John Cena On Preparing For His Heel Turn: One Thing I Do Put Myself At The Top Of The Ladder On Is Preparedness

John Cena comments on preparing for his heel turn, noting that he puts himself as one of the best when it comes to preparedness.

At Elimination Chamber last year, John would turn heel, siding with The Rock against Cody Rhodes, later facing off with Rhodes for the WWE title at WrestleMania 41. Cena would continue to be a heel until the week of SummerSlam 2025.

While speaking during the Tampa Comic Convention in a new fan Q & A, John Cena was asked about preparing for his heel turn, noting that he puts himself at the top of the ladder in terms of preparedness.

“I will never classify myself as the most talented in anything. You guys have seen my work. Michael Cole has politely called me unorthodox as far as my running style and my wrestling ability. I think there’s people that can talk circles around me. One thing I do put myself at the top of the ladder on is preparedness. So when you asked me if a lot of preparation went into the heel persona, it did. The idea for the heel turn kind of came out of nowhere. They wanted to do something special for Toronto. They knew they could get some stars in there. They called me up and asked me if I want to go in this direction, like a few days before the show, and I said yes. That started the prep for all of that. I had to, in my mind, research why am I doing this? What’s my motivation? What am I going to talk to the audience about? What am I going to talk to my opponents about? The amount of preparation is unexplainable. I will do my best to explain it with an anecdote. Love me a good anecdote. When I wrestled Dwayne Johnson once in a lifetime down in Miami, Vince McMahon was like, ‘hey, we might turn you heel. We might.’ He left it at that. Nothing. I went away from that meeting. I recorded new theme music. I got 10 new outfits made. I got wrestling robes made. I got wrestling boots made. I had the WWE file for the trademark Fear My Name that never got used. None of this stuff got used. I practiced walking, like how I would move through space in the new singlet and robe. I practiced my mannerisms, how I would carry myself. It never came to fruition. He came back four weeks later and said, ‘we’re not doing it. We’re scrapping it.’ That’s how prepared I try to be. Somebody gave the inkling that this might happen. All I want to do is put my best foot forward for y’all. So that’s an example of how prepared I was for the heel stuff.”

Elsewhere in the same appearance, Cena spoke about about a cherished moment that fans didn’t see on the day of his final WWE match. You can read more about that here.

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