Legend defends John Cena's WWE heel turn, but thinks one thing is missing

John Cena became a bad guy for the first time in two decades when he attacked Cody Rhodes at WWE Elimination Chamber on March 1. Wrestling legend Bully Ray, aka Bubba Ray Dudley, recently shared his honest thoughts on the storyline.

Cena defeated Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania 41 on April 20. The Rock was expected to get involved in the match after forming an alliance with Cena and rapper Travis Scott at Elimination Chamber. However, he did not appear at The Show of Shows in any capacity.

On Busted Open, host Dave LaGreca said WWE has "dropped the ball" on Cena's heel turn in recent weeks. While Bully Ray would not go that far, he believes The Rock's WrestleMania 41 absence significantly impacted the storyline.

"I completely and vehemently disagree," Bully Ray said. "The reason why the John Cena heel turn feels like it didn't live up to its expectations is because we didn't get the conduit and the conjunction between The Rock. Without Rock being there, it leaves a giant hole in this whole thing, as to why John and The Rock were in the same place at the same time at Elimination Chamber." [From 8:42 onwards]

Cena will defend the Undisputed WWE Championship against Randy Orton at Backlash on May 10. The legendary rivals have not gone one-on-one in a televised match since 2017.

Bully Ray on John Cena's future as a heel

At the end of 2025, John Cena plans to retire from in-ring competition. His final opponent is yet to be determined. However, many have predicted that the 17-time World Champion could lose to Cody Rhodes in a torch-passing moment.

Regardless of who Cena faces in his final match, Bully Ray expects the Hollywood star to turn face again before retiring:

"At the end of the day, this should have been, hopefully still is, all for Cody's benefit, to be the guy that Rocky said he is, carrying the company, blah blah blah, but now I don't necessarily know if I see Cena and Cody doing the last seven or eight months, then John leaves, so I don't know if Cena stays heel. I can't see John Cena, the biggest babyface in the history of the WWE, other than Hulk Hogan and Bruno Sammartino, saying goodbye on his last night as a bad guy." [From 11:21 onwards]

Bully Ray also addressed speculation about Rhodes possibly returning to WWE programming soon.

Please credit Busted Open and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.

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