For years fans had hoped to see a John Cena heel turn, and it finally happened on Saturday night. John Cena turned on Cody Rhodes after he won the men’s Elimination Chamber match, and he aligned himself with The Rock as the show went off the air.
Fightful Select reports that internally the segment was listed for the third spot on the show, and it was originally placed third simply to protect John Cena’s heel turn.
WWE went to great lengths to keep the heel turn a secret, and it’s being said that it was a shock to many in the company. John Cena and Cody Rhodes have reportedly known that they would be facing off at WrestleMania. As of right now there’s been no indication that there are plans for The Rock to wrestle on the show.
It’s also being reported that the poster WWE dropped on Friday with The Rock and Travis Scott was “100 percent intentional foreshadowing” as Scott was planned to be part of the angle when the poster was released. Scott had been planned for the show for over a month, but it’s not clear if he had been factored into the angle for that amount of time.
At this point there are few details regarding how long the angle had been planned. Much of The Rock’s creative is on a “need to know basis,” and Cena’s involvement with WWE so far this year hasn’t required much briefing as far as creative is concerned.
No one had been specifically told that The Rock’s appearance at Bad Blood was meant to set up the angle that played out at Elimination Chamber, but believed that it may have been pitched that far back because Cena vs. Cody was being discussed shortly after. Some believe that the appearance was supposed to be intentionally vague so that it could fit into whatever The Rock was involved in moving forward.
Most people who spoke on The Rock’s status for WrestleMania believed he would be at the show, but that hasn’t been confirmed. There’s currently no word on what his role would be if he is part of the show.