Jim Ross Discusses If John Cena Used His Backstage Influence To Help Nikki Bella & Bury Alex Riley

On the latest edition of Grilling JR, Jim Ross discussed the rumors over of the years that John Cena used his backstage influence in WWE to get pushes for some talent, such as his girlfriend at the time Nikki Bella, and bury other talent, such as Alex Riley who claims Cena not liking him hurt his WWE career. JR said Cena had backstage influence that he earned but that he never abused that influence. Highlights are below.

On if John Cena should have had backstage influence: “Should he have had influence behind the scenes? Absolutely. You encourage your top guys who have attained that success to give back to the company in a variety of ways. One of those things is leadership, being a mentor, providing ideas, encouraging talents, coaching them up, etc., etc., and John did a great job at that.”

On if Cena used his influence to try and get Nikki Bella a bigger role in WWE: “If I had a girlfriend that looked like Nikki Bella, would I push for her to get her a better gig or more exposure? Hell yeah! You crazy? Of course I would. It’s gonna be Vince’s call at the end of the day but bottomline, I never saw her in a position, and her sister, that they didn’t fit. They weren’t skilled wrestlers, they weren’t Jackie Moore or Becky Lynch or Charlotte, they were attractions.”

On if Cena ever used his influence in a negative way: “I don’t think John ever used his influence in a negative way to help somebody that didn’t deserve the help. Did he help some people? Hell yeah! But I think they all deserved the opportunity to get recognized, and all he did was say, hey, I think we could do some business with this person, or you could do some business with this person, and his opinion counted, so he utilized it, nothing wrong with that.”

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