5 WWE Superstars who have credited John Cena for their WWE success

Orton and Reigns have both credited John Cena for helping them
Orton and Reigns have both credited John Cena for helping them

John Cena is regarded by many fans as one of the biggest Superstars to ever grace the squared circle. He carried the WWE on his shoulders back during the 2000s, and was the face of the company for years on end. Cena is up there with Hulk Hogan, The Rock, and Stone Cold, as one of the greatest Superstars in WWE history.

Over the course of his legendary career as a WWE Superstar, Cena has been involved in a long string of on-screen rivalries. He has also helped his peers and younger talent in every way he can. Some of the most well-known names in WWE have credited Cena for giving them valuable advice and helping them in the process. In the following slideshow, we will take a look at five such WWE Superstars.


#5 Enzo Amore

Cena with Big Cass and Enzo
Cena with Big Cass and Enzo

Enzo Amore was let go by WWE back in early 2018, and it seems highly unlikely that the company will ever hire him back. Amore was a controversial figure backstage during his stint in WWE, and went on to attend the Survivor Series PPV in late 2018 and cause disruption that eventually led to WWE security removing him from the venue. During an interview back in 2019, Amore talked about John Cena helping him while he was in NXT.

We needed John Cena to be in the dark segment so that people would stick around for four hours of tape. Right. Well, John Cena came up to me and he said, ‘hey, listen, I’ve been here for four hours, at tapings, and you’re the only thing that has caught my attention today. Good job.’ And I walked away and I was like, what just happened? Wow.

Amore further stated that he called Damien Sandow "sawft", during the dark segment. Cena repeated the word after him, and so did the crowd. Thus, the famous catchphrase was born that Amore would use throughout his WWE career.

#4 Rusev

Rusev and John Cena
Rusev and John Cena

Former WWE Superstar Rusev has been posting videos on his official YouTube channel ever since he was let go by WWE. Most of his videos are him talking about some of his favorite WWE moments. In one of his videos, The Bulgarian Brute talked about John Cena and had nothing but praise for the WWE veteran. Rusev revealed how Cena helped him during his WWE tenure and added that his feud with the 16-time World Champion was when he excelled the most as a wrestler.

I was just so blessed to be with him for so many years. We worked so many matches in so many live events and everything. That’s where I think I excelled the most.

Rusev and John Cena had a program going into WrestleMania 31, back in 2015. At the Show of Shows, Cena defeated Rusev for the United States title. He would go on to defend the belt on a weekly basis as part of his US title open challenge. Cena had classics against several WWE Superstars over the next few weeks, most notably Dean Ambrose, Cesaro, and Kevin Owens.

#3 Randy Orton

John Cena and Orton in action
John Cena and Orton in action

John Cena and Randy Orton have had one of the most intense rivalries in WWE history. The two made their way to the main roster at around the same time, back in 2002, and are good friends in real life. On an edition of After The Bell, Orton spoke about learning a lot from the WWE legend.

And John Cena. God, I hate saying it, but I learned a lot from that [expletive]. I really did. Talk about slowing down and breathing and listening to the people. He was a master. He was a fuc***g ninja at listening to the crowd.

Cena and Orton were on different brands back from 2003 to 2005. A while after Cena was drafted to WWE RAW, the two kicked off a rivalry over the WWE title. They resumed their feud several times over the next few years. Cena went on to make it big in Hollywood, and bagged blockbuster movies, while Orton is still doing well for himself in WWE and is one of the most respected veterans in the business.

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Randy Orton currently seems in line for a shot at Drew McIntyre's WWE Championship. If you aren't aware, McIntyre had expressed his desire to work with The Viper a few months ago. You can check out the same in the video above.

#2 Seth Rollins

John Cena and Rollins
John Cena and Rollins

2019 was the year of Seth Rollins. Not only did he beat Brock Lesnar for the Universal title on two occasions, he also won the Royal Rumble match and put down several WWE Superstars during his stint as the top Champion on the RAW brand.

He was essentially the top guy on the WWE roster at the time, a spot that once belonged to John Cena. Rollins had a feud with John Cena back in 2015, and defeated him in a major match at SummerSlam in a "Winner takes all" match.

In an interview with Mid Day, Rollins revealed how Cena is his mentor and has helped him a great deal.

Also...John Cena...I mean he’s a known former rival...but I have learned a lot working with John. His experience and friendship have guided me over my 6 years...he’s become a mentor to me…when I got to know him and how hard he worked, he became someone I would go to immediately for advice. He taught me how to become a main event superstar and to value every match that I fought.

Rollins is currently the top heel on the RAW brand. He turned heel soon after Survivor Series 2019 and was recently seen brutally removing Rey Mysterio's eye out in their "Eye For An Eye" match at Extreme Rules.

#1 Roman Reigns

Reigns and John Cena
Reigns and John Cena

The Big Dog is hands down one of the biggest Superstars of this generation. He is a former Universal Champion and has headlined four consecutive WrestleMania events. Additionally, Reigns has beaten John Cena in the middle of the ring. He had tons of praise for Cena while talking about the WWE veteran on After The Bell, and revealed what Cena taught him about staying on top in WWE.

You just have to go out the next night and kill it and continue to kill it. That’s all that matters – just bust your a** and work hard. The cream always rises to the top and that’s something Cena told me a long time ago.

Reigns talks about Cena's influence on him:

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John Cena and Reigns met at WWE No Mercy 2017 in a match that could have easily headlined a WrestleMania. Reigns had defeated The Undertaker at WrestleMania 33 earlier that year. The intense back and forth ended with Reigns coming out on top, in a "passing of the torch" moment.

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