Ahead of the premiere of the new docuseries “WWE: Unreal” on Netflix tomorrow, a new sneak peek has been released revealing the intricate behind-the-scenes process of John Cena’s shocking heel turn at the Elimination Chamber event earlier this year.
In the new clip, WWE’s Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque breaks down how he pitched the idea to a very small and select group of people. He details his conversations with WWE President Nick Khan and The Rock, who both loved the idea, with The Rock calling it “genius” and immediately contributing his own thoughts. After getting Cody Rhodes and Travis Scott on board, he made the final, crucial call to John Cena.
Triple H explained that he needed to have a very honest conversation with Cena about the real-world impact of such a massive character change. He made sure to speak to “John Cena the human being” about the potential ramifications for his movie career and public image.
“I said, ‘John, okay. Let’s take the bulls*** hat off,'” Levesque recounted. “‘This impacts John Cena the real-life human being, and it impacts his movies, and it impacts his PR schedule and impacts everything… Give me your gut. You like it or you don’t.’ And he was like, ‘I like it a lot, actually.’ And when I hung up the phone with him, within a minute, minute and a half, I’ve gotten, like, three different texts from him of thoughts, ideas.”
The heel turn that was born in that small circle of trust ultimately led to John Cena capturing the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania 41. Although he has since lost the title to Cody Rhodes, their story will reach its climax this weekend at the two-night SummerSlam premium live event, where Rhodes is set to challenge Cena for it in a street fight.