JBL On Why John Cena’s Heel Turn Did Not Live Up To Expectations

John Cena in WWE
John Cena | WWE

WWE Hall of Famer JBL was a guest on an episode of the Something To Wrestle With podcast, where he discussed various topics, including why John Cena’s heel turn failed to meet expectations.

JBL said, โ€œI think sometimes when you draw something up itโ€™s a great plan, and all of a sudden it doesnโ€™t work. And I think thatโ€™s what it was. You know, Iโ€™ve been in a million different planning sessions where you plan stuff. In sports, you plan something. You think youโ€™ve got this great play, you think youโ€™ve got this great strategy or in business or in sports or anything. And all of a sudden you put it out there on the field or the ring or wherever you put it out there to implement it, and it doesnโ€™t work like you thought it would. And I think thatโ€™s what happened here. You got one of the, arguably the greatest of all time in John Cena. Certainly on the Mount Rushmore of almost anybodyโ€™s Mount Rushmore for people. And he had something that was not resonating, I didnโ€™t think it was resonating. As well as, people wanted to see Cena. Iโ€™m not sure they wanted to see the heel side. I think they just wanted to like, โ€˜You know what? We just love this guy. We want to see him.โ€™โ€

On whether we will see The Rock back on WWE TV:

โ€œYeah, I definitely think weโ€™ll see The Rock in the ring again. I would bet everything on that. You know, Rock loves being in the ring. And itโ€™s not just a matter of ego. I mean, the guyโ€™s the biggest movie star in the world. Heโ€™s making a freaking fortune. Itโ€™s not about ego, I donโ€™t believe. It may be. You know, anybody whoโ€™s a huge star whether itโ€™s Jordan or Bill Russell or anybody out there โ€” Schwarzenegger, when he was on top of the world back in the โ€™90s? They all have a huge ego. Thereโ€™s nothing wrong with that. Thatโ€™s why theyโ€™re big stars, because theyโ€™re driven to be the best in the world. I think The Rock loves to be in the ring. And so โ€” I say I have no doubt. Thereโ€™s always a little bit of a doubt, but I pretty much have close to zero doubt that Rockโ€™s gonna be in the ring again.โ€

You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.

(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)