WWE Hall Of Famer JBL has recalled Vince McMahon questioning the potential of John Cena early in the WWE icon’s storied career with the company.
Cena’s accomplishments in wrestling are nothing short of outstanding. A 16 time champion of the world, Cena spent over a decade in the main event scene of WWE resulting in five appearances in the main event of WrestleMania.
But things weren’t always destined to be so successful for Cena early in his WWE career. The star has commented before how he was almost fired before displaying his rap skills and transitioning into the Doctor Of Thuganomics on WWE television.
This character caught fire with the crowd and John Cena was soon on his way to superstardom and his first WWE Championship reign which he won from JBL at WrestleMania 21.
Now speaking on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling JBL has recalled how he was asked for his thoughts on Cena’s ability by Vince McMahon:
“There weren’t a ton of believers in Cena. I don’t think there were un-believers. But Vince asked me one day, he said, ‘How is he?’ I said, ‘He’s your guy, man.’ Vince said, ‘He’s that good?’ I said, ‘Yeah.'”
JBL discussed how he saw that Cena was able to do what many couldn’t and transition from shorter matches to long slogs that befit WWE pay-per-view main events:
“It’s a different dynamic going from, say, eight minutes to going to 30 minutes. Now, I think he had done it with Kurt Angle too, obviously one of the greatest of all time. But when I first got out there with him, some guys never make that transition. It’s hard.”
John Cena last competed on WWE television at the 2021 edition of SummerSlam where he unsuccessfully challenged Roman Reigns for the WWE Universal Championship.