WWE pulled the John Cena heel turn "out of their a**," says veteran (Exclusive)

John Cena selling his soul to The Rock may have reached the top of WWE's ranking of the greatest heel turns of all time, but not everybody shares the same sentiment. Vince Russo, in particular, has some strong words for the turn that shocked the world.

During a recent episode of BroDown on Sportskeeda WrestleBinge, the former WWE writer called out the company for pulling the trigger on Cena's heel turn without putting enough thought into the angle.

"Mac, here's the problem, in my opinion. They pulled this Cena heel turn out of their a**. Dutch (Mantell) will tell you, this is the Hogan and the NWO (sized) turn. If you're going to have that kind of a turn, there's got to be a story, and there's got to be a build up, and there's got to be a reason. Something had to happen to John Cena over a period of time to make him turn heel. There was none of that."

Russo continued by addressing the John Cena and Randy Orton promo exchange from this week's SmackDown, noting the Undisputed WWE Champion was "trying desperately" to make sense out of his turn in his promos.

"They needed something, so now we're going to turn him heel. So, that's why to me, it's like when Cena is getting into his promo and he's trying his hardest to make sense out of this thing, Mac, you just can't make sense out of something that doesn't make sense. And, and, he's trying desperately to do it." [From 28:32 onwards]

Cena capped off his promo with a cheap shot on Orton only to get dropped by an RKO from The Viper. The two men will collide for the Undisputed WWE Championship at Backlash 2025.

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About the author

Manik Aftab writes Exclusive articles for Sportskeeda Wrestling’s WWE division. A BA (Hons) in English Literature helped him improve his writing skills before starting his career as a pro wrestling writer.

Before joining Sportskeeda, Aftab worked for Ringside News and The Sportster, where his wrestling articles and feature pieces consistently ranked on the first page of Google SERPs.

He prioritizes accuracy, relevance, and ethics in his reporting by conducting thorough research, verifying sources, and adhering to professional journalistic standards.

While Aftab’s favorite wrestler in AEW is Hangman Adam Page, he doesn’t have a favorite in WWE yet. However, he considers Stone Cold Steve Austin to be the greatest professional wrestler of all time. His earliest memory of watching pro wrestling was when The Rock faced The New Age Outlaws in a handicap match, but it was the John Cena vs. Edge match from Unforgiven 2006 that got him hooked. If given the chance to manage a star from the Attitude Era, he would choose The British Bulldog, as he believes Davey Boy Smith was a terrific worker and could've benefitted from having a mouthpiece for his lack of mic skills.

When not watching pro wrestling, Aftab enjoys reading science fiction and watching anime.

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Edited by Harish Raj S