WWE Superstar John Cena is the latest guest on GQ’s “Actually Me” web series, where celebrities go “undercover” on social media platforms like Twitter, YouTube and Reddit and respond to people asking questions about them.
Some of the accounts are still active, including the Twitter and Reddit accounts he used for the Actually Me appearance.
John Cena: Free Agent
John Cena returned to SmackDown Live last week and is scheduled to challenge Rusev in a Flag Match at WWE Battleground. As an unrestricted free agent, Cena is free to appear on RAW and SmackDown, the only active Superstar with that right.
WWE would not have granted Cena this “free agent” status if there weren’t plans for him to feud with a RAW Superstar, so there’s a good chance we’ll see John Cena working with someone from RAW at SummerSlam.
Next week on RAW, Samoa Joe and Roman Reigns will square off to determine Brock Lesnar’s SummerSlam opponent. With Reigns vs. Lesnar rumored to be the main event of SummerSlam and Samoa Joe getting rave reviews for his match against Lesnar at Great Balls of Fire, a Cena vs. Joe showdown on August 20th has money written all over it.
John Cena on why WWE no longer acknowledges Chris Benoit in a historical context
Chris Benoit murdered his wife and son in 2007 and then took his own life two days later. WWE has since removed references to Chris Benoit in the company. His matches are still on the WWE Network, but his name does not appear when trying to search or skip to the match he was in. A fan asked Cena why doesn’t acknowledge Benoit in a historical context during a Q&A in Australia and below is Cena’s response:
“Very difficult question, and I’ll answer it like this,” Cena explained. “Often times, we get caught up in a person’s ability and their performance and this transcends WWE, this is a problem in sport. It is also a problem in entertainment. People will do bad things, but if they are good at what they do, sometimes those things are overlooked.
I don’t in believe that. I believe you should take ownership for your actions. All of them. Not just ones that are performed in front of an audience. I think our company’s stance on the entire situation set a precedent for athletics, and a precedent for entertaining of taking ownership for your actions.”
You can check out Cena’s comments on Chris Benoit here:
Rusev is tired of listening to “the same old American crap” from John Cena
WWE Superstars John Cena and Rusev made their returns on this past Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown. Cena cut a promo about the significance of Independence Day and Rusev proceeded to interrupt him. Rusev came down to the entrance ramp carrying the Bulgarian flag and bashed Americans for celebrating their independence by shoving hot dogs and burgers down their throats. Cena challenged Rusev to a Flag Match on SmackDown but Rusev declined. SmackDown GM Daniel Bryan then made the Flag Match official for WWE Battleground. Rusev took to Twitter earlier today and bashed John Cena:
Tired of listening the same old American crap from Cena. You are just like Your "old glory" glory in the past DOOMED in the future. ??
Seth Rollins on potential WrestleMania match with The Rock
A fan tweeted a screenshot from WWE 2K16 of a match between Seth Rollins and The Rock at WrestleMania. The fan stated that it was a match he really wants to see. Seth Rollins responded to the fan by saying that WrestleMania was only 8 months away.
Discussion: A match between Seth Rollins and The Rock at WrestleMania 34 seems highly unlikely. However, anything can happen in WWE. If The Rock does return to the ring in the future, which current WWE Superstar would you like to see him face?
– Friend of the site Ryan Dilbert over at Bleacher Report has published an article looking at women’s wrestler Hyan, who tried out for WWE, worked as an enhancement talent against Nia Jax and is hoping to earn a spot in the Mae Young Classic tournament. Interestingly, Hyan works for GEICO by day while she trains for a career in WWE. You can check out the article at BleacherReport.com.
– To commemorate 15 years since John Cena’s WWE television debut, WWE.com has a feature looking at John Cena’s career by the numbers. One of the more interesting stats involves John Cena’s Top 5 most frequently faced opponents. The answer may be obvious to some, but which WWE Superstar do you think Cena has wrestled more than anyone else?
Here’s the Top 5 list and John Cena’s record against each man:
Randy Orton: 77 matches (47-25-5)
Big Show: 55 matches (33-20-2)
Edge: 52 matches (29-19-4)
The Miz: 42 matches (26-16)
Kane: 41 matches (28-11-2)
– 2K Games 2K recently held a special development summit where they revealed more information for WWE 2K18, the latest installment of WWE’s annual video game franchise. Gamespot.com has a full write-up of what’s new in this year’s game, but here are some quick highlights:
RAW, Smackdown, NXT, and the 205 Live brands will be represented in the game.
Reworked graphics engine and game mechanics, an expanded creation suite, 8-Man battles and match types, and enhancements to the grappling system.
Graphical improvements include dithered rendering, new skin shaders, real time reflections, and physically based rendering.
Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, and Corey Graves will be the lead commentators. To give the commentary a more organic feel, the three men had the chance to record their lines together in the same room.
Universe Mode has evolved “out of the static storytelling of its predecessors” and aims to be “much more fluid and organic.”
My Career will feature a more serious story. The mode is described as “more concise and narrative-driven” than last year’s game.
Fans in attendance for Tuesday’s SmackDown Live from Phoenix, Arizona were treated to one heck of a main event after 205 Live went off the air. After returning to WWE television on SmackDown for the first time since WrestleMania, John Cena teamed with Shinsuke Nakamura in the dark match main event of the evening. The dream team defeated Rusev and Baron Corbin.
Earlier in the evening, Rusev interrupted Cena’s return promo to set up a Flag Match between the two at Battleground on July 23rd. It looks like Corbin vs. Nakamura is also lined up for Battleground after Corbin attacked Nakamura once again this week.
Check out these photos of John Cena and Shinsuke Nakamura in action together.
Two days of #WWEPhoenix capped by a match between John Cena & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Rusev & former Cardinals OL Baron Corbin. Good guys won. pic.twitter.com/hgOoVRuGw5
On tonight’s (Tues. July 4, 2017) Fourth Of July episode of SmackDown Live, former WWE Champion John Cena made his highly-anticipated return to WWE TV. While “The Leader Of The Cenation” was paying homage to the good ole’ US of A, he was interrupted by former United States Champion Rusev:
Cena challenged Rusev to a Flag match for later that night as a result, however, “The Bulgarian Brute” declined Cena’s offer and said he’d face him on his own terms. Soon after, SmackDown Live General Manager Daniel Bryan took to Twitter to confirm that Cena and Rusev will, in fact, meet in a Flag match at the upcoming Battleground pay-per-view (PPV) on July 23rd from Philadelphia:
WWE has announced 4 segments for tonight’s Smackdown. The show comes from the Talking Stick Arena, in Phoenix Arizona.
The most promoted segment of the evening, is John Cena’s return to WWE programming. Cena hasn’t been on WWE programming since WrestleMania.
Other Smackdown Segments for Tonight
In addition to John Cena’s return, 3 other segments have been confirmed for tonight:
The Usos and New Day will have a “Rap Battle”. Award-winning recording artist, Wale, is being brought in to moderate and judge the contest.
Lana will once again challenge Naomi for the Smackdown women’s championship. In the week since their last match, Lana has been able to successfully petition WWE that should should receive another rematch on the basis of her shoulder being up last week, yet her still being counted down for 3. Carmella may be interested in this match as well.
An “Independence Day” battle royal will be held, the winner moving on to challenge Kevin Owens at Battleground later this month. AJ Styles is particularly interested in winning this match.
Jinder Mahal recently sat down with Indian media outlet, Sunday Guardian Live, about his
Jinder Mahal is scheduled to defend his WWE championship against Randy Orton in a Punjabi Prison match at the Battleground PPV on July 23rd.
Jinder Mahal Interview Highlights
On his conditioning and fitness routine:
“So, every morning when I wake up, before I eat anything, I drink water or may be black coffee without sugar or any calories. And then for half an hour, I do intense cardio and then I eat. I eat oatmeal, white protein shake and bananas and lift weights. And also, every day since last year, I have been doing yoga, as stretching is very important for recovery and injury prevention. Most of my workouts are athletic-based alongside body-building workouts.”
Who His Biggest WWE Rivals Are:
“Right now, I am focusing on my match with Randy Orton as I want to retain my title. But I think John Cena is my biggest competitor because for a long time, John Cena has been the face of the WWE and he won’t give up this title anytime soon. So, it would be challenging.”
On His Old Trainer, Bad News Brown:
“The greatest influence on my life, I would say would be my original trainer, Bad News Brown. He taught me so much, not only in wrestling but taught me so much in real life—what it is to be a man, taking care of your family, and that life outside the ring is also very important. He taught me that.”
Jinder’s Advice to Aspiring Wrestlers:
“My advice would be, stay motivated and work hard and don’t give up. Because miracles could happen and that big break could be right there in the corner. Stay focused and driven. Take care of your body and stay away from drugs and stuff like that. Respect your body and your coach. And keep working hard and nothing is impossible as long as you are ready to work hard for that.”
John Cena has been all over the place promoting the second season of American Grit on Fox. His latest stop was at Vanity Fair, where he filmed a video answering questions from random New Yorkers. Cena had fun with the interview and answered most of the questions in humorous fashion.
Q: What is your biggest fear?
A: I think it is the battle that we all fight, time. I love to be active and physical and I think one of these days it is going to catch up with me. But judging by the advances in modern medicine, I figure that I am going to live to be at least 350.
Q: Where do you go to find your peace?
A: I go to the bathroom and I look down to make sure it still there. An occasionally, I go to the bedroom, when me and the gal are doing stuff like that. It’s never failed me yet, it is always there.
Q: What is your perfect date night?
A: Romantic date night, take her out to dinner, get a bottle of wine, have a great conversation and hopefully get lucky. And by get lucky, I mean being able to get a solid 8 hours of sleep.
Q: Would you ever take your clothes off for a role?
A: I have already done that. I wore a sock, not on my foot. So uh, that happened. Good talk.
You can check out the entire interview in the video below.
Emma warns Alexa Bliss
On Monday’s episode of RAW, Sasha Banks was scheduled to face Nia Jax in a match. RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss came out right before the match started and joined commentary. Emma then confronted Alexa Bliss at the announce table. On last week’s episode of RAW, Alexa Bliss was in a 6-woman tag match and Emma and Nia Jax were her teammates. Alexa Bliss walked away from the ring in the middle of the match and left Nia and Emma behind. Emma now apparently has her sights set on the RAW Women’s Championship. Emma sent out the following tweet about Alexa Bliss:
The smartest thing you could have done was run away from me like a little coward! ? I still have plans for that championship though! #WWE ? pic.twitter.com/emH6zPKVmR
WWE isn’t wasting any time taking advantage of John Cena’s newfound status as a free agent.
The 16-time World Champion returns to SmackDown Live on Tuesday, July 4th. Les than two weeks later, he’ll be main eventing a RAW-branded live event against Bray Wyatt.
With John Cena now being considered a ‘free agent’ in WWE storylines, Cena has been announced for the Saturday, July 15th RAW-brand live event. Cena is scheduled to face Bray Wyatt in the main event. The match takes place on Saturday, July 15th from Huntington, West Virginia as part of the SummerSlam Heatwave Tour. The Big Sandy Superstore Arena announced the news earlier today.
BREAKING NEWS: Our main event for Saturday, July 15th will be John Cena vs Bray Wyatt… get your tickets now! https://t.co/EIs5clJh7S
— Marshall Health Network Arena (@MHealthNetArena) June 19, 2017
Other top matches advertised for that show include Dean Ambrose & Finn Balor vs. Gallows & Anderson and The Hardy Boyz challenging Sheamus & Cesaro for the RAW tag team championships.
As announced on Monday, Cena is also advertised for the SmackDown brand’s Battleground PPV on 7/23 from Philadelphia, PA.
– The Wells Fargo Center is advertising “Free Agent” John Cena for next month’s WWE Battleground pay-per-view from Philadelphia. The fifth installment of Battleground is a SmackDown-exclusive event.
– The participants involved in last night’s Women’s Money in the Bank match are not happy about James Ellsworth getting involved and helping Carmella secure the MITB briefcase. Ellsworth isn’t phased and taunted the women on Twitter:
I grew up in this business. I gave my life to this business. I'm not letting some no-chin freak take my #MITB opportunity away.
John Cena makes his return to WWE television on the July 4th edition of SmackDown Live. Upon his return, Cena will enjoy the status of free agent, which means he’ll be one of the only Superstars on the roster that will appear on both SmackDown and RAW.
During a recent Facebook Live Q&A session to promote the new season of American Grit, Cena commented on his free agent status::
“Oh yeah, I’m coming back as a free agent, which means that I can be on Raw or Smackdown. I’m coming back to Smackdown Live on July 4th, so that is my focus. I know that they’re gonna volleyball me between shows and between brands. I’m sure that the WWE superstars are going to be up in arms about that… I’m gonna come back and do the best I can and I’m very very happy to be back.”
You can watch Cena’s American Grit Facebook Live Q&A video below:
Former WWE Superstar Heidenreich recently did an interview with Hannibal TV to talk about his time with the WWE as well as his time with, arguably, the greatest WWE Superstar in WWE history, John Cena, in developmental. Here’s what he had to say:
How he got into the business of professional wrestling:
“I actually saw a program on, it wasn’t the learning channel because they did a documentary on me, but it was another channel that did a documentary and I think Cena was in it. It was of UPW in California and that sparked by interest. An attorney buddy of mine, an Italian guy who had the money to fly us out there, he had the money to fly us out there and meet UPW for the weekend, I went out there and met them. We really liked the guys out there and I ended up moving out there. I planned for a couple of months, saved up $1,500 bucks, loaded up my car and moved to California to go to the school. That’s how it all ended up happening. It had always been there in the back of my mind, being in martial arts and football, and Goldberg is a friend – by then he was God. WCW and WWF that was the hottest time in the 90’s. So seeing him really watered the seeds that were in my head, thinking about it. I went to California, I loaded up my Rodeo with $1,500 bucks and my dad didn’t want me to go. He was like ‘Don’t wrestle. You need to go coach football or get into something you know.’ I was like ‘No, Ima do it.’ I had a girlfriend that loaned by some money also, she supported me, and I ended up moving out there and stayed with one of the guys from UPW who was an announcer, actor guy.
“I had an apartment come open, I call it Gilligan’s Island, it was an old hotel with the pool in the middle in the upstairs-downstairs, and believe it or not, it was $600 a month for an efficiency. Basically a hotel room. One of the guys that lived there was an older guy who ended up passing away, so I had that come open and I moved in there, put down money on that. I said no electricity for a while, no furniture so I slept on the floor. The first day I got to L.A. I got a bouncing job so I had income, I saved up a little money to buy rental furniture, electricity, and pay for school. But that’s how all that started working, I went to school, and Bruce Prichard came down, Dr. Time would come down, JR, Paul Bearer. UPW was developmental at the time. Cena was there.”
His initial thoughts on John Cena when he first saw him:
“He was “The Prototype.” When I went to visit that weekend, I walked into the school and he was in the ring, and I’m like ‘This dude looks like The Terminator in the ring.’ Cause back then he was bigger than he is now. Believe it or not. Cause he was a college football player and bodybuilder working at Golds Gym, and wrestling. But John’s a genetic freak. Some guys are gifted with size, but that guy has a freaky amount of muscle. That’s just, some people God touches them and says ‘You’re going to be a cancer doctor, you’re going to be a wrestler, you’re going to be a Heidenreich, you know.
“He was one of the first guys I saw and you could just tell, that guy had everything. I was out there with him probably a year. I got signed pretty quick cause I was a big guy, and I worked hard, they told me to drop weight cause I was 310 from football. I got down to 247 or 250, I got ripped. I was going to the gym and the bodybuilders were trying to help me. They told me how to eat – once you change your diet and do it, you can get lean. It’s just a matter of doing it. I dropped the weight, they signed me through the developmental and that helped out a ton, it was $500 a week. Which meant I only had to bounce a couple of days instead of having to bounce every day. They did that for guys that may be potentially guys that may make them some money. It was an investment.”
WWE has posted a new video of Charlotte talking about the Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match this Sunday. Charlotte stated that this is another opportunity for to be a part of women’s history and that she couldn’t have picked a better group of women to do it with. Charlotte also admitted that she is nervous because she has never worked with ladders, but still wants to steal the show during Sunday’s PPV. You can check out the full interview in the video below.
John Cena took to Twitter to post the trailer for the animated film Ferninand. Cena voices the main character of the film and it will be released in theaters on December 15th.
As mentioned on last night’s (Mon. June 12, 2017) episode of WWE Monday Night RAW, Roman Reigns will be making an announcement regarding his plans for the WWE’s SummerSlam pay-per-view (PPV) on next week’s episode. Reigns comes off of a loss at Extreme Rules in a Fatal Five-Way main event in which he, Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, and Bray Wyatt saw Samoa Joe emerge victorious.
The following night on RAW, Reigns defeated Bray Wyatt in one-on-one competition and hasn’t been seen since. As for what Reigns big announcement could be, rumors and speculation indicate that everything could tie into John Cena’s ‘Free Agent’ return on SmackDown Live next month, setting up a bout between Cena and Reigns.
What if Reigns says he only has one guy left to beat to prove that ALL of WWE is his yard and says he wants John Cena at SummerSlam?
— Rasslin Uploader~! (Armstrong Alley on YouTube) (@KrisPLettuce) June 13, 2017
It’s also possible, but highly unlikely, that Reigns could challenge the winner of the Universal Tite match between Brock Lesnar and Samoa Joe at Great Balls Of Fire. That would be a surprise to many, however, as Reigns vs. Lesnar is expected to go down at WrestleMania 34 next year for the Universal Title.
Discussion: What do you think Reigns big announcement will be?
WWE legend John Cena has joined forces with Microsoft mogul Bill Gates and his wife Melinda Gates for a good cause: Rotary, the global network working to end polio.
In Atlanta, Gates explains to Cena why he considers it a priority to completely eradicate polio from the globe.
16-time World Champion John Cena is set to return to WWE television on the July 4th episode of SmackDown Live from Phoenix, Arizona.
WWE released a new promo video hyping Cena’s return and it’s worth noting that Cena is listed as a “Free Agent” in the video. The free agency indicates that we could see John Cena turn up on Monday Night RAW this summer.
With RAW viewership hovering below 3 million weekly viewers over the past month, Cena could be the star power RAW needs to boost interest in the show.
Cena has been absent from WWE TV since WrestleMania, when he proposed to longtime girlfriend Nikki Bella.
You can check out the promo hyping John Cena’s return below:
– This Sunday marks the 500th episode of the Solomonster Sounds Off podcast. To commemorate the milestone, Solomonster will be holding a live video stream this Saturday night (8pm EST) on his official Youtube channel.
– John Cena sat down with Bill Gates earlier today to discuss Gates’ efforts to eradicate polio. The interview will air Tuesday morning on the Today show.
– Former WWE writer Kevin Eck appeared on the PWTorch Livecast last week and was asked if he thinks we will ever see a Sister Abigail character on WWE television. Eck told Wade Keller, “From what I know about how Bray Wyatt envisioned that character, I don’t think that character is ever going to be seen, because the way Bray explained it, and I don’t think it’s ever come out on TV, he speaks in riddles, so maybe if you read in-between the lines, but Bray Wyatt was apparently a young man and Sister Abigail was an old, black woman, in I believe, the swamps of Louisiana who had some supernatural powers, and you know, the history of voodoo and such in New Orleans. I believe she took him nder her wing and kind of taught him the secrets of what she knows of the dark arts and things like that”
WWE has released a new Top 10 list and this type counted down the best Money in the Bank ladder leaps. The list includes Randy Orton delivering an RKO to CM Punk off of a ladder, Jeff Hardy leaping onto Edge through a ladder and more. You can check out the entire list in the video below.
John Cena Deadlifts Jimmy Fallon On The Tonight Show
John Cena was a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last night to promote the second season of American Grit. During the interview, Jimmy Fallon asked John Cena if he could deadlift a person. Cena then showed that he could by deadlifting Fallon during the interview.
Cena also played True Confessions alongside Kate McKinnon during the show and you can check that out in the video below.
The Rock has landed yet another magazine cover. This time he is on the cover of Emmy Magazine. The Rock took to Twitter to announce that he will be on the cover of the magazine, which is celebrating Ballers returning for a third season.
Season 3 of Ballers premieres on July 23rd on HBO. A teaser for the new season was released last week and you can check that out in the video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJFfzrL0XHs
John Cena In New HBO Mockumentary Trailer
John Cena is featured in a new trailer for HBO’s mockumentary Tour de Pharmacy that premieres on July 8th. Tour de Pharmacy pokes fun at steroid use in professional cycling. Other than Cena, the cast also includes Dolph Lundgren, Andy Samberg, Kevin Bacon, Maya Rudolph, Jeff Goldblum, Orlando Bloom and other stars. As seen in the trailer below, Cena plays the role of a blonde-haired cyclist.
WWE Superstar and former WWE Champion John Cena recently did an interview with The Wrap to promote the new season of his reality show “American Grit.” During the interview, Cena commented on the criticisms he’s received over the years about being “coddled” by the WWE and having a reputation for “burying young talent.” You can check out what he had to say here below:
If he’s “coddled” by WWE:
“If you look at my existence in WWE, I have never asked anyone and will never ask anyone to pull any punches,” Cena explained. “I believe that it’s a ‘Strong Survive’ environment, and accept nothing less. I think people forget my [history] in WWE sometimes and the fact that I truly had to earn every inch. There is this overwhelming perception that I am protected and coddled — that couldn’t be farther from the truth.”
“I just believe you bring your best to every story and you bring your best to every fight. And if my skills aren’t as good, then it’s time to step back. It’s just a matter of believing in myself and going out there and speaking from the heart. I believe that sometimes that’s something missing in some of the WWE storylines … being honest and brave enough to put everything out there on the table.”
His reputation for “burying young talent”:
“This is why I have the reputation of quote-unquote ‘burying younger talent,’ because I will let them do whatever they want with me — and then after they get done, they’re not as motivated,” Cena remarked. “So, it’s not that I sink their ship, it’s that they fail to operate at an elite level. And I’m on to the next person, [to] whom I say, “Hey man, bring your best punch and I’m gonna punch back” — and they don’t take that attitude beyond me.”
You can read Cena’s full interview with The Wrap here.
– It was confirmed on last night’s (Tues. June 6, 2017) episode of SmackDown Live that former WWE Champion John Cena will be making his WWE return on the July 4th episode from Phoenix, Arizona. Cena has been busy promoting his new film “The Wall” and hasn’t been seen since his WrestleMania 33 win over The Miz and Maryse alongside fiancee Nikki Bella.
– Prior to yesterday’s episode of SmackDown Live, United States Champion Kevin Owens took to Twitter to reveal that “The Thumb Of America” was broken, but stated that it won’t be causing him to miss any ring time. Owens went on to face Shinsuke Nakamura in the main event of SmackDown Live, which he lost after taking a running knee to the face:
Former WWE Diva Cameron was recently a guest on “The Tomorrow Show with Keven Undergaro” to talk about her time in WWE, who she bumped heads with during her time in the company, and why she didn’t like John Cena’s proposal to Nikki Bella at WrestleMania 33. Here are the highlights:
Bumping heads with Brodus Clay:
“You know it’s funny, like I said we’re, when you get to know these people it’s, it’s like a brother and sisterhood. Brodus and I bumped heads so many times…yeah it’s, it’s so crazy. Um, you know, I’m very outspoken and I say what I want and to some people I don’t, I don’t think people like the truth and so sometimes people really taken back by that.
“You know, Naomi is very chill and kind of go with the flow and just sometimes we would you know, Nao–would be chilling and I be like ‘no like we need to do this’ or ‘I don’t want to eat here tonight‘ and it’s just like we’ve always had that love, hate relationship. But at the end of the day he has a sp–you know a special place in my heart, I just spoke to him maybe three months ago and I check on him.”
Not liking John Cena’s proposal to Nikki Bella being at WrestleMania 33:
“I wish it wasn’t done at Mania…I feel like everyone knew it was gonna happen. You know, I feel like I’m a person that it’s like, I wanna be surprised, not be like, oh, you know what, I knew that; but I’m very happy for her, because I know that girl has been wanting, you know, him to marry her for, for some time. So it’s like, you know what, I wish them, I wish them the best, especially because, you know, he said he was never going to get married and never wanna have kids, and she, she stuck around so, you know, hopefully everything goes well and it seems like they’re happy…
“I feel like because it makes it so much of a cliche that people were, like, especially with the storyline with Maurice and Miz bash, and it’s like, you know there’s going to be a payoff. So you know at WrestleMania that it’s gonna happen. And so especially for, you know, the IWC community and like, the W–, you know that they know that that’s going to happen so I wish there was, like a, a spin, or at least maybe if they lost the match and then got the, I don’t know, somewhere that wasn’t, like, the biggest stage. But, I mean, on the flip side, that’s dope, because that’s the biggest; it’s like, you know, that’s the Super Bowl for wrestling.”
Fear not, John Cena fans – the ‘Face That Runs The Place’ will be back on WWE television in a little over a month’s time.
Cena is currently taking time off to film his next movie, The Pact, about three parents who try to stop their daughters from following through with a prom night pact to lose their virginity.
Cena announced on Tuesday night that he’ll be back July 4th.
Bittersweet day today as I begin another night in Atlanta. Such a funny movie but #SDLive@WWE is so close! 7/4 can't get here fast enough!
The July 4th return date for Cena means he will have 3 weeks before the Smackdown brand’s “Battleground” PPV on July 23rd. The brand’s July PPV will be WWE’s last until SummerSlam on August 20th.
As plans recently changed on Smackdown due to Jinder Mahal’s title push, it is not clear who Cena will be entering a program with when he returns. Following SummerSlam, WWE has planned live events in India. Jinder Mahal will need a challenger for those shows if he is still champion, and Cena is a likely candidate for the role.
WWE Superstar John Cena recently did an interview on the Playback podcast to discuss his storied WWE career. Cena discussed what he’d like to do with the company after he’s done working in the ring, when he’ll retire, and much more. Check out the highlights here:
What position he’d like with the WWE after he’s done wrestling:
“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.”
Wanting to help out at the Performance Center on a daily basis:
“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.”
When he’ll retire:
“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.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2fvTVYMig4&t=22s
His best match in WWE:
“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.”
The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 25 being the best match he’s ever seen:
“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.”