John Cena's unedited CNN interview

[Big L]

repomark said:

This is a hugely disgusting and damning indictment of the American media. I am shocked and appaled at how someone who has given up their time to give a heart felt and honest interview could be so dishonestly and unscrupulously slanderred in this way. I am genuinely angry about the whole thing - and it is something that CNN should be made to apologise for and in a high profile manner.

Cena plainly did not deserve this - whatever your opinion of him. My opinion of him has only grown following this debacle.

i agree

[JMA]

Of course, Cena loses some points by suggesting that Turner was involved. That's just irrational, especially since EVERY news channel has slammed WWE. The media--even the non-mainstream media--looks down on wrestling. That's just the way it is. And let's not forget Cena claiming that testosterone wasn't a steroid, and Dr. Black saying the same thing. That was just embarrassing.

I'm actually not angry about this--at all. Why? Because it'll feed Vince's idea that he and WWE are victims of larger forces. They're not victims, at least not in the way that they think. They're simply being exploited by the media, and the media exploits every news worthy figure equally. Why? Because more people will watch it. Simple as that.

It's really hard to feel sympathy for WWE when they've blantantly lied themselves. You can't claim moral superiority when you're just as bad. I think some fans have a kind of older sibling view of WWE--basically, THEY can pick on them, yet they get angry when someone else does. I think WWE knows this too.

CNN should just use the unedited version when they replay the video again. That would settle the situation.

[macdaddysquid]

So this isn't on youtube?

[Deleted]

jma said:

Of course, Cena loses some points by suggesting that Turner was involved. That's just irrational, especially since EVERY news channel has slammed WWE. The media--even the non-mainstream media--looks down on wrestling. That's just the way it is. And let's not forget Cena claiming that testosterone wasn't a steroid, and Dr. Black saying the same thing. That was just embarrassing.

I'm actually not angry about this--at all. Why? Because it'll feed Vince's idea that he and WWE are victims of larger forces. They're not victims, at least not in the way that they think. They're simply being exploited by the media, and the media exploits every news worthy figure equally. Why? Because more people will watch it. Simple as that.

It's really hard to feel sympathy for WWE when they've blantantly lied themselves. You can't claim moral superiority when you're just as bad. I think some fans have a kind of older sibling view of WWE--basically, THEY can pick on them, yet they get angry when someone else does. I think WWE knows this too.

CNN should just use the unedited version when they replay the video again. That would settle the situation.

i do not believe that will settle the situation. They wanted ratings so they lowered themselves to a state where they were willing to take someone's passionate display for his business and turn it into that.

[JMA]

awataurne said:

jma said:

Of course, Cena loses some points by suggesting that Turner was involved. That's just irrational, especially since EVERY news channel has slammed WWE. The media--even the non-mainstream media--looks down on wrestling. That's just the way it is. And let's not forget Cena claiming that testosterone wasn't a steroid, and Dr. Black saying the same thing. That was just embarrassing.

I'm actually not angry about this--at all. Why? Because it'll feed Vince's idea that he and WWE are victims of larger forces. They're not victims, at least not in the way that they think. They're simply being exploited by the media, and the media exploits every news worthy figure equally. Why? Because more people will watch it. Simple as that.

It's really hard to feel sympathy for WWE when they've blantantly lied themselves. You can't claim moral superiority when you're just as bad. I think some fans have a kind of older sibling view of WWE--basically, THEY can pick on them, yet they get angry when someone else does. I think WWE knows this too.

CNN should just use the unedited version when they replay the video again. That would settle the situation.

i do not believe that will settle the situation. They wanted ratings so they lowered themselves to a state where they were willing to take someone's passionate display for his business and turn it into that.

It's funny, you could take that same paragraph you just wrote and apply it to WWE in certain situations.

[Deleted]

jma said:

awataurne said:

i do not believe that will settle the situation. They wanted ratings so they lowered themselves to a state where they were willing to take someone's passionate display for his business and turn it into that.

It's funny, you could take that same paragraph you just wrote and apply it to WWE in certain situations.

sadly yes, what you say is true. Although sinking down to that level altogether never should have happened to the WWE. But that does not justify what CNN did.

[JMA]

awataurne said:

jma said:

It's funny, you could take that same paragraph you just wrote and apply it to WWE in certain situations.

sadly yes, what you say is true. Although sinking down to that level altogether never should have happened to the WWE. But that does not justify what CNN did.

Oh, I definitely agree. CNN should have to air the unedited footage. I'm hoping that they voluntarily do this, but if they're forced to, so be it.

[JMA]

What I find ironic about this situation is that, up until this point, CNN had presented the most fair view on WWE. (Not including Nancy Grace and Headline News.) Now they go and pull this.

But again, I'm not going to pretend that WWE is an innocent victim in all this.

[Veladus Jobs To Dead Computers]

sephiroth said:

Cena HAS used roids. I am certain of that. No, I do not have any blood test results or any such evidence to prove. But I mean, honestly, look at the guy! He is a former bodybuilder, and so it is not surprising at all. I do not think he uses them constantly, I do not think he abuses them, and I do believe he works his ass off the gym. But I think it is safe to say that he has played around with roids before, and likely will again. I say the same thing about The Rock.

Comments like this are just asinine. What are your qualifications to say that it's impossible to look like that no matter how much you work out? Unless you've got an MD after your name and years of training in that particular field then you're just making blind accusations because you THINK you can't grow that much muscle mass naturally.

That said, he probably has used steroids at some point. But not for "omgz n33d muscles", because they have many legitimate medical uses. They're a top notch anti-inflammatory drug and inflammation-based injuries are very common in this field. They even make a topical cream from it for certain rashes. My 65 year old mother has been on steroids several times for back injuries and the like. My girlfriend is currently giving steroids to her cat to reduce the inflammation around a tumor in its throat. A lot of people don't realize just how many legitimate uses steroids has. The key difference is between taking them for legitimate purposes and taking them to take the easy route in athletics. And no one has any right to accuse someone, especially a guy with a reputation like Cena, of abusing drugs just because other people in his field do.

As for CNN... words don't do justice to how disgusting this is. I'm never watching CNN again. I used to watch them occasionally because I can't stand Fox News, but not after this. They're clearly just not trustworthy at all. Why bother watching a news show when you always have to ask yourself "are they making this crap up?" An official apology isn't going to put the cat back in the bag unfortunately.

[Ijob2HHH]

Okay, I'm a journalism student that's about to hit the job market, but there's something I should let you guys in on.

Newspapers: Are usually biased in headlines and editorials, but the rest are as legit as the reporters can make it. There's no motivation to make the stuff 'sensational' so you can 90% trust newspapers.

Radio: Radio are usually first responders with news. They don't have a bias, but they don't always have the fact. Find out about it there, but try and follow up for the real story with the next day's newspaper.

TV: Ratings rule all. While most news shows should be fairly clean, like the 1 hour news shows on the different channels. The 24 hour news shows or the 'themed' news shows are almost always dirty.

Magazines: The vast majority are good honest reporting with more information than you can get from any of the above, because they usually have more time and money to put into each story. However, if they're owned by a specific company, rule any stories on that company as suspect right off the bat. This includes WWE magazine.

Oh, and a tip for all of the above. If you see a story about something and an ad for that usually near by, it's actually an additional advertisement paid for by the ad company. Usually these are clearly labeled though.

[Kae]

Mike Tenay is personally offended.

Sadly, these days, investigative journalism seems to involve having a story you want to tell and then manipulating the facts in order to prove it. Steroid-related deaths in wrestling is a hot topic, and it's in the media's favour to make it seem as if one of the WWE's main-eventers is arrogant enough to juice and claim that he's above the Wellness Policy. It's despicable, I think.

[Red Impact]

ijob2hhh said:

Okay, I'm a journalism student that's about to hit the job market, but there's something I should let you guys in on.

Newspapers: Are usually biased in headlines and editorials, but the rest are as legit as the reporters can make it. There's no motivation to make the stuff 'sensational' so you can 90% trust newspapers.

Radio: Radio are usually first responders with news. They don't have a bias, but they don't always have the fact. Find out about it there, but try and follow up for the real story with the next day's newspaper.

TV: Ratings rule all. While most news shows should be fairly clean, like the 1 hour news shows on the different channels. The 24 hour news shows or the 'themed' news shows are almost always dirty.

Magazines: The vast majority are good honest reporting with more information than you can get from any of the above, because they usually have more time and money to put into each story. However, if they're owned by a specific company, rule any stories on that company as suspect right off the bat. This includes WWE magazine.

Oh, and a tip for all of the above. If you see a story about something and an ad for that usually near by, it's actually an additional advertisement paid for by the ad company. Usually these are clearly labeled though.

I'm in the same boat as you, but I will add some qualifiers.

Newspapers: Some stories are editorialized, even if they aren't in the opinion section. That should be clear to see when reading the story. Also, note, headlines and picture cutlines aren't usually written by the reporter, they're written by the copy editor after they have scanned the story, which often leads to misleading headlines with the rest of the story. I've had more than one angry discussion with copy editors after reading headlines or cutlines because they were complete crap.

With all news media: It's often just a clustersmurf. There's usually no set plan to demonize one person, group or organization and a lot of mistakes are things that they, as fallible people, don't realize that they're doing.

People will hold them to a higher standard because they're mistakes are out there for everyone to see, whereas most people's mistakes are only ever known by them and maybe a few other people. But Journalists are fallible, they mess up, just like readers can completely fail to understand anything about a story they're reading.

[dh03grad]

Every television interview you have seen in your life has been edited. CNN had a 1 hour timeslot to air this special. They showed interviews with at least 7-8 individuals and tried to fit it all into one hour. If CNN was biased and just wanted to show how evil WWE was, then why the hell did they have Vince,Jericho and Punk giving the company's side of the story?

[mysterydriver]

dh03grad said:

Every television interview you have seen in your life has been edited. CNN had a 1 hour timeslot to air this special. They showed interviews with at least 7-8 individuals and tried to fit it all into one hour. If CNN was biased and just wanted to show how evil WWE was, then why the hell did they have Vince,Jericho and Punk giving the company's side of the story?

In order to edit it and make them seem evil?

[Ben Wyatt]

mysterydriver said:

dh03grad said:

Every television interview you have seen in your life has been edited. CNN had a 1 hour timeslot to air this special. They showed interviews with at least 7-8 individuals and tried to fit it all into one hour. If CNN was biased and just wanted to show how evil WWE was, then why the hell did they have Vince,Jericho and Punk giving the company's side of the story?

In order to edit it and make them seem evil?

Pretty much.

I also like how the poster above tries to excuse the fact CNN CLEARLY did a major screwjob to the guy who is the face of the Company right now

[CrazySting]

I thought it was a mistake putting Punk in it.

So, he's clean and this is what makes him special.

Doesn't that just say that everyone else in the lockerroom is not clean?

[dh03grad]

theslickness said:

mysterydriver said:

In order to edit it and make them seem evil?

Pretty much.

I also like how the poster above tries to excuse the fact CNN CLEARLY did a major screwjob to the guy who is the face of the Company right now

CNN didnt screw him at all. The intent of John Cena's answer was clear because prior to the infamous quote, he touched on the way society is and how he came to believe why he cant deny steroid use. CNN had to break down 3 mins of him talking into 30 sec. Which quotes would YOU have used? Jericho didnt come across as evil. Vince came across as Vince. Punk came across as Punk. CNN has no hidden agenda towards WWE. Facts are there are alot of young deaths in pro wrestling. The public sentiment is that these guys are dying because of steroids. They have to ask those questions and present both sides of the coin. We saw the WWE side clearly and we saw the other side clearly.

[Deleted]

dh03grad said:

theslickness said:

Pretty much.

I also like how the poster above tries to excuse the fact CNN CLEARLY did a major screwjob to the guy who is the face of the Company right now

CNN didnt screw him at all. The intent of John Cena's answer was clear because prior to the infamous quote, he touched on the way society is and how he came to believe why he cant deny steroid use. CNN had to break down 3 mins of him talking into 30 sec. Which quotes would YOU have used? Jericho didnt come across as evil. Vince came across as Vince. Punk came across as Punk. CNN has no hidden agenda towards WWE. Facts are there are alot of young deaths in pro wrestling. The public sentiment is that these guys are dying because of steroids. They have to ask those questions and present both sides of the coin. We saw the WWE side clearly and we saw the other side clearly.

Yes, they had to edit the footage down into thirty seconds or whatever, but the way it was edited took Cena's words out of context. Oh, isn't it a coincidence that it was edited to look like Cena was "admitting" to steroid use.

It was done on purpose by CNN.

[A Platypus Rave is Correct]

dh03grad said:

theslickness said:

Pretty much.

I also like how the poster above tries to excuse the fact CNN CLEARLY did a major screwjob to the guy who is the face of the Company right now

CNN didnt screw him at all. The intent of John Cena's answer was clear because prior to the infamous quote, he touched on the way society is and how he came to believe why he cant deny steroid use. CNN had to break down 3 mins of him talking into 30 sec. Which quotes would YOU have used? Jericho didnt come across as evil. Vince came across as Vince. Punk came across as Punk. CNN has no hidden agenda towards WWE. Facts are there are alot of young deaths in pro wrestling. The public sentiment is that these guys are dying because of steroids. They have to ask those questions and present both sides of the coin. We saw the WWE side clearly and we saw the other side clearly.

How about Absolutely not?

It's concise and still gets the original answer across....

[dh03grad]

am90 said:

dh03grad said:

CNN didnt screw him at all. The intent of John Cena's answer was clear because prior to the infamous quote, he touched on the way society is and how he came to believe why he cant deny steroid use. CNN had to break down 3 mins of him talking into 30 sec. Which quotes would YOU have used? Jericho didnt come across as evil. Vince came across as Vince. Punk came across as Punk. CNN has no hidden agenda towards WWE. Facts are there are alot of young deaths in pro wrestling. The public sentiment is that these guys are dying because of steroids. They have to ask those questions and present both sides of the coin. We saw the WWE side clearly and we saw the other side clearly.

Yes, they had to edit the footage down into thirty seconds or whatever, but the way it was edited took Cena's words out of context. Oh, isn't it a coincidence that it was edited to look like Cena was "admitting" to steroid use.

It was done on purpose by CNN.

Even watching the 3 min interview, he dipped into the Mark McGwire book of answers to steroid questions. I guess it depends on your perspective