John Cena On Calling Matches In The Ring: I’m Notoriously The Loudest Talker In The Business

If you watch a John Cena match from his run on top, you’ll probably hear him calling a spot or two while he’s in the ring. Cena’s habit of calling spots loud enough for the TV audience has become a running joke and criticism over the years.

And speaking on WWE After The Bell, Cena acknowledged his habit of talking too loud during matches and gave his reason why.

“When you talk to anyone that has worked with me, ‘We have 26 minutes and the kid is going to go over.’ ‘Okay, thanks.’ ‘Hey John, what do you want to do?’ ‘I don’t know, we’ll figure it out.’ So many people that I’m able to perform with for the first time take that as apathy, that I don’t care. But when I’m out there, I’m notoriously the loudest talker in the business. I’m calling matches for you at the table, while in the ring. That’s only because I’m super hyper present. I’m there to entertain everybody who paid money. If I plan a labyrinth of execution with you in the back, and we go out to crickets, we have to be able to switch. I know myself and the skills of the person I’m working with. The absolute, finite definition of a sports entertainer is the ability to play jazz. Go out, improvise, and ride the wave of the crowd that’s in front of you. You just have to give it to them in a timely fashion. You can’t miss those moments. You have to be razor sharp. Which is why I’d rather be heard saying, ‘Hit me, motherfucker’ than saying nothing and have crickets. I’m well aware of my perception, I understand it and bear that burden. But the gift or quality that I can give for the first six rows, kind of being in on the gag, which is actually a cool experience for the first six rows…maybe 12 rows….maybe 22 rows. The trade-off is exact improv. So we have no choice but to be there, right when it happens,” he said.

Cena mentioned learning from the likes of Shawn Michaels, Eddie Guerrero, Ric Flair, Booker T, and more when it comes to the art of calling matches in the ring. He then told the story of how Eddie Guerrero taught him some secrets during a 25-minute match on a South Africa tour.

“Eddie, I heard this out there, why did you tell me to do that? That’s when his face lights up and it’s like, ‘Okay, now I get to tell you some of the secrets. This is what you do, this is what you don’t do this, this is why I did this, did you hear when they were like this and I said shut up, don’t do anything? That’s because we missed it. It was too late.’ That’s how I learned to wrestle. I learned technically in OVW. I learned how to play jazz from the wrestling versions of Miles Davis,” he stated.

Cena went on to say that he isn’t sure many in WWE are able to call a match like they used to do because things aren’t always perfect when you call it on the fly rather than scripting it out.

Elsewhere during the interview, Cena discussed what WWE currently needs and why he’s not sure they’ll be able to produce. You can find his full comments by clicking here.

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