John Cena has yet to publicly address his shocking heel turn at the WWE Elimination Chamber event on Saturday.
But when he does, he won’t just have the WWE Universe to answer to, but also Shannon Sharpe.
How big was Cena’s heel turn? So big that it was a topic on Monday’s episode of ESPN’s First Take. And while the segment was largely done tongue-in-cheek, it also saw Sharpe tease a future tag team match featuring himself and Cody Rhodes taking on Cena and rapper Travis Scott, who just so happened to be involved in the angle.
“Hey Cody, me and you against John Cena and Travis Scott at Summer Fest, SummerSlam, whatever they call it,” Sharpe, who might not exactly be a Wrestling Observer Newsletter subscriber, said. “John Cena, you need to pay for this. And me and Cody Rhodes are gonna make sure you do pay for it. We got something for your tricky you know what. Dirty, man.”
As Stephen A. Smith pointed out the 56-year-old’s recent hip issues, the Hall of Fame tight end already had a retort ready.
“Don’t worry about it,” Sharpe said. “John Cena gonna have a replaced hip after pulling that dirt cheap stuff on that man. Travis Scott, you too. You oughta be ashamed of yourself. I don’t like turncoats.”
Shannon Sharpe has Cody Rhodes’ back following John Cena’s shocking heel turn.
“Travis Scott, you too. You oughta be ashamed of yourself. I don’t like turncoats.” pic.twitter.com/FRJoGEHDEJ
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 3, 2025
Meanwhile, Dan Orlovsky expressed pure astonishment Cena would join the dark side, stating that he spent his Sunday rewatching the clip of the turn with his sons several times. Smith, for his part, unsurprisingly sided with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who aided Cena in beating up Rhodes.
Considering that Sharpe seems to think that SummerSlam — which is in August — is WWE’s next big event and appeared to have trouble remembering Rhodes’ name, this doesn’t appear to be anything worth getting excited about anytime soon. But give the former Denver Broncos star this much: his promo was initially so convincing, that even I wondered whether this would be WWE’s next foray into a mainstream media crossover.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.