John Cena will be "Rock's b***h" in new WWE role, legend predicts
John Cena joined forces with The Rock and rapper Travis Scott at Elimination Chamber in one of the most shocking WWE moments in recent memory. According to Matt Hardy, the 16-time World Champion could become subservient to The Final Boss as part of the storyline.
Cena performed as a good guy for two decades before unexpectedly attacking Cody Rhodes on March 1. The 47-year-old will challenge The American Nightmare for the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania 41 on April 19-20.
On his Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast, Hardy told host Jon Alba that he expects Cena's new heel character to follow The Rock's orders:
"You talk about him dressing in suits, I think a fun part of this beat, too, could be he's out there with The Rock, he's in a suit, but he's kind of this corporate stooge, but he's kinda Rock's b***h in some way. Rock is like, 'You know what, as the boss, I want you to be my guy. I want you to do this.' 'Of course I'm gonna do what you want me to do. You're my man.' I think he could be a little subservient to Rock too. I think that would also p**s people off." [37:15 – 37:38]
In the same episode, Matt Hardy explained the possible logic behind John Cena turning heel in his final year as a WWE in-ring competitor.
Matt Hardy on John Cena's long-term heel plan
In July 2024, John Cena announced he will retire from wrestling at the end of 2025. Since then, the Hollywood star has made it his mission to win a 17th World Title to surpass the record of 16 he currently shares with Ric Flair.
Matt Hardy believes Cena decided several months ago that he wanted to become a bad guy before retiring:
"I would guess this probably came to be, once they knew he had that last year and everybody was cool with it, everybody greenlit it, I would probably say this has probably been in the works for seven or eight months." [38:21 – 38:33]
Cena previously wrestled as a heel between October 2002 and October 2003 when he performed as the Doctor of Thuganomics character. He almost became a villain in 2012 but the idea was nixed.
Please credit The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.