Cody Rhodes says John Cena helped him when he was struggling with "recent" polarizing audience reactions.
John Cena is perhaps the most polarizing WWE Superstar of all time. Dueling chants of, “Let’s go Cena” and “Cena sucks” became a staple of WWE events throughout the majority of the 2010s. John Cena was never bothered by this. it was always stated that as long as the crowd is making noise and vocalizing their opinions, John was doing his job.
Now, John Cena looks to impart that wisdom to other talents who may have to deal with a similar polarizing reaction as wrestling audiences become more opinionated and less likely to react in a way that is based strictly on the storyline in front of them.
Cody Rhodes faced a similar reaction at the end of his tenure with AEW. Cody became a very polarizing wrestler and even jokingly “leaned into it” on occasion with golden shovels and Pedigree teases.
Cody Rhodes, in a recent WWE digital video where WWE Superstars explain the best piece of advice John Cena ever gave them, revealed that John Cena gave Cody Rhodes advice during a “recent” time where polarizing audiences were something Cody had to actively deal with. In true John Cena fashion, John helped by putting the onus on the performer to analyze their own feelings and see what they could do to at least make sure that the audience is invested.
“Best advice John Cena ever gave me was twofold,” Cody began. “The first thing was rather recently, I was going through a polarizing time in my career. We were getting, for the first time ever, ‘Let's go Cody, Cody sucks’ type thing. He very eloquently told me to be honest with myself as to why a crowd would react that way. Look in the mirror and if you feel you're doing the right thing, keep doing it.
The second piece of advice is if the crowd starts making any noise, in any capacity, start clapping their hands, start stomping their feet. If they want you to fight back, something, anything, you have to reward them,” Cody added. “You have to give them something whether it's just coming to your feet, or whether it's just showing the intent that fits there has to be something.”
John Cena also wishes he could apply the same knowledge about rewarding audiences and giving them a reason to care in regards to his own WWE debut, which occurred twenty years ago. He has said as much in a different WWE digital exclusive recently. Learn more here.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit the original source with a H/T and link back to Fightful for the transcription.
