Hulk Hogan Doesn't Think John Cena's Heel Turn Measures Up To His Iconic nWo Moment

Hogan and Eric Bischoff sat down with Forbes to reveal more details about their new joint venture, Real American Freestyle, a project that aims to combine the worlds of pro wrestling and reality TV, but it's all unscripted. Since Cena's heel turn is still a hot topic in wrestling, and Bischoff and Hogan were the masterminds behind one of the greatest turns of all time, the topic naturally came up in conversation.

Hogan was a little reluctant to share what he thinks about Cena's heel turn, urging Bischoff to go first. The former WCW booker pointed to the groundwork laid ahead of the Hogan turn making them hard to compare. The reveal of a third man was teased for weeks, and the shock factor was the reveal that Hogan, the All-American babyface, was that third man.

Hogan's critique when comparing his turn to Cena's was rooted in what came after rather than the foundation laid down before.

Not only did we deliver, we rolled out with me, Hall, and Nash. And that story kept snowballing and snowballing, and we kept getting more evil and evil... When The Rock did the throat thing, cut his throat, and John Cena turned heel, I expected more of the same.

Hogan's Problem With Cena's Heel Turn Is What Has Happened Since

Hogan said that after that first night, he expected Cena and Rock to be together all the time, appearing on Raw the next night and in the weeks that followed, laying out their plan and explaining the reasons behind their actions much like he did with The nWo. Because that hasn't happened, even though the initial turn was such a huge moment, Hogan doesn't think the follow-up compares to what he did to Hall and Nash.

While you might not agree with everything Hogan has had to say lately, it's hard to disagree with him on this one. I think we all expected more in terms of an alliance between Cena and Rock after it was made clear during the turn that The Final Boss orchestrated the whole thing. The Rock failing to show up at WrestleMania has further compounded a belief that there was never an effective plan in place beyond the initial turn. While the turn itself might rank up there with some of the best ever, the heel run that has followed has not so far.