John Cena Comments On His Reputation For Burying Talent After Austin Theory WrestleMania 39 Match

WWE

John Cena has commented on his reputation for burying talent after his WrestleMania 39 match with Austin Theory.

At WrestleMania 39, Austin Theory defeated John Cena to retain the United States Championship. This followed a promo exchange between the two men where Cena had scathing criticism for the 25 year old star.

In an exclusive interview with Busted Open Radio ahead of the premiere of Fast X, John Cena discussed his reputation for burying talent and what it means to “pass the torch.” He said:

“You don’t pass it to anybody. You just hope to put energy out there and anyone with potential can get it. It was said that I passed the torch to Roman years ago, and he absolutely is the face of the franchise.”

“In my mind, he’s the greatest of all time. I tried to do what I could, and when I did it, it wasn’t the miracle. Like, it didn’t happen. He got it on his own terms.”

“I just like seeing people who are passionate about the business, who want to be there, who want to show up, who aren’t using it as a vehicle to do something else because the thing itself is awesome. It’s okay if you get other opportunities outside. That’s a testament to your work, but man, I wish I was still there every day.”

On his body not being what it once was to be competing in WWE as often as he would like to be, Cena said:

“My body can’t do it anymore and I don’t want to give the consumer a bad product. That’s another thing that I learned from those veterans at the time, guys like Eddie just would risk so much. and he’s like, I’m never gonna give the consumer a bad product.”

“I don’t care how I feel. I don’t care how I feel physically. I don’t care what baggage I have mentally. When I’m on, they paid good money and I’m gonna go out there and give everything I have and sometimes find it when it’s not there.”

“I’m at a point where everything I have in comparison to the bar that’s been set, like what I have is what you saw at WrestleMania 39. That’s what I feel confident that I can deliver and that’s really nice for here and there.”

“That’s not every day in the WWE. That’s not every day in sports entertainment. Sports entertainment has raised the bar and I’m humble enough to say that’s awesome because you’re supposed to leave it better than you found it and the people are supposed to advance it.”

“That’s why you go from smokey bingo halls to the Pontiac Silverdome to now towns offering us financial incentives to be in WrestleMania.”

Cena continued on to discuss the difference between Roman Reigns and himself when it comes to creating stars, saying:

“I love that Roman did it his way. He did it his own way by crafting his own personality. He did it as a way by redefining what it is to be at the tip of the spear. He is there selectively. He has made himself exclusive and in doing so, he’s brought like eight people with him. He’s allowed the whole Bloodline to get over.”

“So with me, if you put me in that conversation, I could only help the person that I was working with while I was working with him. The reputation I had in the sauce while I was in it was that I buried talent because I would really invest my wholeheartedness.”

Cena concluded by noting that he actually sat with Austin Theory for like 10 hours to help him along, saying:

“I sat with Austin Theory for like 10 hours. Not wasted a day, invested a day, to talk about our why, like, what’s our story going to be? I would do that with everyone. I live it. My heart is on the plate. But after they were with me, they didn’t take that energy with them, but I gave it to the next guy.”

“So okay, who’s next? It was AJ and now it’s Kevin Owens. Alright, ‘Kevin, come here. We’re gonna sit down for two weeks and just talk about stuff. Then we’re gonna go out there and try some crazy stuff, see what works, and then put our best foot forward.’ Kevin’s done, Sami, no problem.”

“What Roman does, just being affiliated with his energy, he gets so many people over. That’s something I could never do, ever, period.”

“Like, you’re with me and you got a chance when you’re there, but a lot of times you went off to do stuff that wasn’t looked at in the same way, and then the perception of the audience is, ‘Oh my god, he buried him.’ Winning and losing doesn’t matter. I haven’t won a match in five years. It doesn’t matter.”

“Roman’s ability to be that good, to spread his energy so thin that he makes other talents, and do it exclusive. That’s the difference between Ric. Ric was always the centerpiece. Roman has off days. but he’s still there, like, his presence is so great. I think that’s never been done. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Here are results from the Friday, May 12 episode of WWE SmackDown:

AJ Styles def. Edge, Rey Mysterio in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship tournament

Bobby Lashley def. Austin Theory, Sheamus in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship tournament

Grayson Waller appeared in a backstage segment with Adam Pearce and announced the winner of the Styles vs Lashley main event would appear on his Grayson Waller Effect talk show next week

Cameron Grimes def. Baron Corbin

Roman Reigns made his first appearance since WrestleMania 39 and said that Solo Sikoa has stepped up, but the Usos are a problem and that they embarrassed him

Paul Heyman then announced Reigns and Sikoa would be challenging Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship at Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia

Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez def. Bayley & Dakota Kai to retain the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship

Former NXT Tag Team Champions Pretty Deadly made their SmackDown debut backstage, setting up a match against the Brawling Brutes for next week

Bianca Belair appeared for a ‘celebration’ in her hometown of Knoxville, but was interrupted by a returning Asuka who spat mist in Belair’s face

AJ Styles def. Bobby Lashley in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship tournament

Transcription via Wrestling News

If you want to stay fully updated on all the latest wrestling news, click the red bell in the bottom right of your screen to receive notifications from WrestleTalk.com straight to your device!

• WrestleMania 39
• Austin Theory
• Roman Reigns
• John Cena

Share this article with friends