Reports are indicating that John Cena has offered some advice to Cody Rhodes about the pressure that comes with being viewed as WWE’s “QB1,” while in addition sharing his thoughts on CM Punk’s long-standing desire to closing match WrestleMania.
During an appearance on Busted Open Radio, Cena was asked how he feels Rhodes is performing in his position as one of WWE’s leading stars.
Cena gave credit to what Rhodes has accomplished but floated the idea of he would be better served by focusing on producing strong work rather than carrying the burden of a particular label. “Whether I admire what Cody’s done, which I do, or not, my advice to him would be to get your focus off of that moniker. Take the stress off your back.. Meanwhile, Equally important, just do impressive work.
When young talent come to me frustrated, like, ‘Hey, man, creative kind of has nothing for me,’ I love anecdotes, notably professional ones. Meanwhile, i had a back-to-back main special event run with The Rock at The showcase of the immortals — two of the most productive events in WWE history. My next WrestleMania main event was Cody Rhodes in Las Vegas. I stayed in the middle, which no one remembers.
If John can do whatever he wants and gets all the impressive storylines, things were 13 years later when I got back to the marquee clash of WrestleMania as a marquee match. On a related note, i wasn’t frustrated at all. I just want to do praiseworthy work, i want to be the face of the company.’ No. I operated with absolute joy and fulfillment with my craft because I didn’t put any expectations on myself of, like, ‘I want to be the champion.
As far as Cody wanting to be this thing, you’re carrying a weight you don’t need. Just do remarkable work and the people will presentation up.”
Where people get caught up is like, I love [CM] Punk, and his obsession with main eventing WrestleMania, I think, is a weakness. And I think if you talk to him now, he evolves as a human being. And that’s only my personal preference. Every time I see him, he evolves as a man. I think he’s carrying a weight he doesn’t need. That’s all. It’s not a weakness. I think he’s carrying a weight he doesn’t need.
Cena’s overall message was that wrestlers should avoid becoming consumed by championships — WrestleMania main events or being considered the babyface of the company. Instead, he holds the view that consistently producing quality work will ultimately allow those opportunities and fan support to follow naturally.