WWE legend and 17-time World Champion John Cena participated in a Q&A session with fans at the Tampa Comic Convention, where he discussed various topics, including his preparation for a heel turn in 2025.
Cena said, “I will never classify myself as the most talented in anything. You guys have seen my work. Michael Cole has politely called me unorthodox as far as my running style and my wrestling ability. I think there’s people who can talk circles around me. One thing I do put myself at the top of the ladder on is preparedness. So when you asked me if a lot of preparation went into the heel persona, it did. The idea for the heel turn kind of came out of nowhere. They wanted to do something special for Toronto. They knew they could get some stars in there. They called me up and asked me if I wanted to go in this direction a few days before the show, and I said, ‘Yes!’ That started the prep for all of that. I had to, in my mind, research: ‘Why am I doing this? What’s my motivation? What am I going to talk to the audience about? What am I going to talk to my opponents about?’ The amount of preparation is unexplainable.”
On his preparations for the originally planned heel turn in 2012:
“I will do my best to explain it with an anecdote. Love me a good anecdote. When I wrestled Dwayne Johnson once in a lifetime down in Miami, Vince McMahon was like, ‘Hey, we might turn you heel. We might.’ He left it at that. Nothing. I went away from that meeting. I recorded new theme music. I got 10 new outfits made. I got wrestling robes made. I got wrestling boots made. I had the WWE file for the trademark ‘Fear My Name’ that never got used. None of this stuff got used. I practiced walking, like how I would move through space in the new singlet and robe. I practiced my mannerisms, how I would carry myself. It never came to fruition. He came back four weeks later and said, ‘We’re not doing it. We’re scrapping it.’ That’s how prepared I try to be. Somebody gave the inkling that this might happen. All I want to do is put my best foot forward for y’all. So that’s an example of how prepared I was for the heel stuff.”
You can check out Cena’s comments in the video below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
