>>18583867He didn't fail though.
The creative teams have failed.
They were booking his turn forwards, rather than starting from the end.
That's where it always goes wrong.
If you have a heel turn on your mind, book from the moment you turn face again. Typically doesn't occur, but it does with Cena.
Then you pull it forward to say "okay I want his face return at his retirement to be helping Cody win the championship, but what would give that meaning... Ah, if Cena cost Cody the championship first and took it from him."
Then you start filling in the gaps and feature past opponents who try to make him see reason and fail and fail and fail until in that final retirement match, Cena stands idly by while another top heel whips Cody like a fucking mule with the referee out, and intervenes to save Cody.
They didn't think of these things because they weren't booking backwards.
They went "hey this would be cool" and just winged it.
