Six Feet Under - John Cena LIVE from WWE World

0:00Come on, Tate!

0:41WWE World, what's up? You guys ready to go six feet under? All right. Hey, I can't do this without my partner in crime. Ladies and gentlemen, would you please give a WrestleMania welcome to my queen, Michelle McCool. Oh

1:42You guys ready to have a good time? All right. I don't know who set all this up, but this could be trouble. Hey, without further ado, we are extremely lucky. We're almost like a real podcast now. Almost. With guests like this. Hey, we all know him, man. He is the face of WWE, has been, will be one of the greatest to ever step foot in a ring, even a ring with three sides. Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for the great John Cena!

2:32Thank you.

2:58We stack that plus our kids on the side of the bridge. I'm going to get you finished. And there's a song that got written in some years. Before we finish the school. And I say that you fight it. So it's going to be like a thunder and lightning. Ain't no way you're with it. It's the heart of the land. So I say you know I'm like a party jam. It's fun. I'm still competition. I got the whole body pushing. They can work with my division. They can't finish it. With no weird kitchen, boy, don't wait. I got my soul straight. I brush them off.

3:53Oh, that's thank you so much. Thank you. Wow. That actually worked. Right on. How's that feel, man? Different. Different? Yeah, because I don't have to get my ass kicked now. I hope so. Well, we'll see how this goes. Yes, indeed. I'm starting with uppers. That's cheating, man. You just boo me having a coffee? Shame. It is still the AM, sir. I know it's Vegas, but all right? Okay? I'm the host. I'm hosting out there tonight. Yeah, you got an important job tonight, man. It is not important. I have a Kush gig. This is what retirement is like. You should have told me this years ago. Well, I didn't know.

4:34His retirement had looked like that. This is fantastic. I get to come in. I get to be in front of a crowd. We get to do stuff like this. I mean, it is like WrestleMania is starting in a few hours, and we're just kicking it, and I'm cool with that. Hey, I'm okay with that. You okay with that? Normally, I'd be running around like a chicken with my head cut off and trying to figure out if everything's good, totally stressed out. I'm like, I'm doing all right. It's a little different, right? It's a little different. It took me a while to adjust. When I retired and I showed up, and then you just have that thing in you that's like, I should be doing this.

5:10I should be getting ready. Why am I not? And like, oh, you're not working, man. Yeah, for me, it was immediate. Like, I went to T-Mobile on Friday while they were doing SmackDown. I was saying hi to everybody. I didn't have a care in the world. Now I know what it's like to be a fan. That's why I know you guys are so excited all the time. Because all you got to do is just sit back and give some enthusiasm. Honestly, it's a good spot. I'm happy. Yeah, well, that's good because you've adjusted well, right? Obviously. Like, I didn't adjust that well coming out. But you are just in your moment right now, man.

5:47And I love it. Thank you so much. Truth be told, I kind of had a while to work up to it. We've had some conversations that are not on air, so you're going to hear me repeating stuff that we've said in confidence, but you'll be hearing for the first time. Thanks for playing along. So we've talked a few times, and you've mentioned that it was something you really never thought about. This was something I thought about, and something I thought about early in my career. I literally promised the fans that when I felt a step slower, I was out. So not only did I make that promise early, but the whole planning of the retirement tour took three years.

6:32The concept happened three years before execution. I pitched WWE about close to 18 to 20 months out. And then we announced it in Toronto and then we started in January and into it. don't so i've adjusted because i've had close to four years to to think about what's going on i think if it would if it happened if it truly happened in december like for for a for a path like aj where he just kind of retired i don't i don't know what that lens is like i had a lot of i had a lot of thought into this so i'm that's why i'm feeling pretty good that's good i mean that's um to prepare your mind mentally because again as to our conversations is you know that your realistic mind knows that you're not going to be able to do this forever yes but then there's that other side of your mind that says i'm going to do this forever yes and it's amazing that you had the the presence of mind to start preparing yourself because if you don't it is it's very challenging for it to for to wake up that one day and then it's not like, hey, I'm not putting my boots on today.

7:47Yeah, that's why they have that phrase, athletes die twice. You know, they got to walk away from the thing that they've done their whole lives. And then that's essentially, you know, facing your mortality. It's a lot for a lot of folks. It's their identity, you know, and man, you are literally the last of the secrets of wrestling. So for you to put that character away, I don't know the identity struggles that you might have had or the hills you might have had to climb. For me, like I said, I had a really nice lead up and I got some great love and connection around me. And it was nothing but support.

8:26And that's why I'm in a good place, man. Well, look, also, in all fairness, he retired like five times. Right? So he had to keep preparing for that retirement. Tried it, didn't work. Right. retire have a surgery prepare come back so like you had to i mean you mentally prepared for that a lot and finally got it i think i mean all right i get a lot of flack but truth be told the only time that i ever said retire was when i retired now i did i put my boots and stuff in the ring and that was a that was a legitimate moment uh for me but uh obviously obviously the old man had different i don't think even when i retired because he was he was insistent when i did retire that i retired in character and all of that like i still think he felt like he could ring the bat phone if he had to and i and i was gonna come back i know the character retired but we can we can bring you back oh there's something left right there's a little bit left in that sponge but there but there really wasn't man um what june 2002 yeah that's when this whole thing started this is a this is this is a full circle moment yeah so 2002 is where y 'all actually interacted for the first time backstage right yes and you have been there for what oh look oh my goodness look at that look at those young guys so you had actually been in the business for 12 years at this point yeah yes i've been in the business for 12 minutes look at that man well hey i'd already i'd already been in wwe 12 years yeah like i said that's 12 12 years fresh out of that match with kurt angle i was about 12 minutes long okay so tell me what are you thinking right here john because i would be nervous as all get out so uh that's that's what I was thinking and that's why that version of me did not do well and I mean that and I talk about this a lot like I came out and Kurt Angle was like what what makes you think you can be out here and I said two words ruthless aggression and I slapped him across the face all right that's cool then I proceeded to have a fast-paced 50-50 match where I almost beat him and in a sportsman-like way I was like hey man I almost won and then I get to the backstage and I see truly the patriarch of the company giving me respect and I take the respect like I like a fan I was neither ruthless nor aggressive and that's why that persona didn't attach to the audience if I had kicked you in the nuts or slapped you in the face or even just said like, Hey, I'm coming for you next.

11:19Right. That's ruthless and aggressive. Right. But I'm such a fan of the business. And honestly, that's, that's a legitimate look of like, all I was, I just, uh, I was, you know, we all find our own path and that that's a moment of me not, not understand. That's a moment of me being a fan and not understanding the business side. Right. Right. And you don't hand out compliments lightly so i mean was that's another thing like that doesn't happen yeah yeah so i i do i'm a little bit uh i'm pretty much last one come to the table with the compliments with the young guys but you are like in my head what i what i'm seeing here you i think i think you gave me a compliment there and this introduction was the next compliment you gave me 24 years later so i'm okay with that.

12:09I'm doing all right. Once every quarter century. Well, I mean, you know, I mean, do you actually need to audible hear it? I mean, come on. Saving money on your next project. When you shop at Menards, we have everything you need for keeping your outdoor power equipment in tip top shape. Ensure your lawnmower or boat is running smooth this year. Right now, all FBP lawn and garden and marine batteries are on sale. View our entire selection of FBP batteries today on Menards.com. Plus, check out our weekly flyer for all of the great deals happening this week. Save big money at Menards. But what I'm seeing, what I see is the prototypical Vince guy right here.

12:55I mean, you've got the chiseled good looks, the body, no tattoos. I'm thinking this is the guy for Vince. but you are absolutely correct when you come at me with a with that thank you so much like oh man this is so great yeah how could i say i have ruthless aggression exactly how yeah and i think i think what a cool frame to bring up right because we have a bunch of fans who are excited to see a bunch of performers at wrestlemania uh we have nxt folks integrated in wwe world here we got a lot of wrestlemania debuts the one thing i stress to new performers is find out who you are and be authentic as soon as you can yes and sometimes the character they give you won't work and you gotta you gotta look in the mirror and say why that didn't work because of me if i if i had ruthless aggression now if somebody be like okay kid we're gonna go with you and your gimmicks, ruthless aggression.

13:56You know, I could have a hundred ideas of the directions I could take that. I was just trying to throw good drop kicks and do good arm drags and not piss off the boys. And that's not going to work. Yeah. So that's the doctor of Thuganomics. Were you already like that was your, that was your vibe, your personal vibe, right? Yes. I was, I was as hip hip-hop as you are a country. Okay. So that, that's, it was kind of the lane that I traveled in. And that the reason that whole thing started is because guys were just rapping on the back of the bus, right? Like Rikishi had a, the back of the bus. Some of the boys just got up there and it just happened to be the right chemistry of enough people who liked hip-hop and maybe like a little bit of courage going around.

14:45And I finally, like I wasn't connecting with the audience and, and I was going to get let go. So I was like, all right, enough of this. Keep your mouth shut and your ears open stuff. I'm just going down swinging, shut my laptop. I was playing rollercoaster tycoon shut that one rollercoaster tycoon fan right there. I was literally just a nerd who was on my laptop all the time. And that would lead to our first meeting shortly after where I just, I went back to, um, to the back of the bus and just wrapped and Stephanie heard it. And that That was authentically a piece of my personality. And then when I got that authentic piece, I'm like, oh man, I can turn this up to 10.

15:27No problem. Let's do it. So then y 'all get to, they just threw another photo up here for you guys. This is Vengeance, right? 2003. 2003. And this is first time y 'all met in the ring? Yes, it was. First single, right? Yes, it was. Okay. This was awesome for me because, okay, so we showed a frame of you giving me a handshake and me being like, oh man, this is great. I have always had to punch up because I started as like a job guy. So Vince's pick, I came out, I had a good match against Kurt. I worked a little bit with Jericho and then after that dwindled in obscurity. So I was like a job guy and a go-through guy.

16:07So I always had to punch up and that narrative like never changed until like the last year. I've always had to punch up to my opponents. this was no different but you want to talk about one year making a huge difference in 2002 you shake my hand and i'm like oh thank you in 2003 the vignettes to lead up to this where i literally urinate on a grave and i say and i quote i'm pissing on the mark like use your real name taboo out the window this i learned the lesson i was like yo i'm i'm gonna go for it right you had It was just me doing the promos. You had no response. And in this match, the first chokeslam I ever took, and I know we're live.

16:51You're going to have to bleep it. Get ready for the button. So our referee, when the lights went out in that match, and your gong hit, he's like, you're about to hear what it sounds like to be over. And you could feel it. It's when noise becomes feel when you came to the ring. and the first time you hit me with the choke slam, you literally hit me and said, do you know who the fuck you're dealing with? He didn't mean it. And it was amazing because as I'm nine feet in the air, I'm going, yes, I do, and this is awesome. It was great because it was authentic. I could, maybe I got under your skin with the vignettes.

17:35I don't know, but it, that's when the moments are the best. you know there has to be some grit there there has to be a little sandpaper in the mix you know you have to have grit and and listening to you talk this is it's a master class for any young guy coming up i think a lot of times what happens with young talent is they feel like well i don't want to i don't want to make the waves i don't want to piss anybody off but you almost sometimes you have to you have to roll those dice you gotta bet on yourself you've gotta bet on yourself and there's a difference between this is i think this is a lot of confused sorry, I'm so passionate about this, but like there's a difference between going into business for yourself.

18:14I was able to cut three vignettes on you. I went for it. I think I might've hit you with one AA, but literally you kicked my ass and beat me. I did not go into business for myself. Right behind the curtain, you were like, just sell. That's exactly what you told me in 2003. and it works so there's a difference between not doing business and being your character right and i think there's a fine line where performers overstep that sometimes to be like well i want this thing to go this way no that's not how it is you just got to do your job the best you can as you and i think that's a that's a major point of confusion with a lot of young performers.

18:59Yeah, I think a lot of times you get too wrapped up in your, obviously you have your own, your vision. Your vision of what you want to do. Your vision has to work into the big scope of the overall program. We're all little spokes in the wheel. Exactly, and that's the disconnect sometimes. It's like, yeah, I'm this, I'm this, I'm this. You are that, but you have to make that fit. Yes, and the goal of the night is to move you on to your next viable championship competitor, and I'm the go-through guy for that to happen and a lot a lot of folks get confused with that yeah absolutely and obviously you went over here um no surprise to anybody uh but y 'all you so you speak about you called him out had these vignettes and he didn't respond which he's really well at uh which kind of happened in Wrestlemania 34 right oh my god what an awesome this was so good This blows my mind too.

19:52So y 'all were at Vengeance. It was 15 years apart when y 'all met again in the ring. Yeah. Like how does that happen? There's somebody else you're going to have to talk to who's kind of right in the program. So for this WrestleMania specifically, I know you had gotten into acting at the time. Maybe there wasn't a storyline, like a set storyline for WrestleMania that year. He's at home. He's retired again. I think it was number four. And he's had his second hip read. Sabbatical. We'll call it a sabbatical. Yeah, yeah, sabbatical. He's rehabbing a second hip, minding his own business. And I get on TV and call out the entertainment.

20:30Yes, yes, a lot. So I kind of fell into a part-time role, and I kind of assumed that role for maybe 2016, 2017 in that vein. We all know if you're not in the number one contendership, if you are not in the hunt by January, you can either win the Rumble, win the Chamber, or cross your fingers to get on the WrestleMania stage. I lost the Rumble, I lost the Chamber, and I had no opponent for WrestleMania. Now, as a part-timer, I wanted to be empathetic to the role of a full-timer. So what's the story I'm going to tell? I know I have a part-time gig from like January until WrestleMania, and I have to fill an entertaining and believable storyline for you guys.

21:20I hate when people just show up without a reason. I hate when people just show up without a why. I always welcome any involvement, anything that can move the needle or tell a good story, make you guys excited. I wasn't in the picture as a number one contender because I'd been away, lost the Rumble, lost the Chamber, so I went out and said, I will not be on WrestleMania. And it was like, oh, you're John Cena. that's not even true no i won't be on wrestlemania because i haven't earned the spot so there's a believable story of like oh man he didn't he doesn't have a championship match he did just kind of mosey in here in january but i wanted to be on wrestlemania what's the only surefire way besides those two routes that you can be on wrestlemania but is also suicide because of the streak.

22:14You call out the Undertaker. So in doing that and saying, I have no other option. I'm throwing myself to the wolves. I want to be on WrestleMania that bad. Screw it. I'm doing it. I'm going to get my ass whipped, but I'm calling out the Undertaker. And then the audience is like, man, this is great. So it's a creative narrative that allows the winner of the Rumble to go forward as planned. I don't have to steal anybody's shot. The winner of the Chamber to go forward as planned. I don't have to steal anybody's shot. And then I can say, the only way I can do this is by doing something really stupid and kicking a hornet's nest, a big hornet's nest.

22:54Should I do it? And that's when you're sitting at home and the crowd is like, yeah, you should. And you're like, ah, shit. Now I got to go to work. So I just had my second hip surgery, right? So I am oblivious. I'm oblivious to it. So this was all your idea, actually. So, yes. I want to take credit for that. But I also want to say that in not going into business for myself, I asked if it was an option. And I was told that it was an option. It was an option, but I'm going to have to call him. I never forget getting the call. He goes, hey, what do you think? and I'm like come on after all these years now like I'm full of metal I don't have any plans at this point to get back in the ring and now you're going to dangle this carrot in front of me like come on man and I think you actually told him you said like give me two weeks to see if I can even think that I can get in the shape I need to be in to wrestle with John I'm in I'm in I'm rehabbing literally and i and i get like oh yeah like this is after i'd already i'd already committed like i i had a ring sit down to texas put up in this old dilapidated uh um auto shop and like i'm running like i don't like i am not i am not gonna have this match after all these years with you and not be able to go right so i am like and talking about being your harshest critic like I'm looking for every reason to say, man, I don't know.

24:34I don't know. Because you just don't want to have that kind of a marquee match. Like, we're 20 years into your career. I'm there all that time. You do not want to shit the bed. But how long was the buildup? Because it was about six weeks. And I think this is the only storyline I can ever think of where all you did was talk trash. And he didn't even show up for the whole build to me. Yes, so continuously I would just try to rage bait you out of retirement. And week after week, I would promote, like, you guys want to see this, don't you? Like, bring him out. I don't care if I'm going to get my ass kicked.

25:07I want to go to WrestleMania. And I would consistently say, if he doesn't show up, I am going as a fan. Right. And I will go. I haven't earned my spot. And if not, hell, I love to watch behind the barricade. It's the best seat in the house. For one year, I'm going to sit on the bench and be a fan. And, like, those were my stakes. if you didn't show up. So we honestly, the contingency was, if you said no, I have more than four beers with those guys. I have 84 beers with those guys and enjoy a hell of a WrestleMania. Well, let me tell you, he got in such good shape that year. Like, he was training so hard.

25:46I told him all these years I would train with him. We'd have this, you know, we'd work out together, eat clean. That year, I was like, screw that. Like, I am not suffering for six weeks for you to come out of retirement again. And I'm glad you are. I'll be there working out with you, but I'm going to eat pizza at night. So he trained so hard, was in such good shape. And then. Yeah, there was no reason for me to be working this hard that old. But I knew once I committed, like, okay, we're going to go to Mania. And me and John are going to tear that son of a bitch down. Like, it was once I committed, it was like, okay, man, this is going to be the one.

26:27This is the one they've waited to see. You know, because at this point in our careers, it's hard to find somebody to have that kind of a marquee match. We've got two single, well, no, at this point we have one. One single PLE match together, a few tag match through the years. Like, this is untouched, really. So can you let the fans know, because I think it might be a little different from each one of y 'all, what was y 'all's perspective backstage that day going into Mania? of how the match would go. I think yours is a better opener. Yeah, yeah, mine is a much better opener, right? So I did. I trained like an animal.

27:07I was a total bear to be around my family. It was like trying to get that first booking, right? I mean, that was where my mindset was. And I have to say, I was in killer shape, in the best shape I'd been in in probably a decade. and I remember getting to WrestleMania and going in the old man's office and I was like giddy. I was fired up because I was like, man, this is going to be awesome. And I remember going into his office and sitting down and I'm like, all right, man, what do you want? What do we got? We got 30? He goes, no, I think about, I think we got about five minutes. I want you to hit the high notes and let's call it a day.

27:56And I was like, that's good. No, seriously, what do you want? And he goes, no, that's what I want. I want you to come in. I want you to kick his ass, drop him on his head, cross the arms, let's get out of there. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I've been training like a maniac. I know, man, you're in excellent shape. God damn. you look good yeah i know there's a reason it's john cena undertaker wrestlemania god damn mark they don't want to see that i'm like i'm pretty sure they do i'm just saying i know a little bit too i'm pretty sure they want to see this yeah they're gonna see it five minutes do all the hits call it a day like where's john somebody gonna get john john comes in john you know he wants to do five minutes and we're gonna go well he goes out missing a beat he goes yeah what else and i'll i'll let you i'll let you take over from there but like my my call in my airstrike my support your phone to friend didn't show up so i i love this story because it's wrestlemania season and it shows the passion of performers and the pressure they put themselves through in wrestlemania the streak the contributions to the company your loyalty to the brand your loyalty to vince your passion to perform in front of people when you hear Undertaker attached to WrestleMania, your knee-jerk subconscious reaction is, I am going to fucking wow these people.

29:47I am going to show them who I am. And when I say, do you know who the F you're dealing with? Everyone is going to understand. That's you. The narrative going into WrestleMania was, this guy is not going to show up. And the reason you never showed up, never responded, was not to build to a 30-minute match. The payoff is you're here. That's it. And how do we make it like you're not going to show up? I specifically didn't wear the Superman outfit. It's the one time in my life I actually wore full jeans. When the doors opened, they had, Creative had like, hey, five minutes before your segment, we're going to put you out in the audience and we're going to put you out there.

30:38I said, no, I'm going to WrestleMania as a fan. And to fans who went with that, doors opened at two. I was in section 300 at two o 'clock. I talked to fans. Those are my boys from Australia right back there, the guy putting his hand to my arm. I talked to everybody in that section, literally drank beers with everybody. So we're pulling the, we're setting the stage for like, you're not going to show up. Because no one believed that John Cena was going to go as a fan. And this is the moment right here where the referee is informing me that I might be in a little bit of trouble and I might want to get dressed.

31:17And this happened like after the third or fourth match. So it's all built into the story. The story of WrestleMania for you and I in that moment was not let these guys go 35 minutes. The story was, would you show up? And I ran over the barricade in denim and my gray t-shirt, switched to Superman outfit as soon as I could, ran down to the ring and was like, I might be half sober. Is this guy here? Is he not here? And man, when the lights went out and you showed up as Undertaker, that's the payoff. And then when they see you, having not seen you in a while, when they see you in your strongest form against a force to be reckoned with in WWE, just going through this person, that helps you for the next one.

32:13Like, that's the purpose of what we did. Yes, selfishly, we could have gone 30 minutes. You should have called me from Austin, I would have brought an iPhone down. We'd have set up a tripod in your ring. We could have had a match for us that we could have watched later on. It'd have been great. We could have showed it in the lost archives. But for this, that's why I walked into Vince's office and you were like, are we going, are you for this? I'm like, yes, I am. That's absolutely what we should do. That's the logical story of what to give the consumer what they want. We have bet the farm that you're not going to show up.

32:49Everybody here thinks I'm not going to be a fan. Oh my God, he's going to show up. And then when you show up, you kick ass and you stand tall as the undertaker and everybody leaves going, yeah, that was great. And hopefully maybe like, and I'd like to see them go at it again. Now we never had that chance, but with the buildup we had a 30-minute match does it it doesn't make sense yeah see that's what that's one of those instances we were talking about earlier like i had the vision right i think i think you and this even in as many years as that i've got in the business at this point you're thinking business and i'm thinking personal that's and a lot of times we think it especially wrestlemania we think it personal yeah and i i love the fact that my trajectory started at the bottom because so many matches were like okay you guys got seven minutes you are gonna kick the shit out of john and win clean with your finish yes that's exactly what we need to do tonight right so when that when that position was put in front of my plate for wrestlemania i'm like yes that's exactly we need to get that guy back and that guy on that night came back and that for me it was nothing more special and i got to see the look of frustration and disappointment in your eyes because after we got out of vince's office we went to a smaller locker room with michael hayes and arne anderson right and all three you guys ganged up on me to be like we can't do this we cannot do a match like this.

34:27And I'm like, no, this is what we're doing. We are doing this. Can you do your stuff? And you're like, of course I can do my stuff. I'm like, is there anything you want to go over? You're like, man, you mind if we just get in the ring and like, run the ropes? Because you've been training so hard. Our WrestleMania practice was it was like a posturing 30 seconds. That was it. And that was it. And then we were ready to go. But yes, that is a prime example of like, yeah, all I was wanting to do that year was redemption, right? And again, that goes back to the personal. But that is, in my mind, that is redemption.