WWE embarrassed itself with John Cena's failed heel turn, ex-writer blasts creative team (Exclusive)

Former WWE writer Vince Russo recently spoke about how the company executed John Cena's heel turn. The star had a short run as a heel during the start of his farewell tour.

The Rock orchestrated Cena's heel turn at Elimination Chamber 2025. The Franchise Player started a heel run that included him winning his 17th world title. However, John Cena dropped the villainous persona leading up to SummerSlam, claiming that he was forced to adopt someone else's vision.

On a recent episode of Sportskeeda's Writing with Russo, the former writer noted that the WWE creative team, which included Triple H, Bruce Prichard, Michael Hayes, The Rock, and even John Cena, discussed the heel turn on Unreal.

"I was watching episode four of Unreal the other day. It was all about how they came about the idea of Cena to turn heel. So these idiots are all patting each other on the back of what a great idea it is, and they're staking claim to the idea. Little did they know that six months later, this episode is gonna come out and you're all gonna look like a bunch of idiots who didn't know what you're doing."

Vince Russo pointed out that they were discussing it like a great idea, only to drop the angle six months later. The veteran writer felt the entire creative team seemed like it was discussing the buildup to World War III instead of a television show.

"But my point is, they're going through the process of how they came up with the idea. Bro, you would have thought it was the world leaders meeting as to whether or not to hit the button for World War III. I swear to God, they were so consumed with this. And I'm like, guys, this is a television show. This is an angle for a television show."

John Cena is currently a beloved babyface on the roster and is gearing up for a high-profile singles match against The Beast Brock Lesnar at Wrestlepalooza this month.

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