16-time WWE World Champion John Cena recently spoke at BookCon 2019 to promote his book, “Elbow Grease.” Cena talked about why he doesn’t believe WWE will ever be led by a “universal figure” again, and reveals his favorite wrestling match that he likes to re-watch over and over again.
Here are the highlights: (Transcription credit should go to @JonFuentesMMA for Wrestlezone.com)
Who will be the next John Cena:
If they were, I would tell them to stop, my goodness. This is some real inside baseball. Anyone who is here for WWE is gonna love this answer. But I’ll keep it short – I think the dynamic of the program is changing. For the longest time, I think – if you considered WWE a band, there’s been one front person of the band. I think that dynamic has changed. That’s because the audience is too diverse. I think older males are watching, younger kids are watching, females are watching.
The audience is so diverse, so with a diverse audience, it’s tough to universally please someone. In the ’80s you had a family-oriented program where Hulk Hogan was the frontman. In the ’90s you had 18 to 35-year-old males. In comes Steve Austin then Dwayne Johnson because they hit right down that wheelhouse. Then me, but even myself, as you know, went through a polarizing stage where half the audience likes you and half the audience doesn’t.
So I don’t think there’s a universal figure that will lead the company forward. I think as the company grows, and especially expands globally, you’re gonna have, like, a Super Friends of the WWE. Which is, like, people who are essentially fighting for equal share of popularity.
I think the band will now have 10 lead singers of every single different race, creed, color, sex, ethnicity. So, I believe I was kind of the last of that. I think the landscape has changed so much that it’s more of a group effort rather than an individual effort.
His favorite wrestling match that he likes to re-watch:
Um, Hulk-Andre WrestleMania III. Because, to me, it meant everything as a kid, where I thought it was unwinnable task for Hulk Hogan. And the fact that he could defeat such a monumental, impressive opponent. As a young child, that had a very lasting impression on me.
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