John Cena cut what fans are describing as the ‘promo of the century’ as he made his first appearance in WWE since turning heel at Elimination Chamber.
The 16-time world champion, who had been the face of the company for two decades, stunned the sports entertainment world by attacking Cody Rhodes earlier this month.
He has not been seen on WWE TV since that brutal beat down, which also saw him align with Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.
That was, until Monday night.
Opening this week’s Raw, Cena came out to his iconic theme, but was showered in boos by the crowd in Brussels, Belgium.
Wearing new merchandise, the wrestling icon then picked up a microphone and leaned into his new heel persona, launching a foul-mouthed tirade against WWE fans.
“For 25 years, I’ve been the victim, okay,” he said, as the boos continued and chants of ‘Cena sucks’ broke out.
“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 with a smile on my face.
“No more!”
Cena then went on to embrace the heat from the crowd, and suggested he is ‘not a face, nor a heel’ in WWE, and that he is a human being.
He continued: “Not one of you sons of b****** ask me how I feel. It’s just, ‘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 of you has been for 25 years to me.”
Cena’s first heel promo was then interrupted by Rhodes, who called out the 16-time champion for his decision to turn heel and align himself with The Rock.
The segment, of course, is building to an Undisputed WWE Championship match at WrestleMania 41.
In a mic drop moment to end their face-off, Rhodes urged his opponent to ‘find John Cena’ because he doesn’t want to face a ‘whiny b****’ at the big show next month.
Unsurprisingly, Cena’s first heel promo on Raw quickly started trending on social media, with fans absolutely loving his new character.
“Promo of the century already,” one fan wrote, responding to a clip shared on X.
“You have stuck gold with this, you guys,” another wrote.
“He’s been saving this one for 20 years,” a third joked.
“He’s f***ing cooking y’all right now,” a fourth concluded.
Cena is scheduled for a number of other appearances on the Road to WrestleMania, including next Monday (March 24) in Glasgow, Scotland and Monday March 31 in London, England.
Due to WWE’s tour of Europe, this week’s Raw aired at the earlier time of 3pm Eastern (7pm GMT).
How to get tickets for the WWE shows in London and Glasgow
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Wrestling fans in the UK don’t get to see their idols live very often, as most events are based out in the US.
But this month the chance to see Raw and Smackdown is right around the corner as stars such as The Rock and John Cena will be hitting London’s O2 Arena and Glasgow’s OVO Hydro.
To get tickets to see these shows in the build up to Wrestlemania, follow the links below.
WWE Raw tickets (OVO Hydro Glasgow, 24 March)
- WWE Raw Glasgow tickets at Ticketmaster, from £229.70 – buy here
- WWE Raw Glasgow tickets at StubHub from £396 – buy here
- WWE Raw Glasgow tickets at Viagogo, from £372 – buy here
WWE Smackdown tickets (O2 Arena London, 28 March)
- WWE Friday Night Smackdown London tickets at Ticketmaster, from £340.50 – buy here
- WWE Friday Night Smackdown London tickets at StubHub, from £151 – buy here
- WWE Friday Night Smackdown London tickets at Viagogo, from £144 – buy here
WWE Raw tickets (O2 Arena London, 31 March)
