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Former WWE star EC3 recently spilled the beans on John Cena seemingly wanting to turn heel ahead of his legendary clash with The Rock at WrestleMania 28.
The Cenation Leader and The Brahma Bull went to war at The Grandest Stage of Them All in front of a sold-out crowd at Sun Life Stadium, Florida. The dream bout was a result of The Rock's shocking involvement at WrestleMania 27, where he took out John Cena, allowing The Miz to retain the WWE Championship.
The memorable back-and-forth encounter ended with The Black Adam star delivering a Rock Bottom to Cena to seal the victory. Though much has been discussed about it, speaking on Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Outlaws, EC3 shared unheard details about what Cena desired heading into the contest.
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First, EC3 recalled a conversation with the 16-time WWE Champion, where the latter explained that he couldn't turn heel due to business reasons.
"The behind-the-scenes of that or the way the sausage is made with that because I have talked to him about that [John Cena] and he said the overall business on merchandise and other intangibles that weren't direct crowd reactions or reflected in the ratings were so good and so strong with him as the top babyface. He said it would have been insane to change, and I think he wanted [to turn heel] it too," said EC3. (9:51 - 10:19)
The former NXT star then noted that John Cena was fully intrigued by the prospect of turning heel for his feud with The Rock. EC3 disclosed that he even came across The Cenation Leader's new gear for his heel character. As it turned out, the plan didn't materialize sin it didn't make sense "business-wise."
"Top secret info - He really wanted to go full heel for the first match with The Rock, so much so that he had gear made, and I have seen it. So it was always in his mind cause he knew. The guy could do anything; he's super gifted and has his fingers on the pulse. Business wise it didn't make sense; maybe that's why they didn't go with it," EC3 added. (10:22 - 10:47)
Check out the full video below:
After a thrilling clash in the main event of WrestleMania 28, the legends locked horns again at The Show of Shows next year.
Bruce Prichard on John Cena always wanting to turn heel
A few weeks ago on his podcast, WWE executive Bruce Prichard also revealed that Cena always desired to explore his evil side. The wrestling veteran stated that the Peacemaker star was "unselfish" and always tried to get his opponents over, no matter if it involved undergoing a character transformation.
"Look, John is probably one of the most unselfish guys that I've ever met, and I can definitely see him, you know, his whole thing was how to get other people over," said Bruce Prichard. "I don't know about that instance particularly, but I know that John was always looking to turn heel, yes."
John Cena last wrestled for WWE at SummerSlam 2021, where he failed to dethrone Roman Reigns as the Undisputed Universal Champion. With rumors swirling around that Cena might be in action at WrestleMania 39, fans are waiting with bated breath to see who will be the next performer he shares a ring with.
What do you make of EC3's story about John Cena wanting to turn heel ahead of his match with The Rock? Sound off in the comments section below.
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