John Cena Explains Last-Minute Babyface Turn For WWE SummerSlam

It was this past March at the Elimination Chamber PLE, when John Cena turned heel and aligned with The Rock and his “final boss” persona. He brutally attacked Cody Rhodes in the process. This was Cena’s farewell tour, and fans weren’t happy with the change. As Cena noted, sometimes you need to take risks, but also realize when it’s not working. He said:

“Keep in mind, what we do is try to entertain the audience as best we can. And sometimes, that involves taking risks, and sometimes, that takes being bold. You also have to listen to the audience. It got to a point where Cena vs. Randy, you start hearing this. [He said while pointing to the cheering fans in the audience.] Cena vs. Punk in Saudi, you start hearing the noise. Cena-Cody WrestleMania, Cena-Cody SummerSlam, it changes. Sometimes, you can make bold and brave new moves, but going against this body of energy is a losing battle. So sometimes, you just gotta listen and pivot, change course.” (h/t: F4Wonline)

Cena shocked the WWE Universe in his promo on the Friday Night SmackDown ahead of the SummerSlam PLE. Though it wasn’t confirmed until the event, when nothing nefarious happened in the match between Cena and Rhodes. It was a clean match, and Cody ended up winning and capturing the Undisputed WWE Championship. Cena even hugged Cody after. The shocking part was Brock Lesnar returning and hitting Cena with an F5. Once that happened, the WWE Universe knew for sure that the “old” John Cena was back. As noted, Cena even apologized to the “Brussels kid” for his heel behavior.

What Does John Cena’s Schedule Look Like Now?

Now that Clash in Paris is over and Cena has won his match against Logan Paul, the question is, what does his career look like now that it’s nearing the end of his retirement tour? Cena’s farewell tour is moving fast. His last match was announced only a few weeks ago, and it will be on December 13, during Saturday Night Main Event. An opponent has yet to be announced, but the show will only be streaming exclusively on Peacock.

Cena is scheduled for the main event at WWE’s next PLE Wrestlepalooza on September 20. It hasn’t been confirmed yet, but his opponent will likely be Brock Lesnar. Before that, the 17-time world champion is set to appear on the September 5 episode of SmackDown. It will be interesting to see what Cena has to say.