WWE Elimination Chamber review: John Cena sells out

After all these years, it seemed like John Cena was never going to have the heel arc that most stars of his caliber have. Hulk Hogan and Steve Austin had their heel runs to varying success but after years of John Cena being a babyface and only months to go before his retirement, it seemed like things would stay that way.

Then Saturday happened.

It seemed likely that Cena was going to win the Elimination Chamber, as it is hard to pass up the idea of him vs. Cody Rhodes while the opportunity is there. And in fact, he did win. But the outright heel turn that took place after the match, with Cena assaulting and bloodying a stunned Rhodes and aligning himself with The Rock, was something very few people expected.

The angle was extremely well done, and when you think about it, everything made sense. The Rock wanted someone to be his ‘champion’ in WWE, and since Rhodes wouldn’t do it, Cena is the next best guy for the role. The guy that always did what the company told him to do going against the one person that told The Rock no. Sounds good to me!

A lot of online folks have compared this as a moment similar to the infamous Bash at the Beach angle that saw Hulk Hogan turn heel and join the nWo, or at WrestleMania X-7 when Steve Austin did his turn. They’re extremely similar in some aspects, but there’s some differences. By 1996, Hogan was completely washed as a babyface and crowds were already starting to turn on him, so being the top heel was a logical choice. On the contrary, In 2001 when Austin did his turn, fans weren’t ready to boo him as he had just returned from neck injury and when WWE doubled down during the Invasion angle, the ratings slid.

In 2025, John Cena isn’t the face of the company or the top merch seller, Cody Rhodes is. so if he needs to the heel to the top star’s face, then it makes all the sense in the world. You also have to admire it, too. It would have been easy for WWE to have Cena spend most of the year riding a wave of nostalgia, and that still may be possible as he can always turn back for his last couple of matches. For now, WWE and Cena have decided to embark on something completely different and out of left field. And I have to give them props on taking WrestleMania up another notch in terms of interest.

Elimination Chamber overall was a pretty good show, even before the show-closing angle. The men’s chamber that headlined was pretty good and picked up in the last few minutes when Seth Rollins, Cena, and CM Punk were in there by themselves (though did you notice those punches between Punk and Cena? I did). Based on the finishes here, it seems likely we’re getting Punk/Rollins (and Reigns?) and Damien Priest/Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania. 

The Women’s Chamber match was also very good, actually a bit more better then the men’s match. Lots of big spots (I can still hear Bianca Belair’s hair whip on Liv Morgan, ouch!) and much like the men’s match, some good wrestling towards the end of the match between Belair and Morgan. One of the big stories that played into the match was Jade Cargill making her return, not attacking Liv Morgan but rather Naomi, indicating that perhaps Belair’s tag partner was the one behind the attack that put Cargill out last year. With Belair’s win, that will likely play a part of the build towards WrestleMania as she’ll face either Rhea Ripley or IYO SKY.

The tag team match was pretty simple, and I didn’t see any major problems with it. Stratus looks amazing at this point of her career and can still hang. Stratton got the big win, pinning Nia Jax and putting her on a collision course towards Charlotte Flair, which should be a very interesting WrestleMania match.

And in the unsanctioned match, Kevin Owens got the win over Sami Zayn, defeating him after multiple powerbombs onto the ring apron, which as you know is the hardest part of the ring. This was good, but I also thought if you are going to use blood, this probably would be the match to do it, right? This was unsanctioned, meaning there was lots of weapons including hockey sticks, trash cans, tables, chairs, and even a barbed wire chair, which I don’t think has been seen in WWE for a while. Owens even took a drop toe hold into the barbed chair but yet still didn’t bleed. He must have really tough skin. My guess is since the main event angle required blood, this match couldn’t have it. All of this led to the return of Randy Orton, who went after his former friend Kevin Owens, so that is another likely WrestleMania match.

And that is all for Elimination Chamber! Up next is…WrestleMania. Yep, it’s next month. Nothing but build from here!

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