Stone Cold Steve Austin shared his perspective on John Cena’s heel run during his final year in WWE, explaining why it didn’t quite live up to expectations. Cena made his heel turn in early 2025 by aligning with The Rock, but abandoned the villainous role before SummerSlam. Known for his own impactful heel turn at the height of his career, Austin sees some parallels with Cena’s switch but feels Cena’s run lacked the same impact, partly because The Rock wasn’t consistently involved. Austin also suggested that WWE waited too long to give Cena a new character, introducing the heel persona only 11 months before his retirement in December 2025. Speaking on Chris Van Vleet’s Insight podcast, Austin said that while many fans wanted to see Cena as a heel, it ended up being just “okay,” and that he prefers Cena as a fan-favorite.
Cena retired following a controversial loss to Gunther on WWE Saturday Night, a booking decision that upset many fans during his final year. Despite holding the record for 17 world championships and memorable moments like his WrestleMania 41 victory over Cody Rhodes, Cena never got a chance to face Austin in the ring.
Interestingly, Cena almost turned heel back in 2012 when WWE teased a dark character shift after his WrestleMania 28 match against The Rock. Cena shared with Van Vleet that they even prepared a new theme song and gear for the heel persona, but it ultimately didn’t happen. When he finally embraced the heel role at Elimination Chamber in 2025, he portrayed a character who felt disrespected and bullied by fans, taking shortcuts and using backstage influence to get ahead.
Fan Take: This insight from Stone Cold highlights the challenges WWE faces when evolving a superstar’s character late in their career. For fans, Cena’s heel run—though brief and imperfect—reminds us of the importance of timing and storytelling in wrestling, possibly influencing how future legends transition their personas on the big stage.
