In the aftermath of the falling out between Vince McMahon and Stone Cold following Austin's controversial interview with Triple H regarding Chyna, WWE has moved into a different direction. As a result, Chris Jericho's Podcast has become the replacement for Austin's show. For the first time and hopefully not the last time, Talk Is Jericho makes its debut on the WWE Network. There was no better way for it to debut on the Network than to have John Cena as the first guest. Like anyone else, I was greatly surprised that Vince ousted Austin's Podcast, especially considering what Stone Cold means to the history of the company. However, Chris Jericho is not a bad choice to fill that spot. Some criticize Jericho for leaning too much on the corporate side. As a Jericho fan, I have no problem with his delivery. I enjoy listening to both of their shows. Chris Jericho has developed his own legacy as an interviewer, and I would put it neck and neck with Stone Cold. As far as the John Cena interview, I have been waiting for him to become a guest on Jericho's show on Podcast One. Chris has a great history of guests, from Stone Cold himself, Edge, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Triple H and even Hulk Hogan just to name a few. Finally, WWE has decided to allow John Cena to have a Network Exclusive Interview. I must say, that I was very impressed. Y2J is not the type of guy that will really go into very taboo issues, so WWE would not have to worry about pushing the panic button. Jericho and Cena cover a variety of interesting topics. This interview presented the REAL John Cena, not the Kayfabe Character that many people revile. I am not a John Cena hater, nor am I a fanboy. I respect John Cena's career. As usual, I will present what they go over with bullet points.
- 5 Moves of Doom: Y2J wastes no time in asking John about what he has become infamous for among the IWC, the Five Moves of Doom. Jericho jokingly starts out by saying that he has a bone to pick with Cena about it because fans have highly criticized John about it. Cena brings a great answer to his critics by saying that he likes to mix things up, by doing a Springboard Maneuver here and there or anything else to make things slightly unpredictable. He even makes fun of himself by saying that his 5 Moves are, two shoulder tackles, Five Knuckle Shuffle, AA, and STFU. John knows that he gets blasted by the marks behind a keyboard, and he plays the right games with them. For the record, everyone has "FIVE Moves of Doom". Beloved Attitude Era Icons like Stone Cold, The Rock and Undertaker each have "5 Moves of Doom". Legendary Ring Generals like Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels have their own "5 Moves of Doom" Hulk Hogan has at least 3 moves. Rey Mysterio has about 7 key moves. Even the man Interviewing Cena has his own 5 moves of doom. Those are the go-to moves.
- Position as U.S. Champion: John goes on to talk about wanting to bring value back to the United States Championship. In the process, he says that he wants to elevate younger talent from Dean Ambrose, Cody Rhodes, and others.
- Taking Chances: Cena says that Superstars need to take their own chances. He stands by Vince McMahon's "Brass Ring" line by using it as a way to challenge to the others in the Locker Room to take chances. John says that he tries to communicate that point with his fellow wrestlers, but they don't understand because he has more leverage than others. He encourages them to make their own niche, and carve their own place in the company. Even if that risk may put you on the line, go after it. To hear John Cena say, that means a lot.
- Relationship with Vince McMahon: John Cena says that both he and Vince McMahon share the same vision for the business to grow. Cena says that he wants to model himself after Vince's model of success. Both are like-minded but are different creatively. Cena wants to put his all into everything he does just like Vince.
- First meeting with Vince McMahon: Cena shares a funny story about how he was called up by Michael Hayes to be The Undertaker's replacement for a match with Kurt Angle. John goes into Vince's office before the match, and McMahon tells him in a funny way to cut his hair. Anytime a Vince Impression is involved, it always makes the story even more humorous.
- History with Chris Jericho: Y2J and Cena discuss their history together, going back to when they had their first match together at Vengeance where Cena won. Jericho shares the story of how he came up with Cena's nickname "Wacky Roll-Up Guy", as John used to finish his matches with a weird, wacky roll-up. Chris Jericho has been known to be a John Cena Defender, and this is a prime example. The original plan was for Jericho to win, but he went to creative and vouched for Cena to go over.
- OVW: Most fans today only know John Cena as the King of the WWE Throne. However, fans like myself and others know about Cena's humble origins in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). OVW was the NXT of that time. Contrary to where people see Cena today, John admits that he was not the first clear-cut choice that WWE had in mind to build a Superstar. Cena gives credit to his fellow OVW Rookies, as it was clearly one of the deepest rookie classes in WWE History. John came through the ranks with fellow soon to be Hall of Famers such as Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton, and Dave Batista. Cena praises each of them for how special they were in their own way. John even gives recognition to Shelton Benjamin, who was another unique star from that group. This collective group of talent would shape the next Era of WWE History. Brock would become a SuperNova in his first run in WWE, by becoming a 3-time WWE Champion and later become the man that Broke the Streak. Randy Orton and Batista would become Stable Mates in Evolution before becoming Main Event Players in their own right. John Cena would achieve massive success as well. Brock, Randy and Dave all became Cena's natural rivals when they each came up to the main roster. Lesnar had the fastest start out of everyone while Cena, Orton, and Batista made the rise at a very even level. The OVW Rookie Class of 2002 set the bar very high, as it is time for the NXT Class of Neville, Zayn, Owens, Balor and Itami to make their mark on WWE.
- Origins on Smackdown: The Show goes into John Cena's beginnings on Smackdown. Jericho goes into his frustration about how Cena went from working with veterans like himself, Edge and Rey Mysterio to being demoted to Velocity. Cena says that he was lacking an identity.
- Establishing an Identity: John talks about how the Dr. of Thuganomics character was established. He said that he was freestyling on the bus during a road trip with a number of other wrestlers. The people in charge of creative heard Cena rap and decided that he should use that as his gimmick. From that point, Cena would wear Throwback Jerseys of the hometeam. For example, he would wear a Lakers Jersey of Magic Johnson or Kareem if Smackdown was in Los Angeles. If they were in Boston, he would wear a Celtics Jersey of Larry Bird. This was a very unique and creative idea to establish Cena's identity. As a result, John became a made man. The rest is history.
- PEDs/Bodybuilding: John Cena addresses any rumors of him using Performance Enhancing Drugs. Instead, he says that his strength is natural as he was once a bodybuilder before stepping into the squared circle. Cena says that his weight has not change, but his strength has naturally increased.
- Recovery from Injuries: Jericho talks about how fascinated he is by the way that John Cena recovers so fast from injuries. He compared Cena to a Mutant like Wolverine from the X-Men, because of how fast he is able to heal. Cena says that he does not like to stay away from the ring, and goes through whatever it takes to recover as soon as possible.
- Being the Face of WWE: Chris Jericho says that John Cena is part of the WWE Mt. Rushmore with Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock when it comes to being the face of the Company. He goes into wanting to know how WWE can develop someone else into becoming the face of the Next Generation of Wrestling inspite of how strict things have become. Cena says that whoever steps up to that position will face a tough time, because of how the fans are quickly irritated with someone being heavily promoted as the top star of the company. He knows from experience, as the IWC are his biggest enemies. Cena then gives respect to Roman Reigns, and how he needs to be given his own chance to really prove himself. I will be the first to admit that today's fans give no one a clear chance, because they will turn on someone just as fast as they support them. The Platform of Social Media amplifies their anger and how short their attention span is as well. Cena says that it will not be long before someone steps up to become the "Front Man" of WWE, as a band cannot go without a lead star for too long.
- Audience: John talks about the obvious backlash from the fans. He mentions how the fans booed him when he inducted William Perry into the Hall of Fame in 2006. Cena is great when it comes to making the right response to fans that boo him, even though he is the hero (babyface). Jericho also shares his frustrations about how fans would boo him even when he was the babyface. I respect Cena even more by how he takes the high road inspite of the heat from the fans.
- The Rock: The biggest selling point of this Podcast was the topic about The Rock. Cena says that at first, he and Dwayne had a rocky (pun intended) relationship because of competition. John mentions how angry The Rock was for calling him out about his lack of commitment to wrestling. Cena admits that he called The Rock a sellout for going to Hollywood. The animosity that they had with one another was born out of competiton. Cena compares his feud with The Rock to LeBron James and Michael Jordan. The Rock was clearly Michael Jordan, while Cena was LeBron James. This was a battle of Two Different Eras colliding. Cena expressed how he looked for every chance to throw a single blow, because he wanted this to be a fair fight. There was also heat for the way that Cena called The Rock out for writing a promo on his wrist when The Great One is the Duke of the Microphone. Originally, I thought that Cena was being immature and disrespectful for the things that Rock has done for the business before going to Hollywood. John himself even admits that he did not see things from The Rock's perspective. Cena acknowledged that he was desperate to be elevated because he had to prove himself. The Rock did not have to prove himself. After his program with Rock ended, Cena gained a greater appreciation of The Rock's perspective. Now, he can see through Rock's eyes as far as how he wanted to elevate the business to a greater plateau.
- Summerslam 2005 (Birth of the "Let's Go Cena/Cena Sucks Chants"): Jericho and Cena talk about how the "Let's Go Cena/Cena Sucks" chants started at Summerslam 2005 in Washington, DC. (I was there, great shoutout from Jericho) Ladies and Gentleman, the two-sided chants towards Cena originated here in DC and I witnessed them live. As a fan, I cheered for Cena because he was the good guy, as well as the Champion. However, I am also a fan of Chris Jericho and share a great respect for his legacy. Now, it has become the cool thing to chant "Let's Go Cena, Cena Sucks". At this point, it doesn't even bother Cena.
- Versatility: Cena talks about how to find ways to maneuver from being silly, comedic John Cena to the Serious, Aggressive John Cena.
- Heel Turn: Just like The Rock, the other talking point of the show was about John Cena turning heel. This has become the Univeral Question regarding John Cena. Cena responds by saying that he will not turn heel, because of the kids that he inspires through Make A Wish Foundations. He also says that fans boo him anyway, so being heel would not make things change. I admire John's response, because he knows that everyone will not be happy with what he does. Once again, Cena wins against the IWC. John says that he is open to making the heel turn, as long as someone else is in place to fill his spot as the Ambassador of WWE. So far, there is no one that can take that place.
- Favorite Match: Jericho asks Cena about his favorite match. First, John says that his favorite match has yet to come. Interesting from a star that has a history of great matches. Then, he says that his favorite match was with The Rock at WrestleMania XXVIII. That was the best match of their rivalry.
- Relationship with The Rock: Cena says that his relationship with The Rock is fine. The tension that they once had is now over.
- Future for John Cena: Cena says that he still has enough in his tank to continue. John goes on by saying that he will only stop when he feels that his work in the ring starts to noticeably decline.
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