John Cena On What He Wants To Do With WWE After Wrestling, His Favorite WWE Moment, Greatest Match
As previously noted, WWE SmackDown Live Superstar John Cena was recently a guest on the Playback podcast. Among many other things, Cena discussed whether he would like a position within WWE like Triple H, his best match, his favorite WWE moment, and the best match he has ever seen.
According to Cena, he would love to have a position in WWE like Triple H when his days of in-ring competition are behind him. 'Mr. Hustle, Loyalty, & Respect' went on to put over Triple H's work in establishing NXT as a viable third brand.
"Yeah, people don't understand it's a business of creativity and I'm wearing a suit right now because I'm comfortable in a suit. Everyone's like, 'ah, dress casual.' This is my casual. I don't mind being in a suit. I have a more Vince [McMahon] style than I have a Triple H style, but you get to be creative. What Triple H has done with NXT is literally creating another functioning brand for the company. That is awesome! Like, I tell him all the time. I'm fascinated by the growth and development. It's amazing to see them run two functional brands now we legit have a third that we can set up in a town for one of our big four pay-per-views and sell out five days in a row. That's unheard of in the ticket-tearing business. That's unheard of."
Cena professed that he would love to just go to the WWE Performance Center everyday and give young talent useful, yet cryptic, advice.
"I would love to do something like that and I don't even mean in that major of a capacity. I live very close to the [WWE] Performance Center in Orlando [Florida]. I would love to just go there everyday and give advice." Cena continued, "I love going to the Performance Center every once in a while and just giving a way left field look of, 'I know you're being told this by your coaches, I'll drop, like, some weird fortune cookie moments on them and just about-face and leave and everyone's scratching their heads going, 'what happened?'. I like that too, man. You don't have to be in charge of creativity to be around the creativity. I just love the creativity of the [pro wrestling] business."
Cena claimed WWE would have to tell him that it does not want him around anymore for 'The Babe Ruth Of WWE' to walk away.
"They would have to tell me that they don't need me anymore. And trust me, after 15 years of service, if they tell me that, I walk away with a stern handshake, a genuine smile, and a heartfelt 'thank you' because I've overstayed my welcome in some aspects. This is a dream ride for me, but it's not like I'm getting into the other gig to leave the other one behind. WWE is legit my home. I consider them my family. I have such a close connection with all the people that are responsible for the brand." Cena said, "but until they say that, I'd like to think that I can contribute in some capacity."
During the interview, Cena stated that his best match has not happened yet and that his greatest moment in WWE was his marriage proposal to Nikki Bella at WrestleMania 33.
"The answer to my greatest match question is always the same. It's my next one because that means I can continue doing what I love. My favorite moment is obviously when Nicole said she would marry me in front of 75,000 [people] at the Citrus Bowl."
In Cena's estimation, the best match he has ever witnessed was The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 25 even though the match went long and cut into his triple threat match with Edge and The Big Show. Apparently, Edge was miffed that Taker and HBK's time was up and their time was now.
"The greatest match I've ever seen? Hmm? Undertaker/Shawn Michaels, the first time, WrestleMania. That's the one I had to follow and I remember sitting in the gorilla position with Big Show and Edge. We had the triple threat [match] at the time. And they just went out and crafted a masterpiece, an absolute masterpiece. And I remember Big Show being so nervous and Edge was a little bit upside-down because those guys took their time and they were taking time from us." Cena continued, "and we got cut a little bit and I knew in my heart that we'd be fine and there's an iconic moment where I lift up Adam [Copeland] and Paul [Wight], Big Show and Edge, and that's all anyone remembers, but they remember that. And I remember the feeling of just watching this, going, 'this is the best match I've ever seen! This is the best match I've ever seen! This is the best match I've ever seen! This is the best match I've ever seen. s–t. I have to follow this."
Click here to check out the interview. If you use any of the quotes from this article, please credit Variety's Playback podcast with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: Playback