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WHen John Cena announced in July 2024 that 2025 would mark his final year as a professional wrestler, but few could have envisaged that his final Wrestlemania match would look like this. Although the 16-turn of WWE World Champion for many people is many things-a role model, a hero, a patriot, a legend-only few people ever describe him as a villain.
By a brutal turn of fate or possibly random planning, Cena will not be rejoiced on Sunday as he enters the Allegiant Stadium of Las Vegas to face Cody Rhodes against the WWE Championships in his 17th and last Wrestlemania match. He will be rushed mercilessly.
With a short, early “heel” run in his career, where he was placed as an arrogant white rapper, Cena has always been portrayed as WWE’s greatest hero. An individual for whom all children could look up and someone who would only contract cynics.
This route was very marketable and financially successful for WWE for a long time. Cena’s endless march of colorful T -shirts, baseball caps and wrist bands with its “You Can’t See Me” phrase is one of the company’s top sellers for years. Outside of the ring, Cena could no longer have been an inspiration if he tried. He still has the record for most wishes fulfilled for the Make-a-Wish Foundation, a charity that works with the families of seriously ill children. His “Herculean” record of 650 meet-and-greet and score is an achievement that is unlikely to be beaten.
All that is said is Cena – for fiery wrestling fans – a divisive figure. Although he is a 16-time champion, almost none of his victories were greeted with the cheering Cody Rhodes received when he finally finished the story at Wrestlemania 40.
Cena won his first world title in 2005, less than four years after his debut. Although he would dominate the next decade of WWE’s main event, there was always a feeling that others were meritorious. Singing of ‘You Can’t Wrestle’ and ‘The same Old S ***’ would face his matches if he faces cult favorites in 2011, especially against Rob van Dam in 2006 and cm punk in 2011. Perhaps it was a lack of creativity or risk-taking on behalf of WWEs for these volatile reactions-he would have been a great time if he had a great amount of him for Cena to be to become to become to become to become. Talents, mostly thanks to critically priced matches with younger stars such as Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens and Cesaro, and veteran AJ Styles.
Interestingly, Cena’s relationship with Wrestlemania was just as complicated as his relationship with the fans.
In 2012 and 2013, she had two head matches against the rock (which was mostly sold at the premise that it was “once in a lifetime”, despite the fact that he happened twice), never felt like the biggest attraction at the WWE’s biggest show of the year.
Whether it was big celebrities like Floyd Mayweather or Donald Trump who had the spotlight that night, or certain wrestlers who were just more popular at that time of year – Daniel Bryan, Batista, Rey Mysterio, Shawn Michaels – Cena’s efforts to Wrestlemania have always been skipped by something more important.
There is also a feeling that Cena often did not deserve to win many of his games, a regular argument that can be made against his entire career, but especially at Wrestlemania. His victories over Bray Wyatt and Rusev in 2014 and 2015 were more harmful to men’s careers than beneficial to Cen’s.
Another interest: of Cena’s 17 Wrestlemania matches, only five hosted the show ever. Many of his attacks were further knocked down on the map, as fans dug to better developed and more intense falsehood that was common at the time.
Compare this to Roman Reigns, who competed for nine Wrestlemania events at the age of 39, then you start to see a pattern with Cena’s relationship with the event. Although he is undoubtedly one of WWE’s biggest stars, Cena is rarely seen as the most important person on the day when it comes to the so -called “showcase of the immortals”.
Which brings us to the present, and it took the one thing for which many fans have been complaining for years to finally make him Wrestlemania’s star attraction: a heel turn.
Don’t do me wrong, and Cena is fighting for a record -17th championship against Cody Rhodes in the main event, would have been a big case, regardless of where he stood on the good and developed spectrum. But the fact that he is in that last camp gives the game an extra layer of plot, especially to the fans who have been maliciously attacking him all the years ago.
“I feel like it’s still [chants of]”Let’s go, Cena,” Cena sucks, “but that’s the opposite way,” said Wwe superstar The Miz, who led against Cena in 2011. The independent. “Now the people say” you suck “you are fantastic” because they wanted him as a bad guy, a heel. The people who “you are fantastic” say “you suck”. It is quite nice to abandon Super Cena, to abandon Captain America. Before [cartoonish impression ensues]: ‘Hello everyone, I’m John Cena! How are everyone? I’m here to smile! ‘”
As always with Cena, the feeling that things could only be handled a little better is that something is missing. Although his initial turn at the Elimination room in March was received very positively because of the completely shocking way (the entire segment was considered more than 8 million times on YouTube), the following weeks did not quite match the heights.
Although Cena’s delivery on the microphone, the use of those years of hostility as justification for his turn, and verbal exchanges with Rhodes were pleasant, there is a feeling that this chapter of his career was not something he or WWE planned when he announced his retirement tour.
For many fans, this is probably the last time they will ever see Cena in a WWE area. Of course, they want to excite him, because – despite a few tendencies to decorate him in the past – they know they will miss him when he’s gone. But the new presentation tells them to bush him.
In a strange planning, the promo where Cena tried to declare his heel turn in Belgium has a country that WWE has never broadcast a direct performance before. Those fans, with awe of the icon, obviously wanted to rejoice, which led to a narrowly notorious moment with a young supporter of Cena who looked on the tip of tears, after Cena said that the child and the rest of the fans were in a “toxic, dysfunctional relationship” with him.
The absence of rock and megastar rapper Travis Scott, who helped Cena during his heel turn at the Elimination room, also did not help to make Cena and Rhodes uncomfortable around two large elephants in the room.
Wrestling fans, perhaps more than in any form of entertainment, will criticize even the most small details, especially if things do not meet expectations. Still, any problems that fans had with the construction of Cena’s final Wrestlemania match evaporated as the bell rang in the main event on April 20.
The road to come here was not perfect, one of the many uphill and downhill for both Cena and fans. Whether he actually wins a 17th world title will be next to the point – although it would be the cherry on the cake of his illustrious career. WWE fans will eventually be able to “see” Cena in a role he rarely staged: as the greatest star of Wrestlemania.
WWE is available to look at Netflix in the UK and Ireland, including Raw, Smackdown, NXT, All Premium Live events and the WWE archives. Wrestlemania 41 is the next premium direct opportunity that you can watch directly on Netflix on April 19 and 20.
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