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WWE: John Cena's heel turn shocks fans

The Rock, a bald man wearing sunglasses and a waistcoat with nothing on with tattoos on his arms and torso is holding a belt which says Cody's Soul, just behind to the right is a man with a hat and sunglasses (Travis Scott) also holding a belt on his shoulder and in front to the right is John Cena wearing jeans and no top. They are standing in an arena with crowd behind them. Getty Images

The Rock (right) and John Cena (left) are joined by rapper Travis Scott at WWE Elimation Chamber

John Cena, the 16-time world champion who announced his retirement from wrestling in July last year, has stunned fans with a 'heel turn' at the WWE Elimination Chamber.

After winning the Elimination match, Cena embraced the current champion Cody Rhodes, before turning on him.

He was encouraged by Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, his former rival.

If you're not a long-time WWE fan, this might seem confusing, so why are fans so shocked?

What is a heel turn?

Cody Rhodes, a man in a suit and tie holding a champion wrestling belt stands in a wrestling ring while in the corner of the ring a man in long jean shorts and no top raises his hands. Getty Images

WWE champion and face Cody Rhodes makes his entrance during WWE Elimination Chamber while John Cena looks on

In pro-wrestling, wrestlers are usually split between good guys and bad guys or villains.

The bad guys are known as heels while the good guy is known as a face.

A turn is when a wrestler changes their persona a goes from being a face to a heel or the other way round.

Some wrestlers will do this quite frequently, including Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson who turned heel earlier this year but has gone back and forth throughout his 29-year-career.

By turning on his friend and WWE face Cody Rhodes and teaming up with The Rock, John Cena showed he was becoming a bad guy.

The reason why John Cena's heel turn surprised fans was because he has been a good guy for more than twenty years.

What next for John Cena?

John Cena dressed in a blue t-shirt and cap stands in a ring talking into a microphoneGetty Images

John Cena's last wrestling match will be December 2025

John Cena is a professional wrestler and actor.

He has been performing with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) since the early 2000s, but is due to retire from wrestling in 2025.

As part of his farewell tour, he is expected to make 30 appearances across the world including in the UK in March.

In April he will be at WrestleMania in Vegas one of the biggest shows of the year and fans will be watching to see if he can recapture his champion status from Cody Rhodes.

Cena has confirmed his final WWE match will be in December 2025, but with his shocking heel turn will this be an epic final tour?

Let us know your thoughts!