"He doesn't mean anything" - Vince McMahon didn't understand why AEW star wanted to lose to John Cena

John Cena has served Vince McMahon for a long time. With a decade-long tenure as the face of WWE, no legend since the Golden Era has carried the company on their shoulders the way Cena did. However, he didn't become a success overnight. In a new interview, a current AEW star explained why McMahon was surprised that he wanted to put a young Cena over in 2002.

When John Cena made his debut, he challenged Kurt Angle to an impromptu match. It's only appropriate that the former franchise player of WWE inducted him into the Hall of Fame. In terms of pay-per-views, he had his first major match against Chris Jericho at Vengeance 2002 and picked up the win.

But that wasn't supposed to happen at first. On an appearance on The Kurt Angle Show, Jericho revealed that he had to fight to let Cena pick up the win. He even explained that Vince McMahon said that John Cena "doesn't mean anything":

“I called Vince [McMahon] one night when [John] Cena was first starting our first Pay-Per-View and I said, ‘Vince, you have to let me put this guy over’. He said, ‘Why? He doesn’t mean anything.’ I said, ‘He could mean something, but if you just put him on this big Pay-Per-View and I win, then what’s the point?’ because he had just done the big match with you, Kurt [Angle], and it was great, and you beat him as you should have. But if we keep fu**ing beating him, it doesn’t matter,” said Chris Jericho. [H/T Wrestlingnews.co]

McMahon would, of course, change his mind drastically about The Leader of the Cenation. After a few years of hard work, he simply couldn't be denied. At WrestleMania 21, Cena received a coronation by ending JBL's WWE title reign and winning the first of sixteen world championships.

#Vengeance 2002:@JohnCena def. @IAMJericho #14YearsStrong. https://t.co/GFWI6CQJtm

John Cena is the "Babe Ruth" of WWE according to Vince McMahon

Happy birthday to @WWE’s Babe Ruth, @JohnCena! I really can’t describe in words how much @JohnCena means to me and the @WWEUniverse. #HustleLoyaltyRespectLove https://t.co/6VOumWBxJs

It's no surprise that Vince McMahon views John Cena in a completely different light. It only took a couple of years to be convinced that Cena was the superstar to represent the company moving forward.

Although it wasn't a perfect ten-year run, Cena made WWE a lot of money and became the highest merchandise seller in the global juggernaut's history along with Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Despite a certain section of fans hating Cena, he has been widely accepted as one of the all-time greats of the industry. He continues to make sporadic appearances for significant matches, although his prime days are well behind him. He is currently focused on building his rapidly-growing profile in Hollywood.