The Rock addressed John Cena’s stunning heel turn during WWE’s post-Elimination Chamber media scrum in Toronto. The Final Boss provided his perspective after Cena aligned with him following the Men’s Elimination Chamber match.
The shocking alliance formed after Cena and Rock assaulted Cody Rhodes when The American Nightmare refused to “sell his soul” to The Final Boss.
Rock described Cena’s heel turn as “an amazing moment” and placed it among wrestling’s most iconic angles throughout history.
It was an amazing moment. We as entertainers, whether in pro wrestling or film or television, you really live for moments like that where you can hopefully create something that can be very compelling and moving for the audience and take 38,000 strong in Toronto and what we have collectively thought about and talked about in the back, before and certainly after this moment, no one knew really what was going to happen. Maybe if you called it, but for the most part, I thought the moment was incredible and I personally love that.
The Rock emphasized the significance of the angle by comparing it to other legendary wrestling moments he’s experienced both as a performer and a fan.
What I felt tonight, and I’ve been a part of some really phenomenal pro-wrestling angles, and as a kid growing up, I’ve seen some amazing pro-wrestling angles. I felt like tonight stood beside all of those that were the iconic angles, so it was really incredible.
Rock revealed that this heel turn was part of a carefully planned long-term creative strategy.
I’m a long gamer, and I like long gaming, and I like creating with Paul, with Brian Gewirtz, and Maya Lasry, who is on my side of the team, and I like creating with Paul and his team as well. We’re long gamers.
The crowd reaction played a crucial role in how the angle unfolded, with Rock explaining they maintained flexibility based on audience response.
This crowd tonight was exceptional. And without getting too far into the weeds, we had discussed, hey, let’s be prepared with how this crowd is going to be, because when you go into something like this, this crowd tonight, they’re waiting, they know something is going to happen, it’s building up, we have the Elimination Chamber, all these matches that we have put together, that we have advertised, but then at the end, is our number one hero going to give his soul to the Final Boss.
Rock compared this situation to his WrestleMania 18 match with Hulk Hogan, where fan reaction forced them to adapt their original plans.
He expressed admiration for Cena’s commitment, noting that the 16-time world champion flew to Toronto from Budapest specifically for the show and was immediately flying to Africa afterward.
I told him as he left, I said, we say two things in our wrestling vernacular. He said, ‘Hey, thank you for the house’, and I said, ‘I’m proud of you’. It’s a big deal.
Rock also connected his subtle appearance at Bad Blood 2024 to this storyline, explaining it was always part of a larger plan.
It meant something. I’m a long gamer. I like long gaming. I like creating with Paul [Levesque] and Brian Gewirtz and Maya Lasry, who is on my side of the team. I like creating with Paul and his team as well. We’re long gamers. A lot thought Bad Blood, when I just did a small subtle thing, there was a lot of criticism, ‘Oh, it didn’t mean anything.’ It did. It’s okay. It’s okay if you’re not thinking about it now, but just trust me when I tell you, we are thinking about this stuff and long gaming this.
Rock mentioned that even his appearance at the Netflix launch event, where he praised Cody Rhodes, was calculated with this moment in mind.
When asked about rapper Travis Scott potentially joining his alliance with Cena, Rock confirmed this possibility, describing Scott as “a culture guy” who wants deep involvement.
Yes, absolutely. That’s why we’re doing it. Long gaming. I love Travis. That’s my guy. Where we have expanded to in WWE, I feel like professional wrestling has always found its unique place in culture throughout the decades.
Rock described how Scott was deeply engaged in the segment, even getting “hands bloody” by slapping Cody Rhodes during their confrontation.