John Cena knows exactly what it feels like to carry WWE on your shoulders, and he has some advice for Cody Rhodes now that The American Nightmare finds himself in that same position. Cena believes Cody needs to stop worrying about titles like “QB1” or “face of the company” because chasing that status only creates pressure that doesn’t need to be there.
During an appearance on Busted Open Radio, Cena was asked how he views Cody handling his position at the top of WWE. The question came after the hosts brought up Cody being referred to as “QB1,” a nickname WWE itself has publicly acknowledged for Rhodes. Cena immediately pushed back on the idea that being WWE’s top guy should become the goal itself. He explained that even during his own run, he viewed WWE as a team operation rather than a company built around one person.
“I’ve always looked at it as a team effort, and I also had the experience of replacing the person who was the face of the place. It’s not something you should seek. It’s just a byproduct of doing good work.”
Cena made it clear that he is a fan of what Cody has accomplished, but he believes Rhodes would be better served by taking his attention away from the label attached to his position.
“Whether you’re a fan of what Cody has done, which I absolutely am, or not, my advice to him is take your focus off that title. Just do good work. Take the pressure off yourself.”
That advice lines up with something Cody himself has expressed before. Rhodes has rejected the “face of WWE” label and described the company as a team that also includes stars such as CM Punk, Roman Reigns, Rhea Ripley and Seth Rollins.
Cena then used his own career as proof that obsessing over where you sit on the card can become a trap. He pointed out that he worked two consecutive WrestleMania main events against The Rock, but then went more than a decade before returning to the WrestleMania main event in a marquee singles match against Cody Rhodes. Cena stressed that he never spent those years frustrated because he wasn’t closing WrestleMania.
“I love professional anecdotes. I had two consecutive main events with The Rock at WrestleMania, two of the most productive events in WWE history. My next WrestleMania main event as a marquee match was against Cody Rhodes in Las Vegas.”
“It was 13 years before I got back to the main event of WrestleMania as a marquee match. I was never frustrated at all.”
Instead of defining success by championships, main events or being branded as WWE’s top star, Cena said his only real concern was doing the best work he could with whatever WWE handed him.
“I worked with absolute joy and fulfillment in my craft because I never put expectations on myself like, ‘I want to be champion. I want to be the face of the company.’ No. I just want to do good work.”
Cena even went back to his early days working the Velocity circuit as the Doctor of Thuganomics to make his point. His mindset, according to Cena, didn’t suddenly change when he became WWE’s franchise player.
“When I was on Velocity on Saturday night as the Doctor of Thuganomics, they never gave me that. I never wanted to do anything other than good work.”
The advice carries extra weight considering Cena has already said that Cody surpassed him before their WWE SummerSlam torch-passing moment. Cena clearly sees Rhodes as one of WWE’s most important stars, but he doesn’t think Cody needs to wake up every morning trying to prove that he deserves the QB1 label.
Cena spent years living under the pressure that comes with being WWE’s franchise player, so he knows how heavy that label can become. His message to Cody is pretty simple: forget about proving that you’re the face of WWE, keep delivering when the bell rings, and let everything else take care of itself.
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.
Do you agree with John Cena that Cody Rhodes should stop worrying about being WWE’s QB1? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comment section below.
