Summary

  • John Cena's Instagram post of GTA 6 was a reference to his WWE heel turn happening before the game came out.
  • The long wait for GTA 6 has led to fans poking fun by joking about unexpected things that happened before its release.
  • Fans theorize about the release date for the next GTA 6 trailer and anticipate Cena's showdown with Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 41.

After shocking the world at the WWE Elimination Chamber: Toronto live event, John Cena made an Instagram post of a poster for Grand Theft Auto 6 without any context. The post turned out to be a reference to a long-standing meme, as Cena's WWE heel turn took place before Grand Theft Auto 6 came out, perpetuating a joke of "this happened before GTA 6 released" that has circulated on social media.

The titular Elimination Chamber match was the main event of the evening on March 1, as Cena faced CM Punk, Damian Priest, Logan Paul, Seth Rollins, and Drew McIntyre for a shot at the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania 41. Cena emerged victorious, as he eliminated CM Punk via submission. Following the match, The Rock, Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, and Travis Scott entered the ring. After embracing Rhodes, Cena shocked the world by attacking Rhodes and turning heel for the first time since 2003. In professional wrestling, heel is the term used to describe the "bad guy" role, and is traditionally opposed by the "good guy" called a babyface.

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Cena's heel turn not only surprised WWE fans and the Internet but also provided a lot of context behind a strange social media post. Hours after turning heel for the first time in two decades, Cena posted an Instagram screenshot of Grand Theft Auto 6 promo art but provided no context or captions behind it. Rather than a cameo in the game, WWE and GTA 6 fans quickly pointed out that the post was a reference to Cena's heel turn being a thing that came before Grand Theft Auto 6's launch. In short, Cena's post continued a long-running joke about "things that happened before GTA 6 released," which has been used to poke fun at the game's long development cycle. At the time of writing, Grand Theft Auto 6 is still scheduled to arrive in 2025, but further information about the highly-anticipated title from Rockstar Games remains elusive.

John Cena Makes Light Of His Heel Turn Happening Before The Launch Of Grand Theft Auto 6

As GTA 6 fans wait for more news, some fans formed a theory that Rockstar Games could drop the game's second trailer in March. As for Cena's post, WWE fans expressed their excitement and wanted to see what would happen between Cena and Rhodes on the road to WrestleMania.

John Cena and Cody Rhodes will face off for the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas. The two-day event will be held April 19 and 20 and can be viewed on Peacock in the US and Netflix internationally.

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Grand Theft Auto 6
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Action
Adventure
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Systems
PlayStation-1 Xbox-1
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Released
November 19, 2026
ESRB
Rating Pending - Likely Mature 17+
Developer(s)
Rockstar Games
Publisher(s)
Rockstar Games
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WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL
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Genre(s)
Action, Adventure