Gunther Admits He Used To Hate John Cena Growing Up Before Facing Him In WWE

Gunther didn’t hide his true feelings about John Cena’s early career—and he admitted that, like many wrestling fans at the time, he wasn’t always a fan.

While speaking during a WWE Retrospective, Gunther opened up about his mindset heading into his match against Cena and reflected on how his perception of the longtime WWE star changed over time. He explained that growing up surrounded by fans of independent and Japanese wrestling shaped how he and others viewed Cena during his peak popularity.

“All the other colleagues I have that come from kind of like the same generation as I that grew up with all those indies, and Japanese wrestling, and stuff like that, we were the guys that hated John Cena, obviously.”

Gunther didn’t stop there. He went on to explain exactly why Cena received that reaction from certain fans during that era.

“It was goofy. Like what is that? Like, it was like a wrestler for the kids, not for the grownups more or less.”

Despite those early feelings, Gunther made it clear that stepping into the ring with Cena changed his perspective. Seeing firsthand why Cena reached the level he did gave him a deeper appreciation for what Cena accomplished during his career.

Looking back now, Gunther’s honesty about his past opinions offers a rare glimpse into how even top-level wrestlers once viewed Cena from the outside before eventually sharing the ring with him.

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