Paul Heyman Calls John Cena a Real-Life Superhero, Explains Why WWE Is Looking for the Next Cena
Paul Heyman recently spoke with Graham Matthews of Bleacher Report and explained why WWE is looking for its next John Cena within its developmental system. But he didn't say it was in order to find another multi-time WrestleMania main eventer with more than a dozen world championship reigns, but rather as an ideal ambassador for the WWE. He went so far as to call Cena, who recently set the world record for most wishes granted via the Make-A-Wish Foundation, a real-life superhero.
"So we're also finding out who these people are," Heyman said. "If there is a downside, what is a downside, and if the downside's addressable. How can we help them? How can we lift them up? How can we take this person and make them an even better person so that they're a far better representative of the company. I very often have told my own children if I catch them watching a Marvel or a DC movie because I personally hate Marvel and DC movies, just hate superhero movies. That's just me, and I'm right in my contempt and disdain for them. They asked me why, and I tell them, because I know a real-life superhero, and his name John Cena. John Cena is a real-life superhero, flaws and all. That's a hero, that's a superhero in my book. We should all aspire to be the type of interactive combiner up-lifter that John Cena is.
"That's why he was and still remains such a great representative and ambassador for WWE. This is what we look for, and it's not just limited to, 'The guy can do a promo. The guy has done good moves. Did you see him drop the elbow off the top rope' anymore. There's much more to it," Heyman said. "Good for the industry itself that we're taking into accountability the type of people that we want associates with it because for so long, there were no standards. If you could draw money, we didn't care. Oh, well, you see what a rat bastard that person is? Yeah, but he draws a lot of money. Well, then we're gonna put up with him. Not in the next generation. We wanna know we have a room full of people that view their image with the seriousness that a John Cena would view it."
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