Ex-WWE star claims he would still be a top star even if he lost to John Cena at WrestleMania (Exclusive)
Many superstars can only dream of facing John Cena at WrestleMania. With the former franchise player now busy with Hollywood, his appearances with WWE have reduced significantly. Ex-WWE star EC3 spoke about Cena and what would have happened in their potential WrestleMania dream match.
EC3 stated that he is a friend of John Cena in real life. During his appearance on the latest episode of The Wrestling Outlaws, he vehemently defended Cena against accusations of him burying talent - something that goes back over a decade ago.
Speaking to Dr. Chris Featherstone and ex-WWE writer Vince Russo, EC3 said that just because certain stars had momentum, it wasn't a given that they would become major players for WWE. He said that even if he lost to John Cena in a hypothetical WrestleMania match, he would be able to retain his star power:
"Just because you're hot, doesn't mean you're destined for stardom. If you can't accept that defeat, I never had that opportunity. I'll tell you what, if John Cena beat me at WrestleMania, I would still be a f***ing top guy." [5:33 - 5:50]
EC3 went into greater detail, defending WWE's decision not to have Cena lose on every given occasion. He added that there is a lot of work to be done once a superstar reaches the top:
"Just because you lose one match doesn't mean you can't come back and get it later. And sometimes that takes reinventing yourself, sometimes it takes grinding harder, sometimes it takes accepting that defeat, knowing that you're not ready, because they may not have been ready. And then what happens? If you exploit your top guy to four or five people who don't necessarily resonate once they're away from him, then you kill your draw. You have to protect your cause when you have something that unique. So I'm sure if he felt 'If Wade [Barrett] beats me, he's going to be on top for 10 years. Sometimes these guys have to prove it. And that's just one step. The work is never done. Once you're on top, that's when the real work starts." [5:51 - 6:47]
You can watch the full video below:
John Cena revealed to EC3 why he couldn't turn heel
The greatest heel turn of all time!!! Thank you for the memories @JohnCena https://t.co/IeAYk4aUgp
Last week on The Wrestling Outlaws, EC3 revealed what Cena told him about why he couldn't turn heel:
"The behind-the-scenes of that or the way the sausage is made with that because I have talked to him about that [John Cena] and he said the overall business on merchandise and other intangibles that weren't direct crowd reactions or reflected in the ratings were so good and so strong with him as the top babyface. He said it would have been insane to change, and I think he wanted [to turn heel] it too," said EC3. [9:51 - 10:19]
From all accounts, it appears that WWE simply didn't have the financial incentive to turn John Cena heel. The impact he had on children with his Make-A-Wish record undoubtedly played a big decision, even though he may have wanted a character change at some point himself.
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