A rumor surrounding John Cena, which persisted during his WWE career, is that he wouldn’t put over some of the other superstars to help them out and that backstage politics impacted their careers.
During his 25-plus years in WWE, Cena became one of the company’s most popular personalities, achieving multiple championship reigns, including his history-making feat.
After announcing his retirement from WWE would occur at the end of 2025, he defeated the WWE Champion, Cody Rhodes, at WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas.
It gave Cena a debatable record 17th reign as champion, surpassing WWE’s announced record number of championship reigns held by Ric Flair.
Debates aside, Cena didn’t reach that distinction by allowing himself to lose matches or get buried. Some of his previous co-workers also indicate he could’ve put them over, but refused to do so.
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That includes former All Elite Wrestling (AEW) star Jake Hager, who wrestled under the name Jack Swagger while in WWE.
Hager recently appeared on the Insight with Chris Van Vliet podcast to discuss his professional wrestling career, including the aforementioned rumors about Cena.
There was speculation that Cena didn’t want to put Swagger over after he won Money in the Bank at WrestleMania XXVI in 2010.
“He absolutely refused to do it,” Hager said, adding, “He didn’t tell me that. I was told that was what happened.”
According to Hager, he was going to beat Cena on the following Monday’s WWE Raw rather than teasing a MITB briefcase cash-in.
“But like I’m a young guy. I’ve been there for a cup of coffee. What are you gonna do?” Hager asked.
“I’m not the only guy he’s done that to. He’s done that throughout his career,” Hager told Van Vliet regarding Cena.
The former WWE star also mentioned he was surprised to see what recently happened involving Cena and Ron “R-Truth” Killings. After Truth lost a big match to Cena, fans were shocked that WWE released him.
However, the company ultimately re-signed Truth, and Hager believes it was due to Cena.
“Usually he’d try to take that glory, but I feel like this time he’s the one who said, ‘We better go with Truth and get him back here,'” he contended.
Hager isn’t the first of Cena’s former opponents to suggest he wasn’t an ideal WWE co-star. Other superstars included Alex Riley, Ryback, and Wade Barrett.
Of these individuals, Barrett is the only one still employed by the company, working as a commentator on NXT, Raw, SmackDown, and various premium live events.
Hager, who also expressed frustration about working for AEW’s Tony Khan, indicated during Van Vliet’s podcast that he’s officially retired from wrestling.
With Cena on his WWE retirement tour, he may have changed his stance to put over other stars. That includes Truth and Cody Rhodes, the latter of whom he dropped the WWE Championship to earlier this month.
Cena faces Logan Paul at the WWE Clash in Paris event on Sunday. He could very well help the infamous social media influencer go over, depending on the match quality and outcome.
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