On the latest edition of the Grilling JR podcast, Jim Ross was asked about the rumors that John Cena used his backstage influence in WWE to get pushes for some talent, like his girlfriend at the time Nikki Bella. The rumors also suggested that he used his influence to bury other talent, like Alex Riley who has said that Cena not liking him hurt his WWE career. Below are some highlights (via 411Mania):
Jim Ross on if John Cena should have had backstage influence in WWE
“Should he have had influence behind the scenes? Absolutely. You encourage your top guys who have attained that success to give back to the company in a variety of ways. One of those things is leadership, being a mentor, providing ideas, encouraging talents, coaching them up, etc., etc., and John did a great job at that.”
On if Cena used his backstage influence to try and get Nikki Bella a bigger role in WWE:
“If I had a girlfriend that looked like Nikki Bella, would I push for her to get her a better gig or more exposure? Hell yeah! Are you crazy? Of course, I would. It’s gonna be Vince’s call at the end of the day but bottom line, I never saw her in a position, and her sister, that they didn’t fit. They weren’t skilled wrestlers, they weren’t Jackie Moore or Becky Lynch or Charlotte, they were attractions.”
On if Cena ever used his backstage influence in a negative way:
“I don’t think John ever used his influence in a negative way to help somebody that didn’t deserve the help. Did he help some people? Hell yeah! But I think they all deserved the opportunity to get recognized, and all he did was say, hey, I think we could do some business with this person, or you could do some business with this person, and his opinion counted, so he utilized it, nothing wrong with that.”
On a related note, here are some funny drinking stories about John Cena.
