Bruce Prichard Denies Rumors That John Cena Held Talent Down Backstage

On the latest episode of Something To Wrestle With, Bruce Prichard strongly defended John Cena against longtime criticisms regarding his in-ring ability and backstage politics.  Prichard dismissed online narratives that Cena was a poor worker or that he actively held down other talent during his run at the top. Cena is set to face Gunther in his final match on December 13th at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event. You can check out some highlights below:

On whether the criticism of Cena’s in-ring work was fair:

“Fans online, Dave Meltzer, those people that have zero credibility. That again, ‘Oh, he’s horrible. He’s a horrible worker.’ I go back to Hulk Hogan. Ask Hulk Hogan who’s the best worker in the business. ‘It’s Vince McMahon, because Vince makes the most money. Me, I’m second best.’ So who’s the best worker? If John was making more money, than John was.”

On the narrative that Cena held back talent:

“Never experienced it. And I would think that I would have been — at least during the time I was there and during the time, even now I will say. I’ve never experienced John Cena doing that to anyone. And to the contrary, John Cena has always been the type of performer of, ‘Tell me what you want me to do, and I’ll do it. What if we did it this way? Okay, how about if we did it this way? What do you think of this?’

“John’s always going to try and make it better. But I’ve never experienced. Me, I have never experienced John, ever coming and trying to hold anybody down. To the contrary, I’ve seen John go, ‘God, what if we did something with him? What if we did something with her? What if we did something with them.’ Coming up with plenty of ideas for other people to try to elevate. Because he was always looking for the next person to work with. So the only thing I’ve ever seen is stuff that has come from like the Meltzers and the sheets, that are probably just repeating whatever somebody may have said on whatever.”

On this narrative with other talent:

“They said it about Hogan, they said it about Savage. Said it about Warrior, said it about Bret, said it about Shawn, said it about Steve, said it about Rock. They’ve said it about anybody. Anybody that had achieved a level of success that they had not been able to achieve. ‘Well, course, I’m not there because they don’t want me there.’ It’s much easier to blame someone else then look in the mirror.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Something To Wrestle With an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.