WrestleFact: Fact-Checking John Cena & The Miz

Tuesday night’s SmackDown Live opened with an entertaining edition of MizTV. John Cena was the guest, and Miz spent several minutes berating Cena for ten years of frustration that he blames him for. Cena responded to Miz’s points, Maryse slapped Cena, & Nikki Bella chased Miz & Maryse out of the ring. So there’s that rumored WrestleMania match on the way. I’m still skeptical about what it will produce in the ring, but they did a good job of starting the build for the match this week.

There was something else going on Tuesday night that had the attention of much of the nation…the new President’s first address to Congress. Everytime a President makes a widely seen speech, websites will research the claims made by the Commander-In-Chief to determine how accurate they are. I thought it would be a fun spin on things to take some of the statements made on this week’s episode of MizTV & see how accurate they are.

See, I think that people should be held accountable to the truth, even in pro wrestling.

”Your word to the bosses here, the higher ups is gospel.” – The Miz

False. There’s only one person in WWE whose word is gospel and it isn’t Cena.

”It’s because you manipulate every single person that comes in your way.” – Miz

Mostly False. For every Zack Ryder that Cena has used to his advantage, there are countless children he’s met that he hasn’t used for anything.

”And there I am, working 10 times as hard, 10 times as talented, trying to to all I can and all I’ve become is the other guy?” – Miz

False. I don’t doubt that Miz is a hard-working man, but so is John Cena. If Miz worked 10 times as hard as John Cena, he wouldn’t have had the time to get married.

”There was a time when I was main eventing WrestleMania against you. And I did it. I beat you. I was handed the golden opportunity…then what did you do 2 weeks later? Find a way to manipulate the most important part of anyone’s career and turn it into nothing.” – Miz

Kind of True…it was four weeks later when Cena won the title from Miz at Backlash. But Miz is definitely accurate when he points out that his WrestleMania main event slot did nothing for his career.

”People are starting to see through who you really are, and you’re a hypocrite. Don’t believe me? This guy went toe to toe with the Rock! And you read him the riot act about going off to Hollywood and doing Hollywood things while John Cena was here…you did everything WWE until John Cena got a call from Hollywood! Then a week turned into a month, a month turned into six months, and now? We can’t see you, John.” – Miz

True. Even when Cena was doing his anti-Rock stuff a lot of us figured that he’d be in Hollywood someday and eating a lot of those words.

”You’re not Super Cena anymore, you’re Very Decent Cena!” – Miz

True. According to the Wrestling Database Cena was 27-21 in 2016. So far in 2017 he’s been 9-10. That’s not the type of record you’d expect from Super Cena. Heck, 9-10 isn’t even Very Decent. His RPI would be pretty good due to strength of schedule though.

”But I’m the one that’s here! I’m the one, not you, doing the media, doing every single thing it is to make SmackDown Live the #1 Show, must see.” – Miz

True. Miz is in fact there.

”You were gifted a WWE Championship match at Royal Rumble, and then manipulated your way into the history books. Because regardless of how many strings you pull, there’s only 1 greatest of all time (Ric Flair).” – Miz

True. He took a title match because he was John Cena, and nobody in management complained. While Flair gives Cena plenty of credit for his accomplishments, he claims to have more than 16 title reigns and most accounts back up that notion.

”You took my moment to become WWE Champion at Elimination Chamber, and then a week later you took my opportunity to challenge the WWE Champion at WrestleMania in a battle royal.” – Miz

True…but let’s be honest, somebody was going to take those opportunities from Miz if it wasn’t Cena.

”If I was really this black arts manipulator, pulling all the strings, this close to WrestleMania, do you think I’d be standing in this ring, toe to toe, face to face with YOU? Hell no, I’d be standing face to face with the Undertaker!” – John Cena

True. There are varying reports of just how much influence Cena has backstage, but it was widely reported by various news sites that Cena vs. Undertaker was a possibility for this year.

”You say I manipulate everybody, and every week I run down here and half these people (sometimes a little more than half) will yell “Cena Sucks!” – Cena

True. I mean this has been going on for more than a decade now.

”Every single person in this building & watching at home knows exactly who I am!” – Cena

True. Unless it’s your first week watching the show you probably know who John Cena is.

”You’re a dude named Mike that shortened his last name on The Real World & tried to bootleg the Rock’s electricity.” – Cena

True. I honestly never watched any seasons of The Real World but there’s enough evidence out there to prove this one.

”Then when you got here you straight up stole Chris Jericho’s personality.” – Cena

Sort of true. He did totally rip off the Chris Jericho short hair business suit character & appearance, but it was several years after he got to WWE. They had a lot of people ripping Jericho off at that time…remember those couple of weeks when Jack Swagger was World Champion and he was out there in suits doing monotone promos? So ridiculous.

”You stole Ric Flair’s figure-four leglock.” – Cena

False. Flair took Miz under his wing and taught him how to do the move. He didn’t do a great job, but this is a thing that actually happened in 2013.

“You stole Daniel Bryan’s offense and his personality.” – Cena

True, then False. Miz stole Bryan’s offense, but there’s a lot more to Bryan’s personality than raising his fingers in the air and saying “YES!”. Miz isn’t out here telling us about his new vegan diet or going on about the evils of the bosses. He says they’re influenced by Cena.

”You’ve been reduced to stealing what AJ Styles has been saying the past 6 months.” – Cena

True. It does seem like the same issues keep coming up from Cena’s opponents, and as he stated earlier in his speech, it’s been that way for most of his career.

”You ask any one of the greats. You ask HBK, Ric Flair, Steve Austin, Triple H, The Rock, hell you ask me. All different paths to success. They’ll all tell you the same damn thing. They’re two feet stepping in the ring and they’re just themselves. With the volume as high as it can go!” – Cena

True. Everybody says this. Austin says it nearly on a weekly basis. The question, of course, is whether guys are allowed to do that or not. Certain guys are, but is everybody encouraged, or given characters that allow them to do this? I wish I knew the answer to this question.

”You are a control egomaniac freak! And you know what they say: Bigger the ego, smaller the package.” – Maryse

Uncertain. I’m not sure there’s ever been a study done on the whole “bigger the ego, smaller the package dilemma. The matter of Cena vs. Miz in that area sounds like a question the YouShoot fella would ask.

”You mess with my man, I’m gonna break you bitch, you hear me?” – Nikki Bella

Uncertain. Looks like we’ll find out at WrestleMania.

For more of Steve Cook’s thoughts on pro wrestling, along with his thoughts on the Cincinnati Bengals, Cincinnati Reds, Nashville Predators, Tottenham Hotspur & University of Louisville sports teams, follow him on Twitter!