John Cena and Hulk Hogan Do Q&A With Sports Illustrated

WWE Superstar John Cena and the special guest host for WrestleMania XXX, Hulk Hogan, recently spoke with Sports Illustrated, talking a number of topics regarding WrestleMania and WWE.

Below are their responses to a question asking about the differences from the early days of WrestleMania to nowadays:

Cena:

“It’s tough to say. We always come up with these whimsical scenarios of ‘what if.’ What if Hulk Hogan was in his prime right now or would John Cena survive the Attitude era or vice versa, how would a flipping the bird “Stone Cold” Steve Austin find success on a program that’s PG? I think ability is just rewarded, period. The people who have made it before would have been successful again because you can’t knock that drive, you can’t knock that hustle, and you certainly can’t knock that passion. This is certainly not an easy job, but if you love it, it’s very rewarding. So if you’re in it just for the money, it becomes old hat very quickly and you walk away. But for those who have had a wonderful career over a certain amount of time and have made an impression on the fans of the WWE, I think they would be successful no matter what.”

Hogan:

“I think you have to have it in your blood. If you want to be a top guy, back then, if you’re not up at 5bam and working out with Hulk Hogan, then you’re not taking my spot. The shortest day I ever put in was a 14 hour day, so if you weren’t out there putting in 14 to 18 hour days, then you’re not going to take my spot. I think Cena has this down to a science. He works harder, trains harder and does everything with more intensity than anybody out there today. You have to be totally dedicated to make it to the top. This has to be the priority over friends, family and everything. The only thing that can be in your focus is being the top guy.”

The two were also asked about rising stars such as Daniel Bryan and Bray Wyatt, but Hogan instead talked about John Cena possibly turning heel:

Hogan:

 Well, John Cena is definitely not done, brother, and to me, he’s at the perfect time to pull a “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan on everybody. If he was to switch and take that hustle, loyalty and respect and tell everybody how he was running game on everybody the whole time, he’d have another ten years wide open without even looking back. So maybe in five years, it’s John Cena running the game on everybody. When I look around the roster, Daniel Bryan is on one hell of a roll right now, but he gets beat to death every night he goes out there. The big guys just go out and stomp on him. Can he handle that for five more years? I don’t know. It’s anybody’s game at this point.

Cena:

“I think this is a very interesting time, and this is why I love WrestleMania XXX. If you look back at WrestleMania XX, all of the showcase matches had these up and coming talents like Randy Orton, Batista, Brock Lesnar and John Cena. These names became etched all these years later as the people who would be carrying WWE. This year, you have a flux of brand new superstars or superstars who are just waiting to make their impression once they get their opportunity. Bray Wyatt, The Shield, anyone involved in the Andre the Giant Battle Royal, and then, of course, you have Daniel Bryan. So if you ask me right now who is going to carry the WWE into the next decade, I don’t know, but I truly think that you will get your odds on favorite at WrestleMania XXX on April 6, and that’s one of the things that just makes this event so interesting. It will give you a little bit of insight into what’s to come for WWE.”

To view the piece in its entirety, click here.