John Cena Speaks out Against The Undertaker's 'Soft' Comments About WWE

The Undertaker's infamous comments regarding the current WWE product made on a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience have sparked conversations across the pro wrestling industry. Fellow former stars like Goldberg have openly agreed with him, while current stars like WWE Champion Drew McIntyre and Universal Champion Roman Reigns have pushed back against the idea that the current product is "soft" compared to the Attitude Era.

You can now count John Cena in the group of wrestlers who disagree with "The Deadman." The 16-time world champion spoke with Forbes this week and responded to those comments, saying, "I guess I've viewed the WWE as a product outside of myself for a long time. I guess that's why I was so interested in the business side of it from very early on in my career. In that, I've seen it evolve, but I've also been called 'everything that's ruined sports entertainment.' I could look at the economics of it and make an argument that between myself--and the large amount of folks that carried on the roster beyond the Attitude Era into the Ruthless Aggression Era and the Reality Era — the fans of the Attitude Era certainly looked at our product as not what they're used to, and it wasn't. So I may have a bit of disagreement with Undertaker's word choice because I don't think it's soft, I think it's different."

"I remember one of the first time Steve Austin came back during the height of the PG era, and he was just befuddled," he added. "Because Steve Austin goes out there and runs it. And if he gets stuck, he can curse, he can throw up some middle fingers, he can ask for a beer...but we took away three of the biggest clubs that he can hit with and told him to go out there and be himself. And he came back shaking his head and said 'I don't know how you do this!' But if he had enough time, he's a great performer, he could get used to it."

Here's what The Undertaker originally said when asked if he still keeps up with the current WWE product — "I try [to enjoy it as a fan]. It's tough for me because the product has changed so much and it's kind of soft. I'll probably piss a lot of people off but they need to hear it. It is what it is. But to the young guys, 'oh, he's a bitter old guy.' I'm not bitter, I did my time. I'm good, I walked away when I wanted to walk away. I just think the product is a little soft. There's guys here and there that have an edge to them, but there's too much pretty and not enough substance right now.