Thanks to Robert Leighty Jr. of 411Mania.com for the following recap of the Chris Jericho/John Cena podcast following Monday night’s WWE RAW broadcast:
Welcome one and all to yet another Podcast on the WWE Network. After having Austin host the last two, the WWE is giving Chris Jericho a shot this time and his guest is WWE United States Champion, John Cena! Join me following Monday Night RAW to see if this one can live up to the earlier ones featuring Vince and Triple H.
-We are live and welcomed to the podcast by our host Chris Jericho. He thanks John Cena for joining him and calls this moment one of the greatest in the history of the world.
-Jericho immediately brings up Cena being famous for the 5 Moves of Doom and how he has added the Spring Board Stunner, and Cena shuts that down and calls it a modified neck breaker. They discuss the original 5 Moves of Doom and joke about Canadian Football teams.
-Talk shifts to the US Title and Cena says that he wasn’t upset he was phased out of the Main Event. He believes they have gifted guys on the roster and he wants to give them (Ambrose and Cody named) a chance to make a name for themselves and bring prestige to the US Title.
-Cena goes on to say that he appreciates being anywhere on the card and Jericho mentions how he went from World Champ to IC Champ and never saw it as a step down. Cena agrees with him, and they talk again about the open challenge.
-The talk about Cena’s group that he rode with in his early days and it was Tajiri, The Bashams, Ultimo Dragon, and Funaki. That is a pretty awesome group actually and Cena says that it started with Funaki as they hit it off well. Cena tells a great Tajiri story about him wanting a Whopper and saying it was a perfect English accent after duping all of them by pretending not to know too much English.
-Jericho shifts talk to John’s relationship with Vince McMahon. Cena says that he loves this company where a lot of people would say they love the wrestling business. Cena says his goal is to take the company to places it has never been: namely China, and India. He wants to leave the place a 100 times better than when he entered.
-Cena says that he and Vince differ creatively at times, but he has the trust of Vince to do things that some don’t. He does say that he gets yelled at just like anyone else though and at times they are deserved.
-Jericho brings up how he was the one that had Cena’s first PPV match. He mentions that when Cena debuted there was backlash as expected. The finish was Jericho going over and Jericho argued with Vince that Cena needed to go over in the match. He asks Cena if he remembers those days and Cena talks about meeting Vince for the first time and it was on SmackDown with Angle because The Undertaker couldn’t be there. Vince told him to cut his hair in that first meeting and things went off from there.
-Jericho brings up how Cena was known as the guy who did backwards promos in OVW. Cena gives credit to Jim Cornette and others in OVW for letting them have freedom. Jericho asks him to do an example and Cena has Jericho take a stab at it. He gives it a go and then Cena does it as well for old times sake.
-Cena brings up Vince’s brass ring comment and says that he loved it because Vince can hear the audience. Wow! He says that if guys genuinely feel something is right they need to do it. He says they have rules as TV PG, but things guys can step out and stay within those rules.
-They go back to Cena’s early days and how he didn’t have a finish so Jericho always called him “whacky roll-up guy” and Cena has a laugh with it. They also discuss how he always wore different color boots and tights. Cena brings up William Regal and how he looked up to him. He was working for UPW and got a dark match for the WWE in LA. He admits he stunk the joint out and asked Regal for advice. Regal tells him that ie he gets a set of boots he will at least look like a wrestler. Cena says that he went out and got 75 pairs of boots and 150 pairs of tights. He never wanted to wear the same thing twice on TV in OVW. When he was brought up as a face on the main roster he wore the home teams colors to get cheap pops from the crowd.
-They talk about OVW and the class of guys they had: Cena, Orton, Batista, and Lesnar. He puts over Lesnar for hitting the Shooting Star, Orton for being a natural, Batista for being a tough bastard, and Shelton Benjamin for beaking a freak of nature. He says that he knew he wasn’t #1 on the list and knew they had a lot of time and money invested in a lot of the other guys down there.
-They go back to Cena’s PPV debut when he went over Jericho and then after Jericho was drafted to RAW, Cena was jobbing on Sunday Night Heat to Bull Buchanan. Cena says he didn’t have an identity and nothing sent him apart from what other guys were doing. He looked the part, but couldn’t do what they were doing in the ring.
-That leads to the rapping gimmick, and Cena says it started on a European Tour with Rikishi. He puts over Rikishi for teaching him a lot about in the business. On one of the buses, guys were freestyling and Cena got a chance to participate and the higher ups decided to let him run with it. Cena says it has been a long time since he has done any freestyle. He was asked if he wanted to do it on TV and he knew it would at least give him an identity.
-Jericho asks him if he was a wrestling fan as a kid, and he says that he was. They show the famous picture of Cena as a kid holding a homemade title belt. He says Kowalski’s school was 25 minutes from him house and he never realized it. Cena says he is the first reverse 2nd generation wrestler because he got in the business first and then his dad followed him in 2005.
-Talk turns to body building and Jericho asks him if he ever took steroids or PEDs. Cena says he has never had to and that he has always been into body building. They show some pics of Cena during his body building career and he says that any competition he did was always one where they did extensive drug testing. He knows people assume he is on steroids and that people will believe what they want to. He says that his body has always been the same and that he has always been 250 lbs since day one.
-Jericho says he believes Cena and that he is the same as Lance Storm as he is another guy who he totally believes has never done roids because he has looked the same.
-Jericho calls him a freak and a mutant because of how fast he heals. He talks about the neck surgery and how Cena was back to see the guys the next day. Cena says that the second he wakes up from anesthesia he wants to immediately starts training as he doesn’t like to be away.
-Talk turns to alcohol and Jericho discusses how Cena is one of the few guys that can drink him under the table. They talk about a story in Alaska and how Cena counseled a copy who were on the verge of getting a divorce and he was able to talk them into staying married. After that they went to Jericho’s room and drank through a cooler of beer. Jericho feel asleep and Cena tucked him in and stayed up drinking beer, listening to Jericho’s IPod.
-They discuss the Modern Era (since 1984) and the four faces of the company according to Jericho being Hogan, Austin, Rock, and Cena. He doesn’t think anyone will be the top guy anymore because of the way the business works today. He talks about how the fans scream for something new and then when given it the fans shit all over it. He brings up Reigns and how the fans turned on him.
-Jericho talks about how the WWE brand is bigger than 1 specific guy. Cena partly agrees with that but still thinks there will always be a front man and it will be someone who takes that spot even at the risk of being fired. Cena talks about how he pushed limits with what he said and dressed in such a ridiculous manner, but it was a chance he had to take. He talks about how he was nearly fired and a lot of the younger guys don’t realize that.
-They discuss NXT and Cena says he watches it as much as he can. He loves how much steam the brand is getting and how the guys are getting a chance to tear the house down and not just have training matches. He talks about how he was thrown to the fire and brings up getting booed out of the building when he inducted William Perry into the Hall of Fame in Chicago.
-Quickly talk turns to the Rock/Cena feud and how there was beef between the two. Cena says that there was beef and Cena wanted it built like Jordan vs LeBron, but Rock was pissed at him for calling him out for years and questioning his love of the business. Cena says that The Rock took a lot of shots and all Cena wanted was a chance to say things back to him. He never cared what The Rock said, but only cared that he got a chance to respond.
-Jericho brings up the night The Rock had his promo written on his arm and Cena won’t name the ref that noticed it first. He says Rock was pissed about the shot, but Cena gives him credit taking it in stride. He says even if the tension was real, The Rock was always professional backstage and in the ring. Cena says before the match at Mania XXVIII he gave Rock a bottle of White Lightning and expressed how he needed to step up to his level and hopes he didn’t take anything personal.
-Jericho asks him if a bit of animosity between guys is good for the business, and Cena agrees with it. He name drops Punk and also talks about how he told Bryan to say whatever he wanted, but to be ready that he will right there to react.
-They go back to crowd reactions and Cena says Jericho is being generous saying it was a 50-50 split with The Rock. Jericho brings up the first time he heard “Lets Go Cena/Cena Sucks” chants in 2005 with him at SummerSlam and asks John what he thinks. He knows they started because was being pushed and his character was turned more into the type of person he is in real life and fans didn’t want that. It didn’t bother him though as he was always ready to play any hand.
-He thanks the male fans want something different and not sure if they want a ton of blood or cursing, but they are a PG show. He says they can’t please everyone, but he always loves seeing the kids in the crowd light up and it is worth it. Jericho says he always loves “serious Cena” and at times doesn’t like “poopy Cena.” John says it is his attempt to be a little different and not be the same thing every time.
-Jericho brings up the eternal question: Will John Cena ever turn heel? Cena says it was discussed briefly in the program with The Rock and he had new gear and new theme music made just in case it happened. Cena said if it happened it would be great for him to show a different side, but at the same time he like being inspirational and he does it for the kids. His comeback is that when he turns heel the people booing will just cheer him and he will be letting down the kids. He says when someone comes along to take his spot with the kids then he may get a chance to show another side, but The Make A Wish stuff is still what means the most to him. Cena brings up Bryan calling what they do “fiction” and calls it the perfect thing to say at the end of the day when talking about the Make A Wish stuff. He says it’s not that he doesn’t want to be a heel, but they better have someone to take his spot.
-They bring up Cena’s hand signal he does and he says it stands for Hustle, Loyalty, and Respect. The secret meaning apparently is that it is for himself, Carano (talent relations), and Michael Cole because it was joke that they were three losers.
-The last question is his favorite match and Cena says the next one. Jericho pushes and Cena says the first Rock/Cena match. He was happy because they built that match for a year and he was proud of doing it.
-Another last question it seems as he asks Cena what his relationship is with Rock. He says it is awesome and says The Rock is awesome.
-He asks Cena what is left for Cena and he says that people always ask how long he has left and Cena just take it day by day and match by match. They close with an inside joke between the two of them and we are out.
-Thanks for following along.
