Former WWE Star Calls John Cena “Poison” to Wrestling

By most accounts, John Cena is the greatest guy in professional wrestling–his “hustle, loyalty, respect” motto isn’t just a catchphrase, he’s earned everything he’s gotten, and he’s an all-around champ inside and outside the ring. But there are some that disagree.

Most of those who disagree are former WWE stars with an ax to grind, and that’s certainly the case with Ryback. It’s tough to argue with his self-promotion tactics since his WWE release, since his sensational stories about life in Vince McMahon’s company make headlines just about every week.

This week, his “Conversation With the Big Guy” podcast (helpfully transcribed by WrestlingInc) featured a huge rant on John Cena’s place in WWE.

“He has been poison to the [professional] wrestling industry. I told [podcast co-host Pat Buck] this before. We talked about this before. And again, this is my opinion, but I think I’m pretty accurate on this is I think he [has] done so much harm for so long to new talent to getting [over], breaking out, over there.”

Among the new talent Ryback thinks Cena hurt? Alex Riley.

“John would sit back there and bury Riley in front of everybody for no reason and Alex Riley is f–king money and he was money from Day One. Busted his ass, had awesome theme music, worked his ass off, went out there and got a reaction from the people, but because of John Cena and I swear to God, I swear to f–king God, because of John Cena, his career is over in the WWE for no f–king reason outside of John and his personal issues. Unbelievable.”

It’s going to be impossible to sort out the truth of this kind of claim. Cena’s detractors will obviously love it, but an obviously bitter Ryback–who has a new story about WWE’s horrors every week–isn’t the most reliable source for a character witness.

Do you think the Big Guy’s got a point? Did Alex Riley get an unfair shot in WWE? Let us know what you think down in the comments, or on Facebook!