John Cena discusses WWE listening to fans and the rise of Becky Lynch.
John Cena was on top of WWE for nearly 15 years before he transitioned to Hollywood and began working a lighter schedule. During his run, Cena has seen it all as the top guy. And while no one has benefited more in the last decade and a half from the WWE machine, Cena believes WWE has always listened to the audience.
In a new interview with Uproxx, Cena stated, “We are in the entertainment business. Whatever the consumer finds most entertaining, regardless of sex, race, creed, color, religion anything. What the consumer wants, WWE will give."
Cena continued, “I think Daniel Bryan a few years ago in the main event of WrestleMania was a great example of that. And I think the women that are supposedly within the main event of WrestleMania this year were pushing forward toward that historic, monumental occasion. I’m one of those people who think that it should’ve happened a whole lot earlier, but I’m very proud that our audience is at a point where they’re screaming at the top of their lungs, ‘Hey, this is what we want to see.’ I was so extremely happy for Becky Lynch to be able to find this personality that she carved out of thin air and almost out of desperation and become so successful with it.”
The rise of Lynch is something very few could have predicted a year ago. Lynch was seen as a steady hand who got a good reaction, but never quite took it to the next level. Then, following SummerSlam 2018, she became The Man. And Cena saw a lot of himself in Becky as she ascended to main event status.
“I was about to be fired. I was in a Becky Lynch-type scenario where I was forgotten and I was about to be let go and I took a chance on myself. I took a chance on redefining my character and it worked and I’ve never stopped," recalled Cena. "And I wasn’t the corporate headquarters first, second, third, fourth, fifth or sixth choice, but the audience began to make noise. And I connected with the audience and the rest is history. And that’s what’s wonderful about WWE. It truly is an enterprise system for any performer to connect with the audience. And once they connect with the audience, it doesn’t matter if they’re male or female. It doesn’t matter where you’re from. What you look like. You become a centerpiece of our entertainment and I think that’s the most fascinating thing about what we do. It truly is go out there and connect and then see what happens.”
Cena got a first-hand look at the new Becky Lynch earlier this year when the two had an in-ring confrontation that led to a tag team match against Andrade & Zelina Vega. You can view their promo together in the video above.
Cena is currently away from WWE, filming his new movie "Playing With Fire."
