John Cena Gives Candid Thoughts On His Heel Turn And Retirement Tour

As with all things related to professional wrestling, fans and analysts will consistently remain divided on whether John Cena's retirement tour and his heel turn hit the marks they meant to him. At the initial onset of his turn, it appeared that The Rock and Travis Scott would play a major role in his next moves, but their absence caused WWE and Cena to pivot, opening opportunities for him to face some of his greatest rivals, now as a rotten heel.

During the "John Cena Live" panel at FAN EXPO New Orleans, a fan asked if there was a dream match he'd want to replace in his retirement tour. Cena prefaced the question by commenting on the prevailing accusation online that he appears too "PR polished" with his responses, and then gives perspective on the pivot.

There's a perspective out there that I will dodge questions like that, so I want to lean into that. I want to lean into why I say what I say. It's like, I just don't think like that. Because if I were to say like, Oh, man, I wish after I turned heel that Rock and Travis Scott were on my team. That would be pretty cool, right? Yeah, they're crazy mega stars, and having them would be pretty cool. But we didn't, and that's what happened.But what did I get? I got to have a match with Randy Orton in his hometown. I got to get CM Punk to go to The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I got to bet on somebody who I think has a bright future in this business in Logan Paul and try to get the best out of him overseas in Paris, and maybe grease the wheels to convince him to finally be a full-time WWE employee, which he currently is. I got magic with AJ Styles. Yes, The Rock and Travis Scott probably would have been great. Who knows? It didn't happen. But what I got in return, instead of wishing in some fantasy element that I can't control, what I got in return was magic, and I wouldn't trade that for anything.

Our Take On John Cena's Pivot During His Heel Turn

Less than a month out from his retirement match and the end of an era, John Cena's retirement tour is still polarizing to fans and analysts alike, and there may never be a consistent and solid agreement on whether it was successful. However, an undeniable element of its major miss was the absence of both The Rock and Travis Scott in the immediate follow up to the turn itself, and how his alliance with them factored into his turn on Cody Rhodes and the retirement year itself.

Read our grading of the John Cena retirement tour here.

Cena is content with its outcome overall, and had a few memorable moments in the heel turn portion, including a volatile send up to CM Punk's infamous "Pipe Bomb" promo ahead of their match at Night of Champions, as well as solid programs with Randy Orton and Logan Paul. Whether he could or would have done anything different is ultimately theater of the mind, but John Cena's response during FAN EXPO New Orleans was as direct and thorough as he could have been, and should put to rest continued discussion on the what if's of his retirement tour.