Source: www.bostonherald.com


John Cena was not one of those kids who watched pro wrestling and dreamed of being in the ring one day. He did watch, usually with his dad, in their West Newbury home, but Cena was too busy playing football to think about leg drops and arm drags.

Now he’s a headliner, usually the last guy to be seen each week on “WWE Monday Night Raw.” The show celebrates its 900th episode tomorrow night, broadcasting live from Boston’s TD Garden at 9 p.m.

Outside the ring, Cena is building an impressive film career.

In “Legendary” (opening Sept. 10), he plays a troubled former amateur wrestler who walked out on his family and whose young brother turns to him for guidance. Cena is proud of the dramatic turn.

“I play a superhuman on WWE television and I played damn near a superhuman in ‘12 Rounds’ and ‘The Marine,’ ” Cena, 33, told the Herald in a recent telephone interview. “Then I read the script to ‘Legendary.’ I’ve been around sports all my life. I’ve been coached, I have coached, and I have brothers. I think everybody has been through some family dissension. There’s a lot of stuff in there I could hold onto, so I didn’t feel out of my element.”

Cena’s road to becoming top dog in the WWE began in 1998 at Springfield College.

“I started out as a physical education major, and we had to take sports electives, so I took amateur wrestling,” he said.

Cena was working at Gold’s Gym in Venice, Calif., when someone from L.A.-based Ultimate Pro Wrestling liked his look - blond Mohawk, square jaw, blue eyes - and gave him a break, calling him the Prototype. WWE scouts later signed him to their Ohio Valley Wrestling school in Kentucky.

Many small-town bouts and long car drives later, he was called up to the big leagues.

Though he was still green, Cena had good early matches with Kurt Angle, followed by a few with Chris Jericho, then a period of no forward movement.

But he was still working and was always being watched.

Vince McMahon, WWE chairman and CEO, recalled Cena’s monster body and funny haircut, but remembered picking up on something else.

“You have to start with the quality of the human being,” McMahon told the Herald. “John is an extraordinary human being; he’s honest, he’s loyal.

“He’s full of himself, too,” McMahon added, laughing. “But he’s like a throwback to the type of individual it’s difficult find these days, someone with old-fashioned values. In addition to that, he’s a Neanderthal when it comes to strength.”

As Cena gained popularity with audiences, McMahon paid close attention to the reaction he was getting.

“No matter how good you are as a human being, you need talent,” he said. “You could tell that John had talent - very raw talent, mind you.‘

Then McMahon held a meeting with his performers, saying he was looking for someone who was ready to reach for the brass ring.

“Step on people on the way over if you have to,” he recalled saying. “Apologize later. I’m looking for someone with courage that wants to break out and be ballsy enough to take on the responsibility of being the top guy.

“At the end of the meeting, someone came over and said, ‘I’m your man,’ and that was John.”



Vince McMahon noted in a recent interview with the Boston Herald that he held a talent meeting a few years ago urging his performers to "reach for the brass ring" regardless of whom they have to step over. He particularly recalled John Cena approaching him at the end of the meeting to say, 'I'm your man.'

The interview caught the attention of an anonymous wrestler who attended the meeting. He said there were actually five wrestlers who came over to McMahon following the meeting to say they were the right man for the job.

"The only difference is that Cena did his 'stepping over guys' in the locker room more than the ring," said the wrestler.

The anonymous wrestler feels McMahon was looking for a "backstabbing asshole/stooge" to serve as his top WWE Superstar.

"It has zero to do with in-ring talent," the wrestler said. "Cena stepped on guys like the Spirit Squad and others who were only there for less than six months."