Here’s How John Cena Felt About Being So Polarizing During His Prime Years in WWE

John Cena was known for two things during his run as a WWE main event — delivering great matches on big stages and be polarizing to fans. By the end of his main event run the “John Cena Sucks” chants went hand-in-hand with his entrance music, even as he gradually won over fans with gimmicks like the United States Championship Open Challenge. “The Face That Runs The Place” had always brushed off the booing fans in interviews, saying that fans were allowed to cheer for whoever they wanted. But in the latest edition of WWE Untold, he went a little deeper on that thought process.

The episode, titled “The Champ is HeRe,” recapped Cena’s feud with Edge from 2006 over the WWE Championship. The fan backlash towards Cena was on full display during the feud, particularly when Cena faced Rob Van Dam at the ECW One Night Stand event.

“Every time you see me come out, it’s like I’m shot out of a cannon,” Cena said (h/t Fightful for transcript). “It’s because I’m ready, I’m ready to go, and that’s whether you’re telling me I suck or whether you’re telling me that I’m great. It’s why I orchestrate you to continue to make noise because as a performer, this makes me feel 10-feet tall. Just audible reaction.”

“I love it when a group of people has so much energy that it’s viscerally negative towards me,” he added. “I also love it when the energy is so overwhelmingly positive, it does lift you up. It’s like it’s all so f—ing wonderful.”

Cena was last seen in a WWE ring at WrestleMania 36, where he lost the Firefly Fun House match against Bray Wyatt and was forced to relive his greatest career failures. He recently commented on the match in an interview with Sports Illustrated.

“I’ve had many experiences and many stories in WWE over my tenure there, and a lot of it has been embracing conflict and embracing the tale of good versus evil,” Cena said. “This isn’t the first time I’ve done something like this. For the viewing audience, it was the first time they’d seen a cinematic depiction of this, but this isn’t the first time that we’ve seen a conflicted John Cena character. As with all the opportunities I get in WWE, I never try to be complacent and I always like to push the envelope. This was an instance where we could do just that, and I think we put forth a product that certainly got people’s attention and got people talking.”

“It left a lot of questions,” he later added. “It wasn’t just single-serving, it is something you can go back and watch and enjoy. Those are some of the best efforts.”