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I think that’s the most important thing when people ask why don’t I change
who I am? Because I know there are mass majority from the “Attitude Era†that
will want me strung up and burned as a witch. But for every guy who says “Cena
sucks!†there is a mom or a dad who will come up to me privately and say, “Thank
you for being a good role model for my kids.†And there’s the kids: You’re
eight-year-old daughter, her friends, the little kids that I meet, their
friends, the Make-A-Wish families that I meet. I think to be a bad guy in this
business, you’ve gotta be a genuinely bad guy. As long as we have those families
showing up, I’m gonna be who I am. And I think that’s most important, and that’s
why I don’t care that there’s a split in the crowd.
On This Year’s Build-up
It’s been extremely hard. Especially on me, it’s been a lot of pressure; it’s
been very mentally draining. But after the last Monday in Atlanta, I took a deep
breath, thought about it, and realized that I couldn’t possibly do anymore to
build up April 1st. I think it is the biggest it can be. People realize what’s
at stake. Not only do they realize it’s a marquee matchup—we have a lot of
those—but they realize that I really don’t like the guy that I’m facing, which,
in our business, is becoming more and more rare. It’s everything that a big
fight is supposed to be.
On Disliking The Rock
There’s no other reason needed. I am company-proud through the good times and
bad. We’ve gone through some difficult times in the WWE, and I’ve been the guy
on front street trying to mend fences and make sure everybody knows that we
still got a great product. And even in good times, I’m the guy who says this is
the best business in the world. There are a lot of those, this business is a lot
about making me the biggest superstar that “me†can be. I guess I’m just too
much of a company guy. The guy leaves and drops his name and drops the business,
and tells everybody that he’s done with it. Even up until before he came back
last year to host Wrestlemania, he was very adamant about, No, I’m not going
back there. Now he’s back and the first thing he does when he say he’s back is
he’s never leaving, he loves everybody, and then we lose him for another amount
of time, and then he comes back again… I truly couldn’t ask for a better
opponent because he’s the biggest superstar the WWE has ever had. I just
disagree with the way he thinks.
On “Cena-Lovers†vs. “Cena-Hatersâ€
People who are vocal of their criticism, I get that. But at the same time, you
can’t argue with what the company is doing business-wise. I was the first to
beat the drum of Guys, we may need to switch the content because I would watch
the people coming into the building every night. Go to a live show, see the
audience, tell me I’m wrong. I’m on top of this stuff. I’m the guy walking
through Access at 5:50am to make sure the set-up’s correct. I’m the guy who’s in
the crowd somewhere that you can’t see when people file into the Garden for a
live event. I’m on top of this, this is what I do. When I say I love the
business, I don’t just love hitting the ropes and falling down in the ring;
that’s beautiful. But I love the business, and I want it to be the best it can.
I want it globally to be the biggest phenomenon it can. We just have to be here
right now. And as frustrating as it is for some, I still think the program is
unbelievably entertaining. We still have an unreal stable of superstars, and
we’re able to go more places and more people can enjoy it.
It’s almost like when a garage band makes it. There’s those people who are like,
Ah I wish they would be back to the garage band days! But then they go play
sold-out stadiums and they’re on the Top 40 charts. You have to adapt and
overcome. It’s just the way we have to be now.
On “Super Cenaâ€
I’ve also lost a lot. And I think that’s another thing that critics tend to
savor their own flavor of soup. You can look at my win-loss record. It’s as good
as an average superstar. I mean, I’ve won a lot of marquee matches, but I’ve
lost a lot of marquee matches. Who was in the main event last year at
Wrestlemania?
Doug: You.
Cena: Against who?
Doug: The Miz.
Cena: Who won that match?
Doug: The Miz.
Cena: ‘Nuff said.
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