‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin reacts to John Cena’s WWE heel turn

“Stone Cold” Steve Austin is interested to see how things play out after John Cena’s heel turn.

Cena shockingly turned heel at Elimination Chamber 2025, aligning with The Rock and beating down Cody Rhodes. The angle kicked off the build to Rhodes vs. Cena for the Undisputed WWE Championship, which is now official for WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas.

The Schmo interviewed Austin at a Mint 400 race this week and asked for his thoughts on Cena’s turn. Austin said he thought it was an epic way to begin the road to WrestleMania, but he doesn’t know whether the fans will accept Cena as a heel or if this move will have just made him more of a babyface in their eyes.

“It had to happen sooner or later. Finally it happened,” Austin said. “So it’ll be interesting to see, you know, whether the people accept him as a heel or has he turned himself more babyface. I think it remains to be seen as the story unfolds. Nonetheless, they’ve kicked off an epic build into WrestleMania. And that’s what they do every single year. And this year it’s here in Las Vegas, so it’s going to be pretty damn awesome.”

With Austin living in Nevada, he’s said he is open to making an appearance at WrestleMania 41. The Schmo asked if we could see him help out Rhodes against Cena.

“Hey, I haven’t been in contact with anybody, so I guess anything could happen,” Austin responded. “But I’m here to run the Mint 400 and that’s what my sights are set on. I’m not looking to Mania, I’m looking to the Mint 400. I’ve got a brand new left knee. This is my first race back, so I’m going to go out there and kick ass and see if I can do as well as I can.”

Allegiant Stadium is hosting WrestleMania 41 on Saturday, April 19 and Sunday, April 20. This is the last WrestleMania that Cena will ever compete at. He’s currently on his retirement tour and will have his final match in December 2025.