Linda McMahon Asked About John Cena's Heel Turn At State Of Union Address

John Cena’s shocking heel turn at the Elimination Chamber 2025 premium live event caused ructions not only in the professional wrestling world, but in wider mainstream media too, with WWE creating a huge viral moment. The effects of this heel turn even led their way to the House Chamber at the US Capitol building in Washington D.C. 

On March 4, the new United States government, led by WWE Hall Of Famer Donald Trump, held their State Of Union Address. His cabinet involves the wife of former WWE owner Vince McMahon, Linda McMahon, who was confirmed as Education Secretary. Due to her connections with the professional wrestling world, she was approached about Cena’s heel turn. 

WWE’s Chief Content Officer Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque, and also son-in-law of Linda McMahon, revealed at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference that a question was posed to her. 

“Just recently, John Cena, when we talk about generational stars, for 20-plus years, has been the ultimate good guy in WWE. For him personally, that’s just who he is. Done more wishes for Make-a-Wish than any other celebrity in history. He’s just an incredible human being. But his character, John Cena, his character has been the ultimate good guy for 20-plus years. The Rock, who now has a character developed called ‘The Final Boss’, he’s on the board of TKO legitimately, but it’s part of the character, and he has all this power and control. He just used some of that power and control, and John Cena just turned heel, became a bad guy, for the first time. This was one of the biggest stories we have ever done. Within a few hours, that moment had over 100 million views on social media, within hours. It was front and center on SportsCenter. It resonated everywhere. 

“Jon Stewart used it as a vehicle to explain Washington D.C. and political power with a new administration. I think it’s no secret my mother-in-law is the Secretary of Education, and she just had a moment the other day where she was walking out of the State of the Union, and the one question someone shouted at her was, ‘Ms. McMahon, as the new Secretary of Education, what do you think about John Cena turning heel?’ It resonated so massively. It transcended everything. It was water cooler talk around the globe and made headlines everywhere.”

Reports emerged in the aftermath of the heel turn that The Rock had initially wanted Cody Rhodes to turn heel, rather than John Cena, though this story has been shut down by close friend and long-term writing partner of The Rock, Brian Gewirtz. 

H/T Fightful

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