WWE News: Ryback Shares Unflattering Backstage Stories On John Cena
While John Cena’s pro wrestling character depicts the ultimate good guy, former WWE superstar Ryback claims the man behind the character is anything but that.
On the newest episode of his podcast, Conversations with The Big Guy, Ryback expanded on his critical comments of Cena from last week, in which he dubbed the 15-time WWE champion a “poison” to the wrestling business.
“I think a lot of people need to realize is that everybody else is an outsider, I was inside, I have my own personal, first-hand experiences with John [Cena],” Ryback explained to co-host and fellow professional wrestler Pat Buck. “I have no agenda and no reason [to lie about Cena].”
Ryback said that his comments on Cena reached his father, who read about it after receiving a Bleacher Report notification on his phone. “The Big Guy” clarified that in terms of Cena’s work ethic, in-ring talent, and work rate, he has no problems with the leader of the “Cenation.” The issues stem from Cena’s real-life agenda, which differs from the positive he preaches on WWE television.
“John always says he loves the WWE but he does things that are only good for John Cena, loving John Cena,” Ryback said. “And anybody who is anybody there [in WWE] knows that.”
The former Intercontinental champion shared one story about Cena putting the career of a young WWE superstar in jeopardy.
“I remember a time when I was out injured with the ankle injury,” Ryback explained, “there was a guy who poked him [Cena] in the eye accidentally — which was John’s fault most likely — and he had the guy sent back down to developmental and almost ended his career.
“But that guy f*****g rose above and made the most of it and reinvented himself…and is the man. He’s legitimately one of the few guys you can say is the man up there.”
While Ryback never says which wrestler he was referring to, one possible person he may have been referring to is Bray Wyatt. Wyatt originally debuted as a member of Nexus in 2010 as Husky Harris before being sent down in early 2011 and reinventing himself in NXT under his current persona. Ryback also claimed in the past that Cena buried Nexus because he did not like talents organically winning over the audience.
Ryback says that Cena likely viewed him as a threat because of his rising popularity following his entry into the main event against CM Punk in late 2012. He added that if he and Cena knew each other outside of WWE, there would likely be no issues between the two men.
Due to the obvious tension, Ryback shared another story of meeting an employee at an arena years earlier who wanted to thank Cena. The employee said his son had an issue bullying other kids but when he saw Cena speak out against bullying via the Be A Star campaign, he changed his ways. Ryback said he went over to Cena to relay the message and see if he would meet with the man.
“I go to John and I tell him that [story], John looks up, looks at the guy who he could see is a 100 feet…or however far away he is,” Ryback said.
“And he looks me dead in the eye and says, ‘F**k him!'”
Ryback urged wrestling fans not to buy into the storylines and characters they see on television because in many cases, their on-screen persona and real-life personality are not the same things.
“There are guys that I put over time and time again; the Shield guys (Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, and Dean Ambrose), I love the Shield guys [because they’re all good human beings. Rusev, I love Rusev, he’s a good human being; Dolph Ziggler [is a] great human being; Wade Barret [is a] great human being (Stu Bennett, sorry Stu).”
“I dare outsiders to tell me I’m wrong because they don’t know — they are watching the movie and thinking the movie is real life. You are watching a movie so quit buying into the movie because that’s all that you see. I have been behind the scenes and I know the truth.”
[Featured Image by WWE]
