On Saturday evening’s WWE Elimination Chamber: Toronto pay-per-view event, an unexpected turn of events unfolded as John Cena switched character roles, joined hands with The Rock, following his victory in the 2025 men’s Elimination Chamber match.
Following this surprising turn of events, Cena, The Rock, and Travis Scott lashed out at Cody Rhodes when The American Nightmare resisted turning to The Final Boss.
Inside WWE sources revealed to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that The Rock genuinely wished for an alliance with Rhodes and hoped he would adopt a villain persona.
However, there was concern among the WWE fraternity that if Rhodes switched to a villain role at this stage would potentially have an adverse impact on the entity.
The popular sentiment was that the existing audience appreciates Rhodes’s hero persona, and altering a successful strategy was not necessary.
Furthermore, WWE did weigh in the possibility of having CM Punk as the villain sidekick of The Rock, but when Cena consented to take on the villain part, the role was assigned to him.
The report clearly states, “CM Punk was going to get the slot, but we’re told it never came down to him as Cena agreed to do it.”