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http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthtribune/entertainment/7724651.htm

Posted on Fri, Jan. 16, 2004   
 
Cena hip-hops way up WWE ladder

WRESTLING:John Cena is an up-and-comer facing a daunting opponent, but
he's willing to put his muscle where his mouth is.

BY V. PAUL VIRTUCIO
NEWS TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

Live events, we go out there and we try to entertain the best we can.
You do lose a little bit in production value but you gain a helluva
lot in intimacy.JOHN CENA, World Wrestling Entertainment wrestler.

Paul Heyman, the World Wrestling Entertainment's general manager, is
not a rap music fan. And Thursday night at a "Smackdown" event in
Conneticut, he had it in for John Cena, a 6-foot-1, 295-pound pro
wrestler, rapper and hip-hopper.

Heyman set up the first-ever "Loser Gets His Mouth Washed Out With
Soap" fight between Cena and Rhyno, a 5-foot-10, 270-pound wrestler
with many more years of experience and championships than Cena.

Heyman, who thinks Cena's music corrupts young wrestling fans, wanted
to see Cena eat a bar of soap and was sure Rhyno would gore him. To
his surprise, Cena beat Rhyno and ended up forcing Heyman to clean up
his own act.

"Going in as the underdog, if you come out of it, it's like watching a
football game where you expect nothing from it and it ends up being
the best game you've ever seen," Cena said in a telephone interview.
"I want people to say, 'God, that Cena can fight.' "

Northland residents will get to see Cena take on Rhyno one more time
in the WWE's "Smackdown" event at 7 p.m. Monday in the Duluth
Entertainment Convention Center Arena. It's the second time WWE has
brought a live show to Duluth. The January 2002 show featured Brock
Lesnar, former University of Minnesota wrestler and now the WWE champ,
as the up-and-comer.

TRUE PERFORMER

Cena, who freestyle-raps while wearing gold chains to entertain his
fans and taunt his opponents, is considered a rising star in the WWE's
roster of sports entertainers. It's not because he's the most
intimidating wrestler but because he's a performer.

When he took on Lesnar last year, Cena lost the match but surprised
fans with how well he withstood the pummeling.

"The physicality that you see in the ring is 100 percent real. We
wrestle in a ring that is made of wood and steel and when you get
slammed or punched, you're slammed or punched," said the 26-year-old
Massachusetts native. "The entertainment part comes in maybe when we
showboat or express a little bit of personality... When we get in
there and the bell rings, we're beating each other up. Don't for one
second think any of that is a falsehood."

Q & A WITH CENA

Here's a quick Q&A with Cena:

DNT: You're considered an up-and-comer and a fast-rising star. What do
you think marks you as a successful wrestler?

Cena: Obviously I'm doing something different. The rap thing is
definitely against the grain. It's something that doesn't really
depict what WWE has been about.

DNT: How'd you start rapping?

Cena: My first rap CD was Fat Boys' "Crushin." That was in 1986. After
I heard that I was hooked... I can't sing for anything. We started
messing around, a few of my boys and I. I went to a prep school and I
lived there so we had nothing else to do. One of my boys had two
turntables and a mic. We bought instrumentals and tried to rap. We did
it every single night. The stuff we had was terrible.

DNT: You finished a college degree in exercise physiology from
Springfield College in Massachussetts before you started wrestling.
What would have been your original career and why did you start
wrestling?

Cena: I was working a regular job. I was working 90 hours a week
building gyms, moving equipment around. It was the toughest manual
labor job I've ever had.

Somebody I was working with was training at a WWE camp and I went
along. It was the best move I ever made.

DNT: How much more physically demanding has wrestling become for you
as you climb the ranks?

Cena: As you move up the ladder in competition, it's like going from a
big fish in a small pond to being dropped in the ocean. As you go up
the ladder, the competition gets stiffer and stiffer. You're dealing
with the best the company has to offer.

DNT: And does it get more difficult to learn the scripts and
storylines?

Cena: It puts a lot of mental stresses as well as physical stress.
You're in more top-billed matches where you've got to put up or shut
up. Not only that, you're put on screen more so you have to know your
stuff.

DNT: During televised "Smackdowns," the storylines are a bigger part
of the production than during the live, untelevised shows. How are the
experiences different for you?

Cena: The live events are more focused on the fans. When we come into
a TV taping, we're very structured. We know we have to fit in a
two-hour national broadcast. We're pretty much heads down, get our
point across and do what we do. Live events, we go out there and we
try to entertain the best we can. You do lose a little bit in
production value, but you gain a helluva lot in intimacy.


--- Internet Rex 2.29