John Cena and Shawn Michaels’ famous hour-long RAW match has become one of the most remembered matches from Cena’s run on top, but apparently he didn’t exactly get much time to prepare for it. In fact, Cena was reportedly enjoying a beer when he found out what WWE had waiting for him the next night.
Speaking on The Coach & Bro Show, Jonathan Coachman recalled being in the UK when WWE decided Cena and Michaels would wrestle for around 60 minutes on RAW. According to Coachman, neither man had been given much advance notice about the plan. Coachman happened to be drinking with Cena when Dean Malenko walked over with the news.
“I’ll never forget, we were in the UK, and Cena and Shawn Michaels did a 60-minute match. They weren’t told about it until the night before. I was standing there having a beer with John Cena — we were drinking together for 10 straight days. Then Dean Malenko walks up to Cena and whispers in Cena’s ear. John takes his beer, puts it on the counter, walks to the elevator, and he was gone.”
Coachman had no idea what Malenko had just told Cena, so naturally, he asked. That was apparently all Cena needed to hear. He immediately put his beer down and disappeared, knowing he suddenly had one hell of a night ahead of him.
“I was like, ‘Dean, what did you say to Cena?’ He goes, ‘Oh, I just got a call from the office, and he’s gotta go 60 minutes with Shawn Michaels tomorrow on RAW.’”
Coachman said he later waited at Gorilla Position after the match because he wanted to show Cena some respect. He had traveled with Cena and understood the pressure that came with being the guy WWE was building its shows around.
“And I waited at Gorilla. This is what the old-school mentality is. I used to ride with John. I wanted to respect him and the fact that he was responsible for the house. I stood there at Gorilla for him to walk back. He does his waddle and butt sticking out. You could smell the alcohol coming out of his pores because he was drinking for 10 straight days — and had a banger.”
The match went down on the April 23, 2007 episode of RAW in London, with Michaels eventually defeating Cena after nearly an hour. Coachman’s story paints a pretty wild picture of how things worked back then — Cena went from drinking with the crew to suddenly being told he had to wrestle Shawn Michaels for an hour, and still went out there and delivered.
What do you make of John Cena getting such little notice before being asked to wrestle Shawn Michaels for nearly an hour? Let us know what you think in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
