The WWE Elimination Chamber on March 1 will forever be remembered in WWE folklore. A day that will be remembered as one that shocked the entirety of the WWE universe. One day a childhood hero turned into the bad guy.

John Cena first announced he would be retiring when he made a surprise appearance at the WWE premium live event, Money in the Bank in July. Since then, every appearance Cena has made in the WWE has been warmly embraced by the WWE universe, having inspired many with his never give up attitude and mindset. Cena has been the ultimate “good guy” in WWE since his debut in 2000. It was expected that Cena would have a Cinderella end to his WWE career since he announced his retirement, but WWE had other plans in mind. 

At the Elimination Chamber on March 1, Cena booked his ticket to WrestleMania 41 by winning the Men’s Elimination Chamber. Cena’s friend and upcoming opponent at WrestleMania 41, Cody Rhodes, the Undisputed WWE Champion came out to the ring to congratulate Cena. It was then that he was interrupted by the ultimate “bad guy” in the WWE today, The Rock, alongside rapper Travis Scott, whose involvement remains a mystery. 

In a back and forth between The Rock and Rhodes, Cena did something nobody would ever think their childhood hero would do. An embrace between Rhodes and Cena ended in a kick to the mid-section by Cena onto Rhodes thus switching Cena’s character from a “babyface” to a “heel” in his farewell tour. 

For those new to the professional wrestling world, there are usually two sides to every storyline. Those two sides are in the forms of heels and baby faces. The heels being known as the “bad guys” and the baby faces are known as the “good guys”. 

WWE superstars switch between heels and babyfaces if the switch fits within the story. An example of a switch can be when Seth Rollins became a heel by betraying the Shield by putting a chair in the back of Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose in 2014. 

Cena’s angle and motive behind his switch is that he felt that he was being bullied by the WWE fans for years. As there were times that he was not liked by a portion of the WWE universe when he had his run as a babyface. One of the main reasons Cena was not liked by some fans was that he was constantly winning every feud he was in, and it felt like he was like an “invincible superhero” that a portion of the fans did not like. 

Cena’s switch from babyface to heel was cryptically signaled by The Rock months before. In an appearance at WWE Bad Blood in Oct. The Rock famously put up three fingers which at the time confused the public as to what he was referring to. But when Cena was about to blindside Rhodes, The Rock put up the same three fingers which gave Cena the go ahead to attack the Undisputed WWE Champion. Among speculation by the WWE Universe, these three fingers that The Rock had up is a homage to Cena’s iconic finger taunt. 

But what exactly is The Rock’s involvement and benefit of all this? Does he just hate Rhodes and wants to destroy everything he has done since his return to the WWE, just like last year’s WrestleMania when Rhodes stole his main event spotlight. Or is his plan greater than we think it is? 

The questions remain, however, did the WWE plan this all along or was this something that was thrown together due to WrestleMania 41 receiving less hype then has come to be expected or was this the plan all along. With this plot twist of Cena’s heel turn, the excitement for WrestleMania 41 has been greater than ever. 

There are multiple ways the WWE can go about this storyline. What is great about this is that nobody really knows what will happen. Rhodes could defeat Cena in his final match and could end up making amends with Cena apologizing. Or Cena could defeat Rhodes and win the championship and go on a title run as a heel in his final chapter in the WWE. The WWE could even throw in another curveball and something completely different can happen to this storyline that nobody expected. 

Cena vs Rhodes at WrestleMania 41 is going to be one of the most historic matches in WWE history. Not only has this been a dream match for years, but there is also history on the line. If Cena wins the Undisputed WWE Championship, then it would be the most world championships a WWE superstar has ever won. As of now, Cena is tied with Flair at 16 and a win over Rhodes will put Cena on a pedestal by himself. A 17th world title for Cena will give him a boost in the argument for the greatest of all time in WWE history.