Grilling JR - John Cena [Show Notes] (Patreon)

John Cena 

John Felix Anthony Cena was born April 23rd, 1977 in West Newbury, Massachusetts.

2nd oldest of 5 brothers, Dan, Sean, Steve, Matt

Attended high school at Central Catholic High School, in Lawrence Massachusetts and then transferred to Cushing Academy, which is a private prep boarding school

Got into bodybuilding in his early teen years

After graduating from high school, Cena went to Springfield College, in Springfield Massachusetts. He played football here, and became a NCAA Division 3, All American Center. He wore #54, and he still uses that number on some of his current merchandise.

He graduated from Springfield College, in 1998 with a degree in exercise physiology.

After college, he moved to California, where he started a career in bodybuilding, and he was also a driver for a limousine company.

When did you first meet or hear about John Cena?

Cena decided to pursue a career in pro wrestling. In 1999, he started to train at the Ultimate University, in California which was ran by Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW Did

Bassman also trained The Ultimate Warrior, Sting, The Miz, Chris Masters, Luther Reigns, Nathan Jones and Jon Heidenreich.

Any stories on Rick Bassman?

When Cena finished his training, he started to use the name The Prototype, which was a cyborg-type character & he also used that gimmick Ohio Valley Wrestling, OVW.

While he was in UPW, he was apart of the Discovery Channel's program, Inside Pro Wrestling, where some of his career up to this point was documented.

Did you ever see or hear about this program?

How does the WWE react to programs such as those that have come out over the years?

He won the UPW Heavyweight Title from Smelly Bell in April 2000, and held it for 27 days. He dropped the title back to Bell & left the company in 2001.

Jim Ross who was the head of talent relations for WWF at the time, flew to California to meet with John after a UPW show. When JR returned to Stamford after meeting John, he told Vince that I just signed your main event for WrestleMania in 5 years.

Do you remember JR talking about his meeting with Cena at this time, or do you remember hearing about Cena at all around this time?

Cena then went to OVW, to continue his training, and work in the territory.

Vince said on the John Cena My Life DVD that he wasn't too sure Cena was going to make it, because he didn't move with a lot of fluidity, and he looked like GI Joe.

Do you remember people having doubts about Cena when he got to OVW?

One of Cena's tendancies as The Prototype character was that he'd do promos, and in the middle of the promo, he would rewind himself, and repeat things that he said earlier in the promo.

Any memories of Cena doing this?

Do you know if he came up with that?

On October 10th, 2000 Cena , wrestling as Prototype made his WWE debut in a dark match at a Smackdown taping where he wrestled Mikey Richardson in a dark match. Cena actually lost that match.

Any memories of Cena's first match in WWE?

He got the opportunity to have another dark match at a Smackdown taping on January 9th, 2001 where he wrestled and defeated Aaron Aguliera. He then wrestled in another dark match at a Smackdown taping on March 13th.

On August 15th, 2001 Cena and Rico Constantino defeated the Disciples of Sinn in a tournament final to win the OVW Southern Tag Team Titles

Any memories of a young Rico, Brock Lesnar and Shelton Benjamin during their time in OVW?

April 5, 2002 – OVW Spring Breakout: David and Ric Flair defeated Prototype and Sean O’Haire.

Why did Ric go down and team with David against Cena and O'Haire? Any memories of this match?

Kind of ironic considering 15 years after this, Cena would end up tying Ric's 16 World Title reigns.

February 20, 2002 – OVW: The Prototype w/Kenny Bolin defeated Leviathan w/Synn to win the OVW heavyweight title.

Pretty historic match here early in their careers. As this would end up being a future WrestleMania Main Event. Leviathan would go on to be known as Batista. Interesting side note, Leviathan's manager in this match, Synn is Jim Cornette's wife.

Do recall hearing a lot about or even having your eyes on either of these guys at this point? They're both just a few months away here from making their WWE debuts.

Jim Cornette has said of John's time in OVW, that Cena was a hard worker, looked the best of anyone there. Said that he was a great heel & that he thought Cena could've been a modern day Ric Flair type of heel.

When Cena was in OVW, Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton and Batista were also there. All of those guys would be main players for the next decade plus in WWE. Out of those 4, who do you feel has had the best career?

On June 27th, 2002  John Cena made his WWE TV debut on an episode of Smackdown. Kurt Angle was in the ring, issuing an open challenge to anyone on the roster, and Cena came to the ring. Angle asked him, what is the one quality that you possess, that makes you think you can walk out here, and come into the ring and face the very best in the business?  Cena said ruthless aggression and slapped Angle and they had a match. It was a good match with Angle eventually winning by pinfall.

Who made the decision to call Cena up to the main roster at this time? How did that process usually go?

Later in that episode of Smackdown, Cena was shown backstage talking Rikishi, Ron Simmons and Billy Kidman, they were congratulating him on the match with Angle, Rikishi said that he was going to be a big superstar. And then The Undertaker, who was the undisputed Champion at the time, came up to Cena and said, what's your name kid? Cena responded with “John Cena” Undertaker repeated his name, took his glasses off and shook Cena's hand and said “nice job”, and walked away. Cena stood there, smiling and looking at his hand.

Pretty interesting for this to be done. Undertaker was a heel at this point. Whose idea was this? And was it done mostly to sprinkle some of that Undertaker dust on Cena right from the start?

There was a huge controversy regarding an angle with John Cena that got nixed. If you saw Smackdown, Jericho gave Cena lip and got a hard slap for his troubles. The original angle involved Cena slapping Vince, and everyone who heard the entire plan thought it was awesome and would get Cena over as a superstar. Enter Triple H. He did not think this would be such a great idea. Instead, he felt this green youngster should be taking finishing moves from the top guys. He also thought it was absurd to think that anyone would seriously slap his boss across the face (I wish I was making this up), plus he said nobody should even touch Vince until his match 

with Hogan at SummerSlam. Vince ended up siding with Hunter. There were guys backstage outraged when word of the change got to them.

Where was this supposed to go and any memories of this?

That’s unheard of, for Trips to get involved and get something changed, right??

On the July 11th Smackdown, Cena was already in the main event. He teamed with The Undertaker to take on Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho.  Before the match, Cena met with Undertaker in the parking garage and said he was thrilled to be teaming with him later. Undertaker said that was great, but he didn’t give a damn about Cena or the match.  In the match, Cena pinned Jericho with a rollup, after Undertaker hit Jericho in the face while he attempted a lionsault on Cena.

it's obvious that WWE is quickly pushing Cena to main event status right away. Why was he being pushed so fast and did any of the vets backstage have a problem with that?

At the Vengeance 2002 pay per view, Cena made his pay per view debut and he pinned Chris Jericho, in 6:21.

How did Jericho feel about putting Cena over, so early in Cena's career, much less on a pay per view?

On the September 19th Smackdown, Brock Lesnar pinned Cena in a non-title match. 

This was Brock and Cena's first televised WWE match against each other. Any memories of this?

October 17, 2002 – SmackDown: John Cena defeated Billy Kidman (Cena appeared to be turning heel soon).

Was the feeling backstage that the only way to save Cena's career at this point was to turn him heel?

October 24, 2002 – Smackdown: Billy Kidman defeated John Cena (Cena brutally attacked Kidman after the match) Cena was wearing bike shorts and boots to match the local teams.  So Pittsburgh was black and yellow. Green Bay was green and yellow.  Edge thought this was "too white meat babyface".

Stephanie has said that one time during a tour, they were on a bus, and she heard Cena rapping in the back of the bus, and she suggested to him that he starts to do that on TV.  Thus, the Doctor of 

Thuganomics gimmick was born. Do you recall this happening?

A white kid acting like he's a hip hop guy.  The backwards flat bills, the chains around the neck, the Mitchell & Ness throwback jerseys, the jean shorts, the Reebok pumps and pumping them up during the match.  "A white kid out of Westbury into hip hop" -- that's a little different says Vince. His friends and family say that's really him though. 

Did Cena embrace the heel turn and come up with all of these ideas that I just mentioned to add to his new character or was someone backstage helping him develop it?

Very interesting match here..a glimpse into the future. February 8, 2003 – Velocity: John Cena defeated Bryan Danielson.

Any memories of this match and did you deal with the future Daniel Bryan at this point?

April 27, 2003 – Backlash: Brock Lesnar defeated John Cena to retain the WWE

This seems to be the case of a going no where babyface turning heel with a new gimmick and catching fire and getting pushed straight to the top. Why was the decision made to put him in the WWE Title picture against Brock at this point?

Cena had an interesting first year in the WWE. He got pushed to the top as soon as he got there, then went down quick, turned heel and went back to the top and at this point he's kinda back into the mid-pack. How would you rate Cena's first year in the WWE?

August 28, 2003 – SmackDown in El Paso: Eddie Guerrero  defeated John Cena by disqualification to retain the US title.

Eddie is obviously a huge babyface here. Any memories of this match?

November 6, 2003 – SmackDown: John Cena defeated Rey Mysterio after hitting him with a low blow, and then an FU.

After the match, Paul Heyman offered John Cena a spot on Team Lesnar at Survivor Series,  and then Cena got attacked by A-Train. Which seemingly turned Cena back babyface.

Why was the decision made to turn Cena babyface here?

December 25, 2003 – Tribute to the Troops - John Cena defeated The Big Show in a “Non-United-States-title” match.

Cena was getting over huge as a face during this time. Was this about the time, heading into 2004 that you guys realized he was going to be the next guy?

What was the general concensus backstage of his rapper gimmick?

Cena has claimed he was very close to being fired early in his WWE run. He says the rapper gimmick saved his job. Any insight on that?

February 5, 2004 – SmackDown: Paul Heyman “benched” John Cena after the FCC cracked down on profanity on Network Television.

Any memories of this happening with the FCC at the time?

Cena tore his ACL when he was thrown over the top rope at the Royal Rumble 2004. Was there big concerns that he might end up missing WrestleMania 20?

WrestleMania 20 – March 14th, 2004 – Madison Square Garden, New York - John Cena defeated The Big Show to capture the United States Championship

Cena’s 1st title in WWE

After Cena won the U.S. Title, it was transformed into the infamous spinning title.

JR thought that it was a toy from WWE Shopzone and he didn't like it.  Whose idea was it & What was your opinion on it? And I can't imagine Vince was in support of it, did he have to be talked into letting the belt be changed into this?

WrestleMania 20 was a few months before Cena's 2 year anniversary in the WWE. 

What's your opinions and how would you rate his first two years in the company?

He'd end up having the title stripped by Smackdown GM Kurt Angle on the July 8th Smackdown,a fter knocking him over, which was hitting an official

Why was the title taken off of him that way?

Booker T would end up winning the title in an 8 man elimination match and then he'd begin a best of 5 match series with Cena, ultimately with Cena regaining the title at the No Mercy PPV

What did Vince think of this kind of match and why was it done with these guys at that time?

He'd up losing the title to Carlito b ut regain it from him a little over a month later

Cena would make it to the final 2 at the Royal Rumble 2005, before being eliminated by winner, Batista, but Batista's win kind of got overshadowed by Vince McMahon tearing both of his quads, sliding into the ring at the end of that match

What's your memories of that and what was going on backstage when they saw him stand in the ring and just crumple to the mat

However the following month, he beat Kurt Angle at the No Mercy ppv to earn a 

shot at the WWE Title at WrestleMania 21

You guys were obviously planning to put the Rocket ship to his back at this point. When did you guys realize that the time is now to put Cena in that spot?

And at WrestleMania 21, Cena beat John Bradshaw Layfield to win the WWE Title, which was his first World Title

John was pretty much a life long fan, you've probably seen that pic of him as a kid holding a title belt he made. Did you ever talk to him about what it meant for him to win the WWE title, the same title he watched Hulk Hogan defend against Andre the Giant at WrestleMania 3?

He went back to having the spinner title for the World Title

It's 1 thing to have the US title be a spinner title..but this is the World Title...what was the reaction to that?

On the June 6th draft, he was drafted to Raw by then GM, Eric Bischoff.  Why was he put on Raw?

He'd start working with Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle and during the angle feud, he started using the STFU submission move. 

At the New Year's Revolution pay per view in January of 06, Cena won an elimination chamber match to retain the title. However, after it was over, the money in the bank winner, Edge came out and cashed in his contract and pinned Cena to win his first World Title

That was the first time the money in the bank contract was cashed in. Why did you guys decide to have it done like that?

Cena would regain the title about 3 weeks later at the Royal Rumble

Cena would then start a feud with HHH and defeat him at WM 22 to retain the title. 

The fans started to turn on Cena around this time and boo him, which has stayed with him pretty much up to this day. Were you guys starting to notice that, and what was the reaction to it?

That takes us to One Night Stand 2006. Rob Van Dam defeated John Cena in front of one if not the most hostile crowd in wrestling history.

It was truly a magical match, if you haven't seen it, it's definitely worth your time to pull that up on the network and watch it

Talk about that match, the crowd reactions, Cena's reaction to it when he got to the back

At Unforgiven a few months later, Cena would regain the title by beating Edge in a TLC match. That happened in Toronto, which was basically Edge's hometown.

Did Edge have a problem with that happening in Toronto?

They had a lot of good matches together, what did you think of their chemistry and matches?

Not long after that, Cena became involved in an angle with Kevin Federline...Mr. Brittney Spears at the time

Any memories of that memorable angle?

At New Year's Resolution in January 2007, Cena beat Umaga to not only retain his title, but end Umaga's undefeated streak

Any Umaga stories and memories?

Cena would again beat him at the Royal Rumble and the next night, he and Shawn Michaels beat Rated RKO to win the tag titles, making Cena a double champion

HHH again tore his quad and rumor and inneundo is that it was going to be him and Cena again at WM for the title. Did you guys already know at this point that you were going with Cena/Michaels at Mania?

At WrestleMania 23, the tag champions John Cena & Shawn Michaels wrestled each other for Cena's WWE Title. Cena won the match by making Michaels tap

Did Shawn have any problem with that?

The next night on Raw, They were in a tag team battle royal, and Michaels turned on Cena, and threw him over the top rope, costing them the titles

Who do you think has turned on more partners? Shawn Michaels or Ric Flair? Flair even turned on Michaels once

Cena would then start a feud against The Great Khali. Cena would end up beating him by submission at Judgement Day to retain the title

Did you like the monster heel Khali or the dancing babyface Khali better?

He would then enter a feud with Randy Orton, where they wrestled at SummerSlam for Cena's title. Cena retained the title

Not long after that, Orton drug Cena's father who was at ringside over the guard rail and punted him in the head, adding more heat to their feud

What's your memories of that?

They had a rematch at Unforgiven and Cena was DQ'ed after punching Orton in the corner and not stopping

Why was a WWE Title match ended like that on a ppv? Couldn't that of been done on Raw?

During a match against Mr. Kennedy on October 1st 2007 Raw, Cena suffered a torn pec, which would take him out of action and the title would be stripped from him.

How big of a blow to the company do you think that was?

He made a surprise return at the Royal Rumble 2008 and won the match to earn a title shot at WrestleMania

How far ahead of schedule did he come back?

At WrestleMania 24, he was involved in a  triple threat match against champion Orton and HHH for the title. Orton pinned Cena in the match

On the August 4th Raw, he and Batista beat Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase to win the tag team titles & they lost them back to them the next week

He ended up herniating a disc in his neck which required surgery 

He'd be out until the Survivor Series in November, where he returned and beat Chris Jericho to win his first World Title.  

Heading into 2009, Cena was still the World Champion. He beat JBL at the Royal Rumble, but he lost the title the next month at the No Way Out pay per view to Edge.

Cena & Edge had a lot of good matches during these years. What did you think of their matches & overall rivalry?

That takes us to WrestleMania 25, where Cena would receive a rematch of sorts for the World title. However, it wouldn't be a straight 1 vs 1 rematch; instead it'd be a triple threat match. Edge defending against Cena & Big Show.

Leading up to the match, Raw GM Vickie Guerrero announced that Cena would be added to the Edge vs Show match at WrestleMania, making it a Triple Threat match. Later, it was revealed Cena was added because he  basically extrorted Guerrero with footage of her  having inappropriate workplace relations with The Big Show.

The next week on Raw, Edge, Vickie and  Big Show were set to confront John. Guerrero arranged a match pitting Edge against Cena with herself serving as a special guest referee. As Edge and Cena fought, Big Show walked down the ramp toward the ring. When he arrived, Edge joined him in tying Cena up within the  

ropes. Edge speared him, Vickie slapped him and Big Show punched him several times in the ribs and face

That takes us to WrestleMania 25

John Cena won the World title over champion Edge and Big Show in 14:42. Cena came out with an Eminem ring entrance with it looked like 200 indie wrestlers dressed like Cena lining up. The angle that the winner would get Vickie Guerrero was seemingly dropped. Vickie was wheeled out at first by Chavo in a wheelchair. First funny spot is Jim Ross talking about how Show just weighed in at 485, and then Lilian announced him at 441. 

Cena was booed a lot and Edge was cheered. Jerry Lawler explained that by saying that a lot of fans came to the show from Canada. 

No way that line wasn’t fed. Show dropped Edge on the top rope. Show missed a charge and ended up crotched on the top himself. Cena did a leg slice off the top rope onto Show on the floor. Chavo tried to interfere by tripping Cena. Cena laid him out with the Attitude Adjustment. Crowd was booing Cena a lot at this point. He went for the Attitude Adjustment on Edge, but Vickie jumped on the apron and pulled Cena off. Edge went for a spear on Cena, who moved, and she knocked Vickie off the apron but Chavo broke the fall. 

Vickie was carried to the back. Edge DDT’d Show on the floor and then speared him through the barricades at ringside. Show had already used a KO punch on Cena and Edge went to pin him, but by that time Cena kicked out. Cena twice went for the STF on Edge, but Show recovered and broke it up. Show missed a splash on Edge. Edge & Cena did a double-team suplex of Show. At another point Cena was on top but Show pushed off the top into the ring, and into a spear by Edge, but Show saved Cena.

Cena then got Show up on his shoulder and moved to the ropes to get Edge on top of show. It was a great visual for the split second, and Edge fell off. Cena gave the Attitude Adjustment to Show, then gave it to Edge and then pinned Show. They 

pulled out more things than they would have in a normal show, but Show and Cena are nothing special when they are in together. ***1/4 

However, this reign wouldn't last long as John lost the title back to Edge at the Backlash ppv when Big Show chokeslammed John through the announcer's table. This led to a feud with John and Show the following month at the Judgement Day ppv, which John won and they had a rematch the next month at Extreme Rules in a submission match, which John also won with the stfu

At Night of Champions in July, Cena challenged for the WWE Title in a triple threat match against Triple H and defending champion Randy Orton , but was pinned by Orton after interference from Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase. 

The next night on Raw,  Cena won a beat the clock challenge to earn another shot at the WWE title at SummerSlam

That takes us to SummerSlam 2009 -

Randy Orton retained the WWE title over John Cena in 20:44 in an over booked mess of a match. They took a concept from the past, and tried to add to it, but in adding, subtracted greatly. Jerry Lawler made a remark that Will Rogers must have never met Randy Orton (Rogers had a famous quote saying, “I never met a man I didn’t like” and former television announcer Boyd Pierce had his own version of it, “Will Rogers never met Fritz Von Erich.” ). 

Cena was booed here a lot. Funny because the last time WWE came to Los Angeles, Cena was heavily cheered. Orton had a bloody mouth. The crowd did the dueling chants. “Let’s Go Cena, Let’s Go Orton.” Then came a terribly over booked finish that left you never wanting to see them again and making Cena look like he’s protected by management and still not competent enough to win. As Storm made a comeback, Orton shoved referee Scott Armstrong and got out of the ring and was disqualified at 13:30. 

Lilian Garcia announced that “the winner and new champion, Randy Orton.” What a mess that announcement was. The timekeeper blew his stack, although that didn’t air on television. Garcia had to rephrase, saying that Cena won via DQ but Orton keeps the title, but Vince McMahon was ordering it to be restarted, and if Orton was to get disqualified, he’d lose the title. They wrestled for 2:02 and then Orton got up and left, getting counted out. Garcia then announced Vince said Cena won via count but he was still the champion. 

Next Orton got the pin with his feet on the ropes in :17. At this point it was getting ridiculous. A second ref came in and they restarted the match again. Cena had Orton in the STF. At that point, a supposed fan (Brett DiBiase, Ted’s younger brother, who will become a regular on Raw) jumped on ref Armstrong. It was an obvious plant because of everyone’s reaction. Then it was restarted again. This time Orton snapped Cena’s neck on the top rope, hit the RKO, and got the pin. 

The finish pretty much ruined the match. One restart always works. Two usually works. At three, you’ve turned it into a clown show. And they did four here. Obviously the idea was to build the I Quit match but nothing here really did that. ** 

Who do you think has had the better career up to this point, John Cena or Randy Orton? They of course came up together through OVW, so they've often been compared to each other over the years

A month later at Breaking Point, Cena defeated Orton in an I Quit Match to win his 4th WWE Championship, but lost the title back to Orton in a Hell in a Cell match at the Hell in a Cell ppv

Three weeks later at Bragging Rights, Cena defeated Orton in a 60-minute Iron Man match to regain the championship.

Would you put the Cena/Orton feud in the same category in anyway with the Austin/Rock feud

Cena successfully defended the title against both Triple H and Shawn Michaels in a triple threat match at Survivor Series, when he pinned Triple H after he hit Michaels with an attitude adjustment on top of HHH. However, John lost the title to Sheamus at the TLC ppv in a tables match

What did you think of that? Sheamus was very new in the company and he's already winning the title from Cena in the main event of a pay per view

The next night, Cena competed in a tournament to crown the 2009 Superstar of the Year tournament, defeating CM Punk in the first round and Orton in the finals later that night to win the award.

Do you think John or someone else should've won that award?

At the Royal Rumble 2010, Cena competed in the Rumble match. He entered at #19, and he eliminated Shelton Benjamin, Yoshi Tatsu, Kofi Kingston and he made it to the final 2, before being eliminated by the returning Edge, who won the match

The next month at the Elimination Chamber ppv,  Cena regained the title at in an elimination chamber match. However, immediately after it was over, Mr. McMahon came out and made him defend against Batista, who won the title 

This would set up a Batista vs Cena match at WrestleMania 26 for the title

John Cena beat Batista to win the WWE title in 13:38. Cena came out doing an entrance with a group of military men that was very impressive. The crowd was split, with plenty of anti-Cena folks out there. There was a sign in the crowd that read “Norway Hates Cena.” Another “Cena Sucks” sign right in front of the hard camera. Amazing how they both quickly disappeared. A bunch of fans at ringside were wearing matching “I Hate Cena” T-shirts. The first part of the match saw several mistimed spots. 

The two most noticeable were a suplex by Cena where Batista landed wrong, on both his feet and his tailbone. Batista used such a sick looking DDT, with Cena landing on the top of his head, that Cena was shaken up and told the ref to give him a minute to recover. You could hear it on TV. Batista then grabbed a chinlock while Cena shook it off. He’s lucky because he could have been seriously hurt on that one. Batista got Cena in a body triangle and went for a choke. So he’s been watching UFC tapes. Cena was starting to get booed at this point. Batista used a spinebuster for a near fall. 

Cena got the STF on but Batista made the ropes. Batista used a spear but Cena kicked out. Both were standing on the middle rope doing a test of strength. Cena head-butted Batista and punched him. Batista fell off the ropes. Cena came off the ropes with a fist drop. He tried the Attitude Adjustment, but Batista blocked it. Batista hit the Batista bomb but Cena kicked out. He went for a second one, but Cena blocked and then Batista blocked the Attitude Adjustment. 

Cena reversed again, and hit the Attitude Adjustment and threw Batista as opposed t dropping him. Batista kicked out again. 

Cena went to the top rope and came off, into a Batista bomb. That didn’t look too smooth. Batista went for another Batista bomb, but Cena reversed into an STF and Batista tapped out. That isn’t the finish I’d have done here, but they did make the storyline going in that Cena couldn’t beat Batista, thus making it likely that he would. There was considerable debate on which way to go in this match. 

Cena then jumped out to right in front of where the guys with the “I Hate Cena” signs were and smiled and posed with them, which was funny. Don’t think a lot of babyfaces would have done that. This match had more heat than anything on the show but the main event. ***½ 

We talked earlier about Cena and Orton coming up together in OVW, well Batista was also in that much heralded class that came up from OVW in 2002. Where do you think Batista's career ranks with Cena & Ortons?

John successfully defended it against Batista at Extreme Rules, in a Last Man Standing rematch. Cena then beat Batista again at the Over the Limit ppv in an I Quit match

Did you like the Cena/Orton matches or the Cena/Batista matches better?

On the June 7th Raw, Cena was attacked by 8 contestants from the first season of NXT. Wade Barrett was the leader. Also in the group was Daniel Bryan, Darren Young, Skip Sheffield (the future Ryback), Michael Tarver, Justin Gabriel, Heath Slater, and David Otunga

During this attack, they not only beat up Cena, but they beat up Jerry Lawler, Matt Stryker, and destroyed pretty much everything around ringside

This was somewhat similar to the nWo's original days in WCW in 1996. Talk about how all of this came to fruition

Also during the attack, Daniel Bryan strangled Roberts with his necktie and, in a sign of disrespect, spit in Cena's face, the latter of which led him to be released from his contract on June 11, 2010, as WWE reportedly felt those acts were too violent for the company's PG programming 

What's your memories of that?

Nexxus would eventually cost Cena the title at Fatal 4 way against Sheamus and also cost him the match in their rematch at the Money in the Bank ppv

Cena would then start his own stable to help him fight Nexxus. It would include Edge, Chris Jericho, R-Truth, John Morrison, the Great Khali, and Bret Hart.

Why was Bret added to this? 

This would lead to a match between the two groups at SummerSlam 2010. However, the former Nexxus member Daniel Bryan would return to the company and be added to Team WWE, taking Khali's place.

Team WWE of John Cena & Daniel Bryan & Chris Jericho & Edge & R-Truth & John Morrison & Bret Hart beat Team Nexus of Wade Barrett & David Otunga & Heath Slater & Skip Sheffield & Darren Young & Michael Tarver & Justin Gabriel in an elimination match 35:19. Nexus had a ton of heat coming out. Given that it looks like this show did far better than last year, based on one match, the idea of allowing heels to get and keep heat may not be the worst idea this year. Miz came out to be the seventh guy but Cena told him that they couldn’t wait for him to make up his mind and they had gotten a partner, and it was Bryan. 

Bryan opened the match with hard kicks to Young and went for a guillotine to an uma plata to a crossface for the tap in :45. Tarver was back wearing gloves and doing the boxing gimmick by throwing a ton of punches. Lawler made reference to Bryan Danielson. Morrison pinned Tarver in 3:36 with Starship pain. Morrison was slapping around Sheffield, but Sheffield came back with a powerslam. Fans started a “We Want Bret” chant. Morrison was kicked in the head from behind by Gabriel, allowing Sheffield to do a running clothesline on Morrison for the pin in 7:34. Sheffield then pinned R-Truth with a running clothesline in 7:59. 

Bret Hart tagged in to work with Slater, throwing punches, a reverse atomic drop and went for the sharpshooter. Hart can’t do a match because he can’t bump or take any shots, but his movement and offense looked good. It was actually incredible considering he’s 53, has an artificial knee and suffered a serious stroke. Barrett threw in a chair and Hart used the chair on Sheffield for the DQ in 12:10.

The crowd was genuinely mad when Hart was eliminated, and he was the only guy in the match you could say that about. Jericho then hit the codebreaker on Sheffield and Edge pinned Sheffield after a spear in 13:14. The idea was to protect Sheffield in that you needed a chair shot and two different guys finishers to beat him. Jericho made a babyface hot tag. Striker called him “The Winnipeg Jet,” which sounds like a nickname out of 1964. Jericho used a lionsault on Otunga and made him tap to the Walls of Jericho in 19:16. Jericho was after Slater. 

Crowd was doing “Y2J” chants and he was playing to them. 

Slater moved and Jericho ran into Cena, and then Slater pinned Jericho from behind in 20:05. Edge then yelled at Cena for costing Jericho the fall. Bryan was trying to play peacemaker. As this was going on, Slater came from behind Edge and pinned him with an O’Connor roll in 20:39. Edge then speared Cena and Jericho and Edge both yelled at Cena and called him stupid as they left. At this point it was Cena & Bryan vs. Barrett & Slater & Gabriel. The next seven minute were the Nexus guys beating down Cena. The crowd was really into this part of the match, with the kids and women chanting “Let’s Go Cena” and the adult males doing the “Cena Sux.” 

Cole kept ripping on Cena for picking Bryan over Miz and putting Raw in jeopardy. They kept beating on Cena until he tagged to Bryan. 

Bryan did a German suplex to Slater, a dropkick on Slater followed by a tope. Loud “Daniel Bryan” chant so he made himself here. He did a missile dropkick and nip up to Slater, then did a missile dropkick with one leg nailing Barrett and the other nailing Gabriel. Bryan put Slater in the crossface for the tap in 29:02. Miz then came out and hit Bryan with the briefcase and Barrett pinned him in 29:32. This left Cena vs. Barrett & Gabriel. 

A lot of heat here as they tagged in and out on Cena. Gabriel picked up the mats from the floor and Barrett gave Cena a DDT on the floor. They threw Cena in the ring, but Gabriel missed the 450 and Cena pinned him in 34:51. Cena then put the STF on Barrett in the middle of the ring and he tapped in 35:19. ***½

Cena faced Wade Barrett at the Hell in a Cell ppv, with the stipulations that if he were to lose, he would join The Nexus, and if he were to win, The Nexus would disband. After Barrett defeated Cena, he joined The Nexus.

Cena and fellow Nexus member David Otunga defeated Cody Rhodes & Drew McIntyre to win the tag team titles at Bragging Rights. Later that night, he was forced to help Barrett defeat Orton in a WWE Championship match, giving Barrett the DQ win, but not the title. The following night on Raw, Cena and Otunga lost the tag titles to fellow Nexus members Heath Slater & Justin Gabriel, when Barrett ordered Otunga to lay down and lose the match.

At Survivor Series, Cena officiated a match for the WWE Championship between Wade Barrett and Randy Orton. Per stipulation, if Barrett didn't win the championship, Cena would be fired from WWE

Orton defeated Barrett to retain the title, which meant Cena was fired, in storyline, of course. The following night on Raw, Cena gave a farewell speech, before costing Wade Barrett the WWE Championship by interfering in his rematch with Randy Orton. 

A week later, Cena invaded Raw, first as a spectator, but then attacked members of Nexus, explaining that he would still take down Nexus one by one, despite not having a job in the WWE anymore.

How exactly would that work in the real world? A guy coming into a company as a former employee and beating up current employees

On December 13th Raw , Cena was rehired by Barrett in exchange that he would face him at the TLC ppv, which of course Cena won that match

Cena would eventually manipulate the group to making him the leader and kicking Barrett out of the group.

That takes us to the Royal Rumble 2011, where Cena was in the match. He entered at #22. He eliminated CM Punk, Michael McGillicutty, David Otunga, Mason Ryan, Tyson Kidd, Heath Slater, and Alex Riley, which was pretty much all of Nexxus, which ended their feud. Cena was later eliminated by Miz

The next month at the Elimination Chamber ppv, Cena won the Chamber match which made him the #1 contender and gave him a match against Miz at WrestleMania 27 for the title

We start to see seeds of the Rock vs Cena feud, which we'd see over the next few years. Rock made some comments about John and John replied on the February 21st Raw

Cena says he was going to let The Rock slide because he’s well, The Rock. Cena replays the footage from last week of Rock dissing him. Cena says after seeing it again, Rock was pretty much making fun of him. Cena says he should probably say something about that. Cena says there’s only one way he knows to call people out and he hasn’t done it in a long time. 

Cena says he still has a degree in thuganomics and the crowd boo’s. Cena says this is a one-time thing for the fans tonight. Cena slips into his rapper state of mind. Cena starts rapping about The Rock, saying he left WWE high and dry to play a fairy with a tooth.

Cena continues to rap and knocks Rock for wearing makeup and a dress in his movies. Cena says he’s like a big purple pinwheel and tells Rock to “blow me.” Cena goes on, saying Rock spends his next movie in a bowling alley, polishing Cena’s balls. Cena tells Rock to know his WrestleMania role as guest host. Cena says Rock says he loves the people but Cena is there every week to show it. Cena tells Rock he can run his mouth all he wants but it doesn’t matter what he’s saying. Cena drops the mic and walks off to the back.

Did you think Cena vs Rock would live up to expectations? At this point, was there already a planned match for them at the next WrestleMania?

Later that night, Cena and Miz had to team up and they won the tag titles from Slater and Gabriel, but a rematch was immediately made & Miz attacked Cena leading to Slater & Gabriel winning back the titles

On the March 28th Raw, we'd see a face to face confrontation between Rock & Cena

Rock goes to the ring and calls Cena out. Cena’s music hits and he comes down to the ring amidst a chorus of boos. Cena has a mic and he says that this is what he wanted. The Rock is back in a WWE Ring. Cena says that The Rock is back where he belongs. Cena asks if Rock hears the millions chanting his name. Cena says that years ago when he opened his mouth about him, he was one of the millions. He couldn’t understand why Rock had left. He wanted Rock back for moments like this. Because the power that The Rock has over people is undeniable. 

Cena tells The Rock to look and listen to the crowd. Cena says that if he doesn’t believe him, then feel the electricity that can only be brought by one man, The Rock. Cena is glad that he came back, because when he came back he was smoking. He even mentioned his name. He compares it to a celebrity roast where just the fact that Rock mentioned him meant that he was in. Cena says that everything he said about Rock had meaning and merit. The crowd starts a loud, “Cena sucks” chant. Cena says that he wanted to know what the problem was that The Rock had with him. 

Based on what Rock has said, Cena can only gather that Rock has a problem with Cena’s colors, style, music and even the fact that his fans are kids. John Cena says that he is damn proud of his accomplishments and who he has become. Cena asks Rock who the hell he is to question his heart. Cena says that every single week he 

walks down the aisle as himself. He has no interest in judging anyone, and has news for the Rock that he wont be judged by him

The Rock says that Cena is right, the only person that can judge him is God. But that won’t stop him from kicking John Cena’s monkey ass all over Chicago. Cena says that he has addressed Rock like a man and said everything that needed to be said to his face. If they are going to fight then let’s do this.

Miz’s music hits and he comes down to the ring with Alex Riley. Miz asks “really?”. Is he really being overshadowed by the overrated? Miz has taken the W on the microphone and also flipped that into an M. Miz says that he has a secret, which is why he knows that The Rock won’t do anything tonight. It’s because The Rock is afraid of losing a fight and looking bad in Hollywood. So Miz tells Rock to keep running his mouth, because in the end he won’t actually do anything.

Cena and Rock end up being them both up

Which takes us to WrestleMania 27. Rock is the host of the event

The Miz pinned John Cena in 15:18 to retain the WWE title in the main event. They did two long video features, which, given the time constraints they were under, probably didn’t need to be done. They were great videos, but there really is a priority problem here in the sense the TV people seem to think the promotional videos is the product, and not the adjunct to the product. The Miz video showed him watching tapes of Hogan, Flair, Rock and Austin and trying to tell you that Miz is the next generation. 

They are working so hard with him. It’s going to be interesting in a year to see if it works or if they give up. I think his having real world cred outside of wrestling is going to put him in the HHH position, where they give him shot after shot because they believe in him. Cena did a video talking with all the photos of him growing up. Then they had a gospel choir sing his entrance music. It was like a K-1 entrance. Cena was booed heavily. 

Miz was mostly booed, but he got more cheers than Cena. Match started with some light “Miz is awesome” chants. They went for near falls early and the crowd wasn’t reacting. This was quickly starting out like the HHH vs. Randy Orton match that ended the show two years ago, although it actually ended up being worse. Cena got a near fall after a leg slice off the top. Crowd didn’t care. Cena missed a charge. 

Cena went for a crossbody and Miz ducked but the whole spot was mistimed and looked like low-rent indie work. Cena was draped over the apron and Miz did a running kneelift. Jim Ross mentioned it was a Million Dollar kneelift in Atlanta (Mr. Wrestling II, who was one of the big stars in Atlanta of the 70s, used the million dollar kneelift as his finisher). Cena came back with shoulder blocks and the booing was loud. He went for the Attitude Adjustment, but Miz escaped and hit the DDT for a near fall. Miz blocked the STF and used a neckbreaker for a near fall. Miz undid one of the turnbuckles. The ref was looking at fixing the turnbuckle and Cena got Miz in a small package, but the ref was late counting. 

No crowd reaction to this either. Cena got the STF but Miz made the ropes. Alex Riley interfered and rammed Cena into the exposed metal, but Cena kicked out. Then we had a ref bump. Cena hit the Attitude Adjustment, but no ref. Riley hit 

Cena with the briefcase. Cena kicked out of the near fall. Some people cheered his kicking out and others booed it. But it was the first time in the match you could even hear anyone cheering for Cena. Miz got the briefcase and went to hit Cena. He ducked and Miz hit Riley. Cena then gave Miz the Attitude Adjustment, but Miz kicked out. Miz rolled to the floor. 

Cena gave Miz a wind sprint clothesline which sent Miz over the barricade. Then, with the cameras somewhere else, Cena ran and jumped over the barricade and clotheslined Miz, whose head hit the ground where there was no padding. At this point both guys were counted out at 14:43. Rock came out and before he could say 

anything, the General Manager dinged. This led to Rock throwing the computer on the ground and Rock said that this is WrestleMania and nobody wanted to see a double count out. So he was ordering it restarted, no DQ, no count out, not time limit. As they both got in the ring, Cena got Miz up for the Attitude Adjustment, but Rock hit the Rock bottom on Cena and Miz pinned him in :35. 

The crowd didn’t really react the finish as they were confused. They were happy Cena lost. They were happy Rock got back at Cena. But it was such a heel move that they didn’t cheer it either. Miz was celebrating in the ring, and Rock started punching him around, and gave him a spinebuster and people’s elbow to end the show. *1/4 

Be honest, Miz shouldn't of headlined WrestleMania, right?

The next night on Raw, we saw something that we had never seen before, the main event of the following year's WrestleMania announced 1 year before the actual event happened.

Cena came to the ring and said there are a lot of people who are upset with a certain someone’s actions last night. He said it’d have been naive of him to not see it coming. He said he didn’t think that certain someone would decide the winner at WrestleMania. He said if he didn’t do that, the final moment of WrestleMania 27 would have been a draw, “and that would have sucked donkeys.” He said things didn’t go his way, but he will not complain. He said instead he will congratulate him - The Miz. He said there is something to be said about entering WrestleMania as champion and leaving WrestleMania as champion. He said that doesn’t change that he thinks he’s the most annoying man on Earth. He said after his showing tonight, he has earned all of their respect 

Cena continued: “Which of course brings me back to that certain someone.” He said after hearing Rock speak for so very long, it’s obvious he hasn’t earned his respect. He said it’s obvious he doesn’t like him very much. He said the good thing is that Certain Someone is here tonight. 

He said that Certain Someone was supposed to be the host of WrestleMania, but very quickly became involved in his business. “Which means that certain someone of mine has certain business to settle right now.” 

Rock’s music played. He entered the ring and faced off against Cena. The ovation for Rock is so much more tempered now than just a few weeks ago.  Rock then told Cena: “John Cena, let me be direct with you. What did you think was going to happen? You knew payback was coming. You poke a shark in the eye, you get swallowed whole.” He said The Rock talks trash about people. 

He said he does it better than anybody and it’s what the people love. He said he’s wrong about one thing. He said he’s wrong about respect. He said, “The Rock respects you.”

The Rock said he knows what he’s done. He said just because he’s been away, he knows all about him. He said knows he lives and breaths WWE. He said because of that drive he has become of the greatest WWE Superstars and WWE Champions of all time. “But it doesn’t change the fact that The Rock just outright doesn’t like you,” he added. “Look at us, John Cena. We are completely opposite. We look different. We talk different. We fight different. The truth is, we’re very similar. 

One thing, that is a fact, whatever it is that John Cena does, whatever it is that Rock does, he wants to do it the absolutely best, better than anyone, period.” He said when they shop for clothes, they shop different. “The Rock shops at department stores, you obviously shop at The Baby Gap.” Cena said, “Awesome. Fashion advice from The Tooth Fairy.” 

Cena said the time for talk is over. He said if he’s The People’s Champ, listen to the people. He said the people want a match. “And not just a match,” he said. “He said they want a match where generations collide.” He compared a match between them is like Muhammad Ali vs. Mike Tyson and Michael Jordan vs. Lebron James. He said it’s obvious they should fight. Cena said does he want to talk about it or does he want to bring it. 

The Rock looked at him and said: “John Cena, you have no idea what you just asked for. You asked The Rock to bring it. Oh yeah, The Rock will bring it. You bet your candy ass The Rock will bring it.” He said they should make history and do something that’s never been done before and make the biggest match-up of all time on the grandest stage of the world - WrestleMania 28, John Cena vs. The Rock. The crowd erupted, but with some boos because they couldn’t believe he was talking about a year from now. 

Cena loved the reaction as he sensed the fans turning against Rock. The Rock seemed perhaps even slightly thrown by the lack of huge pop. The Rock said it’ll be the main event at The People’s WrestleMania, “if you smell what The Rock is cookin’.” He extended his hand. Cena paused, looked at the fans, and then shook it.” They moved in for a staredown. Cena smiled. Cole said history has been made tonight. He said never before has the main event of WrestleMania been set one year ahead. “It is the match the world wanted, the match the WWE Universe demanded.” 

The Corre then ran down to the ring and Cena and Rock ended up beating them up

How did Vince feel about announcing this match 1 year ahead of time? What was the backup plan if one or the other wasn't able to make it?

Did these guys have any freedom on what they said during their face to face confrontations, esp the Rock, or was everything scripted?

At Extreme Rules, Cena defeated The Miz and John Morrison to become WWE Champion. Cena went on to successfully defend the title against The Miz at Over the Limit in an I Quit Match and R-Truth at Capitol Punishment.

Cena then started a feud with CM Punk starting with Punk's infamous Pipe Bomb promo on the June 6th Raw. What did you think of that?

Punk ended up beating Cena for the title at the Money in the Bank pay per view in Chicago and left the company with the title because his contract was up.

After Rey Mysterio won the WWE Championship in a tournament, Cena challenged and defeated him later that night to become WWE Champion for a record-breaking ninth time, only to be interrupted by CM Punk, who also claimed to be champion. Punk again defeated Cena at SummerSlam in a championship unification match.

On October 17th, 2011 you returned to Raw and teamed with John Cena to beat Michael Cole and Alberto Del Rio.

What's your memories of that?

You were pretty much not doing commentary during this time so let's fast forward to WrestleMania 28 where you returned to call the Undertaker vs HHH Hell in a Cell match, this was also the night that John Cena wrestled The Rock

What's your memories of your return and calling the Undertaker/HHH match?

That takes us to The Rock vs John Cena

The Rock pinned John Cena in 30:33. This felt like a by the numbers well laid out match. The crowd was going crazy once the bell rang like a major fight. They did a test of strength spot, where Cena threw Rock down first and repeated it, with Rock throwing down Cena. Rock did two quick armdrags and a la magistral cradle. Cena came back with a hip toss and headlock takeover and fans booed him. Rock tried a sharpshooter but Cena rolled out of the ring and got booed. Rock kicked him as he came through the ropes. Cena worked him over and grabbed a bearhug. Rock ended up taking a bump over the top after Cena dropped down. Cena dropped him on the barricade and on a table. 

Rock was selling the ribs. Cena got a near fall with a belly-to-belly suplex. Cena was back to the bearhug. Rock back with punches and a DDT for a near fall. Rock with more punches, a flying clothesline and a spinebuster. He went for the people’s elbow, but Cena tripped him. Cena came back with flying shoulderblocks and a back suplex, and the five knuckle shuffle. This elicited a “same old shit” chant. Cena tried the Attitude Adjustment but Rock escaped and they did a kind of klunky looking double clothesline spot. They traded punches with the “yay, boo” reaction with Cena the one getting booed. 

Cena hit the Attitude adjustment and Rock kicked out. Crowd went nuts for that. Rock hit the rock bottom and Cena kicked out. Cena got a near fall with a side slam. Cena went to the top rope. And stood there. And stood there. And stood there. Rock was exhausted by this point. You can be in great shape and run miles and miles, but ring shape for a decently paced 30 minute match after not doing one in so many years is a different animal. Cena had to pull him through the rest of the match. But he nearly killed him in the process.

Cena came off the top with a leg slice when Rock finally got up and watching the trajectory I was thinking, “Oh fuck, there goes the next three movies because Cena is so far forward he’s going to kill him.” Well, he could have torn his left shoulder up, but Rock was okay. Rock kicked out and didn’t appear the worse for war, other than being tired. Cena went for the Attitude Adjustment but Rock grabbed the ropes and held on, and got off his shoulders. 

Rock then hit a spear and put on a sharpshooter, but Cena made the ropes. Fans booed a lot when Cena made the ropes. He put the sharpshooter on again and Cena made the ropes again. They ended up outside the ring and he whipped Cena into the ring steps and slammed his head on the steps. Rock went for a sunset flip but Cena turned it into the STF. 

Rock tried to make the ropes but Cena pulled him to the center. Rock teased tapping, and then he acted like he had passed out. The ref held his arm up and it went limp two times but the third time Rock raised his arm. 

That stuff was cool with Dusty in the 70s when Pak Song had him in the claw but with modern eyes it comes off goofy as when the arm goes limp even in a fake real fight it should be stopped. Rock came back with a Samoan drop. They were trading punches. Cena blocked the rock bottom. Rock blocked the Attitude Adjustment. Rock hit the spinebuster and finally hit the people’s elbow and Cena kicked out. Cena did a small package for a near fall. He then monkey flipped Rock into the turnbuckle and Rock kicked out again.

Rock then went to the top rope. He did a crossbody and Cena rolled through, picked Rock up from the ground and power cleaned him to his shoulders and hit the Attitude Adjustment again but Rock kicked out. That Cena is one strong guy to throw around a 255 pound guy like that. Cena was mad at the ref, looked at him and said “Miami” with the idea the ref counted slow because they were in Rock’s home town. With Rock laid out, Cena paused, then decided it was time for the people’s elbow. He threw an arm pad, swung his arms, and Rock then tripped Cena up, hit the rock bottom and got the three count. 

So the story was that in the end, Cena was the one who got cocky and it cost him the match. The place exploded. This was an excellently laid out match and the guys were good enough to overcome their weaknesses and pull it off. Cena wasn’t the smoothest, and Rock got really tired. In the end, you could see Rock rubbing Cena’s head to thank him for the match. ***3/4 

Do you feel this match lived up to the dream match label?

This match was promoted as The first time and last time, but it of course would happen again the following year for the title when Rock was the champion. Was that already planned at this time?

This might be a discussion that gets people talking. A lot of our listeners are old school fans, and more than likely if you asked them to name their top 4 stars in WWE history, in no particular order, it would be Bruno Sammartino, Andre the Giant, Hulk Hogan & Steve Austin

Would you put John Cena as the 5th man in that list? Ahead of guys like Undertaker, Rock, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels and many others? If not in your top 5, would he be somewhere in 6-10?