John Cena has heard the “wrestling is fake” line more times than he can count, but it apparently doesn’t bother him at all. Instead of getting annoyed, Cena says he immediately realizes the person probably has no idea what professional wrestling actually involves.
During an appearance on The Romesh Ranganathan Show alongside Jessica Biel, Cena got onto the subject while discussing another stereotype — that London has bad food. Cena called that idea a sign of ignorance and quickly realized it reminded him of something wrestling fans have probably heard plenty of times.
“So, to me, that is a sign of ignorance. Like someone has not been to London in a long time. People come up to me all the time like, ‘You know wrestling’s fake, right?’ To me, I don’t get mad at that, right? That is an indication of they have no idea what I do. Like, ‘Oh, I gotta start you from square one.’ Okay.”
Cena didn’t leave the comparison there either. He explained that London has become one of his favorite cities partly because of its coffee culture, international restaurants and the sheer number of different cuisines available.
“The reason I love London, maybe yours is similar, is because it’s such a food city. I love cafes and great coffee, and Londoners take that seriously. There’s like books this thick of greatest coffee places in London that come out every year, and places fight to be in that book.”
As far as Cena is concerned, anybody still claiming London doesn’t have good food probably hasn’t spent enough time actually exploring what’s available. He believes the reputation might have made more sense decades ago, but doesn’t think it reflects the city today.
“And it is such a city for great chefs and great restaurants of international appeal. Any, the best of any cuisine you want, you can find it here. People who say that there’s no good food in London, it is just, they have no clue. They’ve either never been or they’ve never looked hard enough or they don’t know what’s going on. Maybe 35, 40 years ago you could say that with some tact. Not now. That does not apply. You’re clearly going to the wrong places, and you just haven’t done your homework.”
That’s when Cena brought things right back to wrestling. For him, hearing somebody casually dismiss professional wrestling as “fake” tells him they’re looking at the business through an outdated or surface-level understanding of what wrestlers actually do.
“It is literally like, ‘So, you know wrestling’s fake, right?’ Or like, ‘Is wrestling fake?’ Like, ‘Oh, okay. Sit down. It’s been a while. It’s been a while. It’s not the ’70s anymore. Come on, let’s talk.’ You know, I feel bad for the person who says that. I hope you don’t shoulder any burden because that’s not the truth. But man, London is such a great food city.”
After spending decades inside the ring, Cena clearly isn’t interested in getting defensive every time somebody throws the “fake” label at wrestling. His reaction is basically the opposite — he sees it as a sign that there’s a much bigger conversation to be had about what professional wrestling actually is.
What do you think about John Cena’s response to people who tell him professional wrestling is “fake”? Let us know in the comments below.
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.
