John Cena shocked the pro wrestling world at this year’s Elimination Chamber. After winning the Men’s Elimination Chamber match, The GOAT aligned himself with The Rock and launched a brutal attack on Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, officially turning heel.
However, the heel run was short-lived. Within a couple of months, Cena reverted back to being a babyface, and many fans were critical of how WWE handled the turn.
The general feeling was that the company failed to fully capitalize on the shift, delivered a lackluster WrestleMania 41 main event, and didn’t give Cena enough compelling matches during that stretch.
It wasn’t just fans who felt that way. It appears some of Cena’s peers weren’t impressed either.
Speaking with Metro UK, WWE commentator and former Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett, who famously feuded with Cena over a decade ago, shared his criticism of the heel turn.
“I don’t know if he took some bad advice on the whole heel turn. I didn’t like it at all. I didn’t think it was the right move, and I think his course correct around about SummerSlam time was absolutely the right thing to do.
I think he owed it to the WWE Universe and, of course, his legions of Cenation fans to close this thing out the right way and give people what they wanted from him, which is the John Cena they’ve known and loved all along.”
John Cena recently stated that WWE booked his heel turn primarily to create a viral moment, suggesting that the company didn’t have long-term or concrete plans in place for the move and was mainly chasing short-term buzz.
Wade Barrett will be on commentary for John Cena’s final match tomorrow night.
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