John Cena Comments On 16th WWE Title Reign, Mixed Tag At WrestleMania, AJ Styles, SNL, The Rock & More!
John Cena took part in an in-depth interview with Sports Illustrated’s Justin Barrasso to help promote the Nintendo Switch gaming system. In addition to talking about Nintendo Switch, he also commented on some wrestling related topics. Here are some of the highlights.
On his 16th WWE Title reign lasting only two weeks:
“To rebut the two-week, 16th title reign, if I’m correct, Ric Flair’s 16th title reign was only 24 hours. They can’t all be these massive statements in the annals of history.”
On wrestling AJ Styles:
“I’m really happy that people were interested in everything we did. I think it was a really good opportunity for AJ Styles to show exactly how gifted he is, and, in my mind, he is tremendously gifted.”
On the rumored mixed tag match with him and Nikki Bella vs. The Miz and Maryse at WrestleMania:
“I know people have a perception of who I am. There is nothing I can say in this interview that changes that perception, but I’ll say this: I don’t pitch ideas, I don’t go and say, ‘This is what I would like to do.’ I’ve had tremendous success in being a versatile poker player, if that’s a good analogy. I get my hand told to me, and I play it the best I possibly can.
“As far as WrestleMania is concerned, whatever I’m supposed to do I’m going to do to the best of my ability. I can reference last year as a great example. I was ready, healthy, and one-hundred percent activated by early March, and I was told that I would be assisting The Rock in WrestleMania. Quite honestly, if it weren’t for The Rock’s involvement in WrestleMania, I would have been told that I would have been sitting out WrestleMania. [People ask] why don’t I just go in there and say, ‘I want to do this’? Last year, I should have said, ‘I want to do this,’ but that’s just not what I do. This is why I love what I do. You sometimes get an off-the-beaten path request, and it’s your job, as a professional, to make it interesting and make it the best you can. To be quite honest, way, way, way back, AJ Styles was an off-the-beaten path request, and I loved that. It brought out the best in AJ Styles and it brought out the best in me. I’ll always try to do the best with what I’ve got.”
On the great experience he had hosting Saturday Night Live:
“I was more than happy with the show. Saturday Night Live has been a tremendous success over the years because it’s not about putting one person at the forefront, it’s just about making funny skits and doing funny live material that the audience digests and has a good laugh at. My hat is off to Lorne Michaels and his whole team. Everyone involved with that show busts their ass to a level that people do not comprehend. It runs parallel to WWE. They just grind and do the best they can to make the best live funny show that they can. Of course you want to do some stuff that you think is funny, but these guys know their business. That would be like them wandering into a Monday Night Raw or a Smackdown Live and saying, ‘No, no, this is good for WWE.’ I took a step back and realized, ‘I’m around the funniest live entertainment in the world, I’m just going to soak this up and do the best I can with what I got.’
“I had so, so much fun, and looking back at the experience, every single decision they made was right. I thought the show was great, I thought the show went by like a blink of an eye, I got to be involved in a whole lot of skits, so I thought that was really important, and that’s the age-old model for success – go in, do the best you can, and leave them wanting more. If you’re saying, ‘Man, you could have done more!’, then hopefully that means I’ll get to host again.”
On his past criticism of The Rock:
“It was stupid of me. It genuinely was. That was my perspective at the time. When you’re involved in the daily grind of WWE, and that’s something I never will let go of—I promise you that. I just love it, and I don’t think I need to say that, ever again, or have somebody question my allegiance to a brand, not the sport of professional wrestling, so to say, but a brand. I love the WWE. For me to not be able to see Dwayne’s vision on what he wanted to do personally, and how his personal success could affect a growing global brand, that was just ignorant on my part.”
On the Nintendo Switch, which Cena tried out last week:
“I’m floored by the technology of the Switch, and the versatility of the console is second to none. It really is a home console that you can take anywhere. I’ve seen situations where home consoles can be transported, and it’s like a big over-the-shoulder carry-on bag, but the versatility of this thing is groundbreaking. When you undock the Switch from its home console and go into handheld, the controller feels the same, it is the same, and it reacts the same. The screen on the undocked handheld system is big enough to be its own world, but small enough to carry anywhere.”
“The great thing about the Switch is you don’t have to put it down. When you think your gaming time is up, you just undock into handheld and keep going. It’s indescribable until you see it—I believe it’s the future of gaming.”
There’s plenty more of the interview on SI.com including a lot more of Cena’s thoughts on The Rock, which included a lot of praise and thanks for The Rock helping pave the way for Cena’s journey into acting. As always, Cena’s very open and honest in the interview. It’s worth checking out for sure.