John Cena on Stone Cold's podcast

I always say "I respect anyone who respects wrestling" and very few respect it more than Cena. Took an hour, but I loved it. Thanks man.

Good interview from Cena. Like NMS I was surprised to hear Cena doing one of these....but it was great. Thanks for posting.

I was actually impressed with his awareness & some of the points he has made.

I loved Cena badgering Austin about WrestleMania 31. Austin asking if Cena can get him a backstage pass, and Cena saying "I can get you an in-ring pass."

Taken form another forum:

- The boos don't bother him. He's talked to Austin, Triple H, HBK, The Rock, Patterson, other producers and Vince. He's learned to look at the product objectively and this is one of the things he obsesses over. He thinks the reactions are the way they are because for a few years the company didn't produce enough superstars and main event talent. He often tells the people he's working with in the ring that if the audience is cheering and booing him then they should be mad because they're an afterthought. He feels they're on the cusp of having an all-star lineup the first time in a long time so he's very excited. He thinks there are some guys making noise (and guys that aren't making noise) that will be making a lot of noise soon. When that happens he thinks the splitting of the crowd will go away. He says when you have 1 guy being used to make other superstars, the majority of the audience just recognizes that one guy. When he has a feud with Bryan or the Rock you don't hear the cheers that much because they can actually balance the cheers but when it's a one-man party out there then the crowd is attached to that one man.


- Austin feels Cena's run is one of the best runs in WWE history.


- Everyone thinks that he was handed the key to the city. He wasn't anyone's first choice, he was last. It was an extraordinary set of circumstances with everyone in the roster that he's in his current position. He saw his chance and he took it. He's also taken countless risks week after week to move up in which he's had his job threatened by producers and even Vince himself until the crowd made noise and it worked. He hears people talk about workrate and ect but really to him if the crowd makes noise then they're doing good.


- He, like Austin, isn't good with "booking stuff". He's good at taking what they give him and making it as best as he can make it. People say he's holding people back but he says he can give a list as long as the Constitution of guys he's tried to push that was shot down.


- Cena wishes he could have magically made Bryan come out during his match with Orton at the RR and then have Bryan kick both their asses to save the day but since he couldn't, they did the best they could. Since the crowd wanted to boo and chant random things not relating to the match it's best they did because it's what they wanted to do. He feels the Universe is their greatest superstar. It's better letting them do it than having them get up and get a t-shirt.


- Austin tells Cena to tighten up the STF. Cena says he will do his best.


- Cena's done buying cars because he not only has all the cars he wants but he's learned to save his money well. Everything he buys is an investment now.


- He's learning Mandarin to connect to the audience better on the other side of the world, China pretty much. On his downtime, one of his past-times is thinking about how to make the company better.


- 3 hour Raws are tough and ambitious. His perfect window is 2 1/2 hours. Creative and superstars are doing the best they can do. He says apparently ratings are ok for it and people want to see it.



- He feels great at 36 (about to be 37) and he and Austin feel his peak years are ahead of him. He feels he can go with any new guy that walks through the door. He does his usual set of moves but every once in a while he throws out a new one to get people talking.



- The product is moving towards more action and less talking. He thinks it's better from an international standpoint since if they don't understand them then the action can speak for itself. More action gives guys who can work more opportunity as well. Cena loves the talking and entertainment but the both of them know the deal. The machine changes so they either adapt or get out. Austin gives Cena an A+ for promos. Cena says that in his promos, if all else fails he at least speaks from his heart and that's why the crowd is responsive to him. Arn Anderson's format of a Cena match is an empty page and Cena likes this considering he can do what he wants to make his matches interesting for the crowd.

- The only thing that really upsets him these days is when he sees a guy with the tools that's afraid to take that leap of faith. There are a lot of guys afraid to take risks on the roster. They're so confident when wrestling but still. A lot of the guys have such great personalities. Whenever they want to go with someone or see potential in someone, he always tries to spend time with them and know them on a personal level because then you can truly know who they are as a person. He says that anyone in the back listening to this needs to take chances and talk to Vince for something they believe is successful. Guys are afraid of Vince. The politics for him at the end of the day is that their product is the best it can be. Creative can only do so much. Austin and Cena both say that if there's one thing you can say about Vince it's the fact he will always listen to an idea.


- The WWE Performance Center is legit. It's just as good as any Division 1 college facility. It has everything you need to get ready for the road life. Cena says it's slogan should be "WWE Performance Center: If you can't make it here, you just weren't meant for it". He admires Vince's adaptability. He says Vince is ahead of the curb.


- He loved the OVW days.


- He has no idea what he's doing at WM30. It's still up in the air.


- Cena and Austin are both high on Cesaro. They feel he will be a future superstar. They feel he hasn't found himself yet ala Austin 3:16. Austin says he needs to express himself more as well.


- WM31/Austin hints near the end. They joke about it but you can tell Cena is serious. He tells Austin to go talk to Vince.


- No talk about CM Punk.

Gotta love Austin calling him out on the STF.

So, how long until someone comes in and calls Cena fake/a phony? I can already guess who it'd be too.

Seriously though, that was good. Everything they touched upon was about as true as it could get. I kinda lol'd at the STF comment. If there's one thing I will always criticize Cena for, it's that I really do think his STF looks bad. Definitely looking forward to more action and less talking though.

Absolutely. It looks as weak as piss......and I cringe when he uses it. Here's hoping he heeds Austin on this one.

And I can't get enough of it.