John Cena spoke with Tim Baines of Canada’s Sun newspapers about the state of his character, if he should turn heel soon and being aware of how younger fans perceive him. Here are some highlights:
The fan reaction toward him: “In a verbal sense and an athletic sense, this is a reactive business. It’s one of those deals, remember, when Steve Austin was flipping everyone off, doing all of those things considered evil things, he became the ultimate cool guy.
“On the flip side of things, although I can handle business when I need to, I really make conscious choices to do the right thing. There’s still a giant portion of the audience associated to the Attitude era that I believe thinks I am a bad guy.
“But I’m not a bad guy. I generate so much hatred just because of the way I act. I look at Tim Tebow as a good example. People couldn’t stop saying his name. He’s such a standup guy. People don’t believe it because it’s almost too good to be true. And he generates that hatred.
If he should turn heel soon: “You can analyze character development all day, but with the current state of affairs, there is no need or rationale for me to deviate from what I’m doing.”
Regarding his status as a role model for younger kids: “As long as you’re the someone, you need to make conscious decisions about who’s watching you. I have very good estimation on our audience, especially the ones that follow me. I try to handle myself accordingly.”
