Every pro wrestling pundit alive will have their own twenty-paragraph version of why the John Cena heel turn didn't work, but I can tell you why it didn't work in three. And rather than start at the beginning of it, I'll start at the end.

The main event of the second night of SummerSlam 2025 will be remembered for two things: going way too long to get to the ending and Brock Lesnar's return. But it should also be remembered for Cena's big return to being a babyface two nights after one of the most sudden face turns in WWE history. Two weeks after getting put through a table, and months after proclaiming that he wants to ruin wrestling, Cena suddenly realizes he doesn't want to do that? Nah, that was WWE realizing they had to turn Cena face for Brock and looking for the quickest way out.

But that promo is a microcosm of the primary issue with Cena's entire heel run: *WWE and Cena never committed to the bit.* From Cena's first appearance after Elimination Chamber to his face turn promo, neither WWE nor Cena committed to the idea that this heel Cena -- this man who wants to ruin wrestling -- was a heel. Sure, he did heelish things to win matches, but he still wrestled and talked and (especially) dressed like the babyface Cena. His heel entrance (which was brilliant in its simplicity) was the closest they got to committing to the bit.

What sucks the most about that non-commital was how it watered down one of the most genuinely shocking moments in WWE history. John Cena, entering the twilight of his career, kicked Cody Rhodes between the legs and laid the groundwork for a good storyline to be told with The Rock and Cena feeling underappreciated and all that...only for The Rock to abandon the storyline and WWE to abandon actually changing Cena out of fear of selling less merch for his retirement run. Like, the moment is still amazing in a vacuum, but in context, it set up a promise that nobody intended to keep.

When you want to do a bit, you either throw your whole ass into it or you don't throw your ass at all, because doing it half-assed never gets you anything but mediocre results at best. Always commit to the bit; if you can't do that, don't do the bit.