why without ever giving us the why.”
That omission was a major problem for Russo because WWE Unreal is supposed to show fans what happened behind the scenes. Instead, the episode skipped over the moment that changed the entire Cena storyline.
“Honestly, man, that’s where the show is going to lose credibility, because you can’t tell that story and not give us the why.”
Jonathan Coachman asked why WWE and The Rock have both remained silent about the situation. Russo admitted he did not know what happened, but said the fact that nobody will address it makes the situation look serious.
“I don’t know what could have been so bad or so horrible that we can’t talk about it. I have no idea. That’s a great question that I cannot answer.”
Russo also pointed out that The Rock was not just another wrestler who could walk away from a storyline. Rock had a position on TKO’s board and a major business relationship with WWE. Even if Rock wanted out of the angle, Russo believes he could have helped WWE create an ending instead of leaving Cena and the creative team to scramble.
“Even if a guy like Rock isn’t happy, bro, if I’m on the board and I’m getting paid what WWE is paying me, and I know I don’t want anything to do with this, I’m going to do something so I can bow out gracefully.”
Russo said Rock could have told WWE the direction was not working and helped give the storyline a proper conclusion. The fact that this apparently did not happen led Russo to believe something major went wrong.
“For him not to do that, bro, it had to be something pretty damaging.”
One possible ending would have seen Cena turn babyface by attacking The Rock. Russo said that would not have hurt Rock because he was leaving WWE television to work on and promote Moana. Instead, Rock disappeared, Cena’s heel turn fell apart, and WWE Unreal moved forward without explaining the most important part of the story.
“It wouldn’t have hurt The Rock, but you kind of feel like The Rock felt like he owed them no favors. Whatever it was, that’s just my opinion, guys—that he felt like he owed them no favors.”
WWE Unreal gave fans backstage footage and creative discussions, but it left out the answer viewers wanted most. Until WWE or The Rock explains what happened, his disappearance will remain the biggest unanswered question from Cena’s heel run.
Do you think WWE Unreal lost credibility by avoiding The Rock’s disappearance, and what do you believe happened behind the scenes? Leave your feedback in the comments.
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