Bruce Prichard compares WWE handling of John Cena, Roman Reigns backlash
Bruce Prichard and Conrad Thompson discussed times when WWE has pushed back against fan reactions on the latest episode of Something to Wrestle With.
Speaking about the 2006 Royal Rumble, Prichard said that despite backlash toward John Cena as top babyface growing, WWE viewed the situation differently based on the money he was drawing.
Prichard said:
“You had to ignore it because that was not someplace Vince was willing to go. When you look at John Cena, whether the loud male boos were drowning out everything else, the families, the merchandise sales, the kids, and the money were saying otherwise.”
Asked if the situation for Roman Reigns during the period he was pushed as the top babyface was similar, Prichard responded:
“Those are the two examples I always use. You can go back to when we first started doing this and we were looking at the product then. I told you from day one, never wavered, Roman Reigns is the biggest star they have and will be the biggest star.”
Prichard continued:
“The same thing with Cena. He was a star. The audience felt one way because they felt he was being shoved down their throat. As soon as we stopped shoving Cena down their throat, then it was, ‘Oh my God, you’re not listening to the people.’ It’s funny, but yeah, those are the two.”
Prichard also mentioned Randy Orton as someone who could also fit into the category with Cena and Reigns.
Last month in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported that WWE’s reasoning for not wanting to turn Cody Rhodes heel is similar to why the company resisted turning Cena during the height of fan backlash, writing:
“Regarding any rumors of a Rhodes heel turn, we were told it’s not happening now, won’t until it’s deemed it has to and the feeling is that’s no time soon and we were told his merchandise numbers are nothing to be tinkered with.”
The full episode of Something to Wrestle With is available below. The video is cued to Prichard’s comments about Cena and Reigns.
Ian Carey is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose work has been featured in NOW Magazine, The Huffington Post, and more. A lifelong wrestling aficionado born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he has covered the industry for a decade and a half. He joined the f4wonline.com team in 2019.