WWE legend and 17-time World Champion John Cena appeared on The Pat McAfee Show to discuss various topics, including the future of the professional wrestling business and WWE.
Cena said, “So I honestly believe that live entertainment has a strong future. We don’t know what the advent of new technologies will bring. But man, I think humans want to see humans do stuff. And I think WWE and sports entertainment’s in a real good spot. I think people like getting together in groups. And the more we do this [looking at phones] all day, the more maybe we want to get together in an arena or stadium and just emote, enlighten our backpacks a little bit. I think WWE is in a great spot to do that.”
On the WWE roster:
“The talent roster is deep. I mean, we used to look to the bullpen. It used to be a only a couple guys on the bench. Now we got people elbowing for spots. Like, we are deep. And it has never been a better time — if you’re one of the active participants, it’s never been a better time to be a WWE superstar. You get paid the most it’s ever seen to train. You get paid the most — numbers that I couldn’t even think about, the guys are making now to draw money. I mean, you can make a vocation out of it in a short period of time. It’s approaching that athletes window, where if you do your five-year deal, if you do the small three-year deal, and then an extra one. Gosh, you will never know want. And it used to be more incentivized. I think they’re taking better better care of the talent, but who’s to say if that is good or bad? I prefer to be incentivized. I prefer to go out there and create interest. But I don’t know, because I’ve never been on the other model. We’re working less events. I prefer to get that in-season groove, but I don’t know the alternative. And I love the ‘Create more demand which creates more excitement.’ Everything has a good explanation behind it.”
On WWE Unreal:
“I’m not the biggest fan of Unreal, and I’ve told the producers of Unreal that. But I also say, ‘Hey, just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean it isn’t right.’ The business uh the consumer wants more and they want to show behind the scenes. So they’re just they’re just going off of what they know and we’re trying to give the consumer what they want. I saw every episode, so who’s really wrong? And I’m excited for season two, so who’s really wrong? But just because it makes me feel uncomfortable — if it’s a success, maybe I got to look in the mirror and ask myself, ‘Okay, what about me doesn’t feel comfortable with this?’”
On now being the best time in wrestling:
“To answer, never been a better time than right now. There have been the Golden Era, the boom of the Attitude Era. This is like sustained, incredible growth through all platforms. And expansion, and more content, and allowing people to get out there and do what they do. There’s never been a better time.”
You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
