Post by Deleted on Apr 1, 2016 13:36:25 GMT -5
Not necessarily but you could tell he wasn't liking the guy's terms, pretty funny. Speaks on Reigns, heel turn, how health he is, today's locker room, a lot of stuff. Great interview. Here's a few quotes.
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.
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.
www.complex.com/sports/2016/04/john-cena-interview
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
www.complex.com/sports/2016/04/john-cena-interview
