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Jim Ross On His First Time Meeting John Cena, Signing Him To WWE, Cena’s Commitment To Make-A-Wish

April 23, 2021 | Posted by Blake Lovell
John Cena WWE

In a recent edition of Grilling JR, Jim Ross discussed his first time meeting John Cena, Cena’s commitment to Make-A-Wish, and much more. You can read his comments below.

Jim Ross on his first time meeting John Cena and signing him to WWE: “He was always a keeper. I saw him for the first time in UPW run by Rick Bassman out there in Southern California. What really sold me on John was that – he needed a lot of work, he needed more reps – but when I talked with him, I found a historian and really deep-rooted wrestling fan. So, he was aware of a lot of talents and what made them great. I thought, ‘Whoa, we’ve got a guy here.’ I was so excited about getting him committed that I went to the office and caught Vince about 10 o’clock in the morning and I said, ‘I just signed a talent that I believe will headline WrestleMania within five years.’ He said, ‘You need to go home and take a shower.’ I thought we got a good character guy, great body, athlete. You want a guy that fits into the locker room, and you want a guy that’s recognized by his peers as a leader. John was. I didn’t know he’d go as far as he did, but I thought he was special. Luckily, as it worked out, he was special.”

On Cena’s commitment to Make-a-Wish: “John has probably granted more Make-A-Wish appearances than anybody ever in Make-A-Wish. That’s hard. People have to understand how hard that is. We all know Make-A-Wish is something that is done for these terminally ill children. They know the hand they’re dealt. So, to be able to experience that, and Cena didn’t just do drive-bys. He would go meet with them and sit and talk with them. I know that would be something he had to process because it wasn’t easy to go through that dialogue with those children. They were happy that they got to see John Cena, they were loving what life they had left. John helped facilitate that. Cena was special on his Make-A-Wish. He believed in it. A lot of guys we would go to for Make-A-Wish didn’t have John’s commitment. Some would tell me, ‘It’s just too hard for me. I have children. I think of what it would be like if they were my kids.’ Cena didn’t have kids, but it affected him. I’ve seen it affect him. I’ve always admired John for many things, but his commitment to Make-A-Wish kids and these terminally ill children was really, really special.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit Grilling JR with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.

article topics :

Jim Ross, John Cena, Blake Lovell