Wwe guy

He’s done it.After nearly twenty years since he won his first WWE Championship, John Cena has finally crossed back into the dark side. “Aidan, he’s back there? I thought he never went!” And you’d be almost correct in that assumption—he would debut as a heel (read: bad guy) in 2002, but from 2005 to 2025, John Cena was a babyface (read: good guy). Hustle, loyalty, and respect. An absolute menace between the ropes, but an even better ambassador outside of them. Even his theme music (which has not changed since March 17, 2005) stems from this babyface run! He’s been known as a good guy for so long, why make him evil now?There are multiple reasons. In an interview on Chris Van Vliet’s INSIGHT ahead of the launch of “Ricky Stanicky,” a comedy film featuring Cena and Zac Efron, Cena discussed his initial plans to turn heel following a loss to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson at WrestleMania 28 in 2012, with the plug being pulled after Cena indicated a complete commitment to a heel persona, saying he’d “lean into the opposite” of what he stood for previously. This included new music, new gear, new everything. But before the turn was made official, Cena acknowledged his presence as a face and that WWE was “in too deep.” It wasn’t that it was bad PR, but it wasn’t going to lead to better PR. Bad guys don’t do Make-a-Wish appearances.The other reason is the story arc between Cody Rhodes and The Rock. While Rock and Cena had multiple showdowns at WrestleMania, this will be the first time both enter the Road to WrestleMania on the same team.Rhodes returned to WWE in 2022 at WrestleMania 38 after nearly six years away from the company. He would main event WrestleMania 39’s Sunday card against Roman Reigns, losing in his first WWE title match in his current run. After WrestleMania, Rhodes went through separate but equally grueling campaigns against Brock Lesnar and the Judgment Day, a dominant four-wrestler stable including multiple veterans. When Rhodes won his second consecutive Royal Rumble, Rhodes versus Reigns II seemed obvious until it wasn’t. The Rock would be booked into Rhodes’ place for the WWE Championship, but the “We Want Cody” movement caused WWE to pivot. As part of the buildup, a tag team match between Rhodes and Seth Rollins against Reigns and The Rock was booked for the main

AEW Despite their standing in different companies these days, Kofi Kingston and Bryan Danielson will always be tied at the hip, especially going back to the 2019 "KofiMania" program that culminated in a WWE Championship win for Kingston, defeating the then-Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 35. Appearing on "In the Kliq," Kingston reflected on that feud with Danielson as well as his perspective on the legacy of "The American Dragon.""Daniel Bryan, I think, is one of the greatest," Kingston said. "He's gotta be a top five of all time for a lot of different reasons [beginning with] resiliency. I mean, he's a guy who broke his neck and came back [after] people said he wasn't gonna be able to do it. You have to admire someone that can do that, you know?" Kingston went on to echo what has been said by many others about Danielson over the years, noting his seeming aversion to taking credit for his achievements both for himself and for others, such as when he helped elevate Kingston in their memorable feud."I know he was a very big advocate of [a championship run for Kingston]," he explained. "He'll never brag about that because that [wasn't his purpose]. It was just about doing the right thing and I'm always grateful for that." It likely helped, of course, that Danielson was in a similar situation to Kingston only a few years before Kofi became champion, and that made it easy for him to assume the position of the heel in their story. Kofi calls Danielson a stand-up guy WWE The saga of Daniel Bryan overcoming The Authority and becoming WWE World Heavyweight Champion at WrestleMania 30 is one of only a handful of crowd-influenced WWE pivots in recent years. "The Yes Movement" and "KofiMania" tying so closely together is something that Kingston sees as special as well."From a storyline perspective, when you're able to complete a circle like that and when you're able to have continuity [in that way] and you see it unfold in front of your eyes in a WWE ring, it's just beautiful," Kingston said. He added that their respective underdog-reaching-the-top-of-the-WWE-mountain stories spanned across different eras are also remarkable. Kingston expressed his gratitude when talking about Danielson as an opponent."He's amazing in the ring, super smooth; a high-class performer [and] stand-up guy," Declared Kingston.With Danielson's future more than just a bit uncertain as he awaits another

(or may not) have been surpassed by Cody Rhodes's actions cine then, but Punk was never Vince McMahon's guy. He was a man who had to climb a mountain barefooted during this period. A Paul Heyman Guy in a Vince McMahon world, CM Punk needed advocates but he did not find one in John Cena. During Punk's great WWE-produced Best In The World documentary, notorious people are candid about Punk's plight behind the scenes. Michael Hayes regularly admits the office's feelings on Punk's look, Heyman tells stories of how they wanted to cut him before he even debuted on television, but Cena's comments are the most damning of all. "He built a name for himself like he's the last territorial wrestler. These guys, you usually see the product and it never lives up to the hype. Immediately, I became "eh? That''s it?" At a time when CM Punk needed someone to see his potential, that was the viewpoint of the face of the WWE. Cena and Punk would go on to become friends and create history-making WWE moments together, but it was a rocky start for the pair. 5 Cena Buries Austin Theory A-Town Never Recovered From Cena's Disrespect A lot of this list features legends being spited, but spare a thought for Austin Theory. To say Vince McMahon's radar was off in the last decade of his creative tenure is to say that the Antarctic can get chilly, but that's not Theory's fault. Being given the chance to learn under one of the most underrated people in WWE in Grayson Waller, Theory has had to try to rebuild his reputation following a disastrous run with John Cena. Much like the above Roman Reigns entry, Cena took Austin Theory to the cleaners on the mic in the run-up to their curtain-raiser at WrestleMania 39. On a card loaded with incidents that had a big part to play in WWE's resurgence, John Cena gave the minimum effort in a match that ended with a Theory victory. Even with that win, Cena's feud with Theory caused more questions of the young superstar, not less. 4 Cena Blackmails Vickie Guerrero John Goes Too Far In The Name Of WrestleMania Vickie Guerrero rarely receives sympathy from the WWE Universe, and Vickie didn't deserve any niceties for cheating on Edge with Big Show. During an era when a lot of WWE felt like a mid-afternoon soap opera (and not often a good one), Guerrero was often used in angles where she would come between superstar's romantic relationships. John Cena saw what was going on and leveraged it all for a shot at the WWE Championship at WrestleMania. Some good guy. Having been appointed Stephanie McMahon's replacement as interim GM of Monday Night Raw, Cena saw his opportunity. John would secretly film Guerrero and air footage of Vickie cheating on Edge with Big Show, and use it to get himself added to the Main Event of that year's WrestleMania. It's every superstar's dream to win the

These segments would grow over time as Austin represented a character that the wrestling audience desperately wanted more of, an edgy loner who kicked ass and took names. Stone Cold's involvement with former partner Brian Pillman and Bret Hart set him up for future success and got the ball rolling for one of wrestling's biggest stars ever. 1 1998 Finally, after so much work put in, Stone Cold became the top guy in WWE. Not just the top guy, as he won the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania XIV, but the biggest draw in professional wrestling for the era (and of all time). His nigh-weekly classic segments with Vince McMahon and feuds with The Undertaker and Mick Foley were exactly what the wrestling audience was begging for at the time, and they ate it up to the tune of millions of dollars in merchandise and ticket sales. NEXT: 10 Wrestling Legends That Stone Cold Never Faced