‘Act like a champion': How Ric Flair talked John Cena into a $70K party binge
WWE wrestler John Cena has gone through most of his illustrious career, carrying the words Hustle, Loyalty and Respect on his sleeve. He has been a beacon of discipline and hard work, and for the most part, the WWE champion has upheld the standards set by his on-screen character in his personal life as well. But apparently no one's perfect, and even Cena has slipped up in the face of peer pressure, and former WWE personality Jonathan Coachman had quite the story to tell about Cena.
While talking to Chris Van Vliet, Coachman was listing out incredible feats he witnessed during his time in the WWE. Among names like Triple H and The Rock, Cena's name popped up, and Coachman talked about how the world champion was goaded into taking some questionable financial decisions. 'We used to go to Europe twice a year and do 10 different shows. John Cena had just become the world champion, and Ric Flair had got his hook into him. He told him, 'If you're going to be the world champion, you need to act like the world champion. You have to pay for all the drinks because you are making the most money.'
ALSO READ | You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villian: John Cena's heel turn explained
Jonathan Coachman shared how John Cena partied for 9 days straight and paid for everyone's food and drinks the entire time. 'We finally get to the 9th night, and I asked him, 'How much money have you spent?' He said, 'Well, I just checked my bank account, and I have spent $70k in total. We are still drinking at the bar with Cena, and we have Monday Night Raw the next day. All of a sudden Dean Malinko walks up and whispers something in Cena's ear. He heard him, got up, and left for his hotel room. Malinko had just told him that he had a 60-minute Ironman match with Shawn Michaels the next day.
Coachman added that you could smell the alcohol coming out from Cena's pores, but he still walked out there and had an incredible match. 'To his credit, John went out there, and people can go back and look at the match; both men had an amazing match for 60 straight minutes.'
It definitely feels that this is the season of seeing a transformed John Cena. Throughout his career, Cena always competed as a 'babyface', and even after receiving a lot of flack from fans who called him things like 'vanilla', he continued his good guy persona until the last Elimination Chamber event, where he turned on Cody Rhodes and sided with The Rock. He then went on to create history at Wrestlemania 41, winning a record 17th world title, ironically beating the same man's record who tricked him into partying for straight 9 days.
John Cena is currently on his farewell tour with the WWE and will be retiring as an in-ring performer at the end of the year.
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