Freddie Prinze Jr. Describes His Backstage Feud With John Cena
Back in 2008 the WWE brought in actor Freddie Prinze Jr. to work as a member of the company's [...]
Back in 2008 the WWE brought in actor Freddie Prinze Jr. to work as a member of the company's creative team. The I Know What You Did Last Summer star stuck around with the company for roughly a year before departing, but returned in 2010 and stuck around until 2012 as a producer and director.
Prinze Jr. discussed his time in WWE on a recent episode of Ariel Helwani's MMA Show, where he revealed that he and John Cena did not get along backstage.
"John Cena and I were the only ones who didn't really get along. I respect what John brought to WWE," he said. "He had to hold the company on his shoulders during the PG Era when no one else wanted to. That could have been [Triple H], but he wanted to be more Rated R and do the stuff he liked to do. John took that upon himself. For that, wrestling fans should be grateful. But we did not get along. He did not like that I was there. I think he called me Ashton Kutcher for the first three months I was there.
"He walked in, in the middle of acting class, and sat down in between the two wrestlers. We go outside and I go, 'You're not in this class because you know how to do this. But you don't want to teach these guys or girls s—. So let me do my job. Let me do what Vince wants me to do. And just stay out of here.' To his credit, he goes, 'I know approach this stuff in a barbaric sort of way, but you either got it, or you don't.' I said, 'You're right about that. But you can get better or worse depending on the type of instruction you have. Do you want them to have instruction from Vince in the promo class or from me?'" he added.
2008 was a notoriously rough year for Cena. After returning from a torn pectoral muscle by winning the Royal Rumble, Cena wound up on the losing end of feuds with Randy Orton, Triple H and Batista before suffering a herniated disc in his neck. He finally reached the level of world champion again in 2008, beating Chris Jericho for the World Heavyweight Championship at Survivor Series.