The Good Brothers Recall Being Told They Couldn’t Say ‘Beat Up John Cena’ Anymore

Come to Raw, grab a mic, talk some shop, then beat up John Cena. 

In 2016, AJ Styles engaged in a feud with John Cena. Flanked by Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson, Styles would spend his weeks beating up Cena. 

In a promo on Raw, The Club famously uttered the words “Beat up John Cena,” which drew a big reaction from the crowd. 

Speaking on TalkNShop, Gallows & Anderson reflected on the promo and being told they couldn’t say the phrase anymore. 

“Unfortunately, when you walk the line the way we walk the line, we’ve had a lot of those matches where, I hope we entertained you, but on the inside we were thinking, ‘My God.’ The whole Raw run [Laughs],” said Gallows, referencing the Good Brothers having some drinks the night before and after shows. 

Anderson then began discussing the “Beat Up John Cena” promo. 

“Fuck, we came back from Japan that one time, we did the greatest promo of all time for The Club. We were so hungover because we just came back from Japan. We almost fell off the stage when we went to commercial. John Cena was in the ring. We did the whole ‘beat up John Cena’ for the first time ever. Got a massive [pop], a big reaction on social media as well,” he said. 

Gallows added, “I don’t know how long we said it or if it was just that week. It got hot, I immediately went home and printed ‘Beat Up John Cena’ shirts and brought them to the house show loop. We were going to sneak them onto Raw, but Vince called AJ and told him…somebody called AJ, I feel like it was Vince, and told him we were never allowed to say ‘Beat up John Cena’ again.”

Anderson noted that, “It was definitely [Mark] Carano. Most of the things we did, they kind of didn’t let us do anymore.”

Cena and AJ would famously clash at Money in the Bank and SummerSlam 2016. Styles would beat up Cena in both contests, coming away with the victory. 

The Good Brothers are currently signed to IMPACT Wrestling while AJ remains with WWE. Cena is The Peacemaker. 

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