John Cena Doesn’t See One Single Person as the Face of WWE Going Forward

– John Cena says that the days of WWE having a single face of the company are at an end. Cena did a a Q&A at BookCon, video of which was posted by Penguin Random House. You can see the video below, during which he was asked about whether who he saw as the “next John Cena.”

“Oh, if there were I would tell them to stop,” he joked. “My goodness. I– this is some real inside baseball. Anyone who’s here for WWE is gonna love this answer, but I’ll keep it short. I think the dynamic of the program is changing. For the longest time, I think, if you consider WWE a band, there’s been one frontperson of the band. I think that dynamic is changing and it’s because the audience is too diverse. I think older males are watching it, younger kids are watching it, females are watching it. The audience is so diverse so with a diverse audience, it’s tough to universally please someone.”

He went on to say, “In the ’80s, you had a family-oriented program and Hulk Hogan was the front man. In the ’90s, you had 18-35 year old males. In comes Steve Austin and Dwayne Johnson, because they hit right down that wheelhouse. And then there was me, but even myself as you know, went through a polarizing stage where half the audience likes you and half the audience doesn’t so I don’t think there’s a universal figure that will lead the company forward. I think as the company grows and especially expands globally, you’re gonna have, like a super-friends of the WWE which is like, people who are essentially fighting for equal share of popularity. I think the band essentially will have ten lead singers of every different race, creed, color, sex, ethnicity. So, I believe that I was kind of the last of that, and I think the landscape has changed so much that’s more of group effort rather than a individual effort.”

Cena was also asked about his favorite match to go back and watch, naming Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III, “because to me it meant everything as a kid, where I thought it was an unwinnable task for Hulk Hogan. And the fact that he could defeat such a monumental, impressive opponent. As a young child, that had a very lasting impression on me.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Penguin Random House with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.