How wild would it be if 2025 finally gives pro wrestling fans the endlessly requested John Cena heel turn?

Try not to laugh off the idea, as outlandish as it might seem. Sure, on first pass, Cena spending his retirement tour over the next year as a heel seems impossible.

There's a big but to tack on here, though—Cena's post-Royal Rumble press conference was interesting, to say the least.

In the wake of being one of the final two wrestlers in the men's Royal Rumble match and getting eliminated by Jey Uso, Cena hit his presser and threw out some interesting tidbits.

Tidbits, such as simply declaring himself as having earned an elimination Chamber spot already, which he swears he'll win so that he can go on to win his 17th title.

Seriously—just listen to the rant. It's probably one of the best things on the mic Cena has done over the last decade. And beyond that, there sure are a lot of heel-aligned things going on there.

For one, he's simply taking a spot in the chamber, unearned. He's unabashedly running off to film a movie until then. He utters the infamous Triple H/Stephanie/Authority-isim "best for business" more than three times.

There are little good-guy Cena things in there, like looking forward to eventually raising the arm of the guy in the future who wins No. 18, surpassing him. But the whole thing is laced with toeing-the-line heel work that simply doesn't fit with his usual "my time is now" Cena stuff.

The overarching outlook of WWE adds weight to this idea tenfold. After the silly retcons from The Rock at the oddly corporate Raw on Netflix debut, it's clear Dwayne Johnson won't be the Final Boss heel at 'Mania. While recent events have flirted with heelish Cody Rhodes, that doesn't seem to be happening, either—especially if Cena is his WrestleMania opponent.

So who is the big bad? Cena just raised the arm of Jey after the rumble. Raised the arm of, in fact, a younger version of himself—Jey is the guy moving stunning merchandise sales right now who is super, super over with children. He's the new guy who simply won't be permitted to turn heel for the foreseeable future, no matter how badly older fans might want to see that complex character development.

Cena is, in a word, free. Some of those obligations to the industry he talks about in the presser, he's free of those now. Jey has his old spot. Cody is a Cena-lite. Roman Reigns is going face. CM Punk will get cheered no matter how bad his actions become.

No doubt there's a super-compelling story to tell here, too. One angle? Cena indeed wins the Elimination Chamber and goes after Rhodes at 'Mania. He could cut some fantastic promos, taking an entire stance about how he's coming for what's rightfully his in the house he built.

Perhaps even more engrossing? Cena loses at Elimination Chamber and just spirals. He's not the franchise player anymore. That Ruthless Aggression era he created? He doesn't have that anymore. And while the locker room obviously respects him, they don't need him. Losing, plus one snide comment from a Seth Rollins about running off to film movies like Dwayne, and buddy, away the story goes.

Cena put a big emphasis on Saturday being his last Royal Rumble and this 'Mania also being his last. That could end up being true. But this is pro wrestling and those statements could easily be a swerve, too. This is the era of long-form storytelling and frankly, Cena deserves that type of treatment, too.

The alternative just feels too obvious and mediocre. He wins the chamber, beats Rhodes at 'Mania, drops it at SummerSlam and leaves for good?

That's just too easy.

What's refreshing is that when we say heel turn, in modern WWE under Triple H, it can be a sensible heel and not outright evil to the point of goofiness. An angry, motivated Cena who just realized this really is the end of the line and the happy-go-lucky grandpa who shows up to have fun just ain't gonna cut it. Stuff can work. He won't cheat, but getting uber-violent and any means necessary while destroying the locker room on the mic like their name was Austin Theory? It sounds fantastic.

Many probably didn't envision and can't imagine Cena playing the role of a heel as he says goodbye. But fans also know Cena—if it's going to do the best job of putting over the next generation as he goes out on his back, so be it.

If all the signs so far are Cena just evolving to match the times, the fact he just organically feels like a heel just makes him that much more organic as he bows out, too.