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Is heel John Cena finally starting to work? WWE Backlash undid some of the WrestleMania damage

Have I been too quick to write off the John Cena heel turn? Given how quickly things can move in professional wrestling, I wouldn't want to U-turn just yet. But there's no denying that, for at least 30 minutes Saturday night at WWE Backlash 2025, the whole "evil Cena" concept actually clicked in a way that it hasn’t done so far.

Cena vs. Orton wasn't the perfect match, admittedly — we could have done without stacking up refs like cannon fodder — but it was a massive improvement on Cena vs. Cody Rhodes. Between the near-falls, supersized finishers, and over-the-top RKO antics featuring Nick Aldis and R-Truth, there was a sense of drama that felt frustratingly absent in Las Vegas.

More importantly, though, it was the first time that Cena being heel actually added something to the dynamic — as opposed to just running back Cena vs. Orton for old time's sake.

Let's start with the basics. From the moment the main event was called, you could tell that, unlike at WrestleMania 41, there was absolutely zero ambiguity as to who the crowd wanted to win. Sure, Orton being the hometown boy likely played a role, but WWE still deserves credit for drawing that kind of reaction out of a match that we all knew was a foregone conclusion.

In terms of the match itself, it was the first time that Cena actually looked like the bad guy. From that false handshake at the start to the immobilizing table spots, you actually got a sense that Cena wanted to undermine his opponent. It didn't quite reach the heights of the Roman Reigns run, but it was infinitely better than last time around.

Even the slightly contrived stuff where Cena does a deliberately slow rendition of his old moveset — part of the whole “ruin wrestling” gimmick — seemed to go over better. Maybe it's one of those wrestling things that grow on the audience with time, or maybe Cena just worked harder.

What could have been improved? I would have liked to see a more imaginative finish than another low blow — a spot that very rarely lands when it involves two guys who are already enemies. But on the whole, it was a successful outing for two of WWE’s most legendary rivals.

As for the future of heel Cena, I definitely felt a flutter of excitement at the end of the evening, when the man himself took to the mic to throw down the gauntlet to future challengers.

Who will take on Cena at the recently announced Night of Champions in Riyadh, for example — or at Money in the Bank in June? This time last week, I'm not sure I'd have cared. After last night, you can officially color me curious.

Aside from the record-breaking champ, Backlash gave another boost to some of the other 'Mania winners. Lyra Valkyria put on a technical masterclass, while Dominik Mysterio got another big stage win. Jacob Fatu came out of that four-way situationship for the U.S. Championship looking stronger than ever — before ending up in a tense moment with a debuting Jeff Cobb.

Even the more controversial match — Gunther vs. Pat McAfee — managed to be entertaining. These celebrity tie-in matches are always a risk (even with a loyal WWE guy like McAfee). But coming so soon after the Travis Scott debacle at WrestleMania, this one had the sword of Damocles hanging over it. As it turns out, we were wrong to worry.

Had the matches not been so good, the absence of title changes — combined with the lazy stage design — could have easily given this one a slightly underwhelming vibe, a la Saturday Night’s Main Event. Then again, Backlash has always been more of a coda to WrestleMania than a big event in its own right.

Last night didn’t challenge that perception. What it did well, though, was to actually focus on undoing some of the damage from this year’s WrestleMania. Again, let’s not get carried away here: It wasn’t a total redemption of the overall Cena gambit by any means, but it was streets ahead of what we’ve become used to lately.

If you were to plot Saturday night's efforts on a linear scale of “Cena heel moments” between Elimination Chamber (good) and Night 2 of 'Mania (bad), it would be much closer to the former than the latter. Considering the circumstances, I’d take that any day of the week.

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