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WWE Hall of Famer JBL opened up about the locker room's perception of John Cena during his early days in the company.
The 16-time world champion celebrated the 20th anniversary of his WWE debut last Monday on RAW. He and JBL had several memorable feuds, and the Cenation Leader defeated the veteran at WrestleMania 21 to win his first WWE Championship. Their first match in WWE was as tag team partners at Survivor Series in 2003.
On a recent appearance on WWE's The Bump, JBL was asked if he had a good feeling about John Cena back then. He stated:
"Yeah. I think when he came in—nobody disliked John. A lot of times a young guy comes in, he's got a great body, great look, real good-looking guy, people are just kind of a little resentful. You sit back and just kinda see if they're gonna make it or not. John fit in right away, maybe it's being a second-generation wrestler. I don't know what it was, but John was such a respectful human being. People liked him so much and he was so respectful for this business, that people were wanting to see him succeed." (21:50-22:21)
JBL wants John Cena to break Ric Flair's record
The Nature Boy and The Cenation Leader currently hold the record for most world title reigns at 16. Cena has held more world championships in WWE than any other wrestler in history.
JBL stated during the interview that he wants his former rival to become a 17-time world champion.
"I hope he wins the 17th, I want him to win the 17th. You know, no offense to the Nature Boy out there, but to me it's about Cena. People like to see records broke and he's the right guy to do it," said Layfield.
The last time John Cena won the WWE Championship was at Royal Rumble 2017 where he defeated AJ Styles to capture the title. It'll be interesting to see whether he will be the one to break the record.
If you use any quotes from this article, please give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.
