In an interview with WWN Live for his YouShoot iPPV special, former WWE Superstar Evan Bourne (Matt Sydal) talked about backstage politics, saying John Cena doesn’t politick backstage as a top guy, but he did say that John Cena does give young guys a hard time and tries to test them. Below are some highlights:
Bourne on if he thinks John Cena is a backstage politician: “I think people say you play politics on your way up. When I got to WWE, Cena was already a top guy so what politics would there be to play? He’s the top guy, everybody loves him, the fans love him, everybody backstage loves him. So when he’s talking to people, there’s no politicking. He’s just getting along with everybody. I think there’s an agenda to make sure he’s the top buy that that’s because they’ve invested money in him and that makes sense. I don’t think there’s much backstage politicking.”
Evan Bourne’s response to the rumors of top stars keeping the young guys down to protect their spots: “I guess I heard the rumors something happened with Alex Riley, I don’t know exactly what it was. I think Cena’s known for giving the young guys a hard time and testing them. He came up working with Chris Benoit and a lot of guys made it tough on young guys coming up. I don’t know if he’s presenting a challenge to see how guys react or if he’s really being a jerk to them.”
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