John Cena Explains How His Jorts Represent His Authenticity, Dominik Mysterio Reminding Him of His Past Mistakes

WWE Intercontinental Champion John Cena joined the Raw Recap this week to discuss his upcoming retirement from WWE and wrestling. Cena explained how his jorts, which were often ridiculed, represent his authenticity.

Cena also spoke about his upcoming Survivor Series opponent, Dominik Mysterio, whom he recently defeated to win the WWE Intercontinental Title. Cena had high praise for Mysterio, whom he sees a lot of himself in, but he also said Mysterio reminds him of a lot of the mistakes he made as well. Below are some highlights:

John Cena on How His Jorts Used to be Mocked

“The jorts are/were mocked. My takeaway from that is that it’s okay to be authentic. They are me, and I’m able to be confident enough in myself to weather the storm of criticism, and in many cases, harassment and ridicule. As we reflect, or as a lot of people are reflecting on these moments, people have a lot of positive moments for me. I have been a very polarizing character in the WWE, and that’s led to a lot of people’s moments, some of those marquee matches, and some of those moments have been very, very polarizing. To be able to wear a uniform that I felt comfortable in, a character I felt comfortable in, a lot of that thanks to Steph [Stephanie McMahon] over there, and not waver when other people wanted to be pleased, not waver from what was in my heart because when I was on my first run, my first tryout, I tried to please everyone else, and it was inauthentic.

“And when I get the chance to be a character, the stuff where I wanted to evolve the character, I still maintained my authenticity, and I think that’s important for any longstanding success here. And you do good work, coachable, reliable, and you’re invested. And I think the investment is passion, the passion now reflects authenticity. The jorts are in now, whatever perspective they’re in, because I just wouldn’t give up on wearing them. I could take their best shot, their biggest ridicule, put still put forth great effort, be reliable, and do good work while wearing cutoff jeans.”

On His Late Intercontinental Title Run on the Way Out and His Thoughts on Facing Dominik Mysterio

“How about that? Everyone’s talking about that IC run Stone Cold [Steve Austin] had at the very end. Taker with that late IC run. That’s just one of the — How about that? Look at that. Here we are. Just on that way out. Just on that way out. But no, what an awesome opportunity. And I just came from Liverpool, just did a convention over there over the weekend, and so many people, again, incredibly grateful for the opportunity to get in there with Dom Mysterio, who I respect and admire. He reminds me a lot of me, and he reminds me of a lot of the mistakes I made. Like I can see all of the mistakes that are about to be made. And I want to shake him, ‘You’re about to do this!’ But I want him to learn for himself. But he is authentic, he is reliable, he works hard, and he’s passionate about the business. He’ll learn, he’ll figure the rest out. But what a chance in Boston to have a chance at a championship match, and because it’s not what Stone Cold would do. Because yeah, yeah, I’d like that’ match. It can be done your own way. There’s no right way to be a success in this business. It’s just take opportunities as they come, and I got a cool opportunity to do something special, and it was a special moment.”

John Cena will match up with Dominik Mysterio in a rematch at WWE Survivor Series: WarGames on Saturday, November 29. The WWE premium live event takes place at Petco Park in San Diego, California. It will air live on the ESPN App in the U.S. and on Netflix internationally.

If using any of the above quotes, please credit Raw Recap, with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.