John Cena wanted to lose huge match in five minutes, WWE legend recalls

The Undertaker recently disclosed details about a backstage conversation he had with John Cena and Vince McMahon at WWE WrestleMania 34.

The Deadman initially planned to compete in a 45-minute match against Cena at the 2018 event. However, McMahon told him on the day of the show that he wanted the much-anticipated bout to last five minutes.

On Insight with Chris Van Vliet, The Undertaker said Cena agreed with McMahon that the match should be short:

"And he's [McMahon] like, 'Mark [Mark Calaway, The Undertaker's real name], that's not what we need.' And I'm like, 'No, Vince. Where's John? Where's he at?' So John comes in, he goes, 'Oh no.' He goes, 'I talked mad smack about you, dude. Yeah, you need to beat me quick and get this over with.' I'm like, 'Are you kidding me? It's like we've never worked on pay-per-view. Are you [serious]? And this is WrestleMania, give me a break here.'"

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Before 2018, many considered The Undertaker vs. Cena to be a dream WrestleMania match. The Phenom previously defeated the 16-time world champion at Vengeance 2003, but fans still wanted the iconic superstars to meet on the WrestleMania stage.

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The Undertaker eventually agreed to John Cena and Vince McMahon's idea

After training intensely for several months, The Undertaker was determined to produce a classic WrestleMania performance against John Cena. He even threatened to leave the arena if Vince McMahon did not book the match to last 30 minutes.

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When Cena backed up McMahon's creative vision, The Undertaker was left with no choice but to go ahead with the idea:

"And they both, they ganged up on me. I was finally, I threw my hands up. I was like, 'I can't believe [it],' and Vince just thought that was the funniest thing because like I said, I trained like an animal, I was so unbearable at home. I mean, as far as my diet and the training and just all my protocols of you know recoup, rehab, I was a nightmare. I get there and yeah, five minutes. And it was like that was it."

The Undertaker defeated Cena in two minutes and 45 seconds. He retired from in-ring competition in 2020 before joining the WWE Hall of Fame in 2022.

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