Bruce Prichard addressed the long-standing online narrative that John Cena was a backstage politician who used his influence to “bury” opponents and protect his spot at the top of WWE. This perception, often fueled by frustrated fans and website reports during the late 2000s and early 2010s, suggested Cena engineered storylines to his benefit.
Prichard flatly denied witnessing any such behavior during his time with the company. “Never experienced it. Never experienced and I would think that I would have been at least during the time I was there,” Prichard stated.
Cena’s Collaborative Nature
Contrary to the rumors, Prichard described Cena as a collaborative performer who was always looking for ways to elevate others. He noted that Cena would often pitch ideas for opponents rather than shutting them down.
“I’ve never experienced John ever coming and trying to hold anybody down to the contrary,” Prichard argued. “I’ve seen John go and go, God, what if we did something with him? What if we did something with her?… coming up with plenty of ideas for other people to try to elevate”.
Prichard emphasized that Cena’s philosophy was simple: “Tell me what you want me to do, and I’ll do it… John’s always going to try and make it better”.
The Source of the Rumors
When asked where these rumors originated if not from reality, Prichard pointed to professional jealousy and lack of accountability from talent who didn’t reach the same heights.
“They said it about Hogan, they said it about Savage, said about Warrior… They’ve said it about anybody, anybody that had achieved a level of success that they had not been able to achieve,” Prichard explained.
He suggested that for wrestlers who didn’t succeed, blaming the top guy was a convenient excuse. “It’s much easier to blame someone else and look in the mirror,” Prichard said.
Cena’s Legacy
Prichard concluded that Cena’s defining trait atop WWE will likely be the grace with which he handled the position and his crossover success. He noted that Cena took the industry to a new level of mainstream acceptance.
“I think that John kept it going, and then John took it to another level… John, I feel like every commercial break his voice is doing something, or he’s in something, and it’s just accepted,” Prichard observed.
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