John Cena's heel turn was a scenario that never looked like a possibility at the time Vince McMahon was in charge in WWE.
The wrestling world is still reeling from the effects of the shocker that went down at the end of the 2025 WWE Elimination Chamber PLE. The event saw John Cena turning heel and attacking his WrestleMania 41 opponent, Cody Rhodes, after Rhodes declined The Rock's offer.

This was followed by a beatdown laid by Cena, Rock and Travis Scott and making the road to WrestleMania highly unpredictable and intrguing to tune into. However, the intriguing question here is what the reaction of former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon to this would have been.

It has been a widely known fact that Vince McMahon was always against the idea of turning John Cena heel during his prime. Vince plucked Cena for huge success after witnessing his rise as a top star during his days as the heel and obnoxious, 'Doctor of Thuganomics. McMahon then transformed him into the Superman idol and top babyface for the company that made him one of the biggest WWE superstars of all time.
The former WWE Chairman benefitted a lot from John Cena's run as a top babyface in terms of business, popularity, partnerships, merchandise, and many more. So, turning Cena heel at the heights of his career when he was an ideal good guy and inspiration for millions of fans possibly did not make sense to Vince McMahon. While fans clamored for years to see that happen, Vince was always against pulling the trigger.
However, there was one time when Vince came really close to turning John Cena heel. This was during his feud with The Rock leading up to their first WrestleMania match in 2012, as revealed by Cena during a past interview with Chris Van Vliet. But he chose to back down from the same.

In regard to his reaction to Cena's heel turn happening in 2025, it is safe to say that McMahon might still have had the same opinion that he had for all those years. However, he would have been shocked himself to see the current WWE regime turn his former golden goose heel. Had Vince been in charge of booking right now, he would have let John Cena finish the last run of his career as the superhero babyface, depriving the world of a heel turn.
Also read: John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes Officially Added to the Card for the Undisputed Championship at WrestleMania 41