Source: PWInsider
- John Cena is almost ready to return to the ring and is expected to be cleared by WWEany time now, according to PWInsider. It's possible Cena has been cleared already and is expected to appear at WrestleMania 32 on Sunday in some fashion. It was just reported this week that Cena still had months to go but PWInsider reports he's almost ready to go.
----
hghDedication
When will you be back on WWE TV?
Whenever they ask me to be. They call, I answer.
How close are you to returning to the ring?
If you ask me today, I should’ve been back two weeks ago. I’ve logged almost 400 hours of physical therapy. I got 111 visits in 12 weeks time. I go every single second I can. People say I have a Wolverine-like style of recovery. I was given a nine month quota to come back and after three months I can tell you that I am ready to do anything asked of me possible. It’s a matter of when they call me.
Are you medically cleared?
Yes.
This will be the first WrestleMania since 2003 without you on the card. Are you angry?
Not at all because it’s not time. Like I said, they call and I answer.
As a fan, what match are you most looking forward to?
Shane-Undertaker because of what’s at stake—the stakes are what determines how important a match is. Yes, we all want to be champion, but Shane returning after a seven year absence to only have one match and if he loses, he’s gone. If he wins, things change drastically. If he beats the Undertaker I can confidently say that’s probably the last time we are going to see the Undertaker because if the Undertaker is as good as he says he is, for him to lose to someone coming off a seven year sabbatical, maybe you’ve lost a step kid. Maybe its time to move aside.
I think Triple H vs. Roman Reigns is the most fascinating match.
Talk to me.
It’s obvious that the company has been building Roman Reigns to be the next face—face of the company, but also “babyface” [good guy]…
You’re trying to go inside baseball. Wrong guy, but that’s okay.
[Laughs.] Why hasn’t Reigns connected with the crowd as a…
I think he connects with every crowd. I study a lot of what we do. I study it very differently from most of my competitors. To say Roman Reigns isn’t connecting with an audience means you're not listening. I’ve watched a lot of Roman Reigns and every single time I see him, I hear noise. He connects very well with our audience.
You’re not the only WWE superstar missing WrestleMania with an injury. Is that a coincidence or a sign that the WWE schedule needs to be reevaluated?
No, I think its coincidence. Speaking as a guy who’s 13 years into it, I don’t think the schedule has anything to do with it. WWE is open about it: If you need time off, you just ask for it. I just never liked time off. It’s truly a coincidence. Injury is part of our profession. It’s part of what we do.
I think last year was your best year as an in-ring performer.
Firing a shot across the young ones.
Was it a conscious effort to show you could perform at a high level?
No, it was knowing our group of superstars. We had a lot of new superstars, a lot of superstars seasoned with other promotions, a lot who rely heavily on their in-ring performance rather than their mic work. I go back to Hogan-Rock, one of the best matches I’ve ever seen. Go back and watch it without sound, it’s a little different, but it’s still one of the best matches ever and it’s only because their characters are so well-defined. You get a bunch of new guys in the mix, a bunch of unidentifiable characters, the best way you can relate to the audience is through ability. So let’s give them a hell of a show. I got the opportunity to become United States champion again and with that I wanted to make that something special and almost make it a showcase for anyone. If you aren’t giving anyone an opportunity, send them to me, I’ll take them. Give me your tired, your hungry and your poor. That’s what the United States has always been about.
As a competitor who has main-evented WrestleMania with a movie star like The Rock, is it the same working mid-card programs with young, ascending talent?
Man, now we’re getting into my opinions. Yes, at every AC/DC show, AC/DC eventually comes out. That doesn’t mean that as the opening act you can’t fukking wail. The one thing that tries my patience is when people are upset of where they are on the show. I am healthy. I would love to do the WrestleMania pre-show if I could. I would love to get up there before the pre-show and do a dark match for the people just to get out there and give something. I’m not going to kick anybody’s door down and say you got to put me on the show or if you do you have to put me in the main event. My job was to get healthy and if I get used, cool. If not, then it’s not my time. I’m not of that, "Oh, I’m not in the main event anymore, ugh."
So, placement on the card doesn’t really matter. A performer can steal the show or make headlines no matter where their match is positioned?
I absolutely 100% agree. A seven second match at WrestleMania with Sheamus [and Daniel Bryan] was proof positive of that.
You’ve said in the past that the boos don’t bother you. What about the “You can’t wrestle” chants?
No, because it’s people’s opinions and when you get a crowd of people who enjoy technical wrestling, I’m not Tiger Mask. I’m not Dean Malenko. I’m not William Regal. I’m not those guys. That ain’t me. But I’ll tell you I’m fired up, I’ll get you excited to see what will happen and I will give you my best. Through that journey amazingly enough, the same people who are chanting that in the beginning of the match are on their feet at the end. That never bothered me. I know my strengths. I know my weaknesses. I know you pay money to come and see me. My job is to make you go afterwards, "Oh, that was awesome." Me trying to do something and failing miserably at it just to prove to some critic that I can “wrestle” in their interpretation is a waste of your money.
What are your weaknesses as a performer?
I’m certainly not the most mobile guy out there. I’m not really good with the high flying agility stuff. I’m good explosively. I’m good with energy. I certainly can take your best shot and get back up. And I certainly have that innate ability to get people interested because I am energetic about what I do. I have this conversation often with a lot of the superstars. They ask me why have I been able to do what I do for so long, it’s because I believe in who I am. Here I’m just a dude in a suit talking shop, inside baseball stuff about WWE. My music hits, those meme trumpets hit, I go through the curtain and I’m mother-fudging Superman. And there’s no one alive that can tell me differently.
You’ve added some new moves, some new stuff…
It’s just stuff. The heartbeat has to be there. If you want to go back to Roman, he is on the cusp of getting that heart truly beating. People know he is very gifted. His in-ring ability is not in question. I don’t care what any critic says. They are just being stupid. He can go. He is an athlete. I don’t really know who he is. Like I said, John Cena is easy: goody-two shoes Superman. Easy. A four-year old kid can tell you that. I don’t necessarily know the heartbeat of Roman Reigns. As soon as that first heartbeat happens, it’s going to challenge me. I’m looking forward to it.
Why are all the inside baseball guys—the “smart” fans on the internet—so critical of you?
It’s their job. Amazingly enough, when I was on Velocity on Saturday nights and no one was watching, those guys were like, "Whoa, kid’s kinda funny. He got something." As soon as you get any endorsement from the company on your success, it’s like an underground band that goes mainstream. It’s the same thing. Yes, they develop their music but the original fan, the fan who saw them in the garage, is going to despise them. "I like their old stuff." People constantly say, "Hey man, why don’t you go back to the rap guy?" My reply is, "We are TV-PG." You want to see something fail and fail bad? It would be horrible. It would be a failure.
It’s also a lot more believable when it’s 25-year-old John Cena rapping and not 38-year-old John Cena.
One hundred percent agree. It’s just people remembering that it was great. I’ve had 12 year olds telling me to go back to being the rap guy. They weren’t even alive then.
When are you turning heel?
Okay, this is where your inside baseball mind gets put to an abrupt stop. What is the job of a heel?
To make people boo.
Is that what I do?
Most of the time.
Okay, so that happened in 2005.
Who was your greatest rival?
I like every single opponent. That’s what doesn’t make this boring. A lot of guys who get to my odometer are like, ‘Ugh, I just got to get it done and get on with it.’ I take every new opponent as a challenge.
From a character standpoint, your feuds with CM Punk were outstanding. It was the ultimate company guy vs. the anti-establishment disrupter. As the company guy, were you offended when he criticized you and WWE in his promos?
No, not at all. I’ve had numerous conversations with superstars and when they get to know me as a human being they will confide in me like, "Hey, I may have said some bad things about you or the way you work. I’m sorry." The first thing I say to them is, "Please do not apologize. Do not like the way I work. Do not like my direction." Daniel Bryan was the same way: I don’t like you because you are This and I like This. Well, person X/CM Punk/Daniel Bryan, if you are that adamant that passionate about the direction and you are that good, give it a try. That’s the thing. As much as someone will tell you, the guy needs to be six feet tall, he needs to have muscles, he needs to have this or that. No one knows what the guy is. We’re making general broad estimations on our past success. So a guy like Punk, a guy like Daniel, a guy like Rey [Mysterio], any of those guys, a guy like Edge, can do well if given the proper forum. It just comes down to sustainability: How long can you run and how much passion do you have? I’ve seen a lot of guys say they’re going to do something and then get to a certain point and for whatever reason, Oh, that’s it.
Do you take that role with younger performers?
I think the industry is forever changing. Steve is of a different era. I can relate more to that than to the way things are now. What I try to do best is lead by example. The reason I do that is because when I look a level up I see Vince McMahon at his age being the first to show up, last to leave, hands on everything, really still so into the product, and he does not have to be.
Do younger guys approach you in the locker room?
It’s tough. I’m in a weird spot in being too old to be cool and too young to go to for advice. It’s really weird. For some reason there is a grand canyon divide. I honestly think it has something to do with my age or where I’m at. But I have all these secrets about this that I need to give away. Because if I take them with me and go quietly into the night, what good does that do for the brand? I need to help. I need to teach—or at least tell people, "Hey I did it this way."
Vince McMahon caused a stir in 2014 when he said that young superstars— millennials—weren’t as ambitious. Have you noticed a similar generational divide?
I think our industry has changed a lot, like, a lot. We’ve changed ratings. We’ve changed names. We’ve done a complete two cycle talent change since I’ve been around. I’m one of the last guys hanging around from that Ohio wrestling class—me and Randy [Orton] and Brock [Lesnar] occasionally. The business continues to evolve. Are things operating in that sweet spot, exactly where I would want them to operate? No, but I got two choices: I can move forward and run with it or I can be a dinosaur.
Do you have a finish line in mind?
When I can’t keep up. Talking the folks into a frenzy is certainly an asset to what we do, but you have to deliver. You have to deliver on stages like WrestleMania and beyond. When I can’t do that, I’m now taking the brand down, so I’ll have to reposition myself. It ain’t happened yet though, boss.
Thanks WF
- John Cena is almost ready to return to the ring and is expected to be cleared by WWEany time now, according to PWInsider. It's possible Cena has been cleared already and is expected to appear at WrestleMania 32 on Sunday in some fashion. It was just reported this week that Cena still had months to go but PWInsider reports he's almost ready to go.
----
hghDedication
When will you be back on WWE TV?
Whenever they ask me to be. They call, I answer.
How close are you to returning to the ring?
If you ask me today, I should’ve been back two weeks ago. I’ve logged almost 400 hours of physical therapy. I got 111 visits in 12 weeks time. I go every single second I can. People say I have a Wolverine-like style of recovery. I was given a nine month quota to come back and after three months I can tell you that I am ready to do anything asked of me possible. It’s a matter of when they call me.
Are you medically cleared?
Yes.
This will be the first WrestleMania since 2003 without you on the card. Are you angry?
Not at all because it’s not time. Like I said, they call and I answer.
As a fan, what match are you most looking forward to?
Shane-Undertaker because of what’s at stake—the stakes are what determines how important a match is. Yes, we all want to be champion, but Shane returning after a seven year absence to only have one match and if he loses, he’s gone. If he wins, things change drastically. If he beats the Undertaker I can confidently say that’s probably the last time we are going to see the Undertaker because if the Undertaker is as good as he says he is, for him to lose to someone coming off a seven year sabbatical, maybe you’ve lost a step kid. Maybe its time to move aside.
I think Triple H vs. Roman Reigns is the most fascinating match.
Talk to me.
It’s obvious that the company has been building Roman Reigns to be the next face—face of the company, but also “babyface” [good guy]…
You’re trying to go inside baseball. Wrong guy, but that’s okay.
[Laughs.] Why hasn’t Reigns connected with the crowd as a…
I think he connects with every crowd. I study a lot of what we do. I study it very differently from most of my competitors. To say Roman Reigns isn’t connecting with an audience means you're not listening. I’ve watched a lot of Roman Reigns and every single time I see him, I hear noise. He connects very well with our audience.
You’re not the only WWE superstar missing WrestleMania with an injury. Is that a coincidence or a sign that the WWE schedule needs to be reevaluated?
No, I think its coincidence. Speaking as a guy who’s 13 years into it, I don’t think the schedule has anything to do with it. WWE is open about it: If you need time off, you just ask for it. I just never liked time off. It’s truly a coincidence. Injury is part of our profession. It’s part of what we do.
I think last year was your best year as an in-ring performer.
Firing a shot across the young ones.
Was it a conscious effort to show you could perform at a high level?
No, it was knowing our group of superstars. We had a lot of new superstars, a lot of superstars seasoned with other promotions, a lot who rely heavily on their in-ring performance rather than their mic work. I go back to Hogan-Rock, one of the best matches I’ve ever seen. Go back and watch it without sound, it’s a little different, but it’s still one of the best matches ever and it’s only because their characters are so well-defined. You get a bunch of new guys in the mix, a bunch of unidentifiable characters, the best way you can relate to the audience is through ability. So let’s give them a hell of a show. I got the opportunity to become United States champion again and with that I wanted to make that something special and almost make it a showcase for anyone. If you aren’t giving anyone an opportunity, send them to me, I’ll take them. Give me your tired, your hungry and your poor. That’s what the United States has always been about.
As a competitor who has main-evented WrestleMania with a movie star like The Rock, is it the same working mid-card programs with young, ascending talent?
Man, now we’re getting into my opinions. Yes, at every AC/DC show, AC/DC eventually comes out. That doesn’t mean that as the opening act you can’t fukking wail. The one thing that tries my patience is when people are upset of where they are on the show. I am healthy. I would love to do the WrestleMania pre-show if I could. I would love to get up there before the pre-show and do a dark match for the people just to get out there and give something. I’m not going to kick anybody’s door down and say you got to put me on the show or if you do you have to put me in the main event. My job was to get healthy and if I get used, cool. If not, then it’s not my time. I’m not of that, "Oh, I’m not in the main event anymore, ugh."
So, placement on the card doesn’t really matter. A performer can steal the show or make headlines no matter where their match is positioned?
I absolutely 100% agree. A seven second match at WrestleMania with Sheamus [and Daniel Bryan] was proof positive of that.
You’ve said in the past that the boos don’t bother you. What about the “You can’t wrestle” chants?
No, because it’s people’s opinions and when you get a crowd of people who enjoy technical wrestling, I’m not Tiger Mask. I’m not Dean Malenko. I’m not William Regal. I’m not those guys. That ain’t me. But I’ll tell you I’m fired up, I’ll get you excited to see what will happen and I will give you my best. Through that journey amazingly enough, the same people who are chanting that in the beginning of the match are on their feet at the end. That never bothered me. I know my strengths. I know my weaknesses. I know you pay money to come and see me. My job is to make you go afterwards, "Oh, that was awesome." Me trying to do something and failing miserably at it just to prove to some critic that I can “wrestle” in their interpretation is a waste of your money.
What are your weaknesses as a performer?
I’m certainly not the most mobile guy out there. I’m not really good with the high flying agility stuff. I’m good explosively. I’m good with energy. I certainly can take your best shot and get back up. And I certainly have that innate ability to get people interested because I am energetic about what I do. I have this conversation often with a lot of the superstars. They ask me why have I been able to do what I do for so long, it’s because I believe in who I am. Here I’m just a dude in a suit talking shop, inside baseball stuff about WWE. My music hits, those meme trumpets hit, I go through the curtain and I’m mother-fudging Superman. And there’s no one alive that can tell me differently.
You’ve added some new moves, some new stuff…
It’s just stuff. The heartbeat has to be there. If you want to go back to Roman, he is on the cusp of getting that heart truly beating. People know he is very gifted. His in-ring ability is not in question. I don’t care what any critic says. They are just being stupid. He can go. He is an athlete. I don’t really know who he is. Like I said, John Cena is easy: goody-two shoes Superman. Easy. A four-year old kid can tell you that. I don’t necessarily know the heartbeat of Roman Reigns. As soon as that first heartbeat happens, it’s going to challenge me. I’m looking forward to it.
Why are all the inside baseball guys—the “smart” fans on the internet—so critical of you?
It’s their job. Amazingly enough, when I was on Velocity on Saturday nights and no one was watching, those guys were like, "Whoa, kid’s kinda funny. He got something." As soon as you get any endorsement from the company on your success, it’s like an underground band that goes mainstream. It’s the same thing. Yes, they develop their music but the original fan, the fan who saw them in the garage, is going to despise them. "I like their old stuff." People constantly say, "Hey man, why don’t you go back to the rap guy?" My reply is, "We are TV-PG." You want to see something fail and fail bad? It would be horrible. It would be a failure.
It’s also a lot more believable when it’s 25-year-old John Cena rapping and not 38-year-old John Cena.
One hundred percent agree. It’s just people remembering that it was great. I’ve had 12 year olds telling me to go back to being the rap guy. They weren’t even alive then.
When are you turning heel?
Okay, this is where your inside baseball mind gets put to an abrupt stop. What is the job of a heel?
To make people boo.
Is that what I do?
Most of the time.
Okay, so that happened in 2005.
Who was your greatest rival?
I like every single opponent. That’s what doesn’t make this boring. A lot of guys who get to my odometer are like, ‘Ugh, I just got to get it done and get on with it.’ I take every new opponent as a challenge.
From a character standpoint, your feuds with CM Punk were outstanding. It was the ultimate company guy vs. the anti-establishment disrupter. As the company guy, were you offended when he criticized you and WWE in his promos?
No, not at all. I’ve had numerous conversations with superstars and when they get to know me as a human being they will confide in me like, "Hey, I may have said some bad things about you or the way you work. I’m sorry." The first thing I say to them is, "Please do not apologize. Do not like the way I work. Do not like my direction." Daniel Bryan was the same way: I don’t like you because you are This and I like This. Well, person X/CM Punk/Daniel Bryan, if you are that adamant that passionate about the direction and you are that good, give it a try. That’s the thing. As much as someone will tell you, the guy needs to be six feet tall, he needs to have muscles, he needs to have this or that. No one knows what the guy is. We’re making general broad estimations on our past success. So a guy like Punk, a guy like Daniel, a guy like Rey [Mysterio], any of those guys, a guy like Edge, can do well if given the proper forum. It just comes down to sustainability: How long can you run and how much passion do you have? I’ve seen a lot of guys say they’re going to do something and then get to a certain point and for whatever reason, Oh, that’s it.
Do you take that role with younger performers?
I think the industry is forever changing. Steve is of a different era. I can relate more to that than to the way things are now. What I try to do best is lead by example. The reason I do that is because when I look a level up I see Vince McMahon at his age being the first to show up, last to leave, hands on everything, really still so into the product, and he does not have to be.
Do younger guys approach you in the locker room?
It’s tough. I’m in a weird spot in being too old to be cool and too young to go to for advice. It’s really weird. For some reason there is a grand canyon divide. I honestly think it has something to do with my age or where I’m at. But I have all these secrets about this that I need to give away. Because if I take them with me and go quietly into the night, what good does that do for the brand? I need to help. I need to teach—or at least tell people, "Hey I did it this way."
Vince McMahon caused a stir in 2014 when he said that young superstars— millennials—weren’t as ambitious. Have you noticed a similar generational divide?
I think our industry has changed a lot, like, a lot. We’ve changed ratings. We’ve changed names. We’ve done a complete two cycle talent change since I’ve been around. I’m one of the last guys hanging around from that Ohio wrestling class—me and Randy [Orton] and Brock [Lesnar] occasionally. The business continues to evolve. Are things operating in that sweet spot, exactly where I would want them to operate? No, but I got two choices: I can move forward and run with it or I can be a dinosaur.
Do you have a finish line in mind?
When I can’t keep up. Talking the folks into a frenzy is certainly an asset to what we do, but you have to deliver. You have to deliver on stages like WrestleMania and beyond. When I can’t do that, I’m now taking the brand down, so I’ll have to reposition myself. It ain’t happened yet though, boss.
Thanks WF
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That vacation did wonders
