"This is not a knock on John" - Ex-WWE staffer opens up on John Cena's backstage antics
Former WWE employee Dutch Mantell recently spoke about John Cena's attitude backstage in the company.
Mantell worked in WWE as an on-screen manager under the Zeb Colter moniker. He managed some prominent stars such as Jack Swagger, Alberto Del Rio, and Cesaro during his run with the company from 2013 to 2016.
On a recent episode of Story Time with Dutch Mantell, the wrestling veteran claimed that if Cena didn't want to work with a star, he would openly voice his feelings. He detailed that the writers would often lay out matches, and if the 46-year-old didn't like it, he would usually change things once he got backstage.
"I don't know anybody specifically, but if he didn't want to work on TV against whoever, he would complain and moan. He was concerned with one thing, and I don't blame him. This is not a knock on John." Mantell continued, "If Cena didn't want to do it or he didn't like how (...) See, the writers would come up with the finish, how they wanted it to end. They wouldn't come up with the exact mode or method they wanted to use (...) If they worked it out before Cena got on the scene, well, he's gonna change it all. He didn't like this. He didn't like that." [57:52 - 59:26]
You can watch the full video here:
Dutch Mantell also detailed why John Cena would act this way
During the same discussion, Dutch Mantell detailed that The Cenation Leader was very mindful of how he would look on TV since he was the biggest star in the company. He added that if John Cena took a loss for somebody, he respected his opponent and thought there was money to be made in the feud.
"In defense of John, he knew he was gonna draw money. So he didn't want anything to look bad. If you could beat him down enough to leave him lying, that means he respected you, and he saw money with you. Say, The Rock could just beat him up and leave him lying. Well, he could do that because [The] Rock's a top guy, or Roman Reigns is a top guy. But anybody else, he'd say, 'I think we need to rethink that.'" [59:30 - 1:00:00]
John Cena has been out of action since Crown Jewel last year, and there is no word on if he will be part of WWE WrestleMania this year.
What are your thoughts on Mantell's account of John Cena? Let us know in the comments section below.
If you use the quotes from this article, please credit Story Time with Dutch Mantell and add an H/T to Sportskeeda for the transcription.