AEW Just Referenced the WWE Moment that Foreshadowed John Cena's Heel Turn
John Cena’s heel turn continues to be talked about in and out of WWE. The ultimate good guy turning on the WWE Universe by aligning himself with The Rock instantly shook the landscape of WWE, as well as companies outside of it. Everyone seems to have an opinion of John Cena going bad, including wrestlers from rival competitor AEW.
WWE turning John Cena heel left a lasting effect on not only WWE storylines, but storylines in other promotions, including All Elite Wrestling. Case in point, on the March 26, 2025, episode of AEW Dynamite, a promo battle between number one contender Swerve Strickland and AEW World Champion Jon Moxley (f.k.a. WWE’s Dean Ambrose) references the Elimination Chamber segment through a 2016 WWE promo that foreshadowed Cena’s heel turn.
Numerous moments from Cena’s past can be recontextualized now as foreshadowing, but this one in particular emphasizes just how impactful the heel turn was to wrestling overall, not just WWE.
The AEW World Champion Foreshadowed John Cena’s 2025 Heel Turn in 2016
What Did Jon Moxley Say About John Cena?
WWE and AEW have been in direct competition with each other since 2019, but that doesn’t mean that the two aren’t allowed to reference each other. This was such a week of the latter referencing the former on the March 26, 2025, episode of AEW Dynamite. For context, Jon Moxley has served as the AEW Champion, flaked in tow by his Death Riders stable. Through the faction, Mox has promised to save AEW by rebuilding it in his image. He spouts a righteous message despite his nefarious actions suggesting otherwise.
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Swerve calls out Moxley’s self-righteousness, insinuating that the former WWE Champion has forgotten who he is. Most notably, he tells the champ, “Have fun continuing to play Jon Moxley on TV.” This verbiage is a direct reference to when Moxley told John Cena those exact words on the October 4, 2016, episode of WWE SmackDown LIVE. At that point in time, John Cena continued to preach hustle, loyalty, and respect whilst proclaiming to be WWE’s hardest working wrestler, despite working a part-time wrestling schedule.
Their promo took place mere days before John Cena and Dean Ambrose challenged AJ Styles for the WWE Championship in a Triple Threat match at No Mercy 2016. The match was touted as the first time that a "main event" was the opening match of a Pay-Per-View event. In reality, the scheduled main event was reportedly moved to open the show as not to compete with the second United States presidential debate that would have aired at the same time.
In that promo, much like with Swerve, Dean criticized Cena for becoming what he hated, as Cena openly chastised The Rock for being a part-timer during their feud. To Ambrose, Cena was a hypocrite and two-faced behind the scenes. These are all accusations that Cena has been exposed for being under his heel persona, so that promo can be recontextualized as foreshadowing, much like how a lot of Bray Wyatt's promos are viewed in a new light now that Cena is heel. Moments and matches from Cena’s past suddenly feel more relevant than ever after his heel turn.
John Cena’s Heel Turn Is Bigger Than Just WWE
Created a Domino Effect Outside the Company
John Cena’s heel turn created a moment that continues to be referenced and addressed by companies outside WWE. That’s something that’s never really been seen or done before in wrestling, for one company’s storyline angle to seemingly affect other angles within other companies. The impact of John Cena’s heel turn has already produced a domino effect across WWE, seen on the night after Elimination Chamber, as everyone on Raw had something to say about John Cena turning heel, be it CM Punk in front of the live crowd or people like AJ Styles and Karrion Kris’s addressing it in backstage interviews.
However, even when Hulk Hogan cut his heel promo to join the nWo in WCW, WWE didn’t address it at the time, nor did they make it a fixture of storylines like AEW has for John Cena. The bulk of that Swerve promo to Moxley may not have manifested without John Cena turning heel first. Such a scenario speaks to the overall impact that John Cena’s heel turn has had on wrestling as a whole. In addition, the coverage that the moment has seen in the mainstream press and pop culture on news outlets like ESPN only accentuates the moment’s magnitude.
AEW Reference Solidifies John Cena’s Heel Turn as Wrestling’s Most Impactful Moment
No Angle Has Affected Another Company’s Storyline Quite Like This Heel Turn
It may be too soon to rank the moment as the greatest heel turn or the most shocking betrayal in WWE history, but it’s hard not to rank it among the most impactful wrestling moments of all time. No moment like that has had such a visceral turning point for companies in and out of WWE. Few moments have added longevity to past moments in the wrestling lexicon, like the once-forgotten promo between Cena and Ambrose. It’s tremendous to see small, seemingly irrelevant moments from wrestling’s past resurface years later, reanalyzed with a new point of view that’s been anchored by the present.
John Cena’s heel turn in WWE is on an island of itself, in terms of sheer impact alone.
The professional wrestling business has rarely, if ever, seen a singular moment like this that simultaneously shifts how audiences view the present and the future, much like those in wrestling organizations outside its own. John Cena’s heel turn in WWE is on an island of itself, in terms of sheer impact alone. The fact that AEW indirectly acknowledges the heel turn, as well as the 2016 promo that contributes to its story, highlights just how special of a moment WWE created at Elimination Chamber.
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