John Cena on babyface turn: ‘Sometimes you just gotta listen and pivot’
John Cena opens up on his face turn.
After spending most of the year as a heel, Cena did an about-face on the final SmackDown before SummerSlam, becoming a babyface once again prior to his match against Cody Rhodes. When asked about being the ‘old’ John Cena again during the WWE Clash in Paris post-show, the 17-time champion said it was all about listening to the fans.
“Keep in mind, what we do is try to entertain the audience as best we can,” he said. “And sometimes, that involves taking risks and sometimes, that takes being bold. You also have to listen to the audience. It got to a point where, Cena vs. Randy, you start hearing this,” he said, pointing to the cheering fans in the audience. “Cena vs. Punk in Saudi, you start hearing the noise. Cena-Cody WrestleMania, Cena-Cody SummerSlam, it changes. Sometimes, you can make bold and brave new moves, but going against this body of energy is a losing battle. So sometimes, you just gotta listen and pivot, change course.”
Cena also brought up being able to apologize to a young fan that he insulted during his heel run.
“To be able to apologize to my man,” he said, referencing the Brussels kid who he apologized to on SmackDown and at Clash In Paris,”It’s great. To be able to say sorry, and to be able to say I ‘m sorry because I said hurtful things. I was having a bad day, so to speak. I think we’ll reflect on this a whole lot more in January.”
Cena defeated Logan Paul in Paris on Sunday. Only eight dates remain on his retirement tour, which is set to end on December 13 at Saturday Night’s Main Event.