"It helps the product" - Ricardo Rodriguez on John Cena and Batista's WWE appeal
Former WWE star Ricardo Rodriguez believes the likes of John Cena and Batista (Dave Bautista) helped the company by becoming successful actors.
Like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Cena and Batista have become movie stars since ending their full-time WWE in-ring careers. Cena, who starred in Fast & Furious 9 and The Suicide Squad this summer, recently returned to WWE after an absence of over a year.
Rodriguez appeared in WWE as Alberto Del Rio’s personal ring announcer between 2010 and 2013 before leaving the company in 2014. Speaking to Sportskeeda Wrestling’s Riju Dasgupta, he said WWE benefits every time someone like Cena or Batista returns.
“Cena and Batista, they became big movie stars and then they became big names outside of wrestling,” Rodriguez said. “So now when people see them, they’re like, ‘Hey, who’s this guy? Oh, he’s a pro wrestler? Oh, what?’ So when they come back, they have a fan base outside of wrestling, so when they come back to wrestling they can pull in people from the outside to watch wrestling, so it helps the product.”
Watch the video above to hear Ricardo Rodriguez’s comments on Randy Orton possibly reducing his schedule like John Cena. He also compared Drew McIntyre's long-term storyline with Roman Reigns to The Rock vs. Steve Austin.
What’s next for John Cena and Batista in WWE?
John Cena is set to challenge Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship at WWE SummerSlam on August 21.
Ricardo Rodriguez reiterated that he thinks the 16-time World Champion’s success outside of WWE will help get more eyes on WWE television.
“You have to look at it from a business standpoint,” Rodriguez added. “That’s what they’re doing. They build something on the outside and then they bring it with them to WWE or AEW, whatever.”
While Cena recently made his WWE return, Batista retired from in-ring competition in 2019 after his WrestleMania 35 defeat against Triple H. The 52-year-old was supposed to join the 2020 Hall of Fame earlier this year, but his induction was delayed due to a scheduling conflict.
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