Bully Ray: There's One Person To Blame For John Cena's WWE Heel Turn Sputtering

Upon turning heel at WWE Elimination Chamber, John Cena left the WWE Universe and wrestling pundits jaw-dropped. Since then, the initial shock has worn off and the run itself has seemingly lost steam. According to WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray, this can largely be attributed to the absence of the figure that originally appeared to be the mastermind behind Cena's drastic change in attitude — Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

"The reason why John Cena's heel turn feels like it didn't 'live up to' its expectations is because we didn't get the conduit and the conjunction between The Rock," Ray said on "Busted Open Radio." "Without Rock being there, it leaves a giant hole in this whole thing as to why John and The Rock were in the same place at the same time at Elimination Chamber. It's not like The Rock gave the throat slash to a hard camera or to a side of the arena of fans, he gave the throat slash to John Cena, basically implying that he was telling John Cena what to do."

While some, such as "Busted Open Radio" co-host Dave LaGreca, desired the presence of The Rock in the lead-up to and at WrestleMania, Ray noted that he was personally okay with "The Final Boss" solely appearing at WrestleMania 41, when Cena challenged Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship. Ultimately, The Rock did neither of those things as he wanted to "step back into the shadows" following Elimination Chamber. As a result, Ray and others were left scratching their heads, underwhelmed, or angry.

"We don't get The Rock. That lets everybody so down that John beating Cody is just like I don't care. It doesn't matter to me," Ray said. "You got your 17[th world title] because you left this massive piece of the puzzle out."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio"" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.