John Cena: “Austin (Theory) Is Great and Easy To Work With”

John Cena was recently interviewed on the Notsam Wrestling podcast, where he discussed a number of topics. Among them were working with Austin Theory at WrestleMania 39, The Rock, Roman Reigns, and more.

Below are some highlights from the interview:

Cena on working with Austin Theory for WrestleMania 39:

“Austin (Theory) is great and easy to work with. We wrote that together. He was in every step of the process. There comes a point where, you know, sometimes people need creative solitude. So like, I’m gonna go away and write my thing and then come back and run it by you and see if it’s okay, and there are some guys who are just like, ‘See you out there.'”

Cena on mentioning that The Rock had promo notes written on his arm:

“I’d like to think that I gave every chance to speak my best. The thing with our matchup and I think the thing that some people might not have seen was it is supposed to be Michael Jordan, LeBron James, both in their prime. To do that in this scenario, you do not have to elevate The Rock. He is and always will be in his own universe. I don’t have to give any more steam to that rocket. To make the billing The Billing, you need to elevate John. So I was punching from underneath, but still punching and just looking for whatever. Once again, Dwayne was doing so many things like he always does. He splits atoms and makes it work. All I was doing was WWE. That’s it, and laser-focused, and realizing this as the opportunity of a lifetime, and realizing also that like, this isn’t Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali. Right now, this is Mike Tyson, Peter McNeely, and this isn’t going to draw money. So ‘F’ it. Here we go, and of course there are ramifications and it led to some genuine emotions between the two of us, but when it all began to melt away was when we decided the path of the match the day before.”

“Dwayne could see not only how easy I was to work with, but how adamant I wanted to like, these are great ideas. Let’s do whatever, man. I want to make sure you’re comfortable. I can do this, but I don’t know. What do you think? Then afterwards, not in the performance, not like being too smart, or winking at the camera or like, ‘F’ this guy. No, being fully invested in the whole body of work, losing with humility, with embarrassment, and staying there, and being degraded and humiliated in front of a stadium to give Rock his moment.”

Cena on Roman Reigns and his current run:

“He’s really good. When you took away that thing that I built, that, ‘Okay, the company is pushing this guy? Go against him just to do the thing. But he’s really good. Forget it. It’s gonna be awesome. Chaos. We run the asylum.’ I love that, but it doesn’t help someone like Roman find confidence, and performing without an audience, in my mind. like, you could just see a different human being. Everyone was like, now they’re into it because he’s into it. I believe it. He doesn’t have to go out there And say suffering succotash anymore. He gives himself, so whatever they want, ‘Build this issue with this person.’ ‘I got.’ He’s super self aware. He’s aware of others. His ring awareness, like, he’s always been incredibly athletic. He’s always been a sponge, but he’s a very intellectual individual as well. People don’t necessarily know that about him. He’s super smart and he just needed that perfect storm to get going.”

“So when I talk to somebody like Theory who’s got stars in his eyes, and at 25 thinks he’s got a long road in front of him, I’m like, ‘Man, you really need to start now, failing. Don’t just perform, fail, like a lot, and then one day, you’ll get it. You need to have like 85 suffering succotash moments.'”

[h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.

 

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