Arn Anderson on why John Cena was a top guy for so long, why things did not work out for Mauro Ranallo in WWE
The latest episode of “ARN” on AdFreeShows.com covers the WWE TLC 2015 pay-per-view.
Arn Anderson and Conrad Thompson covered the entire card including the main event featuring Roman Reigns vs. Sheamus in a TLC match for the WWE Championship, Charlotte Flair vs. Paige, The Wyatt Family vs. ECW Originals, Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens and a lot more.
They also talked about some of the behind-the-scenes news and notes from that timeframe.
By this time, John Cena was beginning to transition away from being a full-time performer in WWE. Arn talked about John Cena’s length of time on top: “I think he does get credit and it pisses a lot of people off to admit it. A lot of them are there to see John and his opponent. God knows the kids are there. One thing that is crystal clear is that in an era that this is an adult male sport, the kids will still come out to see somebody that is their hero and John is definitely that guy. That’s for sure. It is incredible that for 10 years, he can sit atop a company that has that many stars and runs that many shows. 10 years is a hell of a run consecutively. A couple of things that play into that is John is very dependable. John never missed a match or a house show. He is durable. He never got hurt very often. If you bought a ticket to see John, you didn’t get there and say he was injured at RAW so we are going to make a proper change to the card. You didn’t have any of that and that means a lot to the fans.”
Arn was asked why Mauro Ranallo did not work out in WWE. He said, “He made a couple of mistakes. He was damn good at what he did. He came in and kept his mouth shut. He was on top and he had a reputation that came with him that I would think some of those guys sitting there with headsets must have felt threatened by. That would be my best guess because that’s probably why you pick on the new guy. You see a threat in him and he was damn good and is damn good at what he does. He is very intelligent. His pacing when he does commentary is totally different than anybody else you ever heard. He lends excitement to what he is talking about. It sounds and feels legitimate. I think he had a run in with a couple guys and he didn’t know he can fight back if that’s in him because it’s a definite shark tank. You better have thick skin and you better know when the cutoff point when some guy is on your shoulder giving you a bunch of s**t and it’s time to pop him in the mouth with an elbow and look after yourself. You figure that out in the business. I don’t think Mauro got that far and it was unfortunate. I thought it was a loss for the company because the guy did a great job. That’s my best recollection of what happened.”
Arn talked about the rumored Rock vs Roman Reigns match for WrestleMania and would want to pass the torch to Reigns. He said, “I’m sure he’s a kind enough individual. I’m sure he is a team player. He is also the biggest movie star in the world. If you think he’s going to go and battle Roman in front of no people, you’re out of your mind. People’s champion is not just a moniker. That’s what he does. He has a maestro stick and he moves the audience whichever way he wants, back and forth just like all the great ones did. I hate to say it but I have to tell you, WrestleMania without people is a tough sell because it’s still all the same talent and all the same matches and without those 100,000 people to determine how you feel about what you are watching, it’s a different animal.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit ARN (Arn Anderson’s podcast) with a h/t to PWrestling.com for the transcription