The ‘Something To Wrestle With Bruce Prichard’ podcast recently did an episode on John Cena. Bruce Prichard shared a number of great stories about Cena and his first few years in the WWE.
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One of these stories had to do with Vince McMahon’s first impression of John Cena. As we know now, Cena has become one of the most successful stars in the history of WWE. Vince himself has referred to Cena as the ‘Babe Ruth’ of his company.
Prichard reveals that Vince thought Cena was a “walking, talking steroid billboard’ when he first saw him:
“So we were in Los Angeles at Staples Arena and I will never forget it. Cena comes back, signs his contract, his tests come back, he’s clean as a whistle, and Vince walks up to me and says ‘get that walking, talking steroid billboard out of our backstage!’ I’m like ‘who?’ — ‘That guy!’ and he’s pointing out Cena. I’m like: ‘Vince, we just signed him.’”
Prichard also revealed the story of when he met Cena a few years prior. He told Cena upon first meeting him that: “if you want to make it in the pro wrestling business you got to get off the gas kid”. Prichard said that Cena held that comment against him for 8 years. This is because Cena took so much pride in being a clean athlete.
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Funny to look back at Vince’s first impression of Cena and how far he has come with the company.
You can check out the full podcast here.