Wrestlemania, Triple H, and Smackdown vs. Raw 2007
March 30, 2006
IGN.Com

"John Cena is somebody who can help keep the art form alive and can carry the football for 15-20 years."

Those were the words of The Immortal Hulk Hogan when talking about passing the torch to the next generation. When I told Cena what Hogan said, the champ actually seemed choked up at the flattering words of his idol, then started laughing. "I just hope he told Vince that," Cena said. "Maybe they could hook me up with a 20 year contract."

We both laugh for a second, then Cena starts to reflect back on Hogan's words.

"To come from a guy who I totally, totally idolized and looked up to, not only as a role model, but as a super hero, that's some amazing stuff to hear. Five years ago when I was working at Gold's Gym 90 hours a week, I never would've imagined any of this."

And the stage just keeps getting bigger and bigger for Cena as he prepares for the biggest match of his career so far, wrestling in the main event against another living legend, Triple H.

Can Cena live up to the potential, the hype, and the belt around his waist?

Find out this Sunday at Wrestlemania. Until then, read on to find the champ's thoughts on his main event, getting booed, and the new game, WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2007.

IGN Sports: Last year at Wrestlemania, you beat Bradshaw for the title. This year you're defending the belt against Triple H. What has the year-long ride up to this point been like for you?

John Cena: Busy, absolutely busy…but I've enjoyed every moment of it. You talk to a lot of guys who have never had the chance to be a champion, and when they win a championship, they don't know exactly what they're in for. You talk to a lot of guys, and some guys will even tell you it was a breath of fresh air when they finally lose the title because they finally get to rest and get a little time off. But Jon, I have to tell you, I welcome this with open arms. This is what I've been waiting for my entire life. I love traveling the world, meeting new people, and letting WWE fans know that the champ is out doing his thing and trying to spread the good word of WWE. I love the feeling of being the ambassador for the company.

IGN Sports: You've had a lot of trash talking episodes with Triple H leading up to your match. Do you ever leave the ring feeling like George Costanza and the jerk store, kicking yourself about the comeback you should've said but didn't think about in time?

John Cena: No because if there's one thing, I've never been in much conflict with Hunter from the physical standpoint, but I do know what he's about, and I know he's one of the most witty dudes on the face of the planet. I've been known to get my little war of the words down, so best believe, if I know something is going to go down on the mic, I need to make sure I'm at the top of my game. And a lot of that stuff you see on Raw is very real, it's very spur of the moment, and it's very impromptu as Hunter is so famous for, and I like that. That's when I'm at my best.

IGN Sports: Is that where your freestyle rapping comes into play, enabling you to come up with lines so quick?

John Cena: I think so. It's different when you're spitting freestyle because you need to make it hook and rhyme and a lot of the stuff is projected at how the person looks or carries themselves, whereas Hunter is so well known for so many things that he does, there's a lot more material, but it's not so up front and in your face. This is a very important deal for me. I'm not just trying to earn the respect of the fans, but I'm trying to throw a few shots his way. You might hear a few things that I say to him and see a little twinkle in his eye, but nobody else is going to get it. It's something I'm saying specifically to him. To me, though, this is all great because for a while, it's like they took the mic out of my hands. They want to make me go out there and earn it, and I totally don't mind that because I love being in the ring, but a lot of people remember me for the entertainment aspect of the business. In fact, they remember the entertainment aspect so much, that when I gave The Big Show the F-U the other night or when I caught Edge over my head in mid-air, a lot of cats were like 'Dude, the kid is strong'. When I started, I was showcased as the strong guy, but I've been talking so much and the way I carry myself with the baggy clothes, a lot of people sleep on that.

IGN Sports: You mentioned The Big Show. I didn't think there was any way you were getting him up, let alone holding him like you did.

John Cena: You and everybody else. I'm begging anybody to watch that back and tell me that I didn't lift him and hold him on my back. I honestly didn't know it was going to go down like that. Show is legitimately 550 pounds of human. That's not squat weight, that's human weight. I didn't know if I was going to be able to lift him like that, but once I lifted him, I wanted to hold him to let everyone know, don't sleep on your boy as an athlete. I can talk the talk, but best believe, I can walk the walk.

IGN Sports: What should fans expect from your showdown with Triple H at Wrestlemania?

John Cena: I want to see this in print on IGN. I want to see my words say this: The WWE champion versus the biggest superstar the WWE has right now. Ten time former WWE champion. A guy who has done it all in this business and has beaten every big name who has come down the pipe. This legend is facing a young rookie who has never backed down from a single fight in his life. For the first time, the viewing public will see these guys go after it in the biggest pay per view of the year, for the biggest prize in sports entertainment. This is like some Ali/Frazier stuff. As a fan, this is what I want to see. To me, this has the feel of, this is the match. If you're a college football fan, this is #1 versus #2 for the national championship. This is what we live for. People will tell you this all the time about Wrestlemania, but a lot of times, even at Wrestlemania, you don't get that clear cut #1 versus #2 for the prize match. This is that match.

IGN Sports: What are you thinking when you guys are out there talking smack and half of the crowd is cheering Triple H and booing you? It seems like half the crowd is split.

John Cena: It doesn't seem like it, they're definitely split. It's one of those deals where here I am, face to face with a guy who truly has active legendary status, and even though I've been around for a minute, to a lot of these people, especially the educated wrestling fans, I'm still the new kid. That generates a lot of controversy, and that's what I love about it. When I hear people boo, that just makes me want to go out there and work harder. You can expect to see a crowd reaction like we saw in that Ali/Frazier fight. People forget that not everybody was behind Ali for that fight, and in fact, he ruffled a lot of feathers. So when you see John Cena and Triple H square off for the title at Wrestlemania 22, I can get booed out of the building while Triple H is getting praised, or it could be split. Nobody knows, but that line in the sand has definitely been drawn. You are either rooting for John Cena or you are rooting for Triple H. This isn't one of those matches where there is a good guy and a bad guy. This is a match where the two top superstars in the WWE today are fighting for the championship, and that's what is great about it. It's going to be very authentic, and let the people go where they're going to go. We're going to go out there and give them a match to remember.

IGN Sports: What are some of your favorite Wrestlemania moments of all time?

John Cena: Being such a huge Hogan fan, the one that sticks out in my mind is Wrestlemania III. That to me, I had the same reaction you just had when I picked up Big Show. I couldn't believe someone could actually do that. Not only somebody, but that's my guy. To me, three and four were the most influential. That was the peak of my WWE fandom. When Hogan beat Andre and when Savage beat DiBiase out at Trump Plaza.

IGN Sports: Wrestlemania will obviously play a big role in the new videogame, WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2007. For the first time, THQ is making one game across all platforms, including the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Did you get your 360 yet?

John Cena: I didn't. I would love to get one, but I'm seriously home about 12 hours a month right now. I'm a certified road warrior.

IGN Sports: What's the most important thing you want THQ to capture about your character?

John Cena: I just want them to showcase me as me. I don't have a thousand wrestling holds to my name. I bring energy, I bring excitement, and as far as creating me for real, I can take an ass whipping. [laughs] I take somebody's best shot, shake it off and keep going. I just hope they can capture that in a videogame.

IGN Sports: The graphics keep getting more and more amazing, and with the 360 and PlayStation 3, we're moving into watching every character in high-definition. What superstar do you most want to see reproduced in HD on your Plasma screen?

John Cena: You know what, believe it or not, I want to take this old school. I want to see someone like Bobby "The Brain" jumping around in his weasel suit with the rhinestones. Guys who are animated like that make the best translation to TV and to videogames. Guys like Bobby "The Brain", Jimmy Hart, and Hacksaw Jim Duggan. I know they're very much into legends mode and retro mode, and some of those legends would be awesome because they weren't even shot in high-def originally, so this would be the best you would ever see them. And also, each of these guys were such memorable, impacting characters, just seeing them as close to lifelike as can be, just brings back a lot of memories.

IGN Sports: Which wrestler will make the worst transition to HD? Will anyone scare the kids?

John Cena: Who is going to scare kids? Chris Masters. The Masterpiece. Forget about it. You can't put him close up in high-def. He's best viewed from far, far away.

IGN Sports: Are you working on another CD?

John Cena: Yeah, man, we're actually trying to put some music together for another project. With all the movie stuff going on, and there's actually a lot more movies on the table than I had planned for, but we're going to work them into my WWE schedule, and you know me, if I can make hours, I can make the time. So we're just starting to get the music ready for a second project, which hopefully is about a year, year and a half away.

IGN Sports: I love the Murs video you were in.

John Cena: Man, I had so much fun doing that. Murs is one of my boys. I was out in Cali on a promotional tour and he told me they were shooting the video and wanted me to come by and do it. I got a lot of flack for that from the office, but Murs is my boy, and like the shirt says, have some loyalty and respect. He gave me the call, I was in town, and we did it.

IGN Sports: You smacked the hell out of that one dude.

John Cena: [laughs] That was a lot of fun.

IGN Sports: You were just on the second-coming of Saturday Night's Main Event. Did you used to watch the show as a kid?

John Cena: Now here's the thing, I was a fan of Saturday Night's Main Event just like everyone else, but I'll give you my favorite thing about the show and what I was most disappointed with this time around: They didn't use Animotion as the theme music. Bro, I was heart broken. My favorite thing about Saturday Night's Main Event, it was that one time where I could stay up late with my dad and four brothers and we would all beat the tar out of each other while the show was on, and it was all okay because my dad was a wrestling fan. So it was okay to break curfew and do things we weren't supposed to do, and what kicked it off, what was the bell for us to go wild was "dun-dundundunda". That was Saturday Night's Main Event to me. That was the song where we were able to let it all hang out, and I was very, very disappointed that they didn't use it this time around.

IGN Sports: You can always use it as your entrance music for Wrestlemania. If there was ever a time for you to let it all hang out, it's Sunday.

John Cena: I would love to. Or let me use it in the new Smackdown game as an unlockable song that makes my character go wild. THQ needs to get on the Animotion tip. Play that song and my character would be unstoppable. Nothing gets my blood pumping like a little Animotion. [laughs]