WWE News - Veteran Superstar has 'favoritism' and 'free reign' backstage

Arn Anderson revealed on the latest episode of his ARN podcast that John Cena can convince Vince McMahon to approve ideas that would be rejected if they were suggested by WWE’s producers.

The WWE Hall of Famer, who now works for AEW, spoke about the 2010 Extreme Rules pay-per-view on this week’s podcast, including the Last Man Standing main event between Cena and Batista.

The finish to the match, which was Anderson’s idea, saw Cena tie Batista’s feet to the ring post with duct tape, meaning his opponent was unable to answer the 10-count.

Anderson explained how he gave the idea to both Superstars before the show, but he allowed Cena to pitch it to McMahon because he knew there was a chance that the WWE Chairman might not like it if the idea came from him.

“John made it simple. John could pretty much do what he wanted. John had free reign. We would get it worked out, get it smoothed out to everybody’s satisfaction, and then he would go in and see Vince, ‘Here’s what we got, what do you think?’”

Extreme Rules 2010: John Cena vs. Batista

Arn Anderson said Vince McMahon “loved” the idea of the finish but he would likely have been told it was “f***ing stupid” if he pitched the same thing.

He went on to say that John Cena knew he had favoritism backstage, which is why he felt he could pitch ideas to McMahon on behalf of producers.

“Yes. Yes, he did [know he had favoritism]. He got a lot of stuff put through that I couldn’t have, but I had the task of it and that’s where the frustration came in.”