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A controversial star received backlash after playing a role in John Cena's heel turn. A WWE veteran has now come to his defense.
Dutch Mantell was the latest to comment on John Cena's heel turn. At Elimination Chamber 2025, The Rock showed up along with Travis Scott, expecting Cody Rhodes to accept his offer. However, The American Nightmare denied him his soul. As a result, Cena turned on Cody and assaulted him brutally.
Travis Scott wasn't an innocent bystander either. He got involved and slapped Cody as he was trying to hold him down. This slap was a little bit stiff and gave the Undisputed WWE Champion a black eye and a busted eardrum. Hence, the controversial rapper received a lot of backlash from fans and critics for the slap.
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Speaking on Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Time Machine with host Mac Davis, WWE veteran Dutch Mantell came to Scott's defense saying that he was probably nervous since there were 40,000 people in attendance.
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"I think the people came down on him just a little bit too hard. I think some guys in our business came down on him a little too hard. Hell, he's nervous as hell. You know, you put a guy out there and, you know, and how many people in that building? 40,000? Hell, I've been slapped a lot of times by a guy who's nervous." [8:37 - 8:59]
Magnum T.A. believes Rey Mysterio should be the first victim of heel John Cena instead of Cody Rhodes
After winning the Elimination Chamber match, John Cena punched his ticket to WrestleMania 41, where he will face Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship. This might as well be his last chance to win his 17th world title. However, a veteran feels Cena should face someone else before The American Nightmare.
Speaking on The Straight Talk with The Boss podcast, Magnum T.A. was asked whether Rey Mysterio should be the first victim of heel Cena. He agreed and pointed out that Mysterio would get a lot of sympathy from the fans and this would be a great way to establish this heel version of Cena as more dangerous.
"That could work. I mean, you definitely would want somebody that would get the sympathy vote for the deal. But, you, it just gotta be well thought out and I think they just need to continue to make people say, 'Oh cr*p, he's more dangerous than he's ever been. Maybe Cody's really in trouble because you got somebody who's got nothing to lose and everything to gain," he said. [29:02 - 29:30]
It will be interesting to see if John Cena will compete before WrestleMania 41.
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