CAGEMATCH » Promos Database » "I am not a babyface, I am not a heel, I am a human being"

"I am not a babyface, I am not a heel, I am a human being"

Promo

Promo Data

Title:

Worker(s):

John Cena, Cody Rhodes

Date:

17.03.2025

Promotion:

World Wrestling Entertainment

Event:

WWE Monday Night RAW #1660 (Card with guide)

YouTube:

Watch it

Promo

[John Cena enters the ring to the chorus of boos. After teasing the possibility of leaving the arena, he begins to speak.]

John Cena: "When someone is properly grounded in life... they shouldn't have to look outside themselves for approval.

You are making this so easy for me. You see, for 25 years, I've been the victim. Okay? I have been the victim of an abusive relationship. No, no, no! You have lost your time to talk! [crowd chants "You sold out"] Yeah? Ok, fine. Take the floor and what do you do with it? All you do is be hurtful! All you are is abusive, and all you've ever done is bully me into being your damn puppet, and expected me to do it all with smile on my face! NO MORE! [crowd "fuck you, Cena"]

So very classy, thank you. Look, I am not a babyface. I am not a heel. I'm a human being. And each and every one of you has been awful to me! Go ahead! Go ahead! You've been awful! And it's been the same damn noise for 25 years! When I first got here into the WWE... oh, you let me know really loud that you hated me. Yeah, yeah. Moments of embarrassment, moments of shame, just like this - you let me know that I wasn't worthy of your attention. So what did I do? I went and I changed myself, hoping that you would like me a little bit, and it worked for a second, but then it wasn't enough! So what did I do? I worked hard like I always do, and I started to win. And win! And win! And win! And win! And win! And win! And win! And win!

Oh, I won a lot, and you hated it - it wasn't enough. So what did I do? I spent the next 10 years of my life try and give away everything I possibly could, and it wasn't enough! [crowd chants "shut the fuck up"] And in my final moments, what's the only thing I can do, right? I can walk away. What a great example, they go from chanting "Shut the F up" to cheering when I say I'm gonna walk away. So I announced my retirement in a move that has never been done before. I'm actually walking away at the end of this year. I tried, one last time, to get along with you, guys. I tried one last time to do something nice for you and you ruined it! Just like you ruin everything! Because just like right here tonight, for two seconds it was great, and then it's never enough! [Crowd sings "Na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye"]

Each one of these idiots is proving my point with every breath. My point is, no matter what I do, it is never enough and you should be ashamed of yourself. All you ever do is take. You take! You take! And you take! And you only care about yourselves! I put my values on the line to make a very important choice in my life, and all you can think was 'what do we get?' My story changed. 'What do we get? John Cena's coming to my town. What do we get? This is trending. What do we get?' Not one of you sons of bitches asked me how I feel. No one! It's just 'what do we get, what do we get, what do we get, what do we get?'. You get nothing! You get what you have earned and what you have earned is NOTHING! You don't get a new look, because you dress like me. I don't dress like you, idiots. You don't get new music. That is my voice on that song, and your time is finally up, and my time is finally now! The only thing you get is to take a long look in the mirror to see how awful each and every one for you has been for 25 years to me!

[Crowd chants "We Want Cody"] You're chanting for Cody? Oh, of course! Of course! Your brand new shiny toy, because you're about to put this one [points to himself] out to pasture. Like I said, with every breath you prove my point that you're awful people. And that's every single person in this room. No one is safe, no one can hide, especially the people I can pick out in the crowd. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I see you, and you in the front row, and you in the front row. Yes, I can identify you very easily. You're the 'let's go, Cena' people. Yeah, you're the people are like 'man, I support you'. [crowd chants 'let's go, Cena' and 'Cena sucks'] You hear that, world? The 'Cena sucks' jack-offs, they've already proven themselves - awful people. I'm about to tell you why the 'let's go, Cena' people are just as awful.

You... you claim to support me? What have you ever done? You? What have you? You? You? What have you ever done to support me, huh? What have you ever done for me? All you ever do is steal from me! You steal! You steal my personal moments! You steal my time! You have made me your freaking toy! I'm an object to you! You have me the butt of a stupid 'invisible' joke for fifteen years and you still think it's funny! It is not funny! It is pathetic. You are pathetic. [crowd chants 'shut the fuck up' again] Oh, you don't wanna hear this? This is tough for you? Oh, you're not ready to hear this? You're not ready to lean into an uncomfortable conversation. The truth is, you don't wear this for support. You wear it to make you feel good. You wear words like 'hustle, loyalty and respect'. I live them every day. You think you could buy the words 'never give up'? I am the definition of perseverance and every person here knows it.

You. You do not support me. What you do is you use me as an excuse for your pathetic failure of a life. Because all you've ever done there for 25 years is sit on your ass and watch me be great! NO MORE! This, this, everybody including that one kid right there [points to a child in the front rows] is a toxic, dysfunctional relationship. Oh, you don't wanna hear it? It's too tough for ya, huh? Well, listen to this: I'm breaking up with you. I'm done. I'm breaking up with every single person, whether you like me or you don't... you're dumped. I don't need you anymore, I don't care about you, and you don't matter to me. And here's the thing: there's no noise you can make, there is nothing you can do, because you know I'm right, and you know you are wrong!"

[Cena gets interrupted by Cody Rhodes, who enters the ring and confronts Cena.]

Cody Rhodes: "I think everybody was willing to hear you out, even myself. If I understood correctly from, from what you've just said, they've given you their worst. Sure, they might've given you their worst, they have also given you their best for 25 years, and they did that... they did that, because you were special. They did that, because you could take it. They did that, because you could carry it."

John Cena: "Listen, kid..."

Cody Rhodes: "ENOUGH! And it's certainly not 'kid'. It's WWE Champion!

And let me ask ya... who the hell are you? [Cody points at Cena's shirt] Where's the guy on this shirt? Right here. Even after what you did, I was excited at the prospect of going week to week, face to face with John Cena, and instead I got this. Well this better not show up at Wrestlemania, because if it does, I run it over, I run it out, because I already took its best shot and it wasn't good enough. I retire it early! So go find John Cena, cause I wanna wrestle him at Wrestlemania 41... not this whiny bitch." [Cody throws the mic at Cena and leaves the ring to a thunderous ovation from the crowd]

Notes

Credit: thanks to inmate KuczyPL for transcribing this promo

8⁠.99

Current Total Rating (?)

Valid votes: 179

Number of comments: 48

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Average rating: 9.01 [179]

Average rating in 2026: 6.83 [6]

Average rating in 2025: 9.08 [173]

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Latest comments of the CAGEMATCH inmates

Sweet Fighter V wrote on 11.04.2026:

[1.0] "How can anyone take this seriously is beyond me. I thought turning Cena heel at this point in his career was already a disgraceful scam that made no sense at all, but I thought he would at least make up for it with his promos. It turns out it only makes the matter worse. It's so forced, and it sounds so disconcertingly wrong! It's Cena being a pathetic crybaby, playing the victim and doing it so childishly it's actually embarrassing. I hate this. The Belgium crowd chanting "John Cena la salope! " ("John Cena the bitch! ") is hilarious, and Cody making a short but sweet apparition with the crowd going crazy for him saves this from oblivion."

Raditz Flair wrote on 15.12.2025:

[9.0] "One of the best promos in wrestling. Everything from how Cena walked to the ring, the sadness in his face and the disdain when he reacted to the fans was all top notch. Cody's response was just as good. There was so much emotion and it all felt genuine. The biggest problem is he had the same music and the same look. It was over the second he walked through the curtain in spite of this promo."

John910Cena wrote on 08.10.2025:

[9.0] "Great promo, Cena's entrance as a heel was a little confusing however he made it work by saying you get nothing, the aura of heel Cena was at it's peak in March and this proves why, amazing promo with a great crowd."

pawlio wrote on 01.10.2025:

[9.0] "The reaction speaks for itself. There were some importants points that they ignored (rock) but considering that they have another promo announced for next week they should keep something for that. At the end even without using every bullet an incredible and memorable promo."

CO9000 wrote on 17.05.2025:

[4.0] "On the surface, just your stereotypical "heel blames the audience for their turn" promo. But read the room, it's John Cena in 2025. At this point, it's almost impossible to hate him. Having him go off on the fans at this point in time, especially in 2025, doesn't make a whole lot of sense. If he turned heel between 2010-2013, this promo would've made total sense. It's not the worst heel promo of all time, it's far from it. It's acceptable, but yet again, it would've made more sense if he turned heel between 2010-2013, when the fans hated him."

DrRockD wrote on 18.04.2025:

[9.0] "Sure, he may have leaned a little too much into the people being his reason to turn heel and not giving us enough adequate reason for why he would ally the Rock, but you can't deny that Cena was absolutely itching for this chance to cut a true heel promo for the first time in nearly a decade, and by god, did he sell the hell out of it. If you have followed Cena's career, then you will have to admit that everything he said was hard to argue with. It did not need to go deeper than that, it was the first promo of stunning heel turn that had hooked fans, this promo did more than enough to reel them in, and now the follow-up to come was what was going to be the ultimate reward. And if this is how good Cena was now at the beginning of a character that we would normally not associate him with, we should all be looking forward to it."

2pt0EcoBoostFusion wrote on 31.03.2025:

[8.0] "I haven't really been watching too much wrestling recently due to work and focusing on getting more tech certifications and more knowledge in that realm, but I do try and keep up with the wrestling news everyday and try and watch the more interesting things going on in the industry. In this case, John Cena turning heel at Elimination Chamber in early march and then coming to Brussels to give us THIS promo work. When you think about it, John Cena turning heel (even if it is several years too late) makes so much sense; crowds booed this man when he was the top guy of the company. I mean sure, one could argue fans were justified in booing him because of his "Cena wins lol" type of character, but his character just felt perfect and fans still booed the man, so he gives us his reasoning for turning heel and says he is a human being instead of a heel or babyface, similar to Roman Reigns' "I'm not a bad guy or a good guy but THE guy". I believe the ultimate heel move is not giving into fans with not even giving us a new look or new theme, I'm perfectly fine with Cena continuing to wear his regular clothing and come out to his signature hit from 2005 'The Time is Now'. One thing that did *enhance* this promo is the crowd, which ate up everything and treated John Cena as the heel he is coming out as and giving him that heel heat. Cody Rhodes then comes out to tell us that this isn't the Cena that we think he is, and that he is being 'whiny', his delivery was good and acceptable. It's going to be interesting to see how they do this John Cena heel run and then give him a babyface turn, because I just can't see him staying a heel for the rest of his time wrestling. Overall, great promo, it could have been better but still really good."

Spireal wrote on 29.03.2025:

[8.0] "Lacking a bit of spice (and I'm aware I'm saying this for a Heel Cena promo) but otherwise a strong note of intent that easily gets you curious and hopeful for the gimmick's future."

TheDoubleDarkness wrote on 26.03.2025:

[6.0] "While Cena's acting and the barebones reasons are passable, the actual wordplay and specific way he explained it are severely lacking. This was supposed to be his equivalent to Hogan's promo after the Bash at the Beach turn, and it fell flat, even though I generally prefer Cena over Hogan in promos."

davidthemark wrote on 26.03.2025:

[10.0] "By far the most redeeming aspect of the Raw episode it was found in, John Cena's first heel promo since becoming the face of the WWE nearly 20 years ago managed to exceed even my highest expectations. I thought it was brilliant, on his end I would not have changed a thing. I popped so many times watching this at home. Cena doesn't compromise his character in the slightest with this heel turn. He manages to portray himself still as the virtuous, self-righteous paragon of hustle that he portrayed throughout his face run, but corrupts it in heel fashion by convincingly displaying ire towards the audience for failing to live up to those virtues, and his example. Cena starts off the promo by quoting his most recent tweet before the show, about not seeking external validation. He goes on to drive at this theme throughout in the moralistic way we've seen Cena tear into his enemies in years past, except now he's made the enemy his audience. And the audience is fully engaged. The decades of goodwill they've had towards Cena (or at least decade, when Roman effectively became face of the company and drew the ire of the fandom to him instead) is very much still there, but it clashes with the betrayal they feel, the idea of a villainous Cena. What really makes this work for me is that Cena isn't selling out for base selfishness/the internal desire to get world title number 17, or at least that's not how he wants to portray it. That would essentially no longer be Cena's character, as he could never reconcile his higher values with his own corruption. Instead, Cena maintains his system of values, and turns against the audience, and thus heel, by deeming them unworthy of him, not befitting of hustle, loyalty, and respect. For this reason, when he calls out the fans for not respecting him, for booing him, for objectifying him, it doesn't ring as whining, but instead as a genuine outrage for someone who finds his morals, in his view, no longer compatible with everyone else's. He's relentless and uncompromising, determining the whole audience, and especially that kid in the front row, as toxic. I absolutely loved Cena's shirt having Rise Above Hate on it, it's super funny in light of the promo he drops here. If I had one criticism of this promo, it's that Cody's rejoinder is kind of base and disappointing in its own right, especially compared to what Cena unleashed before he entered. I know Cody's capable of better in his promos, and I'm hoping we see more of that as we continue this mania build."

GM56 Champion wrote on 25.03.2025:

[9.0] "Cena certainly had the crowd in the palm of his hand. I also gotta praise the moment after the music was cut off and he was standing in the ring unfazed listening to the audience. Just captivating. Then the promo happened. It was good and all, but his heel persona hasn't clicked to me yet. Maybe it's because I never imagined this would ever happen or maybe because his attire screams "babyface" or "kids' hero". Cody came out and delivered the punchline that left Cena speechless. Very interesting dynamic in that moment. It was all great, but Cena should have really worn a suit or I don't know...He made it clear that he was fed up with giving and giving, but that one "small" thing is kinda necessary to me in this case"

JacquesRougeauCanHaveMyWife wrote on 25.03.2025:

[9.0] "They got me to watch RAW for the first time in a long time with the announcement of Cena's appearance - and damn, what a promo! I don't care that he didn't mention The Rock because this was a masterclass in heel work. Cena's crowd interaction was absolutely incredible - you could lose yourself in his words, and the fans' involvement made it even better."

awael534 wrote on 22.03.2025:

[10.0] "This promo broke my heart as a lifelong Cena fan, but I can't deny it was one of the best he's ever delivered to the audience. Yeah, there was some exaggeration, and not everything he said was 100% real, but at least 80% of it felt genuine, like he was speaking straight from the heart. The way it ended with Cody Rhodes makes it pretty clear that WWE doesn't want Cena to completely tear him down on the mic just yet, they're saving that for the coming weeks. Either way, I'm hyped to see more of Heel Cena, and man, I really hope he gets that 17th title at Mania."

Dragon Master Adam wrote on 22.03.2025:

[0.0] "Illogical, boring, and uninspired, WWE managed to fuck up what could have been one of the most historic turns in wrestling history by having a man people have universally loved for over a decade now, go out there and suddenly have a problem with the fans a decade ago for booing him, even though his turn at Elimination Chamber was solely centred around The Rock, someone who neither Cena or Cody mentioned the entire 30 minute promo. Just pointless in my opinion. There was no mention of the title or the wrestlemania main event that's coming out of this story so it just felt like a cookie cutter "you people" promo that WWE has been plagued with for it's entire lifespan. This promo could have worked back in 2014 when Cena was getting booed the most, but now, on his retirement tour, it has no authenticity to it, especially when we all know he's going to turn face again either at Wrestlemania or shortly after, because there is no way this man is retiring as a heel."

ReiEscobar wrote on 21.03.2025:

[10.0] "Some people didn't like the title speech and okay, I get, I personally also was not moved by this and didn't made me goes like "woah he is cooking right now". But you guys need to understand that this is a promo that took basically a segment for OVER 26 MINUTES, so if you don't like one part and the rest rocks, so that means that this was hard as fuck! John Cena is playing for the first time in his career the character he always want to be, and this is the last opportunity for he to be it, to be himself. I'm saying this? No, he said at the promo, and that's what made for me this super fantastic. We need to praise also the Cody Rhodes angry babyface work here, looks really amazing. Why hit your opponent in the face with a punch if you can hit him in the same intensity with words? Words are more valuable in WWE than punches after all so..."

yamom wrote on 21.03.2025:

[0.0] "Probably one of Cenas worst promo's of all time next to his pre-Royal Rumble 2013 promo. Totally nonsensical and makes absolutely no sense. Yeah if he cut this in 2012 sure but this John Cena hate shit has entirely stopped in the live audience since he came back in 2021. You have gotten the love and adoration you seemed to have always wanted in this promo, and you now randomly turn for reasons that aren't even true anymore. I gave the turn the benefit of the doubt originally despite thinking it was ridiculous to turn either your #1 or #2 babyface which typically isn't a good business move, but this direction is just laughable. Not really sure what they're playing at but its 2025, people on Twitter.com were so upset Jey Uso (first time rumble winner and full time wrestler) lost to a part timer because it was YOU Cena, the INTERNET WRESTLING COMMUNITY wanted a PART TIMER to win. Think about that! Then he cuts this? You can't go meta when the meta is 10 years too old. Absurd. Really don't care about this storyline anymore and if they keep up this might land on the Austin scale of turns instead of a Hogan or Roman."

Brodie20 wrote on 20.03.2025:

[7.0] "I was expecting more John Cena for this one ! The real advantage of his promo is the reaction of the crowd and the chant before. Without it the promo would be mid."

Kartman wrote on 20.03.2025:

[5.0] "Cannot rate this promo "satisfactory" or above unfortunatelty. Sure, the atmosphere was great and the fans knew Cena is a heel now, their participation was on point and carried the whole thing. But it went too long and nowhere. Cena explained how he feels, I can say OK, I understand, there might be some connection with the real world from his peak when he was the top babyface and people still booed him but... what does it have to do with the current situation? We don't know why he turned like he did at Elimination Chamber, we don't know if he still wants to be champion, we even don't know if the WM match still takes place. There's no momentum, no continuity with either nowadays' real world or the current storyline. And it went so long, for nearly nothing. I am sorry but I cannot consider it a good promo. Still having hopes for the upcoming weeks, but I feel that the WM plans are not going as they should."

LadySnowblood wrote on 20.03.2025:

[6.0] "John Cena promos was fun to watch, not because of what he said, cause of the great crowd in Belgium that made the promo better. If you take the crowd away, it was a typical blaming the fans promo, which was told already onehunderd times when someone turned heel."

ComplianceMike wrote on 20.03.2025:

[8.0] "If this had ended before Cody entered it would have been a ten. Whilst Cody's part is by no means poor, I feel this should have been a Cena only moment to define the turn. The part with him pointing to the kid in the front row was genius."

UenoNATION wrote on 20.03.2025:

[5.0] "Wildly anticipated first heel promo, expectations were high and I think with this being such a long promo there were hits and misses and even with the length we didn't get enough. First, on him not giving us new gear or entrance music. I like the reasoning he gave but honestly it does not quite sell me on him as a heel when he's given the more serious toned promos before when the fans wanted the Rock or CM Punk to win the WWE Title, with an additional insult to the crowd here or there - I want a better visual difference for him as a villain to differentiate the booing Cena when he was unintentionally a heel years ago. I personally feel a simple, almost plain black tee with "Hustle Loyalty Respect" on it would be my preference. Secondly he mentions about what he ever got in return from the fans... millions of dollars? A Hollywood career? Character flaw of the selfish legend or lazy writing? You decide, both quite tepid. Finally, the "I'm not a heel" line was a "WWE is on fire right now! " moment. Overall it was okay but I was hoping for more, no mention of the Rock, selling his soul or why he even needed to turn on Cody when he'd already won the Chamber, inferring that the crowd gave resistance to him winning when everyone was happy about it. Crowd rescued it from being quite poor and Cody was quite toothless in his response,"

Pigeon Scratch wrote on 20.03.2025:

[10.0] "Was going to rate this a point below simply due to some nitpicks that I have, I think it could've been trimmed here and there and paced a little better, but I feel due to it's monumental feeling this promo and overall heel turn has, it truly deserves the critical acclaim. There are several things that elevate this segment. First and most importantly, this is the first heel promo from John Cena in almost two decades. We were pretty much at the point of his career where we thought he was never going to turn, and that he would retire as the undying babyface, the wrestler many kids idolized due to his sheer determination. Most people thought the moment to turn him heel passed many years ago, and yet here we are. Secondly, this crowd is absolutely insane. Last time I heard genuine hatred for John Cena was One Night Stand 2006, when he had to be the heel in an ECW heavy crowd. Thirdly, keeping his presentation the same is just simply the right move, as it played against people's expectations, and most importantly, wants out of this heel turn. Last, but equally as important, Cena uses his history in the company as the basis for the entire promo, the fact crowds started to dislike him only a couple years into his babyface push, and how he just always seemed to win no matter what later on in his career. The outward recognition of his polarizing presentation and reputation, twisted to work into this heel turn, is simply ingenious. A heel who believes he is in the right to feel the way that he does, even having a point, is always my favorite kind of heel. Simply a great promo, and one that is certain to be remembered for quite a while on."

sonchey wrote on 20.03.2025:

[8.0] "There should have been some back and forth banter between Rhodes and Cena but otherwise a great promo."

Keithnelson18 wrote on 19.03.2025:

[8.0] "There were moments in this promo I liked, with him insulting the fans for being toxic, roasting the people who overdo the Invisible joke with Cena and claiming it isn't and never was funny, and roasting that fan just gave me a big laugh cause I wasn't expecting him to roast that poor child. Once Cody came out, I feel like the promo died a little cause it was mostly Cody talking to Sean instead of them going back and forth with each other."

KangoKyobi wrote on 19.03.2025:

[9.0] "Cena's part in this promo up until Cody comes out genuinely is my favorite promo of all time. It's something literally only he could do and he's nailed his heel turn flawlessly in my honest opinion. I loved it, it felt both distinct, natural and the perfect culmination of the Cena hatred that has been fostered over these past decades. I just wish everything after Cody felt like it matched up to the spectacle John showed. While I get the angle and am not necessarily looking for Cena to "destroy Cody on the mic or something, " everything I heard from Cody honestly just never grabbed me nearly as much as Cena did even to the smallest degree. Biggest part of that is he didn't really say much at all. A big way of just saying you're not who I wanted and then he walks out. Very underwhelming on his part and honestly I also didn't like having Cena say "listen kid, " here, it felt very out of place, especially considering Cody is anything but new and Cena himself would know that above anything. None of my final part quarrels can change that Cena had me at the edge of the seat for every second he was on the mic. I still stand by his part being my favorite of all time"

JuanLoco wrote on 19.03.2025:

[10.0] "There is no worse villain than one who thinks he is the good guy, the fact that he doesn't change his outfit proves it, but some people are quite slow and don't understand it, one of the best character developments."

bornnaughty wrote on 19.03.2025:

[10.0] "Cena's always great at promo's but a very bad actor. He did the best acting of his entire life here and that made this his best promo ever imo and one of the great promo's of all time. fyi, I was there to see it live and there were rumors Cena wouldn't do a promo because of the fear the Belgian audience wouldn't understand him. I was so relieved and happy to hear him speak that I might have enjoyed it more than I otherwise would have."

PuroresuLover wrote on 19.03.2025:

[10.0] "Promo of the year right here! John Cena, once again, proves himself to be the master of wrestling. Immense amount of layers and more layers for his character here, and walking along with that, tremendous, elite-level acting and a crowd control that almost every wrestler wish they could have.There's a reason why he's the GOAT."

veroon wrote on 19.03.2025:

[8.0] "A pretty interesting promo. Cena not deciding to change his ring gear or entrance music felt odd, especially after how Dwayne did it last year; but the justifications given by him were pretty understandable. Cena used this promo and "insider terms" like babyface and heel to humanize himself and vent out frustrations that he's felt over his entire career. I liked how an element of reality was played into it by Cena calling out the parasocial relationship his fans have with him, and "breaks up" with them. What I would've liked was Cena holding his own once Cody showed up. Thankfully another segment is planned between the two where I hope Cena gets his lick back."

stewyou wrote on 19.03.2025:

[5.0] "Starting with the pros: The atmosphere here was incredible. Cena did a stellar job at playing into the crowd's activities, with some solid improvisation. Both Cena and Rhodes were great in their delivery of their promos - Cena's new stone-faced demeanor is great. Cons: The actual content of this promo struggled to resonate with me. I get that heels are supposed to be in the wrong and illogical, but you can only go so far before it starts to come off as goofy - which I think they risked here. Hating the fans because of the subsection that booed him is odd, because he has been generally beloved for most of his career (even during peak smarky hate years, which are kinda long gone now). Hating the fans that support him is a little confusing - "What have you ever done for me? " is a question so obvious that it feels bizarre that even the most illogical heel would ask it. Also says fans ruined his retirement tour but never really explains what he means by that. Overall just kind of comes off as "I woke up and decided I hate you guys and no I won't explain, " which feels almost like lazy writing. They have a lot of time to explain this further and stick the landing, so I'm not giving up on this story yet. But this segment didn't get me all-in on this feud."

crs285 wrote on 19.03.2025:

[10.0] "This promo in front of a rowdy international crowd was perfect. Cena fully committed with this arguing that being a superstar means being in an abusive relationship with the crowd which I actual believe it at times probably did feel like it. Cody added to it by being the example of what Cena used to be. Overall fantastic promo."

ChocoboSage wrote on 19.03.2025:

[10.0] "Quite possibly Cena's best work on the mic, easily the best "You People" style promo and for once it's deserved. Since Cena has been booed and treated like crap for most of his career, half the crowd cheer and half boo. Until the past 2-3 years, but even then the online diatribe was how bad he was and Cena wins lol. I loved it, most i've ever been into Cena's work and a legit great reason to turn on the crowd who treated him like shit for so long. Loved that he went after everyone too, not just the haters but his fans."

Hazem wrote on 19.03.2025:

[0.0] "This is a promo about something that never happened, this should've been a promo about why Cena sold out and turned his back on the fans and instead he was complaining the crowd is booing him? Crowds haven't booed John Cena in about five years. There was no mention of what happened at the Chamber, no mention of Cena being desperate and chasing number 17 and no mention of THE ROCK. Cody was standing there cutting a promo when he should be swinging at Cena. Cena didn't do anything either, this promo was no different than any promo cut by any WWE wrestler after turning heel due to the fans not cheering him. This is a promo that would've been good in 2011 not TWENTY TWENTY FIVE. Devoid of soul, substance and logic this was a complete disappointment. I still can't believe they went with whatever that was, there were so many directions they could've gone with that made Cena a logical yet despicable heel instead he's coming off as a cartoonish one who turned heel just cause the script says so. If what he said in this promo truly aligned with his character then he wouldn't join forces with Dwayne because he still upholds his principles but just hates the fans but I doubt they though about any of that. Once again, the easy fix was Cena saying this was the only way to win the world title again before he retires and either asks for forgiveness or blames the fans for not sticking by him but instead we get this. Kevin Owens did it better. This was a terrible start to what was a promising feud and I genuinely don't understand these high ratings. DUD"

Rocky7 wrote on 19.03.2025:

[10.0] "Most long time fans must realise they are part of the problem when it comes to John Cena. I bad mouthed him plenty back in the day, so I certainly contributed to what he faced that only just now bubbled over. One of Vince McMahon's specialties in his last 20 years was the "you people" promo a wrestler cuts after they turn heel, and the vast majority of them sucked. This was arguably the best of that type, as Cena not only laid into the fans who have hated and criticised him over his 25 year career, but also claimed the fans who supported him only did so as they haven't accomplished anything themselves. They even showed a child in the front row in Cena merch who clearly wasn't born for the majority of Cena's run. I also liked that Cena still wore his regular gear and came out to his regular theme as he didn't want to satisfy anyone online who was hoping for a new look or a "heel theme". This was if anything a great take on how parasocial relationships affect a celebrity. The only thing missing for me was any explanation of why Cena aligned himself with The Rock. Cody Rhodes was great in his part, not buying anything Cena said, claiming he will beat this version of Cena easily at WrestleMania."

Burning V Sternness wrote on 19.03.2025:

[10.0] "A tremendous promo that logically explained why Cena has done what he has done. The Belgian crowd were fantastic and really added to the specialness of the whole thing. Cena was on, Cody was on, and I'm now suitably jazzed to see the two of them wrestle!"

blackgoku wrote on 19.03.2025:

[10.0] "A promo where Cena explained his actions against Cody. It was surreal to see Cena turn on everybody and the intensity he brought and actually explain his actions."

Miglanista wrote on 19.03.2025:

[5.0] "The Cena part of this had wavering delivery and was quite illogical. Why didn't he do this 15/20 years ago when the Cena hate was at its peak, rather than now when he's arguably at his most loved? Why wasn't The Rock mentioned at all, considering the important role he played in the Elimination Chamber angle? Cody held his own part of the bargain, but was disappointed with Cena's output in this. The crowd was great and reacted the way you would have wanted it to, but this could have been much better/more logical than it actually ended up being."

Some Guy wrote on 19.03.2025:

[9.0] "Cena comes out to the same music and the same outfit he normally does, which I'm glad they didn't try to mess with any of that because it wouldn't have worked with what Cena was going for. This was a typical "the fans don't appreciate me so I don't care about them anymore" speech, and quite frankly I expected more than that. The content is lacking, but Cena's delivery is what really saved this. I did laugh at Cena calling out the kid in the front row and they cut to him with a dumbfounded, heartbroken look on his face, that was a fine piece of editing right there. Cena focused on his own emotional justification for doing what he did, but the practical reasons haven't been laid out yet. No mention of him wanting to win the title, which is kind of important considering he's facing Cody for the title in the main event of WrestleMania. There will hopefully come a time when he explains why exactly he chose to side with The Rock. In the end, there was a nice role reversal here with Cody coming out to interrupt and leaving Cena having to stand in the ring with nothing to say in return, which Cena had done many times before to other wrestlers. This is definitely a great promo on its own and will be remembered for a long time, but with some things left to be desired I can't give this a perfect score. 9/10"

thadaki wrote on 19.03.2025:

[5.0] "Delivery-wise, it's a great promo but that's the only thing it has going on for it. Even if I don't take into consideration that this is supposed to be a pivotal promo after what is claimed to be "the best heel turn of all time", Cena's reasoning is complete bogus and sounded as if it came with a decade-long delay. Whining about fans at a time everyone is behind him makes this come off as hollow and illogical and lots of the things he mentions are straight up false (people only take and take? are the people who pay for a product not allowed to have any demands? they are just supposed to give them their money and shut it? ), making it really weird how come some people claim he is "right". Now if we actually look at it in context too; Everyone is expecting to hear about his actions in EC and there was zero mention of that. Nothing in his explanation justifies snapping only at that very moment, when he was only in his second match of the year AND everyone was cheering him, and aligning with the Rock. While yes, there time to explain everything, with this promo existing, I highly doubt they will come up with something satisfactory enough."

Chefi wrote on 18.03.2025:

[10.0] "I remember going "DAMN" when watching this, because that's really all I could say. It was an awesome promo that I definitely did not expect out of Cena. I knew he was gonna cut a heel promo, but to justify it the way he did was unexpected but a good, believable twist."

InfamousLoaGOAT wrote on 18.03.2025:

[10.0] "Excellent promo, MASSIVE heat on Cena which did a really good job establishing him as the clear heel and Cody as the babyface. As the comment below said, I would have not gone with the ? you people? angle, but I can see why they did it. I particularly liked Cena's presentation, he had the same gear, etc. which only strengthed what Cena said about the fans turning on him, not the other way around"

darkflame4527 wrote on 18.03.2025:

[10.0] "Heel Cena exists. Wow. He really just did a complete 180 on his career and did exactly what he said what he would do if he was a heel back in that CVV interview. The crowd was absolutely booing the fuck out of Cena for so long it was haunting to see. Cody came in and lit the whole place up and built up a lot of hype for WM41. This segment probably confirmed this as the N2 main event."

actionjaxon wrote on 18.03.2025:

[10.0] "there are some things that feel off about this promo but other than that i love this promo its so crazy seeing cena doing a promo like this first of all it was so genius for not doing a new look or theme it was something we all wanted but in cena's own words we get nothing and that im breaking up with you line kind of hurt a lot but thats how you know cena is doing his job right.To be honest in my opinion no words can really describe how great this promo is just go ahead and watch it and i cant wait to see what happens next."

sarahlicity wrote on 18.03.2025:

[6.0] "That's it? I mean, it's - to use Cena's own words for a second - a fine speech, but this is surely going to go down in history as one of the promos of all time. Don't get me wrong, it's definitely not a bad promo, but after what happened at Elimination Chamber, given over a decade since the last serious attempt to turn him heel and over two weeks since the actual turn, this is the promo you come out with? Disappointing more than anything, really. There's a lot of meat on the bones of a Cena heel turn that they're leaving off, such as the quest for his 17th title, or even the "this is what the business needs" attitude he had at the Rumble presser, and instead, we get the most generic "you people" promo from someone who should be cutting better. I'm personally not too upset about the use of inside baseball terms - it's 2025, we all know it's fake - but given all the fire aimed at Damaris Lewis over the past week, it's probably not the best time to be doing that either."

neuuwave wrote on 18.03.2025:

[8.0] "Great promo from John & Cody. I only have two issues with this promo which drags it from a 9 to an 8. A. is the line from Cena; "Look, I am not a babyface. I am not a heel. I'm a human being." I get why he said this as it obviously helps boost the heel angle he's going for, but I feel like there was a better word choice yk? B. is specifically the angle that Cena goes with here. Personally, I feel like they should've gone for he's desperate to win 17, how it's best for the company, blah blah blah. Not the whole "I'm tired of being the toy of the fans" angle. It's a fine angle tbf and John sells it well in this promo, but personally I just feel like it's wasted potential for an even better heel run. But overall the promo was super good, crowd elevated it a lot as well with the constant chants. Cody's bit was also great and the timing of it all was beautiful."